ARTD review of the School Based
Management Pilot published
Client: Department of Education and Communities
Timing: August 2011–October 2011
The pilot
Forty seven schools of various types and sizes and located across NSW have been involved in the pilot over two years, concluding at the end of 2011. The School Based Management Pilot allows schools increased flexibility and authority in decisions about their management, including human, material and financial resources. All 47 schools in the pilot are engaged in managing both staff and financial resources in new ways.
The Independent Review
ARTD Consultants was selected to undertake an Independent Public Review of the pilot in August 2011. The review encompassed the 47 schools in the pilot and particularly aimed to obtain the views of principals and to capture their experiences of the pilot. Based on the terms of reference, the review concentrated on four key areas:
1. Responsibility, authority and decision making
2. Information and systems
3. Risk management and accountability
4. Capacity, capabilities, cultural and organisational change.
ARTD Consultants collected primary data through interviews with members of the School Pilot Oversight Group, a survey of pilot school principals and interviews with 19 principals and a small number of Parents and Citizens association (P&C) representatives. We reviewed data and information available from the internal evaluation of the pilot, conducted a focus group with five Department staff and analysed State Office data on pilot initiatives.
Publication of findings
The findings, conclusions and recommendations of the Independent Review have been published in a full and summary report available on the Department of Education and Communities website.
The full report: https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/about-us/statistics-and-research/key-statistics-and-reports/irsb-management-pilot.pdf
The summary report: https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/about-us/statistics-and-research/key-statistics-and-reports/irsb-management-pilot-sr.pdf