Chapter+11

// Key Questions  //
 * Chapter 11. Modelling Development Alternatives **

The author who was the HT at the school saw it as a true comprehensive. It was a small school where human values were paramount. The intake admitted a disproportionately large number of pupils whose abilities were less than average while it also had three times the national percentage of students with special education needs. But importantly the staff took pride in the attainment of all students no matter what level they actually attained at. The culture of the school was based on inclusiveness and human caring and this was recognised by the wider community and parents.
 * What was the culture of the organisation before the change? **

The major change was the sudden increase in the size of the Year 7 intake because the school was seen as being ethical, inclusive and caring. However the Head Teacher and his SLT recognised while it was good to be seen as successful with a rising roll and the subsequent increase in revenue under new local management mechanisms their excitement was tempered by a sense of how complicated things might actually be. There were 5 key areas to consider with a roll increase: school funding (LMS formula funding) curriculum, staffing and teaching accommodation and school ethos. The Head was completing an education based MBA and used planning / forecasting tools from this course to inform the actions for change.
 * What were the triggers for change and how did the leader build on these? **

None as the key function of the work of the HT was to design a DSS – a decision support system that would both help with multi-variate analysis of the factors around increasing the roll and the various affects on staffing, funding, accommodation etc.. His work was also designed to complete the research component of his MBA. In doing so he considered it unethical to involve staff and students due to his relationship with them as a HT and the coercive affect it might have on how they would react. Instead he worked independently to design and test the DSS and then researched its use with the help of his Governors who were independent of his authority.
 * What strategies were used to motivate staff / pupils / parents to participate? **

What became integral to the study and formulation of the business like DSS model was the questions – would the DSS help the school develop without corrupting its people centeredness? Would it make the Governor’s remote from the decision making process? Could the time and effort be better spent? These questions however remained secondary to the main question – to investigate how to best manage the increasing roll. The tool was valuable as a modelling and strategy tool that could lead to better management of staffing and resources and perhaps indirectly lead to better outcomes for students. In the main, the activity of developing and using the DSS tool and looking at its effects on school ethos were carried out using Action Research. The work with school Governors indicated that they saw it as a self –improvement tool that could be used to enhance achievement of the schools aims and mission. The Chapter itself makes no clear claims regarding how the DSS tool improved student’s achievement – only that it enabled better functional use of resources when faced with continuous change. It does however suggest used the right way a business tool can be ethically used in a school setting.
 * What impact did the development have on pupil learning or achievement? How was effectiveness measured? **