ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN'> <html><head><title>Title Page</title><meta http-equiv='Content-Type' content='text/html; charset=iso-8859-1'><style type='text/css'>h1 { margin:0px 0px 0px 0px; padding:0px; font-size:large; font-weight:900; font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:center; color:#000; }h2 { font-size:medium; font-weight:900; font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin:10px 0px -2px 0px; padding:0px; color:#000; }h2.myclass { font-size:medium; font-weight:900; font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin:10px 0px -2px 0px; padding:0px; color:#000; text-align:center;}h3 { font-size:13px; font-weight:700; font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin:0px 0px -1px 0px; padding:0px; color:#07a; }h3.myclass { font-size:13px; font-weight:700; font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin:0px 0px -1px 0px; padding:0px; color:#07a; text-align:center;}h4 { font-size:x-large; font-family:garamond, serif; color:#09f; text-align:center; margin:0px 0px 5px 0px; padding:0px;}h5 { font-size:13px; font-family:verdana, arial,sans-serif; font-weight:600; margin:0px 0px 5px 50px; padding:0px;}i.myclass{color:#07a;}</style></head><body> <H1> Participation of Volunteer Citizens in the Governance of Education, 2000-2003 </H1> <H3 class='myclass'> UKDA study number:5633</h3> <H2 class='myclass'>Principal Investigators </H2> <H3 class='myclass'> Ranson, S.<br>Smith, P.<br>University of Birmingham. School of Education<br>Arnott, M.<br>Glasgow Caledonian University. School of Law and Social Sciences<br>Martin, J.<br>University of London. Institute of Education<br>McKeown, P.<br>Queen's University of Belfast. Institute of Child Care Research<br> </H3> <H2 class='myclass'>Sponsor</H2> <H3 class='myclass'>Economic and Social Research Council<br></H3> <H2 class='myclass'>Distributed by</H2> <H3 class='myclass'>UK Data Archive, University of Essex, Colchester.</H3> <H3 class='myclass'> October 2007 </H3> <div style='page-break-before:always'></div> <H1>&nbsp;</H1><H1>Bibliographic Citation</H1> <H5> All works which use or refer to these materials should acknowledge these sources by means of bibliographic citation. To ensure that such source attributions are captured for bibliographic indexes, citations must appear in footnotes or in the reference section of publications. The bibliographic citation for this data collection is: </h5> <H5> Ranson, S. et al. , <i> Participation of Volunteer Citizens in the Governance of Education, 2000-2003</i> [computer file]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive [distributor], October 2007. SN: 5633, http://dx.doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-5633-1. </h5><H1>&nbsp;</H1> <H1 >Acknowledgement</h1> <h5> Any publication, whether printed, electronic or broadcast, based wholly or in part on these materials, should acknowledge the original data creators, depositors or copyright holders, the funders of the Data Collections (if different) and the UK Data Archive, and to acknowledge Crown Copyright where appropriate. <br> Any publication, whether printed, electronic or broadcast, based wholly or in part on these materials should carry a statement that the original data creators, depositors or copyright holders, the funders of the Data Collections (if different) and the UK Data Archive bear no responsibility for their further analysis or interpretation. </h5><H5>&nbsp;</H5> <h5><b>Copyright: </b><br> S. Ranson </h5><H1>&nbsp;</H1> <H1>Disclaimer</H1> <h5> Although all efforts are made to ensure the quality of the materials, neither the original data creators, depositors or copyright holders, the funders of the Data Collections, nor the UK Data Archive bear any responsibility for the accuracy or comprehensiveness of these materials.<br> </h5><h5>&nbsp;</h5><h5>All rights reserved. No part of these materials may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the UK Data Archive.<br><br>UK Data Archive<br> University of Essex<br> Wivenhoe Park<br> Colchester<br> Essex C04 3SQ<br> United Kingdom<br>www.data-archive.ac.uk <br><br> </h5> <h2 style='page-break-before:always'> 5633 . Participation of Volunteer Citizens in the Governance of Education, 2000-2003<br> </h2><h3>&nbsp;</h3> <h3>Depositor:</h3> <h5>Ranson, S. , University of Birmingham. School of Education</h5> <h3>Principal Investigators:</h3> <h5>Ranson, S. , University of Birmingham. School of Education</h5> <h5>Arnott, M. , Glasgow Caledonian University. School of Law and Social Sciences</h5> <h5>Martin, J. , University of London. Institute of Education</h5> <h5>McKeown, P. , Queen's University of Belfast. Institute of Child Care Research</h5> <h5>Smith, P. , University of Birmingham. School of Education</h5> <H3>Sponsor:</H3><H5> Economic and Social Research Council<br> <i class='myclass'> Grant Number:</i> L215252043 </H5> <h3> Abstract: </h3> <h5>This mixed methods study of the participation of school governors/school board members as 'volunteer citizens' examined the influence of volunteers within a reformed system of governance across the United Kingdom, designed to enhance public accountability. In particular, it examined their contribution to school effectiveness and the raising of standards, as well as their influence over local national policy-making. Hypothesising that shared understandings and agreements between all the 'stakeholders' in education are the way to enhance public accountability and raise standards, the research studied ways in which volunteers engage in 'dialogic democracy'; how the institutions of the governance of education facilitate or constrain the 'voice' of volunteers; and how volunteers use their social capital in different regional contexts, at a time of conditional change, to make an effective contribution.<br> <br> The research was comparative across the UK, and studied the contribution of governors/school board members to education policy, practice and performance at school level, local level, and national level. Qualitative (interviews and observations of meetings) data were collated and analysed to develop an understanding of theory and practice in this area.<br> <br> A questionnaire survey was administered to all school governors/board members in the five local authorities which formed the focus of study.<br> <br> A programme of interviews was conducted with national-level officials responsible for school governance, local education authority-level officers and members, school-level interviews with chairs, governors, heads and teachers.<br> <br> Finally, observation notes and minutes were taken of school governing body meetings.<br></h5><h3>Main Topics:</h3><h5>Topics covered in the interviews included: why became governor/school board member, or details of school headteacher role; voluntary work; whether parent or co-opted governor; length of service; structure and focus of school governing board; communication; relationship between board and school; role of chairperson and perceived future developments.<br> <br> Topics covered in the survey included: volunteering; participation; governance; school governance and democracy; and demographic questions.<br></h5> <h3>Coverage: </h3><h5> <br><i class='myclass'>Dates of Fieldwork: </i> 01 May 2000 - 30 September 2003 <br><i class='myclass'>Country: </i> United Kingdom <br><i class='myclass'>Spatial Units: </i> Council Areas (Scotland);Local Education Authorities (LEAs) (England and Wales);Education and Library Boards (Northern Ireland) <br><i class='myclass'>Kind of Data: </i> Textual data; Numeric data; Individual (micro) level; Textual data include: semi-structured interview transcripts; focus group transcripts; minutes of meetings; observation field notes. </h5> <h3>Universe Sampled: </h3><h5> <i class='myclass'>Location of Units of Observation:</i> National <br><i class='myclass'>Population:</i> School governors/board members in five local authorities across the UK; national-level officials responsible for school governance; local education authority-level officers and members; chairs, governors, heads and teachers in five local authorities across the UK; and participants in school governing body meetings in five local authorities across the UK. </h5> <h3>Methodology: </h3><h5> <i class='myclass'>Time Dimensions: </i> Cross-sectional (one-time) study <br><i class='myclass'>Sampling Procedures: </i> Purposive selection/case studies<br> A census approach was used for the survey of local authority governors. <br><i class='myclass'>Method of Data Collection: </i> Face-to-face interview; Postal survey; Observation; Focus group <br><i class='myclass'>Weighting: </i> No weighting used. </h5><h3>Language(s) of Written Materials: </h3> <h5>Study Description: English<br>Study Documentation: English<br></h5> <h3>Access: </h3><h5> <i class='myclass'>Access Conditions: </i> The depositor has specified that registration is required and standard conditions of use apply. The depositor may be informed about usage. See <a href='http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/orderingdata/termsandConditions.asp'>terms and conditions</a> for further information. <br><i class='myclass'>Availability: </i> ESDS Qualidata, UK Data Archive <br><i class='myclass'>Contact: </i></b> Help desk: qualidata@esds.ac.uk<br> </h5> <h3>Date of First Release:</h3><h5> 15 October 2007<br></h5> <h3> Copyright: </h3> <h5> S. Ranson</h5> <br><br> <h3> File last updated: </h3> <h5>31 October 2011</h5> </body></html>