A Study on the Application of the Balanced Scorecard Concept to Establish Indices for Evaluation of the Performance of After-school Care Classes for Children

• Main Authors: TU, CHANG-LIN, 杜昌霖
• Other Authors: CHEN, CHING-RUEY
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/t8yv39

博士 === 國立屏東大學 === 教育行政研究所 === 106 === 　　After-school care classes are set up in accordance with Paragraph 3 of Article 76 of the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act to look after elementary school children and provide assistance with their homework during after-school hours to assure children can grow healthily, married women are supported and parents can work without worries. The Ministry of Education promotes after-school care for elementary school children. Schools provide the venue and the charges are reasonable. It is an option for parents when they seek after-school care for their children. Meanwhile, to alleviate the burden of economically disadvantaged families, children from low-income families or with disabilities and aborigine children are given subsidies and priority to sign up for such classes free of charge. According to Article 30 of the Regulations Governing Establishment and Management of After-school Care Classes and Centers, the competent authorities of special municipalities and counties (cities) may regularly or irregularly inspect and audit such classes and centers. Security measures have to be inspected at least once a year. In addition, when inspecting and auditing such institutions, the competent authorities of special municipalities and counties (cities) may request them to present their business reports or provide related information and documents, and the person in charge or related personnel may not impede or refuse to comply. The competent authorities of special municipalities and counties (cities) are given the authority to establish regulations related to the inspection and audit activities. In other words, the provisions in the regulations of the central competent authority do not include any concrete measures. Regulations associated with execution and performance are to be defined by local competent authorities. As a consequence, there are no consistent standards with regard to evaluation of the performance of after-school care classes and centers. 　　The balanced scorecard was developed by Kaplan and Norton. The concept behind has made it become an important tool in management of organizations in the modern era. Many enterprises have looked up to it as the criterion. Besides the conventional dimension of finance, learning and growth, internal process and customers are the three other dimensions included. Through these four dimensions and their measurement indices, a measurement system for measuring and promoting performance has been developed. Elementary schools can be categorized as non-profit-seeking organizations and the balanced scorecard can be applied to measure their organizational performance. For this reason, use of the balanced scorecard to study educational organizations has increased in recent years. This study is also intended to use the balanced scorecard to establish indices for evaluation of the performance of after-school care for children. 　　The objective of this study is to establish the theoretical basis for use of the balanced scorecard on non-profit-seeking organizations and develop the indices for evaluation of the performance of after-school care classes to be the reference for related units. The study framework is divided into two stages. The first one is a focus group seminar. Initially, related literature is analyzed to construct the theoretical basis. Then, professors, elementary school principals and deans who actually engage in such work, teacher group representatives, parent group representatives, persons responsible for commissioning others to organize and operate such classes and education department personnel responsible for such operations are invited to participate in the focus group seminar. Afterwards, the indices for evaluation of the performance of after-school care for children are roughly defined (the first Delphi technique questionnaire). The second stage is refinement of the indices. Appropriate personnel are invited to form the Delphi Group to conduct three Delphi technique questionnaire surveys. Subsequently, qualitative analysis and statistical analysis are conducted to finalize the indices for evaluation of the performance of after-school care classes and the sequencing. 　　Through the focus group seminar and the three Delphi technique questionnaire surveys, the balanced scorecard indices for evaluation of the performance of after-school care classes are established, including four dimensions, 11 strategic targets and 64 performance evaluation indicators. It is hoped that these indices can serve as guidelines in organization and management of after-school care classes to offer students a comfortable and safe learning environment, so that the parents can work without worries. At the same time, after-school care workers can continue to improve themselves to provide services of better quality as well as collaborate with the administrative personnel of the schools to assure after-school care can function as expected. When the performance evaluation indices are developed, the contents are basically divided to cover after-school care workers, schools and commissioning units. In accordance with the results of study, the suggestions for related personnel and units are as follows: 1. After-school care workers: They ought to continue to improve the capacity to manage such classes and develop the abilities to design the curricula, communicate with parents and fully utilize the space and equipment in the school. 2. School administrative personnel: They have to be familiar with related laws and regulations and process different matters accordingly. If the classes are operated by commissioned units, they need to assure the fairness and legality of the tender procedures and sign reasonable contracts to provide safe and worry-free learning environments. 3. Schools or commissioned units: They must see to the benefits and interests of after-school care workers according to regulations, reinforce campus security measures and provide diversified courses and activities. They should also establish different regulations to govern after-school care activities and execute the regulations. 4. Education authorities: They need to establish the indices for evaluation of the performance of after-school care classes with administrative work reduction taken into consideration and send them to the schools for reference. They should also conduct accreditation with accreditation work reduction taken into account to evaluate related performance in accordance with indices that are considered more important. From the aspect of three administrative steps of planning, execution and evaluation, appropriate accreditation is necessary; therefore, important performance evaluation indices can be selected and put in school accreditation indices.