Opting for Self-Management: The Early Experience of Grant-Maintained Schools (Educational Management)

Although the main emphasis in the shift towards self-managing schools has been orchestrated through the introduction of local management of schools in the Education Reform Act, the development has been given radical impetus by the opportunity for schools to "opt out" of local authority control and become grant-maintained. The authors examine the early experiences of the first grant-maintained schools and consider the challenges that face the self-managing school in the 1990s. They look at the context of the change of status, what it means to be grant-maintained, and review the types of schools that have opted out so far and their reasons for doing so. A section of specially commissioned case studies written by headteachers offers accounts of how each school has coped with the move to grant-maintained status. "Opting for Self-Management" provides a practical and realistic appraisal of grant-maintained schools and their move towards self-management. This book should be of interest to undergraduates, postgraduates and academics in educational management and policy, heads and senior management teams in schools, LEA officers and governors.