Posted in Accountability, Uncategorized on Dec 29th, 2008 No Comments »
This post is one of a series linked to The Logic Model - getting a social return on investement?
I apologise from the outset to any experts in the field of Logic Modelling. What follows is a very personal interpretation of the process. I recognise that it’s possible to have a multitude of feedback loops and [...]
Posted in Accountability, Uncategorized on Dec 28th, 2008 4 Comments »
This post is one of a series linked to The Logic Model - getting a social return on investement?
I’m sure there will be many people who will recoil at the very notion of trying to measure the social return on the investment in education.
The reason for such a strong reaction is difficult to capture here [...]
Posted in Accountability, Assessment, Curriculum for Excellence, Ideas, Learning and teaching, Using data on Aug 21st, 2008 2 Comments »
“You don’t fatten the pig by weighing it” An evocative phrase used by those who would rightly challenge the concept of over-assessment or too frequent external assessment or inspection. A Head Teacher’s Union leader even described the English Ofsted as the “Office of Pig weighing”. The use of the phrase has taken on a global currency as [...]
Posted in Accountability, Corporate, Education Committee, Ideas on Jul 27th, 2008 No Comments »
My good friend John Connell’s blog is always worth a read and so it was this week when I came across his post about the Civil Grand Jury system in San Mateo, California.
The San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury is an independent investigative body created by the California State Constitution. Composed of nineteen citizens, the San Mateo [...]
Posted in Accountability, Blogging, Corporate, Education Committee, Elected Members, Integrated Children's Services, LAAC, Personal Lessons, Public Services on Jun 22nd, 2008 No Comments »
As Head of Education I had a very clear and unambiguous role, i.e. I was responsible for everything which came under the banner of education of children and young people from 3-18 years of age. In my new role as Acting Director of Education and Children’s Services I have a much wider remit which includes the oversight [...]
Posted in Accountability, Culture change, Ideas, Leadership, Leadership Dilemmas, Management, Partnerships, Planning, Policy, Power/influence, Public Services, TESS, professionalism on Jun 8th, 2008 5 Comments »
Every educational leader, regardless of position, has to wrestle with the powerful temptation to intervene or to meddle in the business of those whom they manage. The logic is fairly simple - “I’m being paid to manage and to be accountable for the work of others - so it’s reasonable that I take action in order [...]
Posted in Accountability, Culture change, Finance, Ideas, Management, Planning, Public Services, Strategic, Unions, honesty on May 28th, 2008 4 Comments »
The challenge of providing a high quality education service at a time when expenditure is growing faster than the available budget means that change, in some form, must take place.
There is a tendency in education to always reflect upon such an issue from the moral high-ground and simply state that more money must be forthcoming! As the person who [...]
Posted in Accountability, Finance, Leadership, Personal Lessons, Public Services on May 1st, 2008 4 Comments »
It’s that time of year when the consequences of trying to deliver our service within the available budget require difficult decisions to be made.
Maybe I’m just kidding myself but I still believe passionately in the value of education, that teaching and learning is at the core of what we do, and that caring for kids [...]
Posted in Accountability, Harvard, OUtcome agreements, Partnerships, Planning, Public Services, Strategic on Apr 26th, 2008 1 Comment »
I came across the concept of a social return on investment last summer when Jim Honan explained the Program Logic Model.
The model seeks to find a way in which public services can actually have a greater impact by focusing upon the things that will actually lead to a return on social investment. The tendency in [...]
Posted in Accountability, Children's Services, Corporate, Inclusion, Integrated Children's Services, LAAC, Partnerships, Performance Indicators on Feb 23rd, 2008 3 Comments »
I’ve become a parent again!!!!
One of the most exciting aspects of my new job is that I intend to take on the role of Education Champion for Looked After and Accommodated Children in East Lothian. The reality of the educational outcomes of this group of children in Scotland is is quite shameful:
The attendance of children [...]
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