School governance

Original title: De school bestuurd. Until now, little was known about school boards in primary and secondary schools. This study presents a national overview of the way in which these school boards interpret and fulfil their role. More and different demands have been placed on school boards in recent years, for example with regard to transparency of governance and public accountability. In a national survey of school boards, the Netherlands Institute for Social Research/SCP explored what they think about their own role and about a number of current themes. A total of 500 school boards responded. This report shows how school boards are using or plan to use their increasing autonomy and what they themselves see as the criteria of good governance. Are all school boards prepared for this change? The report also looks at how far school boards believe their social responsibility extends and how important they consider socially desirable objectives (their 'social task'). The reducing ability of the government to guarantee attention for such social objectives via education makes this question all the more important. Naturally, many decisions are taken by school heads and management teams, but ultimate responsibility still rests with the school boards, even though they often govern on the main themes rather than the detail or play a more supervisory role