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This project investigates the impact of the dynamic approach to school improvement (DASI) aiming to help schools face and reduce bullying through integrating research on bullying with educational effectiveness research (EER). A network of approximately 15 schools in each participating country (i.e., Belgium, Cyprus, England, Greece, and The Netherlands) received support to use DASI in order to improve the functioning of school factors included in the dynamic model of educational effectiveness which are associated with reduction of bullying. The Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire was administered to students of the experimental (n = 1461) and control (n = 1535) group at the beginning and at the end of the intervention. With the use of multilevel modelling techniques, it was found that schools which made use of DASI were able to reduce bullying at a significantly higher level than the schools of the control group. Implications for the development of effective policies and practices in reducing bullying are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper argues that Educational Effectiveness Research (EER) should establish closer links with research on teacher professional development. A dynamic integrated approach (DIA) to teacher professional development is proposed. The methods and results of a study comparing the impact of the DIA and the Holistic Approach (HA) to teacher professional development are presented. Teaching skills of 130 teachers and achievement of their students (n = 2356) were measured at the beginning and at the end of the intervention. Teachers found to be at a certain developmental stage were randomly allocated evenly into 2 groups. The first group employed the DIA and the second the HA. Teachers employing the DIA managed to improve their teaching skills more than teachers employing the HA. The use of the DIA also had a significant impact on student achievement. Implications of findings for the use of EER for improvement purposes are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of a meta-analysis in which the dynamic model of educational effectiveness is used as a framework to search for school factors associated with student achievement. The methods and results of a synthesis of 67 studies are presented. Findings reveal that effective schools are able to develop policies and take actions in order to improve their teaching practice and learning environment. Factors excluded from the dynamic model were found to be only weakly associated with outcomes. Implications for research on school effectiveness and for improvement of practice are drawn. It is illustrated that this approach of conducting meta-analysis helps us interpret the findings by providing support to the validity of the dynamic model and suggestions for its further development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of an evaluation study in Physical Education (PE) in which 23 schools, 49 classes and 1142 year 4 Cypriot students participated. This study attempted to identify the extent to which a theoretical framework of educational effectiveness research based on Creemers' model can be developed. The relationship between generic and differentiated effectiveness was also examined. Most of the variables in Creemers' model showed the expected effects, irrespective of the criterion used to measure effectiveness in PE. The great majority of teachers were found to be equally effective in achieving different aims of PE. There was some variability in the effectiveness status of most teachers who were expected to teach PE in classrooms of different schools. Implications of findings for the development of generic and differentiated models of educational effectiveness are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews educational effectiveness theory, concentrating on the time stability of the teacher and school effect. The contribution of longitudinal studies investigating the long-term effect of schools and teachers to modelling educational effectiveness is discussed. Findings of a longitudinal study on the progress of students (N=1681) in mathematics during their first four years at the primary school are presented. Results of this study reveal that traditional approaches of measuring educational effectiveness tend to overestimate the short-term effects of teachers and student background factors and underestimate the long-term effects of teachers and schools. Implications of findings for the theory of educational effectiveness and especially for the concepts of teacher and school effects and their stability are drawn. Finally, suggestions for establishing evaluation mechanisms to improve practice are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Bullying is a problem in schools in many countries. There would be a benefit in the availability of a psychometrically sound instrument for its measurement, for use by teachers and researchers. The Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire has been used in a number of studies but comprehensive evidence on its validity is not available. Aims. To examine the conceptual design, construct validity and reliability of the Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (OBVQ) and to provide further evidence on the prevalence of different forms of bullying behaviour. Sample. All 335 pupils (160 [47.8%] girls; 175 [52.2%]) boys, mean age 11.9 years [range 11.2–12.8 years]), in 21 classes of a stratified sample of 7 Greek Cypriot primary schools. Method. The OBVQ was administered to the sample. Separate scales were created comprising (a) the items of the questionnaire concerning the extent to which pupils are being victimized; and (b) those concerning the extent to which pupils express bullying behaviour. Using the Rasch model, both scales were analysed for reliability, fit to the model, meaning, and validity. Both scales were also analysed separately for each of two sample groups (i.e. boys and girls) to test their invariance. Results. Analysis of the data revealed that the instrument has satisfactory psychometric properties; namely, construct validity and reliability. The conceptual design of the instrument was also confirmed. The analysis leads also to suggestions for improving the targeting of items against student measures. Support was also provided for the relative prevalence of verbal, indirect and physical bullying. As in other countries, Cypriot boys used and experienced more bullying than girls, and boys used more physical and less indirect forms of bullying than girls. Conclusions. The OBVQ is a psychometrically sound instrument that measures two separate aspects of bullying, and whose use is supported for international studies of bullying in different countries. However, improvements to the questionnaire were also identified to provide increased usefulness to teachers tackling this significant problem facing schools in many countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by Bert Creemers on educational effectiveness theory and research and another by David Reynolds on the implications of the international school effectiveness research.

This article presents information on 2 international educational effectiveness studies, one completed and the other ongoing. The 2nd study is, to a large degree, a reaction to a methodological problem encountered in the 1st study, the lack of an internationally valid instrument measuring teacher effectiveness. This article presents 4 reasons for conducting the 2nd study (International System for Teacher Observation and Feedback (ISTOF)) and then details the overall work plan for ISTOF-I (2004 – 2006) and ISTOF-II (2006 – 2007). The sample of 20 fully participating country teams in ISTOF is very diverse with representatives from nearly all geographic areas of the world (North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia), many of which have never participated in teacher or school effectiveness research. This article summarizes progress made on the development of the ISTOF protocol, including the generation of components and indicators of teacher effectiveness. In many ways, the study is already a success, due to the diversity of the participating countries and their generation of major parts of the protocol during ISTOF-I. Nevertheless, this article concludes with a discussion of some of the major challenges that the research team will face as it begins ISTOF-II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that Educational Effectiveness Research (EER) could be a foundation upon which studies of the International Association of the Evaluation of Education (IEA) could be based, both in terms of their design and in terms of data analysis. First, it is supported that multilevel modelling techniques, some of the most frequently used statistical techniques in the domain of EER, offer a wider spectrum in analysing IEA data. An illustrative example is used to provide support for this argument. Specifically, TIMSS 1999 data concerning student self‐perceptions and achievement in both mathematics and science were analysed using single‐ and multilevel analyses. While single‐level analysis resulted in positive correlations at the micro‐level and negative correlations at the macro‐level, the findings of multilevel analysis did not support such contradictious relationships. Second, the paper argues that the design of international comparative studies could be based on the theoretical models of EER that attempt to explain the variation in student achievement by taking into account variables at different levels. To support this argument a large number of variables taken from the student, teacher and school questionnaires of TIMSS 1999 associated with the comprehensive model of educational effectiveness were added to a multilevel model. Implications for the design of comparative studies are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents findings of a study conducted to determine the extent to which teacher effectiveness research and research into teacher interpersonal behavior can help in collecting valid and reliable evaluative data from students about their teacher behavior. In order to measure teacher performance and to contribute in their professional development, a valid personnel evaluation system is necessary. The most commonly used method to assess instruction in higher education has been students ratings of instructions. This method provides the main source of information regarding the development of motivation in the classroom and opportunity for learning. It also informs about the degree of rapport and communication developed between teacher and student, and classroom equity. Students expect teachers to answer relevant student questions or redirect them to the class and want the classroom environment to be supportive for them. Various research have been done on the importance of teacher behavior on student outcomes within the domain of classroom environment. The study results concluded that student ratings of teacher behavior are highly correlated with value-added measures of student cognitive and affective outcomes.

The aim of this study was to test the validity of Creemers' model of educational effectiveness in relation to different criteria of measuring effectiveness. It was also examined whether the variables “personality” and “thinking style” could be included in Creemers' model. Achievement in mathematics, Greek language, and affective aims of schooling were measured at the beginning and at the end of school year 2001?–?2002. Data on most of the variables included in Creemers' model were collected through external observations and questionnaires to students, teachers, and headteachers. Most of the variables of the model showed the expected effects, irrespective of the criterion used to measure effectiveness. The inclusion of the variables “personality” and “thinking style” significantly improves the explained percentage of achievement variation in each outcome measure. Implications for the development of both generic and differentiated models of educational effectiveness are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]