Biography
Present position
Since April 2000 I have been Professor of Economics and Finance of Education, Institute of Education, University of London, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL.
I am a Research Associate at the Centre for Economics of Education (DfES funded research centre) and Visiting Professor at the Institute of Educational Administration, Beijing Normal University.
My professional activities are research, consultancy and teaching Masters degree in Economics of Education and research degree supervision.
Areas of expertise for consultancy work
Reform of school finance systems– decentralisation and funding schools by formula (per student funding).
School based financial management and the management of resources within schools.
Public expenditure tracking applied to school systems.
Educational finance in general.
I have considerable experience of working on school finance reforms in transition states in central and eastern Europe and central Asia. I have also worked in developing countries in Asia.
CONSULTANCY WORK UNDERTAKEN
Financing Reforms and School Based Budgeting and Accounting (Republic of Azerbaijan(2005-7)
I am assisting with the design and implementation of a pilot project in 3 rayons (districts) to introduce per pupil funding of schools and school based financial management. This project is a sub-component of a comprehensive Education Sector Development Project being funded by the International Development Association in its first phase from 2004-7.
Design and Implementation of Finance and Governance Reforms in Bulgaria’s education sector (2006)
I worked as part of a World Bank team on the education component of a Development Policy Loan.
Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (2005) The relationship between school resources and pupil attainment at GCSE
Funded by Value for Money Unit, Department for Education and Skills, UK. (See DFES Research Report 727).
School Finance Reform in Thailand (April – August 2004)
I worked with a team from Thammasat University on a research report on the financing and performance of the education system in Thailand, including the design of a prototype school funding formula, based on school survey data.
Public Expenditure and Quality of Education Tracking System: Sri Lanka (2005)
I advised on the design of a Public Expenditure and Quality of Education Tracking System (PEQETS) as a part of a World Bank sponsored Education Sector Development Project.
Per student financing in general education in Montenegro (2004)
I prepared a report and terms of reference for a project on school finance decentralization to be funded by a World Bank credit.
Department for Education and Skills: The relationship between school resources and pupil attainment at Key Stage 3 (2003/4)
Funded by Value for Money Unit (See DFES Research Report 679)
General education in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2003).
I prepared a report and terms of reference for a project on school finance decentralization to be funded by a World Bank credit.
DfES (2002-3) Resources and Pupil Attainment: Pilot Study
I was employed as a consultant by PriceWaterhouseCoopers to work on a pilot study of the relationship between school resources and pupil attainment. The study was commissioned by Value for Money Unit, DfES.
International Institute for Educational Planning: school finance systems and corruption (2002-3)
I worked on a short-term consultancy for comparative research on formula funding in four countries and its implications for reducing or increasing opportunities for corruption. I authored with Peter Downes Formula Funding of Schools, Decentralization and Corruption: A Comparative Analysis (IIEP, Paris, 2004).
I presented the findings at the International Seminar on Strategies for Incorruptness within Educational System at Xi’an Jiaotong University, China for on May 15-17, 2006, organised by IIEP and the National Centre for Education Development, Ministry of Education, the People’s Republic of China.
Forty Group of Local Education Authorities (England) (2002)
I worked as consultant to the Forty Group of English Local Education Authorities for technical work on the English local government finance formula for grant distribution for education from 2003/04. Output was a report on An Analysis of the Relationship Between Sparsity and Area Cost Adjustment and the Costs of School Provision. This included a formula to relate the additional costs of smaller schools to the degree of sparsity. This was adopted in government’s changes to the local government formula for grant distribution. See Technical Note on the New Education Funding System at www.dfes.gov.uk/efsg.
Buckinghamshire Upper Schools Forum (2002)
I led a small group of researchers investigating the relative funding of upper schools and grammar schools in Buckinghamshire LEA. We produced a report Levaèiæ et al (2002) – see publications.
School finance reform in China (2001)
I was employed on a short-term consultancy for a World Bank project on Monitoring and Strengthening the System of School Finance in China, July 2001. I visited Nanchang to give lectures on school financing and advise on a World Bank project on the financing of rural schools.
Strategic Measures for Achieving Reform Targets (SMART) Poland 1997-1999:
SMART was a 5 ECU million project split into four components. I was sub-contracted to the lead contractor, Brunel University’ and acted as EU task-leader for Component 01, Policy Development, which assisted the Polish Ministry of National Education in strategic policy analysis and implementation. I was also the EU consultant on sub-component, 02 School Finance. I worked with a group of Polish school finance experts to assist the Ministry of Education in restructuring the school finance system. This restructuring was required in order to implement reforms, which created three tiers of local government and a new school structure. A new phase of lower secondary school was created in between a shortened primary phase and the four-year upper secondary (lyceum) phase. During both Polish projects I visited over a dozen provincial areas and visited different types of school and administrative offices.
Needs Based Resourcing of Education Via Formula Funding of Schools (1996-98)
This project was funded by UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning. I worked with Dr Ken Ross (Senior Specialist Adviser, IIEP) to produce a book based on a set of cross country case studies of formula funding of schools. The output was Ross. K. and Levaèiæ, R. (eds) Needs Based Resource Allocation in Education via Formula Funding of Schools (1999) Paris, International Institute of Educational Planning.
Policy Development within the Polish Ministry of National Education: Financing of Schools (1995-96)
I worked as a consultant on this eighteen month project, funded by the EU’s PHARE programme, which assisted Polish experts in policy development with respect to the Ministry of Education’s school finance system. As part of a policy of decentralisation, schools were being removed from central government control and given to newly reconstituted local government units to administer. The project involved conducting a study tour for Ministry of Education officials of school funding in England and the Netherlands. The major part of the project involved working with Polish experts, Ministry of Education and provincial administrators (in the Wojwóds) on a formula for Ministry of Education allocation of grants to local governments for funding primary schools. This formula replaced the previous system under the communist administration of allocating budgets to wojwóds according to historical patterns of funding for staff and non-staff inputs. I learnt some Polish during these years.
Resourcing Sheffield Schools (1991- 1992)
I worked as a consultant on a school funding formula with Sheffield Local Education Authority (LEA). I collected and analysed data on Sheffield schools’ resourcing to inform the LEA’s development of a funding formula following the government’s introduction of Local Management of Schools throughout England. I worked as part of a team of consultants with a Steering Group of local officers and headteachers and developed part of the funding formula. Sheffield LEA published the outcomes of the project in Resourcing Sheffield Schools, Sheffield City Council Education Department (1992).
PUBLICATIONS
I have written or co-authored 6 books, edited (with others) eight books, authored or co-authored 40 book contributions and over 30 academic journal articles.
Selected publications
Levaèiæ, R. (1995) Local Management of Schools: Analysis and Practice (1995) Buckingham, Open University Press, 227 pages.
Management in Education: Strategy, Quality and Resources, edited with M. Preedy and R. Glatter, Buckingham, Open University Press, (1997) 309 pages.
Ross. K. and Levaèiæ, R. (eds) (1999) Needs Based Resource Allocation in Education via Formula Funding of Schools, Paris, International Institute of Educational Planning.
Levaèiæ, R. and Vignoles, A. (2002) ‘Researching the links between school resources and student outcomes in the UK: a review of issues and evidence’, Education Economics¸10(3) 312-331.
Levaèiæ, R., Marsh, A. and Newson, D. (2002) ‘The Penalty Costs of Upper School Funding: Towards Greater Fairness in the Secondary Sector’ www.missingbucks.org
Levaèiæ, R (2004) ‘Competition and the performance of English secondary schools: further evidence’, Education Economics vol 12 No. 2 177-193.
Levaèiæ, R. and Downes, P. (2004) Formula Funding of Schools, decentralization and corruption. Paris, International Institute of Educational Planning.
Levaèiæ, R., Jenkins, A., Vignoles, A., Steele, F. and Allen, R. (2005) Estimating the relationship between school resources and pupil attainment at Key Stage 3, DfES Research Report 679, London, DfES.
Jenkins, A., Levaèiæ, R., Vignoles, A. (2006) Estimating the relationship between school resources and pupil attainment at GCSE, DfES Research Report 727 London, DfES.
Levaèiæ, R. and Jenkins, A. (2006) ‘Evaluating the effectiveness of specialist schools in England’, School Effectiveness and School Improvement 17(3) Sept 229-254.
APPOINTMENTS
I am a member of ARGOBIS – DfES Academic Reference Group for Benchmarking in Schools.
Governor and: chair of finance committee Willows School, Milton Keynes.
ADDRESS
Address/Contact info: Institute of Education, University of London, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0Al
Nationality: British
Education
B.Sc (Economics) II(i) University College London,
Post Graduate Certificate in Education (University of Sheffield)
M.Sc (Economics) London School of Economics
BA (Ord) (Maths) Open University
Employment Record
1975-90: Open University, Lecturer in Economics.
1991- 97: Senior Lecturer Educational Policy and Management, Open University
1997-99 Reader of Educational Policy and Management, Open University.