This presentation presents results of a case study on the effectives of the regional educational initiative "School Improvement and Sustainable Leadership - Program for Education Development and Education Policy on Micro Level: Cakovec process". The immediate objective of this initiative is a development of the capability of local authorities and communities to expand and implement education policy. The second project objective is a development of the capability of the central authorities to provide an appropriate framework for local education policy development and implementation. The proposed program is designed to establish a framework for involving various stakeholders (general public, associations, NGOs, local authorities, business sector etc.) in the local education policy process.  The program for this initiative is built upon experiences and research-based understanding of how to make sustainable impact in teaching and learning in schools. Selected approach within this strategy is based on three overriding change principles: focus on learning, building learning communities and strengthening sustainable leadership.

Theoretical background

According to Weiler (1990), the three most common arguments for educational decentralization related to redistributing power, enhancing efficiency, and improving learning are in a conflict with powerful forces favoring centralization. According to the literature review results, there are seldom research articles which are dealing with issues of the effectiveness of the local educational initiatives in the conditions of the centralized educational governance. Generally, educational experts argue that success of local educational programs directly depend on participating stakeholders' understanding of applied instructional and management strategies (Chapman, 2000).

Research questions

We attempted to answer following research questions: (1) what type of cooperation is happening between stakeholders on a local level (teachers, school expert services, school principals, preservice teacher preparation institution, town and municipality); (2) what types of cooperation is happening between local and regional stakeholders (micro-level); (3) what type of cooperation is happening between local/regional stakeholders (micro-level) and central government (Ministry of Science, Education and Sport).

Methodology

Data sources for the case study include:  (a) a semi-structured interview with a project leader; (b) an interview with the town representative in charge of a project implementation; (c) focus group interviews (school principal council; school expert services council); (d) artifacts given to the researchers by the participating stakeholders (i.e., meeting minutes, activities evaluations and reports etc). Collected data was analyzed for the presence of predominant topics and issues. The use of review of related literature served as a secondary, comparative source of data and helped triangulation of the case study findings.

Findings

Based on data analysis, it is determined that cooperation between stakeholders on a local level does exist and that it is improved with the implementation of the local educational initiative. In a data analysis we focused on relations between: teachers; teachers and preservice teacher preparation institution; teachers and school principals; teachers and school expert services; teachers and town; school principals and school expert services; school principals and town, school expert services and town, preservice teacher preparation institution and town.   There is an enhanced awareness about need for a dialog between all involved participants. There is a change in a type of cooperation between participants. Prior to the program implementation, cooperation between stakeholders was primarily administrative. At this point cooperation is more straightforward, and is occurring through face to face meetings and by the means of ICT technology. Participating stakeholders stated that currently there is no significant cooperation on a regional level. Data suggests that there are considerable changes in cooperation with the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport (MoSES). Prior to the initiative implementation, cooperation between local and regional units and MoSES was predominantly administrative. Furthermore, data suggests that previous cooperation was predominantly top-down and due to the initiative implementation bottom-up approach was introduced.

Conclusion

Process of educational decentralization in Croatia started with the financial decentralization and at this point did not expand towards other areas of educational system. This case study was focusing on the initiative that could serve as a best practice for implementation of educational changes on a local level in other regions in Croatia and south-east Europe. There is importance of a continuous evaluation of applied practices, which is involving all of the stakeholders. Continuous evaluation of the program provides feedback on various aspects of its implementation, and assures its sustainability. Also, case study results should provide data for the strategic papers on educational improvement in a region.

References

Chapman, D.W. (2000). Trends in educational administration in developing Asia. Educational Administration Quarterly, 36(2), 283–308.

Weiler, H. N. (1990). Comparative Perspectives on Educational Decentralization: An Exercise in Contradiction? Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 12(4), 433-448.