Equipos, Herramientas y materiales utilizados hasta la fecha

In this phase, 10 school leaders from school in Klang Valley (Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya) have been selected to become participants. 9 of them were excellent principals who lead the secondary schools and only 1 of them is excellent head teacher. All of these principals/head teacher were selected from three category of school that are school of PTj level (responsibility centre), high performing school (SBT) and also cluster school. There were selected based on the specific criteria and known to have vast experienced in handling school financial management particularly in the school with

guided financial autonomy. The profile of participants in this phase is presented in Table 3.11:

Table 3.11

Profile of Participants for Phase of Need Analysis

Type of school Designation Total

School of PTj level (Responsibility Centre)

Excellent principals 5

Cluster school Excellent principal 1

High performing school (SBT) Excellent principals

Excellent head teacher

3 1

Total 10

3.4.2 Phase of Profile Design

Delphi method was applied as research method to collect and distil the judgements of experts using a series of questionnaires together with their feedbacks. As stated by Loo (2002), this method requires a panel of subject-matter experts to make decisions on certain important things. Therefore, the participant selection was based on level of expertise and vast knowledge in school finance. Care and attention need to be devoted to select the best ones because the failure to do that would resulted in inappropriate findings of the profile developed.

3.4.2.1 Sample Size

In order to decide on the amount of participants of this study, previous researches have been analysed to reach at the best sample size. Linstone and Turoff (2002) suggested between 5 to 10 experts in order for the study to reach the specific objectives. Whereas Gordon (2008) stated that the usual numbers of experts selected are between 15 to 35 people to guarantee for comprehensive and reliable research findings. By considering the related factors, the decided number of participants for this Delphi study was 15 experts in the area of school finance in Malaysia.

The 15 experts that became the sample for this study consisted of 2 academicians from the public higher learning institutions (IPTA) that have expertise in

the area of school finance, 2 academicians from Institut Aminuddin Baki (IAB), Genting Highland which is the training institute for management and educational leadership in Malaysia, 3 auditors from the Internal Audit Division, Ministry of Education, 5 excellent principals, 2 excellent head teachers from schools with high performance in school financial management and 1 school inspectorate who specialized in monitoring the subject of Accounting.

3.4.2.2 Sample Criteria

Careful considerations also need to be taken in the selection of the experts. Skulmoski, Hartman and Jennifer (2007) while reviewing the criteria for the Delphi sample, suggested the participants with wide knowledge and experience in the area being researched, capacity and willingness to participate, sufficient time for the study and also communication skills. In line with that, this study has used the purposeful sampling procedure with a combination of both the theorists and practitioners to bring a comprehensive view and findings on this study. Careful consideration was given on the specific criteria for recognition as the experts whom the participants have to fulfil the following criteria that are:

(i) The individual has experiences, knowledge and skill in the area of school finance for more than 10 years;

(ii) The individual has been working in school and involved in the school financial management for more than 10 years; and

(iii) The individual is ready and capable to join 2 or more rounds of the Delphi method. Hence, 15 individuals from various jobs that consist of both theorists and practitioners have been identified and believed to have capability in providing credible findings and results. The details of the 15 experts are shown in the following Table 3.12:

Table 3.12

Details of Participants for Phase of Profile Design

Experts Gender Designation Years of experience

in school financial management

Expert 1 Female Auditor 12

Expert 2 Female Auditor 13

Expert 3 Female Excellent Head Teacher 19

Expert 4 Male Auditor 11

Expert 5 Male Professor - University 25

Expert 6 Male School inspectorate 19

Expert 7 Female Excellent Lecturer - IAB 11

Expert 8 Male Excellent Principal 18

Expert 9 Male Excellent Principal 23

Expert 10 Male Excellent Lecturer - IAB 15

Expert 11 Female Excellent Principal 20

Expert 12 Female Excellent Principal 21

Expert 13 Female Excellent Head Teacher 15

Expert 14 Female Excellent Head Teacher 13

Expert 15 Male Lecturer - University 20

3.4.2.3 Profile of Participants

The experts comprised of both theorists and practitioners in order to bring fair view and opinion on the best content of the effective school-based financial management profile. The following table listed the experts involved in phase of profile design:

Table 3.13

Profile of Participants/Experts in Phase of Profile Design

Designation Total

Professor 1

Excellent lecturers (IPTA and IAB) 3

School inspectorate 1

Auditors 3

Excellent principals 4

Excellent head teachers 3

Total 15

The group of theorists consisted of academician (professor and lecturers), auditors and also the school inspectorate. The academicians selected in this study were the experts from public higher learning institutions and Institut Aminuddin Baki (IAB), Genting Highland which is the government leadership training centre for the school leaders in Malaysia. Then, all of the auditors were senior auditors who currently serve in the

Internal Audit Division, the Ministry of Education. All of them have many years of experience in auditing different types of schools in Malaysia and also the Responsibility Centre in different Government’s sections. In addition, one school inspectorate from the state of Selangor was selected to become an expert in this study to give wider and multiple views of school-based financial management practices especially in the context of effectiveness measurement.

The group of practitioners absolutely selected from people who were directly handling the school finance. Four excellent principals and three excellent head teachers agreed to share their vast experience and contribute to the development of the profile. Four of them currently lead the high performing schools (SBT), two from the cluster schools and the other one from the excellent daily primary school. All of them have more than fifteen years of teaching and school administrative experience particularly in managing the school finance. Furthermore, they also received additional trainings for the school management such as from IAB and other institutions inside and outside of the country.

3.4.3 Phase of Profile Evaluation

The survey done in the phase of profile evaluation was conducted for the purpose of evaluating the developed profile. This was supported by the view from Brady (1995) who agreed that a firm theory, profile or model is actually created through the evaluation process after its designation. In conducting the evaluation phase, researcher has considered the group of school with excellent financial performance. This was to ensure a valid evaluation on the profile being design thus enable the production of an effective school-based financial management model that could bring benefit in the future. Therefore, the population identified in this phase was the school leaders (principal/head teacher or any principal assistants) of cluster schools in Malaysia which was the group of school that was identified to have excellent performance in their

cluster. Cluster schools are the group of school in Malaysia which was formally awarded by government with guided autonomy to apply the school based management involving finance and physical resources, school management, human resources, curriculum and co-curriculum.

3.4.3.1 Sample Size

Since the population size of the cluster schools in Malaysia is 170 schools, the researcher decided to take all the population for being the sample for this phase. This could gave better results of the survey and genuinely reflect the school-based financial management practices uphold by them. Therefore, the targeted respondents were the principal/head teachers of cluster schools or could be substituted with any of their assistants as the acting principal. Table 3.14 listed the number of respondents from cluster schools in Malaysia according to school category:

Table 3.14

Number of Respondents According to Category of School

Category of school Number

1. Daily Secondary School (SMH) 68

2. Daily Primary School (SK) 43

3. Boarding school (SBP) 21

4. Islamic Religious Secondary School (SMKA) 16

5. Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Chinese/Tamil) 11

6. Technic/Vocational school 7

7. Special Education school (SKPK) 3

8. Sport School 1

9. Others -

Total 170

3.4.3.2 Sample Criteria

The selection of participants in this survey was based on non-random purposeful sampling due to the certain needs of this study. This is in line with Creswell (2008) as selection requires the participants who already understood and experienced the phenomenon being studied for the purpose of achieving the targeted goal. For the purpose of evaluating the designed profile, the chosen samples were school leaders from

schools that practicing school based financial management and proven to be excellent in their school management and overall achievement. The term ‘school leaders’ in this study referred to principal or head teachers and could be replaced by any of his/her assistant as the acting principal/head teachers. Principals of cluster schools were identified to fulfil the required criteria for becoming the sample of the phase of evaluation. There were the ones who ranked as the top school managers and supposedly to have vast knowledge in the area of school financial management.