The Funding of School Education
Connecting Resources and Learning
This report on the funding of school education constitutes the first in a series of thematic comparative reports bringing together findings from the OECD School Resources Review. School systems have limited financial resources with which to pursue their objectives and the design of school funding policies plays a key role in ensuring that resources are directed to where they can make the most difference. As OECD school systems have become more complex and characterised by multi-level governance, a growing set of actors are increasingly involved in financial decision-making. This requires designing funding allocation models that are aligned to a school system’s governance structures, linking budget planning procedures at different levels to shared educational goals and evaluating the use of school funding to hold decision makers accountable and ensure that resources are used effectively and equitably.
This report was co-funded by the European Commission.
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Evaluating the use of school funding
This chapter analyses the role of evaluation in school funding to hold decision makers accountable and to ensure available resources are used effectively and equitably. First, it discusses key aspects of evaluating the use of school funding in complex governance systems. Second, the chapter provides a description of the processes for evaluating the use of resources by agents at all levels of the system. This includes internal management and control, accounting, financial reporting, external audits and evaluations, and individual performance management. It discusses the key role of data and information management, indicator frameworks and benchmarking systems to facilitate an effective monitoring of the use of school funding. Third, the chapter offers an overview of processes to evaluate particular types of school funding, such as targeted funds for equity. The chapter concludes with a set of policy options for evaluating the use of school funding.