Methodology

Our approach extends well beyond the traditional methodologies of evaluating schools. Instead of considering the various inputs to a school, our assessment begins with the assumption that a school must be understood as an “opportunity marketplace” – a system of relationships or social contracts that creates opportunity for various stakeholders to meet needs and have needs met.

We've identified five basic social contracts that drive the success of a school as an opportunity market place. These are the contracts concerning:

• Learning Environment
• Economic Viability
• Academic Outcomes
• Recurrent Parental Patronage
• New Opportunities

School Ventures recognizes that schools succeed when parties to these social contracts have their needs met and are able to meet needs effectively and efficiently. We believe that you can tell how well a school is performing by looking at the social contract outcomes.

We have therefore developed an analytical framework that we call the “ LEARN ” performance evaluation system (based upon the acronym derived from the five social contracts) by which to evaluate school performance. It applies a range of qualitative and quantitative measures to assess LEARN contract outcomes as indications of the existing and future performance of a school.