Improving college effectiveness: raising quality and achievement.

Work undertaken to improve the effectiveness of the United Kingdom's schools and further education (FE) sectors was identified and assessed in a study entailing four data collection methods: literature review; questionnaire administered to all FE college principals in England and Wales; expert seminar and face-to-face interviews with high-level representatives of all major agencies responsible for the schools, higher education (HE), and FE sectors; and focus group and telephone interviews with quality managers in a sample of colleges. Although the questionnaire elicited a response rate of only 18 %, the respondents were representative of the FE sector as a whole. Among the main obstacles to improving sector effectiveness identified by the principals were the following: lack of finance and funding;lack of management systems and training for middle managers; and need for lecturing staff to adopt new teaching methods. Confusion over the terms"effectiveness" and "improvement" was discovered. It was concluded that systematic quantitative and qualitative research based on a theoretical framework clarifying its relationship to Further Education Funding Council policy and practice is critical to future work to improve the schools, FE,and HE sectors. (Appended are the following: research methodology,bibliography that contains 125 references, and information about the study's authors.)