In this report, I have presented as a case study from Mie prefecture an example of repeated trial and error procedures aimed at improving a policy evaluation system. The government reform was promoted on the basis of the idea of "the ordinary citizen as the starting point", and an improved version of "administrative and financial system reform" was devised with policy/administration evaluation as its pivotal axis. In the area of educational administration and finance too, various multi-faceted reforms were promoted in the form of new policy axes or reformed policies and links, under the leadership of the office of the prefectural governor. These reforms, which brought about changes in the resource allocation framework of educational administration and finance, can be thought of as directed toward improvements in the effectiveness of distribution and production. As result, various items of new knowledge could be obtained. Firstly, choosing to introduce unitary "administrative and financial system reforms" over a wide area under the leadership of the prefectural governor meant that it was susceptible to influences resulting from a change in the person of the governor. The second issue is concerned with the cost-effectiveness of the construction of an administrative management system. Third is the point that the most decisive factor in terms of an increase or decrease in the educational budget was a factor outside the rational system (abolition, reform, suspension) that existed within the management system framework. The change to a system which can easily be penetrated by the vision of the governor is likely to accelerate this state of affairs. The state of affairs as described here is not linked to the creation or enhancement of the function of governance in the sphere of educational administration and finance, but on the contrary may well become an impediment. Moreover, a new problem arises in the form of how to ensure the stability and continuity that constitute vitally important management principles in educational administration and finance. The introduction of a wide-area, unitary management system under the direction of the governor's office can bring about a fixed effect in terms of cost savings (economies of scale). But at the same time, new costs may be generated by the expansion of the governor's field of discretion. The difficulty of attempting to achieve the creation or enhancement of the governance function in educational administration and finance by means of a management system framework can be seen as providing support and evidence for the view that newly generated costs are larger than any cost-reduction effect. A Board of Education has the characteristics of an enterprise similar to "local public enterprises" such as bodies providing water services, hospital services and traffic services. It follows from this that the Board of Education should be categorized as an independent cost center. Is it not arguable, from the point of view of cost-effectiveness, that it is precisely independence from the somewhat inefficient unitary management system that is likely to lead to the creation and improvement of the governance system in educational administration and finance?

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Following the implementation of the collective law of decentralization of power, the approach concerning the class formation in local was changed from maintenances of the status quo as a counter measure of the decrease of the number of classes to positive measures as an original educational policy that has aimed at the improvement of scholastic attainments in the local level. In this change, Yamagata Prefecture is a municipality that has progressively pulled the small size class policy like Shiki City or Inuyama City. The law concerning the standard of the class formation of various schools of compulsory education throughout the country revised in 2001. After this, the small group instruction policy for the elementary school of Yamagata Prefecture that combines the increased ration teachers expended from the country budget with the adjunct instructor expended from the prefecture budget had implemented. (The Yamabiko plan, 2001) As the next stage of development, with the strong support of the governor of Yamagata Prefecture, the Yamabiko Plan developed into the Sansan Plan. The standard by which the number of pupils per a class was assumed to be 33 pupils from 21 was settled in the school year of 2002. In 2004, the class formation of 33 pupils from 21 was completed as a standard in all grades of the elementary school in Yamagata prefecture. Problems arising with regard to the Sansan plan can be identified as follows. Firstly, there is the issue of assuming the Sansan plan to be the standard criterion of educational policy in Yamagata prefecture. Secondly, there is the issue of ongoing negotiations regarding government expenditure as well as simulations of the class formation and teacher deployment arrangements. And thirdly, there is the question of adjusting the relationships among the educational administration bodies in the prefecture. To solve the above-mentioned problems, the Yamagata Prefecture board of education held "Small size class formation study group", this study group has the aims of the following three headings : (1)interpretation of existing law of Ministry of Education and confirmation of teacher arrangement plans, (2)obtaining an understanding the implementation condition and the policy of making the class formation of other local authorities, (3)validating the effects of the small class policy. In addition, the Yamagata Prefecture board of education held "Nationwide small group instruction study group". In this study group, several schools in the prefecture had led practices advanced. These a series of approaches of the above-mentioned had significant meanings of affirming the view and the policy of Ministry of Education sharing knowledge of the situation of the implementation with other municipality for making the system of the class formation flexible and advancing the small size class studying. On the other hand, the local TV station and newspaper reported these every time. This became a big announcing for the inhabitants of the prefecture. The characteristic of this case can be pointed out as follows. The small size class policy of the Yamagata Prefecture board of education is an approach with a series of cycle of planning which have several aspects of studying the effect and the yield, evaluating the result, clarifying the problem and the improvement, and improving the plan for the next fiscal year. Although I still have a number of reservations, I evaluate highly the autonomy and originality of the Yamagata Prefectural Board of Education in adopting this kind of approach.

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Takahama City in Aichi Prefecture, under the leadership of the city's Mayor, is pursuing the goal of becoming a city with "an ideal welfare system. " This follow-up study focuses on further discussion with members of the board of education and lessons learned about local management. We first present the reforms in Takahama City as they relate to the education system. Next, we consider selected characteristics of the reform movement. Finally, we consider the position of the board of education in local management. Welfare policy reforms in Takahama City are dependent on Mr. Sadanori Mori who has been serving as a Mayor sincel989. He has been putting a lot of his energy into making Takahama City unique in Japan in terms of how the policy of welfare is translated into community-wide reform. There are four characteristics of welfare policy planning in Takahama : (1)reforms are based on coherent welfare policy, (2)community participation in reform is paramount, (3)creation of an efficient administrative management system, and (4)explicit linking of welfare policy to community development. An example of how welfare policy reforms in Takahama City affect the education system is found in the establishment of a new elementary school. The following changes in the education system are being pursued in creating the new school : (1)a newly mandated board of education, (2)reform of educational and administrative organization, (3)public posting of the position of principal for the newly established school, (4)introduction of a school evaluation system. The characteristics of the reforms in Takahama City are : (1)welfare policy is affecting educational reform ; (2)the style of top-down policy formation is shifting toward bottom-up policy formation through increased community participation. The features of the way in which policy is driving reform include : (1)the existing "human network" is being tapped for professional capital, (2)for this reason, very experienced and educated staff are appropriately positioned, (3)and, it is being recognized that efficient administrative management and democratic policy need to be well balanced. Based on the study of the case of Takahama City, the ideal system for future development of boards of education is presented. A fundamental issue for boards of education must be meeting the needs of the community ("popular control"). Smaller boards of education than typical may help guarantee "community buy-in." On the other hand," professional leadership" is key to the success of any board of education. Even staff members working for the board of education should have training in the education system or in educational administration. Furthermore, the board of education and its staff should understand the role of education in the community and city and liaison with other governmental groups whose work relates to community education more broadly.

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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the political process surrounding the enactment of the Private School Promotion Subsidy Law ofl975. The Private School Promotion Subsidy Law aims to expand the financial aid program targeted at the current expenditure of private educational institutions including private upper and lower secondary schools, elementary schools and kindergartens as well as private universities. The legislation was initiated by a Diet member belonging to the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). This paper examines the behavior of the LDP "Bunkyo-zoku" during the legislative process. The term "Bunkyo-zoku" refers to an unofficial clique composed of Diet members sharing an interest in educational matters. Despite the epoch-making nature of this enactment, which set out stipulations concerned with governmental financial aid aimed at alleviating the burden of current expenditure incurred by private educational institutions, most previous research has focused on an analysis, by means of legal interpretation or normative analysis. It has not identified how this law was enacted, what kinds of actors were involved, and what sort of influence they brought to bear on the legislative process. But there can be no doubt that a very important task in research in educational administration is to explain what factors determine the policy-making process in respect of specific policies. It is against this background that this paper has focused on the political process, including in its perspective consideration of the various arguments concerned with giving financial aid to private schools to ease their current expenditure, as well as the political climate at the time concerned. As a result of this analysis, the paper offers the following clarification of the political dynamics and mechanism of the legislative process. The first point is that members of the LDP Bunkyo-zoku gave consideration of the enactment of a bill concerned with financial aid to private schools over a period of many years. The second point concerns the reluctance of the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture to enact provisions regarding governmental financial aid to private educational institutions in respect of their current expenditure at the period of time concerned, and associated with this, the strenuous opposition to enactment by the Ministry of Finance because of their wish to prevent a growing fiscal burden. As a result of the attitude of these government agencies, submission to the Diet was delayed. Thirdly, the factor in the political climate that impacted on enactment was the "balanced strength of conservative and progressive factions". Fourthly, although the legislative bill represented a considerable retreat from the original concept, the law cleared the Diet because of the strong leadership shown by the LDP Bunkyo-zoku, strenuous negotiation with government agencies, political horse-trading with Opposition parties and cooperation with private school-affiliated pressure groups. The aim of this paper was to examine the political factors contributing to enactment of financial aid to private educational institutions. The hypothesis put forward in this paper is the following. The LDP has come to play a leading role in educational policy in general as the predominant political party of Japan. In particular, Bunkyo-zoku, a unique actor, has a major effect on policy-making in respect of private schools. Future tasks comprise an examination of other educational policies concerned with private schools so as to verify the validity of this hypothesis.

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Performance indicators of public services have been in contention since thel980s in the UK. The New Public Management (NPM) initiatives of public service reforms consider that performance indicators play the key role in public service reform. However, there are many criticisms of performance indicators, while there are also many accolades for performance indicators. Secondary School league tables are well known performance indicators in public education, as they show the academic achievements of all schools in England based on mostly national examination results. Similar to other performance indicators in public sectors, Secondary School league tables rather controversial. People who appreciate Secondary School league tables argue that the tables provide information about school achievements to consumers of public education, especially parents, and it could be possible for parents to choose the proper school for their children. Thereby, they argue that Secondary School league tables can advance the standards of Secondary Schools. On the other hand, opponents of school league tables argue that neither do school league tables contribute to the increase of school choice, nor do they provide accurate information about each school. Rather, they criticize that Secondary School league tables may distort parents' and other citizen's estimations of each school's performance by providing inaccurate information about school achievements which relates to scores of the national examinations. Recently, Japanese Government has also introduced performance indicators in many public sectors. Also, they plan to introduce the national examination from the next fiscal year. It is, therefore, worth reviewing the outcome of Secondary School league tables in the UK. This paper analyse the argument relating to Secondary School league tables. By referring to literature and statistics, the relationship between Secondary School league tables and school choice, and problems of Secondary School league tables are examined. The result of this analysis explains that Secondary School league tables have not been effective performance indicators, due to the use of raw 'unfaithful' data of the national examinations. Despite the introduction of value added measures, many raw data remain and Secondary School league tables continue to provide inappropriate information to parents and citizens. Thus, Secondary School league tables should be amended as soon as possible in order to become the effective scheme to provide the accurate figure of each school. By the same token, it should be considered that the each school's raw data of the national examinations should be not published, at least as nationwide indicators.

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The purpose of this paper is to analyze some situational factors instrumental in promoting the development of educational reform policies for school support that boards of education at the local municipal level have recently been addressing. The data to be analyzed is based on a nation-wide survey mailed in January and July 2004 to l998superintendents of municipal (city, town, village and metropolitan special district) boards of education. The total sample comprises 1407 superintendents of education. The focus of analysis was placed on the characteristics of educational policy actors in local municipalities because our main concern can be expressed in terms of the following research questions: What characteristics of major actors are related to the progress of school support reform? What characteristics of major actors are the most influential factors? In order to answer these research questions, we attempted to carry out correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis of the survey data. In this analysis, an explained variable denotes the degree of progress of reform as a whole that was constructed as a variable based on the data for school support policies and projects adopted by local boards of education. As explanatory variables, the following six sets of variables were taken up: (1)The characteristics of superintendents; (2)The characteristics of board members and board meetings; (3)The characteristics of the organizational framework of central offices and their performance of their roles; (4)The characteristics of mayors, that is, chiefs of local municipalities; (5)The characteristics of community residents and leaders of community organizations; (6)The characteristics of teacher associations. The results of correlation analysis suggest that local boards of education become more actively involved in adopting school support reform policies when they are situated in local municipalities where : (1)superintendents actively interact with colleagues in other communities, school principals, local politicians and so on. (2)central offices are professionally staffed and organized as a support structure for board members and superintendents. (3)mayors are keenly interested in educational problems. (4)community residents are interested in educational problems, are highly organized and participate actively in local meetings for policy discussions. With regard to the results of multiple regression analysis, it is made clear that in terms of the strength of influence exerted on reform progress, the characteristics of major actors can be arranged as follows: (1)the organizational framework of central offices: (2)the degree to which superintendents interact with other colleagues, principals, and so on ; (3)the degree to which central office staff carry out their appointed roles; (4)the level of interest in education on the part of community residents; (5)the degree of interest shown by mayors in local educational problems.

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The purpose of this paper is to clarify the nature of the requests in the areas of both local finance and educational administration, in response to how the Dedicated School Grant was introduced in England from the 2006 financial year. The paper analyzes the institutionalization process of DSG mainly on the basis of changes in local finance and educational administration in and after the Thatcher administration. Firstly, this paper explains, on the basis of previous research, that the financial power of local government increased up until 1980, but after 1981, was undermined by the Thatcher administration. This paper also makes clear that the Blair administration, which came to power in 1997, has not taken a positive attitude in respect of strengthening local finances. Next, the paper shows how changes in the system of educational administration under the Thatcher administration undermined the power of LEAs, while strengthening central government and the authority delegated to schools. As for the role of the Blair administration, although some additions and modifications to educational administration systems were made in line with the concept of "the third way", fundamentally, policy followed on from that of the Thatcher administration. The role of LEAs was limited to providing support to schools and coordinating relations between schools, parents and the community. The Blair administration did not restore the financial power which LEAs had before the introduction of Local Management of Schools. In the spring of 2003, a school funding crisis occurred. Many school heads claimed that because of their budget shortage, it would be necessary to take such actions as making teachers redundant, shortening teachers' work time, discontinuing certain subjects and/or increasing class sizes. It was pointed out that the major cause for the crisis was to be found in the extra personnel costs caused by the expected implementation of a workload agreement with teachers and higher national insurance and pension contributions. LEAs blamed central government for failing to make adequate budgetary provisions in consideration of the rise in personnel expenses, while on the other hand DfES blamed the LEAs for distributing the school budget among other services. To resolve this crisis, in the 2004-05 financial year central government delivered the school budget to local government through the Revenue Support Grant (RSG) as in previous years, but as an exceptional measure, local government was instructed to draw up the school budget at a figure equivalent to or greater than the central government estimate. Central government institutionalized DSG from the 2006 financial year under the pressure of the need to make the school budget more stable and predictable. DSG is a ring-fenced grant to be used only for schools. DSG increases the power of central government to restrict local governments' freedom to control their own finances. In other words, it can be evaluated as centralizing still further the public finance system in England. This centralization is consistent with the policies followed under the Thatcher administration. From the point of view of local government administration, the institutionalization of DSG meets the needs of schools wishing to expand their freedom still more under the Local Management of schools and to secure greater transparency in their budgetary allocations. At the same time, it marks a further advance in the Blair administration's policy of restricting the role of LEAs. It seems to reasonable to conclude that DSG can be located in the line of succession from the local finance and educational administration policies implemented from the Thatcher administration onwards.

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