The operational development of educational resources management systems in public schools of the United States

• Main Author: Platt, David D.
• Other Authors: Strom, Merle T.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Educational accountability.; School management and organization > Mathematical models.
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/179658; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/415361

The purpose of the study was to secure and compare stated judgments of public school superintendents, business managers, and curriculum directors relative to the operational development of Educational Resources Management Systems used in public schools in the United States. School officials with four or more years experience in the development and operation of ERM Systems were regarded as qualified to participate in the study. Four-hundredfive participants were identified from 135 school districts. Responses were received from 254 school officials employed in 115 school districts.Data were secured by means of the ERMS Operational Development Questionnaire developed for use in the study. Respondents provided judgments regarding operational development of ERM Systems used in public schools. Such judgments were submitted to a single factor analysis of variance. The analysis revealed judgments relative to all nine components of ERM Systems members of all three groups as denoting sameness and reported by coming from a single larger "parent" population of which respondents from the three groups were members.Additional findings derived from the study included:The higher the mean average reported district average daily membership, the lower mean average reported ERMS operational developmentNo consistent relationship was discovered between mean average reported ERMS operational development and mean average number of years qualified reporting officials had been employed in current positionsPPBS and PPBES conceptualizations of ERM Systems were most often reported as systems being used in public schoolsWhen combinations of ERM Systems were reported in use, PPBS/MBO and PPBES/MBO were most often reportedThe addition of MBO as a system supporting PPBS resulted in higher reported levels of ERMS operational developmentIndividual components of ERM Systems were not judged with like levels of operational developmentOver-all, ERM Systems were judged as having been developed and being used for some educational program developmentConclusions developed from the study included the following:1. Operationally developed ERM Systems are not in wide spread use by public school officials in the United States2. ERM Systems used by officials in public school districts in the United States have been operationally developed to the extent that some educational program decisions are being made by school officials on the basis of data generated by the ERM System3. School officials working with ERM Systems view operational development of ERM Systems in a uniform way4. School officials developing ERM Systems can expect operational development of individual components of ERM Systems to develop in the following order: adoption of goals; program identification; program budget; needs assessment; objectives; program alternatives; program selection; program evaluation and multi-year projection5. School officials selectively develop individual components of ERM Systems rather than developing the total system all at once6. More than six years is needed to realize fully operational ERM Systems7. ERM Systems become operationally developed more quickly in school districts with average daily membership of less than 5,000 pupils8. PPBS or PPBES used in combination with MBO yields higher levels of ERMS operational development than when used alone9. School officials generally are not prepared to develop and operationalize ERM Systems10. Effectiveness of ERM Systems has not been established and documented through researchRecommendations based on findings and conclusions in the study included:1. Models should be developed to provide a simple ERM System that can be implemented by school officials using in-house expertise2. A model should be developed that integrates the conceptualizations of Management by Objectives with Planning-Programming-Budgeting Systems3. Members of State Legislatures should re-evaluate mandates for implementation of total ERM Systems in light of small numbers of operational systems and the lack of research related to effectiveness of total ERM Systems or individual components of ERM Systems