Tekijät

• Ojala, Ilpo (University of Vaasa. Faculty of Social Sciences)

Asiasanat

community colleges, decision making, educational administrators, educational guidance, educational institutions, educational reform, educational resources, folk high schools, performance indicators, primary schools, schools, secondary schools

Sisällön kuvaus

Similar surveys were also carried out in 1998 and 2002. In the first two surveys, different types of educational institutions were not sorted out, and hence the same questionnaire was sent to all heads of educational institutions. The survey deals mainly with three topics: municipal administration, profitability and development policies of educational institutions. The respondents were also asked several basic questions on their educational institutions and teaching provided by the institutions.

The first basic questions included topics such as the ownership of the institute, the number of students and personnel, and the location of the institute in relation to the municipality centre. The respondents were also asked whether their institute provides specialised teaching (e.g. music-oriented or language-oriented teaching) and remedial teaching or special education, as well as whether they organise after school recreation activities or clubs. Some questions pertained to whether their institute uses contracted-out services, and whether the institute charges fees in exchange for different services.

In relation to management and decision-making, the respondents were asked which issues they are in charge of and whether there is a board or a corresponding body at their institute. If there was a board or a corresponding body, they were asked how much weight the board members have in municipal politics. Profitability was examined by asking the respondents various questions on performance indicators and the usability of information produced by the indicators in developing different activities. In addition, the respondents estimated the current state of affairs of various factors (e.g. teaching atmosphere, facilities, equipment) connected to the institute.

Questions on the development policy focused especially on changes in the institute's funding and organisation of teaching since 1992. The respondents were asked to give their opinions on whether certain factors promote or hinder the competition between various institutions. Views on future development goals (e.g. the quality of teaching, international activities, the image of the institute, advertising) were also probed.

Background variables included the respondent's title, gender, mother tongue, year of birth, level of education, elective offices, work experience in current position, and work experience in the field. In addition, the data include external background variables.