School outcomes:sharing the responsibility between pupil and school

This paper uses a Data Envelopment Analysis based approach to decompose pupil under-attainment into that attributable to the school the pupil attends and that attributable to the pupil. The approach measures pupil attainment in terms of value added. Data on over 6700 A-level pupils from 122 English schools have been analysed. The results suggest that at current levels of school effectiveness a pupil's own application accounts for the major part of any under-attainment, though schools also have scope to improve their effectiveness.The approach also makes it possible to identify target attainment levels a pupil could be set and the extent to which the attainment of those targets necessitates an improvement in the effectiveness of the school the pupil attends and in the pupil's own efforts.

Reducing dependence on big brother:Higher Education looks for innovative funding opportunities

This paper presents innovative programs that business schools can utilize to reduce dependence on public funds. A review of the literature shows the theoretical and empirical foundation of higher education funding dilemmas. While higher education is moving towards a global ambition, scarcity hinders governments to fully support programs long-term; thus, cost-sharing and cost-shifting measures must occur for higher education to support current programs. In this study, we examine two universities (one U.S. and one U.K.) and provide practical summaries of programs that have provided additional funds. We show that diversity of funding sources is essential for survival of higher education institutions. Market forces require competition to reduce higher education operational costs while providing students and corporate clients an a la carte educational experience.