GUIDING SCHOOLS TO IMPROVED PERFORMANCE USING DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS - AN ILLUSTRATION WITH DATA FROM A LOCAL EDUCATION AUTHORITY

The educational process is characterized by multiple outcomes such as the achievement of academic results of various standards and non-acade mic achievements. This paper shows how data envelopment analysis (DEA) can be used to guide secondary schools to improved performance throug h role-model identification and target setting in a way that recognize s the multi-outcome nature of the education process and reflects the r elative desirability of improving individual outcomes. The approach pr esented in the paper draws from a DEA-based assessment of the schools of a local education authority carried out by the authors. Data from t hat assessment are used to illustrate the approach presented in the pa per.