In this study, the performance of the school steering committee which was introduced to our schools in 1996 to realize a varied and creative education according to the characteristics of each school, was evaluated and the factors influencing over the ...
In this study, the performance of the school steering committee which was introduced to our schools in 1996 to realize a varied and creative education according to the characteristics of each school, was evaluated and the factors influencing over the measured performance were identified; and then the policies were proposed, for the rebirth of a successful school council.
For this, a study model was established, consisting of 8 independent variables: the representability in the aspect of the election of committee members, representability in the aspect of operation by committee members, the expertise of committee members, the attendance of committee members, the speech frequencies of committee members, principal's view on open school operation, the supports from educational agencies and local communities and 4 dependent variables : school's autonomy, school's democracy, school's uniqueness, the effectiveness of school education.
To empirically verify the causal relationships among these variables, the teachers and the committee members of 6 elementary schools, 3 middle schools and 1 high school in two cities of Gyeongnam, and 6 elementary schools, 3 middle schools and 1 high school in 2 Guns, were sampled; 270 questionnaires were distributed; finally 202 questionnaires were collected and statistically processed by SPSS 17.0 statistical program.
As a result of examining the effect and the significance of independent variables on the school steering committee performance; with respect to school's autonomy, the effect was big in the order of the support level of educational agencies and local communities, and the level of trust between committee members; with respect to school's democracy, the effect was big in the order of principal's view on open school operation, the attendance of committee members, the supports from educational agencies and local communities, and the representability in the aspect of operation by committee members. And, with respect to school's uniqueness, the effect was big in the order of the supports from educational agencies and local communities, principal's view on open school operation and the representability in the aspect of operation by committee members; with respect to the effectiveness of school education, the effect was big in the order of the supports from educational agencies and local communities, representability in the aspect of operation by committee members and the representability in the aspect of the election of committee members.
Thus, being focused on the factors affecting school steering committee performance, the improvement plans for the school steering committee performance can be suggested as follows. First, it was identified that the supports level from educational agencies and local communities was the factor influencing in general over school's autonomy, school's democracy, school's uniqueness, the effectiveness of school education. In other words, the supports from educational agencies and local communities are required above all, to improve the school steering committee performance. The educational agencies and local communities should have keen interests in school steering committee and play a role of catalyst, through administrative and financial supports in every area of school steering committee and strengthened promotion and training programs. Second, school principals should invite many members from various fields through their view on open school operation and make the school steering committee a venue for the active exchange of many opinions. Third, committee members should collect the opinions of the group to which they belong and improve the representability in the aspect of operation of committee members. Fourth, the committee members themselves should continue to seek the plans to secure the representability in the aspect of the election of committee members in the process of configuration of school steering committee, so that they can represent the group to which they belong. Lastly, the efforts to enhance the trust between committee members and the attendance of committee members to the school steering committee are required.