Search

Copyright of Dirasat: Educational Sciences is the property of University of Jordan and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Most studies find positive correlations at the individual level of analysis between athletic participation and academic success. One opportunity for scholarship left largely unexplored concerns the effect of athletics on group-level processes. The author used a resource-based perspective to explore the influence of athletic investment on academic achievement at the organizational level. Data were collected from 227 school districts. Multiple regression analyses revealed negative but insignificant relationships between athletic expenditures and indicators of basic skills and college preparation. Future research might determine whether the nonassociation observed in this study between athletic spending and academic performance generalizes to different school settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Instruction is the property of International Journal of Instruction and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study investigates the effectiveness of a solution-focused approach to organisational change. Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope (PATH) is an intervention more commonly applied to individuals. In this study the intervention is used with groups of people working in educational organisations to help manage the change process. The approach allows group members to plan a way forward to manage change. Semi-structured interviews took place with six education officers involved in the interventions. The design of the research study follows an interpretative case-study model, and uses content analysis to identify key factors. Findings show the importance of PATH acting as a catalyst for change, giving a sense of immediacy, and allowing participants to shape their own future. For change to be sustained and be successful it cannot occur in isolation. Based on the conclusions of the research study, a number of issues for professional practice are discussed and considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political scientists often assume that parties listen to some voters more than others. However, this theoretical perspective has rarely been applied to explain political responsiveness to advocacy groups. This article argues that the type of voter mobilised by protest activities plays a role in determining whether advocacy groups are able to influence political decisions. The explanatory value of this approach is demonstrated by a study of the geographic distribution of school closures among Swedish local governments during the 2002-10 period. School issues have been important drivers of contentious politics in Sweden. Two hypotheses are tested. The first hypothesis predicts that protesters in districts with numerous swing voters are more likely to achieve their goals. The second hypothesis predicts that protesters in districts with numerous core voters are more likely to achieve their goals. In line with the swing hypothesis, the main results suggest that protesters are more likely to stop school closures in volatile polling districts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to uncover how knowledge is exchanged and disseminated in the educational administration research literature through the journal citation network. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing upon social network theory and citation network studies in other disciplines, the authors constructed an educational administration journal citation network by extracting all 157,372 citations from 5,359 journal articles in 30 educational administration journals from 2009 to 2013. The authors then performed social network analysis to visualize the network structure by journal clusters, and quantified journal prominence and interdisciplinarity by calculating Freeman indegree and betweenness, respectively. In addition to journal-to-journal citations, the authors examined the sources of non-journal citations by citation counts. Findings – The results of journal prominence, interdisciplinarity, and eight journal clusters in the citation network indicate that educational administration, as a porous field, intimately interacts with the sub-fields of education (e.g. urban education and teacher education), other disciplines (e.g. economics, human resources, sociology, and psychology), and the research internationally. In addition to journals as the knowledge source (45.29 percent), the authors also found books (31.08 percent) and reports (14.98 percent) are important citation sources in the educational administration research literature. The most cited books and reports shed light on the knowledge base in the theory, research, and practice of educational administration. Originality/value – The results of this by far the largest-scale study of educational administration journals present abundant evidence that educational administration is a porous field. This study also presents social network analysis as an alternative method to evaluate journal influence in the educational administration field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using information from a randomized experiment carried out over the course of two school years in Madagascar, this paper evaluates the impact of specific actions designed to streamline and tighten the work processes of public primary school directors. The results show that interventions at the school level, reinforced by interventions at the district and subdistrict levels, succeeded overall in changing school heads' behavior toward better management. However, the average impact hides important heterogeneity. The impact of the intervention was significantly larger among school heads who had a nonpermanent contract and among school principals who were responsible for a monograde school. Interventions limited to the district and subdistrict levels proved to be largely ineffective on average, and the estimates do not show detectable differences in impact across principal and school characteristics. The results also show that direct and intensive interventions were more effective than interventions targeting only the district and subdistrict administrators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze collaboration networks and their patterns among higher education institutions (HEIs) in Chile and the Latin American region. This will provide evidence to educational managements in order to properly allocate their efforts to improve collaboration. Design/methodology/approach – This quantitative study examines collaboration using a social network analysis (SNA) approach. The main source used to quantify collaboration is co-authorship of scholarly publications retrieved from the Web of Science scientific search engine. Findings – The paper provides evidence that there is a low collaboration rate within-country as well cross-country among HEIs in Latin America. The collaboration network in Chile is highly dependent on two institutions; Pontificia Universidad Católica and Universidad de Chile. These institutions are considered leaders of opinion and knowledge facilitators. The density of the whole network is relatively low; only 5 percent of the potential connections exist in the current network. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation of this paper is that it does not take into account other possible collaborative efforts such as books, manuscripts, or other types of collaboration that do not result in tangible documents. However, co-authorship based on publications has been considered to be a good estimator of collaboration. Practical implications – Collaboration is critical to promote research and increase its capacity. The approach presented in this study is helpful for educational managers in charge of allocating resources to effectively have an impact on collaboration. Decision makers will benefit from the evidence-based results generated by the SNA framework. Originality/value – An understanding of the current status of research collaboration in Latin America allows researchers to detect the main areas of opportunity, which in turn serve to improve future decision making in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School governing bodies in England have considerable powers and responsibilities with regard to the education of pupils. This paper draws on an analysis of policy and on qualitative research in the governing bodies of four maintained schools. It explores two policy technologies through which education and the work of school governing bodies are constituted as apolitical. Firstly, it considers the move to recruit governors with (unspecified) ‘skills’, rather than those with a representative role who might provide diverse perspectives. Secondly, it considers the technology of ‘prescribed criticality’, through which ‘effective’ governors are provided with the ‘right’ questions to ask. The paper argues that the operation of these policy technologies has significant implications for possibilities for democratic engagement in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose: Educator evaluation systems have recently undergone scrutiny and reform, and district and school leaders play a key role in interpreting and enacting these systems. This article uses framing theory to understand district leaders’ interpretation and advancement of a state’s new educator evaluation policy. Research Methods: The article draws on qualitative data from 14 Connecticut districts to highlight the relationship between state policy, district leadership, and the ideas about educator evaluation making their way into schools. We employed frame analysis to systematically analyze interview data from district leaders responsible for evaluation reform. Findings: District leaders’ frames addressed two distinct elements of the evaluation policy: accountability and development. Overall, district leaders tended to emphasize the accountability aspects of the state’s new evaluation system—SEED (System for Educator Evaluation and Development). Second, we find that district leaders’ frames predominately issued solutions and advice regarding the implementation of the evaluation policy. These leaders rarely enforced their framing of SEED. Finally, we present a vignette to highlight how one elementary school principal encountered frames within his district context and elected to respond to the ideas and rules of the new evaluation system. Implications for Research and Practice: This article’s findings encourage additional research on the role of district leaders in translating state policy into school-level change. This article also highlights the need for district-level actors to have a deep understanding of current policy as well as the skills to frame policy messages to diverse audiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Culturally and linguistically diverse students frequently do not receive equitable educational opportunities. Schools across public and private sectors that are striving to ameliorate this problem typically work in isolation, not collaboratively. This article examines how communities of practice emerge within a network of schools striving to effectively educate these students. Data Collection and Analysis: We employ qualitative case study methodology drawing data from relational network survey data, archival documents, interpersonal communications, and field notes. In cycles of coding, we analyze these data to identify the learning architecture that structures the communities of practice within this network. Findings: First, we found the emergent communities of practice were extemporaneous, tentative, and localized. Second, we found that applying the learning architecture shed light on the nature of the learning within these communities of practice. In this case, it revealed that the communities of practice (a) enjoyed relatively strong levels of participation but relatively ineffective reifications, (b) experienced a dynamic tension between local and global influences, and (c) allowed individuals to negotiate new identities in varied and complex manners. Conclusions: This study shows the messiness that unfolds as school leaders pursue organizational learning toward the end of improving educational opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse students, and how the learning architecture framework can help school leaders make sense of and respond to this in a nuanced manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the OECD's new PISA-based Test for Schools ("PISA for Schools") program. PISA for Schools is part of the expanding education work of the OECD, building upon main PISA to enable school-to-schooling system comparisons. We examine the development of PISA for Schools, the nature of the instrument, and some initial effects of its introduction. Our theoretical framework focuses on new spatialities associated with globalization and the emergence of topological rationalities and heterarchical modes of governance. We analyze 33 interviews with personnel at the OECD and relevant edu-businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and philanthropic foundations. Pertinent documents and web-based media are also analyzed. We suggest that PISA for Schools provides an exemplary demonstration of heterarchical governance, in which vertical policy mechanisms open up horizontal spaces for new policy actors. It also creates commensurate spaces of comparison and governance, enabling the OECD to "reach into " school-level spaces and directly influence local educational practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Students referred to school administration for alcohol policies violations currently receive a wide variety of interventions. This study examined predictors of response to 2 interventions delivered to mandated college students (N = 598) using a stepped care approach incorporating a peer-delivered 15-min brief advice (BA) session (Step 1) and a 60- to 90-min brief motivational intervention (BMI) delivered by trained interventionists (Step 2). Method: Analyses were completed in 2 stages. First, 3 types of variables (screening variables, alcohol-related cognitions, mandated student profile) were examined in a logistic regression model as putative predictors of lower risk drinking (defined as 3 or fewer heavy episodic drinking [HED] episodes and/or 4 or fewer alcohol-related consequences in the past month) 6 weeks following the BA session. Second, we used generalized estimating equations to examine putative moderators of BMI effects on HED and peak blood alcohol content compared with assessment only (AO) control over the 3-, 6-, and 9-month follow-ups. Results: Participants reporting lower scores on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, more benefits to changing alcohol use, and those who fit the "Bad Incident" profile at baseline were more likely to report lower risk drinking 6 weeks after the BA session. Moderation analyses revealed that Bad Incident students who received the BMI reported more HED at 9-month follow-up than those who received AO. Conclusion: Current alcohol use as well as personal reaction to the referral event may have clinical utility in identifying which mandated students benefit from treatments of varying content and intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) offers an alternative to reactive and exclusionary school discipline practices. However, the shift to SWPBS requires substantial change in the practices of staff, and many leadership teams struggle to rally staff support for implementation. With a more thorough understanding of staff perceptions, level of understanding, and support for SWPBS, teams may be better positioned to assist staff in the change process. To achieve an understanding of staff perceptions and how they may differ in schools on the basis of level of implementation, the authors directly assessed staff perceptions in seven planning schools and seven implementing schools. Significant differences were found between planning and implementing schools in knowledge of SWPBS, as well as perceptions of behavior and discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – Schools often vary in how they balance teacher autonomy (TA) and administrative control, and research suggests that there may be several context-specific variables which may be influential. The purpose of this paper is to determine the influence of program variables on the level of TA, administrative coordination, and administration-staff collaboration in English as a second or other language (ESOL) programs. Design/methodology/approach – Administrators from 130 ESOL programs completed an empirical questionnaire aiming to understand the influence of variables on the level of TA, coordination, and collaboration. The following five variables were hypothesized to be influential based on the literature review: complexity/size; the variability of students’ needs; external pressures; teacher qualifications; and feasibility. Findings – Top-down coordination was significantly influenced by four of the five of the program variables, and collaboration was predicted by two. However, program complexity/size was the only significant variable influencing the reported level of TA. Research limitations/implications – Teachers were not surveyed in this stage of the research. Follow-up research is planned to involve teaching staff. Practical implications – Administrators may benefit from reflecting more on how they coordinate their program by considering the potential influence of context-specific variables highlighted in the research. The findings could influence administrators to adapt their management style potentially leading to a better working environment and improved student learning outcomes. Originality/value – Previous research has looked at the influence of situational variables on leadership style, but research has not explicitly analyzed the effect of context variables on the level of TA and administrative coordination in educational programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. We examine how the working conditions in charter schools managed by management organizations (MOs) compare to those that teachers experience in stand-alone charter schools. We consider differences in the degree of autonomy within the schools, professional development, levels of administrative support, support from teachers and parents, and teachers' work hours and levels of compensation. Methods. Our data come from the 2011-2012 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). We estimate multilevel models using the hierarchical linear modeling software, while controlling for the composition of the teachers and school context. Results. We find that teachers in charter schools managed by education MOs have lower levels of autonomy than teachers in other charter schools. They also receive lower levels of compensation than other charter school teachers. Conclusion. ForprofitMOs appear to constrain the charter schools that they manage, limiting the ability of teachers to determine how students are taught within their classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Though the first published application of critical race theory (CRT) to education occurred 20 years ago, implications of CRT for educational leadership did not occur until López conducted a CRT analysis of the politics of education literature in 2003. No publications explicitly identify the implications of CRT for leadership practice. Given the gap in the literature, the research question that anchors this article asks, “How can CRT inform educational leadership to eliminate racism?” Research Method: To address the research question, I conducted a literature analysis of CRT in educational leadership, identified the CRT tenets that guided each publication, and derived six primary, interrelated CRT tenets from this analysis. I also extracted from the publications explicit and implicit implications for leadership practice as these implications related directly to each of the six CRT tenets. Findings/Implications: I describe each of the CRT tenets and explain how each can inform educational leadership practice. To close the article, I propose a CRT Inventory for Leading to Eliminate Racism. The Inventory suggests questions to guide leadership practice for each of the CRT tenets. I also offer implications for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years educational organizations have begun to be administered by more sharing, participation and democratic principles. The school-based management approach accelerated during the decentralization period in education is also seen as a cause for spread of leadership throughout the school. This trend is reflected in the educational leadership literature, which began to describe as distributed leadership (DL), the process/approach of spreading leadership organization-wide. However, the extent to which leadership in educational organizations is distributed cannot be easily delineated, particularly in countries such as Turkey where the system was established and managed centrally. Yet, DL attracts researchers’ attention in terms of the organizational behaviours. It ascribes to teachers, such as their commitment and associated psychological contracts (PCs). In this study of Turkish schools that are centrally organized, we consider the relationship between DL and teachers’ perceptions of their PC levels. As the research variables are multilevel, the data collected from 466 teachers working in 34 different schools were analysed by hierarchical linear modelling. The analyses indicated that the distribution of leadership among school managers was a significant predictor of the PCs of the teachers. However, the observed variance in the PC was determined to be explained by the service periods of teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the conceptual use of the strategy map approach and the strategy map which it produces have been adapted from the business sector and introduced as tools for achieving more effective strategic planning and management in higher education institutions (HEIs). This study discusses the development of strategy maps as transformational management tools in universities. It analyses 15 universities’ strategy maps to establish a comparative perspective in terms of content, expression and form. Based on this analysis, the study synthesises a model for the effective employment of the strategy map approach and strategy maps in universities. The study then uses Tsinghua University as the subject of a case study to illustrate how a university’s strategic plan could be converted into a strategy map. This study gives suggestions for implications of the strategy map approach in transforming the internal governance model in universities and achieving effective and responsive university strategic planning and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to confirm if internal audit, a corporate control process, is functioning effectively in Australian public universities. The study draws on agency theory, published literature and best-practice guidelines to develop an internal audit evaluation framework. A survey instrument is thereafter developed from the framework and used as a basis to examine if internal audit is structured to enhance governance in the Australian public university sector. The results show that a majority of university internal audit functions are operating under flexible structural and functional arrangements to achieve internal audit’s theoretical role of enhancing governance. A minority of functions did not comply with best-practice guidelines for achieving internal auditing’s theoretical role. The flexible arrangements further do not guarantee internal audit functions currently complying with best-practice guidelines will continue to do so. Contributing factors to non-compliance and flexible operating arrangements include the non-availability of mandatory requirements for compliance by the profession or government legislation. The study provides avenues for further research to confirm the findings with other stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaders of international schools find themselves operating within a loosely defined, yet rapidly growing, specialty niche of education. The leadership context for these schools is often filled with ambiguity and complex tensions between opposing forces. This article proposes a two-stage framework for critically analyzing the dualities of international schools. The first stage, ‘making sense of dualities’, adapts Simkins’ framework for sense-making in educational leadership. The second stage, ‘leading dualities’, utilizes Bolman and Deal’s four frames of leadership. Two categories of dualities are proposed for initial consideration: spatial dualities (opening gateways across eras) and temporal dualities (bridging boundaries across cultures). Specific examples of spatial dualities are analyzed within the context of an international school in Turkey. The Roman god Janus, whose two faces see opposite perspectives, is utilized as a metaphor for the simultaneous composite nature of dualities. The article concludes that it is the challenge of leaders to make sense of opposite perspectives within their school and leading their school community to do the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to reflect the leadership strategies that may arise using a constructivist approach based on organizational learning. This approach involved the use of simulations that focused on ethical tensions in school principals’ daily experiences, and the development of codes of ethical conduct to reduce these tensions. The study included 50 teachers who served in school leadership roles in addition to their regular teaching jobs. The teachers participated in 50 simulation sessions. The data were analyzed with ATLAS.ti 5.0. Five dimensions of tensions between leadership strategies were found to be related to the central concept of “Leadership strategies derived from simulations:” Engagingversus Monitoring; Envisioning versus Implementing; Implementingversus Engaging; Monitoring versus Envisioning, and Articulating versus Envisioning—demonstrating the complexity of dialogue during the simulations, which include a multifaceted model of tension between values, and codes of ethical conduct. The study findings may encourage school principals and education leaders to use simulations to help unravel ongoing ethical dilemmas in school for the development of leadership strategies based on organizational and constructivist learning theories. These learning conditions may provide fertile ground for practicing difficult ethical decision-making and thus enhance the professional development of education leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a case study of union change in an environment in which radical school restructuring is taking place, and active strategies to weaken and marginalize organized teachers are being pursued by the state. The case study union is the National Union of Teachers in England. The article explores a number of different strategies open to teacher unions, utilizing a framework provided by Turner (2004). Drawing on data collected at a national level, and in three local authority areas, I argue that the National Union of Teachers’ response to the erosion of collective bargaining is best presented as an amalgam of strategies focused on workplace organizing, political campaigning, and coalition building. The data demonstrate considerable congruence between national and local strategies, although local data reveal considerable challenges in implementation and consequently considerable unevenness in local experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The rigidity of teachers unions has been given as a primary reason for their lack of representation among America’s rapidly growing, although still relatively small, charter school sector. In the case of post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, the city rapidly converted from a union-backed teacher workforce to a largely nonunionized charter school workforce in the years following state takeover and charter conversion. This makes the recent emergence of two single-school unions in charter schools there worthy of study. As the teachers attempt to organize single-school unions in a nearly all charter school system, what are their motivations? This case study of one of New Orleans’ emerging charter school unions found that pay inequities, job insecurity, a lack of teacher voice in school-level decisions, and a culture of compliance, all motivated teachers to seek unionization. Teachers hoped to promote equity and teacher involvement with their union, but the organizing effort did strain some relationships, particularly those involving middle management. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – School leadership is considered a central agent in the implementation of “New Governance” concepts which have been introduced in Germany by means of accountability measures, decentralization and a growth of autonomy and competition. With the adjustment of policies, rights and duties of school leaders have changed considerably. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to leadership research by providing descriptive evidence on the relevance of specific areas of leadership activity reported by school principals and their actual priorities in terms of day-to-day workload. In particular, the authors analyze whether individually reported priorities are reflected in the actual distribution of workload in a daily routine. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical analysis uses data collected in the German SHaRP study (“School leaders’ activities between more responsibility and more power”). Based on a sample of 153 school leaders from six German federal states the authors perform regression models to determine the association between workload in specific fields of leadership activity, individually reported relevance of management tasks and systemic and contextual conditions at school. Findings – As expected, organizational and personnel management and development are stated to be most important for leadership activity. These priorities are not at least reflected in the observed distribution of workload over fields of activity. Rather, a vast amount of time – as far as it is not absorbed by lessons – is spent on administrative tasks. A shift of workload from teaching responsibilities to governmental tasks is mainly achieved by longer working hours and appears to depend primarily on the system context. Research limitations/implications – The results highlight the relevance of organizational skills and the need to develop conceptual foundations for strategic leadership at schools. Further research should focus not only on the contextual setting and system characteristics, but on the interplay of contextual characteristics and leadership strategies. In times of increasing budgetary constraints leadership research needs to consider outcome measures in terms of quality of schooling to identify determinants of effective leadership. Originality/value – The paper contributes to leadership research by a quantitative analysis of the individually reported relevance of organizational, curricular and human resources management and development for leadership activity. The authors provide descriptive evidence on a significant gap between these claims and reality in terms of actual day-to-day workload. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of principals in light of public management reforms taking place in the German educational system and in reference to the empirical patterns uncovered by the papers contained in the Special Issue. Policy makers have created new expectations and new technologies that seem to suggest to necessitate a shift from principals acting as rule-bound administrators to acting as entrepreneurial managers. The paper asks if the availability of new managerial technologies is complemented by shifts in role conception or enactment. Design/methodology/approach – The author discusses the papers included in this Special Issue by suggesting one possible overarching frame for the German situation as documented by the papers and contrasting this frame with the situation in the USA. Findings – The Special Issue papers reviewed in this paper ask if the principalship in Germany across various states has become more managerial, and the author’s conclusion is that it has not. The author suggests that in Germany, managerialism and professionalism may accommodate each other in ways uniquely German, perhaps without making the principalship more managerial. Originality/value – This paper sketches a way to conceptualize the role of the principal in the tension between Weberian bureaucracy, public managerialism, and professional self-governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I gathered 77 randomized experiments (with 111 treatment arms) that evaluated the effects of school-based interventions on learning in developing-country primary schools. On average, monetary grants and deworming treatments had mean effect sizes that were close to zero and not statistically significant. Nutritional treatments, treatments that disseminated information, and treatments that improved school management or supervision, had small mean effect sizes (0.04–0.06) that were not always robust to controls for study moderators. The largest mean effect sizes included treatments with computers or instructional technology (0.15); teacher training (0.12); smaller classes, smaller learning groups within classes, or ability grouping (0.12); contract or volunteer teachers (0.10); student and teacher performance incentives (0.09); and instructional materials (0.08). Metaregressions suggested that the effects of contract teachers and materials were partly accounted for by composite treatments that included training and/or class size reduction. There are insufficient data to judge the relative cost-effectiveness of categories of interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creating a Glasser Quality School requires an understanding of organizational dynamics and an acceptance of the need for systemic change. As such, Glasser (1969) contended that a fundamental condition for change is that teachers have time to meet collectively to collaborate and learn; within the structure of schools, that condition is not easily achieved. Current educational laws and policies reflect philosophical, sociological, and economic shifts towards the need for comprehensive curricular school reforms. The call for reform in conjunction with the premise that organizations - like individuals - can learn and grow, has given rise to the concept of professional learning communities (PLC's). Professional learning communities meet the need for creating a collaborative learning culture for teachers to support systemic change with characteristics such as: shared mission, vision, values and goals; collaborative teams focused on student learning; collective inquiry into best practice and current reality; action orientation and experimentation; commitment to continuous improvement; and results orientation (DuFour & Eaker, 1998). As such, implementation of the professional learning community concept poses a powerful practice by which stakeholders can forge systemic change reflective of Glasser Quality Schools. A discussion of standards for quality/proficiency is delineated along with suggestions for strategies to create a routine meeting structure for PLC's. Finally, a delineation of roles for all stakeholders (i.e, principals, central administrators, parents and students) is outlined along with material resources that are beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic departments assign different relative weights to the importance of teaching and research. Those weights are used in making decisions about promotion, tenure, and annual raises. Presumably, raising the teaching weight should encourage faculty to increase time on teaching. Using survey data from U.S. faculty in 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010, researchers show that at different schools teaching weights overlap extensively but vary, and that within different types of schools, those weights vary systematically based on class sizes in principles and intermediate theory courses, school or enrollment size, and for faculty who are assigned to teach principles classes. If departments and schools use teaching weights as a discretionary policy, successful implementation likely depends on adapting the policies to fit school, department, and faculty characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We collect data on management practices in over 1,800 high schools in eight countries. We show that higher management quality is strongly associated with better educational outcomes. The UK, Sweden, Canada and the US obtain the highest management scores, followed by Germany, with a gap before Italy, Brazil and India. We also show that autonomous government schools (government funded but with substantial independence like UK academies and US charters) have higher management scores than regular government or private schools. Almost half of the difference between the management scores of autonomous and regular government schools is accounted for principal leadership and governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a study carried out to determine the effect of governing boards on the performance of Ugandan secondary schools. Specifically, the study investigated whether governing boards (board role performance, finance committee role performance, board size, frequency of board meetings and board finance expertise) have an effect on the perceived performance of the schools. Design/methodology/approach – This study is cross-sectional and correlational. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of 271 schools out of which 200 responded. The data were analysed through ordinary least squares regression using Statistical Package for Social Scientists. Findings – The results suggest that board role performance, finance committee role performance, frequency of meetings and finance expertise of governing boards have a significant effect on the schools’ performance. Research limitations/implications – The authors measure some of the variables qualitatively and perceptively contrary to, for instance, the commonly used quantitative measures of performance, but process factors which are inherently qualitative in nature can better explain variances in secondary schools’ performance. Thus, in this study, the authors do not claim highly refined measurement concepts. More research is therefore needed to better refine qualitative concepts used in this study. The results too suggest that board and finance committee role performance and finance expertise of the board are more important for performance of a school than board size, and frequency of meetings which academics have been focusing on. These findings call for more research to validate the posited relationships. Practical implications – The results are important for governing board policy development; for example, in terms of prescribing the qualifications for schools’ governing board members and also finance committee board members. Originality/value – This study shows that one way to capture the influence of all governing boards’ roles including service role is to adopt a perception-based approach which asks respondents to what extent they think governing boards fulfil all their roles. Unlike previous studies which used proxies for board role performance such as proportion of non-executive directors and board size for monitoring and control and resource provision, the study incorporates proxies as well as perception-based measures of board role performance to determine if governing boards have a significant influence on the performance of Uganda secondary schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an introduction in which the authors discuss articles on topics such as the application of a naturalised epistemology and neuroscience to educational administration, the role of educational researchers, and the sociology and philosophy of educational administration.

Copyright of Ilkogretim Online is the property of Ilkogretim Online and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Mersin University Journal of the Faculty of Education / Mersin Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi is the property of Mersin University Faculty of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Classroom management takes account of students and their environment and is intended to increase student achievement by the process of planning, assessment, and evaluation. Reports have indicated that student disruptions may consume much of the instructional time on daily basis. The purpose of this quantitative study was to focus on classroom management self-assessment of middle school teachers and number of discipline referrals written in one academic school year in western part of the U.S. The participants of this study included 237 teachers including 79 teachers at grade 6, 79 teachers at grade 7, and 79 teachers at grade 8 levels. As data collection tool, a questionnaire called Self-Assessment - Classroom Management (SACM) was used and discipline referrals written in one academic school year were collected. The findings the study indicated that teachers, who are inadequate in classroom management, tend to have more disciplinary problems in their classrooms, thus writing more discipline referrals than those who are effective in classroom management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Special education teacher attrition has numerous negative impacts for students and schools. Administrators play an essential role in supporting special educators, but they seldom receive adequate preparation to provide this support effectively. The authors synthesize job characteristics theory, an area of research conducted by organizational psychologists. This theory is used to provide practical suggestions for administrators interested in supporting and retaining special educators. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article aims to analyze the influence of the operational programs as a tool of EU cohesion policy for management of higher education institutions in the programming period 2007-2013. The funding structures of the universities, realized through EU operational programs, are examined. The concepts of management of higher education are presented and recommendations for reforming are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the current study was (1) to determine if three observed variables (teacher academic press, parent academic press, and student academic press) would come together to create the latent construct school academic press and (2) to examine the utility of this construct along with instructional leadership and two control variables (elementary school level and socioeconomic status) in predicting academic achievement. A confirmatory factor analysis and a simultaneous structural equation based on a multiple indicator-multiple cause model were developed and tested that explained the relationships among these variables in 49 schools in one large urban district. Participants included 1,292 teachers who responded to an instructional leadership and academic press survey, as well as 980 parents and 4,782 students who responded to surveys of academic press. As predicted, instructional leadership, school academic press, and the control variables explained approximately 84% of the variance in student achievement, with school academic press making the largest contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this Q-methodology study was to develop an understanding of the perceptions of assistant principals of their current and idealized leadership practices. Fifty-six current assistant principals sorted a set of leadership behaviors two times--first based on dispositions currently deployed in their practice and a second time based on dispositions that they wish to employ. The Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning empirically developed the sorted statements. Three model factor arrays were derived from each sort. The findings indicate a unique perspective between current and idealized practices for assistant principals. Moreover the dispositions geared toward second-order change did not appear in the positive side of the distribution on both the current and the idealized arrays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims at probing the information seeking behavior of educational administrators in Pakistan. It also explores their administrative responsibilities for which they usually seek information, their use of the Internet, their preferences for format of reading material and language, etc. and the problems they face while seeking information. To achieve these objectives, a review of related literature, a questionnaire survey and personal interviews within Punjab province and Islamabad Capital Territory in Pakistan were carried out. In total, 297 (99 percent) responses were received and analyzed quantitatively. Recommendations and conclusions are also drawn in the light of findings of the study. The study reveals that educational administrators’ information needs and seeking behavior largely depend on the type of job and the level of decision making they are involved with. Most of the findings of the study correspond with the reviewed literature. The results of the study can be useful to design information services and facilities for educational administrators, not only in Pakistan but in other developing countries of the world as well. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present study purports a change management competency profile of school heads based on ADKAR model with reference to the demographic and professional competency factors. The enhancement of Change Management (CM) competencies of an individual is creditably connected with demographic and professional competency factors of a school. This change model originally consisted of five outcome (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement) and sub-competency factors. To contextualize an overseas model, exploratory factor analysis was performed to develop a change management competency (CMC) scale. Stratified Random sampling technique was adopted to sample 304 school heads in the eight districts of three regions (north, central & south) Punjab. Low literacy rate districts formed the main rationale for sampling the districts. An alternative hypothesis was also tested. On the basis of response categories, the strengths and weaknesses of managing change within a school system were also identified in this study. The demographic and professional competency factors have proved as strong enablers of change management for the school heads in order to keep the momentum of both intended and implemented new plans within a school system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades scholars have called for a more concerted effort to develop an empirically grounded literature on educational leadership outside of mainstream “Western” contexts. This paper reports the results of a review of research topics and methods that comprise the literature on educational leadership and management in Asia between 1995 and 2012. The review of research employed a quantitative descriptive form of systematic review of 478 articles published in eight “core” international journals in educational leadership and management over this period. The review examined trends in publication volume and impact, as well as research topics and methods used by scholars studying educational leadership and management in Asia. The study concluded that Asian scholarship in educational leadership and management remains in the early stages of development. Knowledge production is highly uneven across the continent, with only a few pockets of research excellence. Significant growth trends were observed in terms of scholarly interest in studying leadership in K-12 schools, school change, effects and improvement, and organizational behavior in education. Although qualitative research methods were more popular in this literature prior to 2006, the use of quantitative research methods has increased sharply during the past six years. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Ilkogretim Online is the property of Ilkogretim Online and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Pedagogická Orientace is the property of Pedagogicka Orientace and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this research is to determine the scientific and legal level of educational administration and supervision activities in Turkish ministries. Document analysis which is a qualitative research technique has been used for the study. The study has been conducted on data, collected from internet, based on in-service training regulations and internal supervision instructions of ministries. Descriptive analysis is used in data analysis process. In-service training regulations, that are examined, are evaluated under seven categories in terms of administration processes. These categories are; decision making, planning, organizing, communicating, influencing, coordinating and evaluating. Internal supervision unit guidelines are evaluated under six categories which are; defining what to be supervised, preparations before supervision, defining the standards, data collection before supervision, cross-control of supervision data and standards, and reporting. The findings reveal that the most frequent in the administrative process is evaluating, and the least one is coordinating. The administrative processes are most cited by The Ministry of Health, but least by administrative The Ministry of Forest and Water Affairs. The ministries have cited the same supervision processes equally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the technical adequacy of office discipline referrals (ODRs) received early in the school year for predicting total ODRs received by the end of the year. The sample included 401,852 students from 593 public middle schools (serving Grades 6 to 8) in the United States in the 2009-2010 school year. The results showed that ODRs received in September, October, and November were statistically significant predictors of total ODRs and that the inclusion of types of referrals (especially for defiance) significantly improved prediction of total ODRs. These results are discussed regarding the utility of ODRs for screening and patterns of problem behavior likely to predict chronic discipline problems in middle schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to approach the practice of school management, focusing on administrative styles that influence the management, but also discusses the importance of participation of all professionals in the school system, emphasizing the right choice of the manager to ensure the organization, mobilization and coordination of all material and human conditions necessary to guarantee the progress of socio-educational schools processes, aimed guided to at promotie effective students learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]