An analysis of schools' use of outside providers for educational and non-educational services

This descriptive study examined several different school districts to determine if outsourcing of educational services was being exercised. Public, private and charter schools throughout the metropolitan Kansas City, Missouri area were used for this study. The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of outsourcing through private providers produces more beneficial economical results for the district and/or enhance student achievement than providing those services in-house. Another objective of this study was determine if schools were more likely to outsource based on the type, conditions and economics of each district, and if so, how well the contract was constructed prior to the acceptance and exchange of services.; The study involved three phases. First, district business administrators were contacted during a phone interview to determine if they were: (a) currently involved in the practice of contracting for services outside of schools, (b) interested in participating in the study, (c) willing to discuss those specific services that were currently being outsourced or were in negotiation for outsourcing. Second, district business administrators who fit the previously highlighted criteria were interviewed to discuss what services were being outsourced and the forms of the contracts being written. Third, interviews were transcribed, sent back to those interviewed, and reviewed. Qualitative procedures were used to expose underlying themes throughout the four research questions.; Regarding the forms of contracts, it was determined that although all schools interviewed were participating in outsourcing, only the two charter schools were outsourcing educational services in the form of special education. Competitive bidding was used by all of the schools interviewed, but performance measures were not found in any of the contracts given to the researcher to be analyzed. Compliance measures were in place in each contract provided. Conditions of the school district did not appear to be a factor in the decision to outsource either educational or non-educational services.; In the section of research questions devoted to the economics of outsourcing, none of the school districts were used in a cost/benefit analysis to determine if outsourcing was financially advantageous to the district. All school districts, regardless of the type, had to seek final approval from a school board or higher office before negotiating a contract with a private provider. This indicates that none of the school administrators had total autonomy toward contract negotiation.; The final theme explored from the research questions was based on performance. Were students better off because a school district outsourced the service? This was difficult to determine based on the lack of performance clauses written into the contracts. Thus the districts had little to no performance data gathered. This lack of data, paired with no cost/benefit analysis being conducted by the administrators, made it challenging to examine whether or not outsourcing was beneficial to the district. There was a mixture of responses recorded by the administrators when asked if they were satisfied with their current outsourced partnerships, ranging from highly satisfied to completely unsatisfied.; Important recommendations for district business administrators and private providers, based on the results of this study, include the continuance of competitive bidding in contract negotiations, implementing performance measures in the contracts to determine if performance gains are being made, and preparing a cost-benefit analysis to determine if outsourcing is more cost effective than providing the service in-house.