Demand-side use of state-allocated finance in primary schools and school-based management applications in the world: A projection for Turkish public primary education, based on meta and micro level analyses (A case study in the province of Adıyaman )

As opposed to conventional and mostly supply-side education finance approaches which focus on arrangement of ?equal inputs? only; modern educational finance paradigms are concerned with not only inputs, but also efficiency, equity, diversity, relevance and sustainable quality as an integral part of schooling outcomes. In this study, based on meta analysis and qualitative research, answer(s) were sought to the problems stated as: ?What are the general outcomes of the demand-side use of public revenues allocated to public primary schools and school-based management applications in the world? Would it be possible to adjust these samples to Turkish educational system for remedial purposes? What are the views of principals of public primary schools in the province of Adıyaman, concerning the demand-side use of the public revenues in public primary schools?? In connection with the major problem, meta analysis have been carried out on 38 studies conducted between 1980-2008, and two books, mainly related with educational finance and School-Based Management. Qualitative part of the research was carried out in the form of interview with the participation of 35 primary-school principals affiliated with Adıyaman Provincial Directorate of National Education during the academic year 2008-2009. Prior to the interviews a briefing was held to inform the subjects about modern educational finance and school-based management approaches by the supervisor and the researcher. The data obtained from the literature were meta-analyzed via the `content analysis technique?. The findings have revealed that the allocation of public revenues through `demand-side? channels yielded positive outcomes in most of the cases and seems to be a remedial alternative for Turkish education in its decentralization efforts as well. The interview data have also suggested that subjects believed demand-side use of public revenues would contribute to the overall improvement of the primary schooling in their province. They also favored the ?balanced type? of School-Based Management dominated by school board. Finally it has been suggested that the views and readiness level of school stakeholders and provincial education administrators except for principals and teachers be determined and that pilot schemes be conducted for the assessment of the implementation.Key Words: School-Based Management, Educational Finance, Primary School, Shared Authority