Raising the Stakes: From Improvement to Transformation in the Reform of Schools (Leading School Transformation)

247 Pages·2007·1.34 MB·English

by  Caldwell, Spin

Raising the Stakes
Raising the Stakes provides an understanding of the breadth of resources that are
needed to provide a quality education to all students so that every individual,
organisation and institution can become a stakeholder in the enterprise.
This comprehensive book draws on best practice in several countries to show
how resources can be allocated to help achieve high expectations for all schools.
The book demonstrates how schools can move from satisfaction with improve-
ment to accepting the challenge to transform, identifying and exploring the
need to align four kinds of resources:
• intellectual capital, that is, the knowledge and skill of talented professionals;
• social capital, being mutual support from networks of individuals, organisa-
tions, agencies and institutions in the broader community;
• financial capital, which must be carefully targeted to ensure that these
resources are aligned and focused on priorities for learning;
• spiritual capital, which can be viewed in a religious sense or in terms of the
culture and values that bring coherence and unity to these endeavours.
Practitioners and researchers reading this book will be inspired to work more
closely in networking knowledge about how ‘high quality’ and ‘high equity’ can
be achieved. Raising the Stakes is essential reading for those with the responsibil-
ity of ensuring that resources are acquired and allocated to achieve the best
possible outcomes for students.
Brian J. Caldwell is managing director of Educational Transformations and a
former Dean of Education at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Jim M. Spinks is director of All Across the Line and a former School Principal who
consults widely on student-focused planning and resource allocation. He is based in
Australia.
This is the fourth book by Caldwell and Spinks following The Self-Managing School
(1988), Leading the Self-Managing School (1992) and Beyond the Self-Managing School
(1998).
Leading School Transformation series
Series Editors:
Alma Harris
University of Warwick, UK
Claire Mathews
Head of Leadership programmes, Specialist Schools and
Academies Trust
Sue Williamson
Director of Leadership and Innovation, Specialist Schools and
Academies Trust
The Leading School Transformation series brings together leading
researchers and writers to identify the latest thinking about new and
innovative leadership practices that transform schools and school
systems. The books have been written with educational professionals
in mind, and draw upon the latest international research and evidence
to offer new ways of thinking about leadership; provide examples of
leadership in practice and identify concrete ways of transforming
leadership for schools and school systems in the future.
Forthcoming title:
Distributed Leadership in Schools
Developing tomorrow’s leaders
Alma Harris
Raising the Stakes
From improvement to
transformation in the reform
of schools
Brian J. Caldwell and
Jim M. Spinks
First published 2008
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN, UK
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,
an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© 2008 Brian J. Caldwell and Jim M. Spinks
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Caldwell, Brian.
Raising the stakes : from improvement to transformation in
the reform of schools / Brian J. Caldwell & Jim M. Spinks.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. School management and organization. 2. Schools–Decentralization.
3. Educational planning. 4. Educational leadership. I. Spinks, Jim M.
II. Title.
LB2805.C234 2007
371.2 – dc22
2007007688
ISBN 0-203-93997-2 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0–415–44045–9 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0–415–44046–7 (pbk)
ISBN10: 0–203–93997–2 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–44045–5 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–44046–2 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–93997–0 (ebk)
Contents
List of illustrations vii
Series foreword ix
Foreword xi
Preface xvii
1 A new view of self-management 1
2 Core principles for next practice 14
3 Alignment 28
4 Intellectual capital 47
5 Governance and social capital 60
6 The funding of high quality and high equity 75
7 Next practice in the funding of schools 87
8 A student-focused planning model 104
9 Student-focused planning in action 124
10 Studies of success 146
11 New challenges for policy and practice 165
vi Contents
Appendices
1 Principles of resource allocation for student-
focused self-managing schools 181
2 Self-assessment of knowledge management 184
3 Self-assessment of governance 191
4 Self-assessment of resource allocation 195
5 The Student Resource Package in Victoria 198
References 203
Index 211
Illustrations
Figures
3.1 A model for alignment 33
4.1 Four ways to outsource for radical transformation in
schools 54
6.1 Relationship between current and expected outcomes
and need 84
6.2 Relationship between resource relativities and need 84
6.3 The environment for educational change – a symbiotic
relationship 85
8.1 Student-focused planning model 107
Tables
2.1 Transformation of learning outcomes at Bellfield
Primary School 18
3.1 Alignment in leadership and management 31
3.2 Assessing the degree of alignment in schools 34
4.1 Comparing workforce and talent force approaches to
building intellectual capital 50
5.1 Benchmarks for governance based on self-assessments
in workshops in England 70
5.2 A constrained view of effective resource allocation in
schools 71
5.3 A contemporary view of indicators of effective
resource allocation 72
7.1 Classification of budget categories for funding self-
managing schools 88
viii List of illustrations
7.2 Stage of schooling disability allocation in Victoria 99
7.3 Educational Needs Questionnaire allocations in Victoria 99
9.1 Summary of Bridget’s progress report, Term 4, 2005 126
9.2 Summary of Bridget’s progress report, Term 4, 2007 128
9.3 Summary of Kyle’s progress report, Term 4, 2005 133
9.4 Summary of Kyle’s progress report, Term 4, 2007 136
Series foreword
Leading School Transformation
It is now widely accepted that transforming schools is at the heart of
system-wide transformation. In order to raise the educational bar
while closing the performance gap there has to be continual and
relentless attention to improving teaching and learning in our
schools. This is unlikely to be achieved unless school leaders are
committed to school reform and renewal. This requires leaders
who understand the importance of working at both the school and
the system level. It also requires leaders who are able to invest in
the leadership of others and to share leadership practice widely and
deeply.
The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) seeks to give
more young people access to a good education by building networks,
sharing practice and supporting schools. The Trust’s way of working
is based on the principle ‘by schools for schools’ and it is at the heart
of a growing network of over 4,500 schools including primary,
secondary, special schools and academies in England, as well as
schools elsewhere in the UK and internationally. As one of the
largest school networks of its kind, it is working with school leaders
to explore and trial next practice.
The international arm of the Trust is iNet – International
Networking for Educational Transformation. iNet exists to create
networks of schools in countries around the world that can innovate
and transform schools and school systems. Its prime aim is to
secure systematic and sustained change that has a positive impact on
young people’s achievement. There are currently school networks in
Australia, Chile, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Northern Ireland,
South Africa, Sweden, USA (Georgia and Boston) and Wales. iNet
schools, institutions and individuals have the opportunity to share
innovation and work collaboratively.