International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership (IJEPL)
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The Role of Isolation in Predicting New Principals’ Burnout
Get PDFProfessional isolation has hampered the quality of the work experience for employees in and outside public education for decades. This study explores the role that perceived isolation plays in predicting the quality of the work experience among new principals. The analysis tests whether isolation serves as a mediator in the relationship between factors that are known to affect the quality of work life of principals (social support; role stress; and participation in a structured coaching relationship) and three dimensions of burnout. Regression analysis supports the framework that places isolation as a mediator in predicting physical and emotional burnout, but does not support this role for cognitive burnout
Improving Student Achievement: Can Ninth Grade Academies Make A Difference?
Get PDFThis study focused on student achievement in ninth grade schools or academies compared to ninth grade students enrolled in traditional high schools. Student achievement was measured by standardized test scores. Other variables tested were gender and ethnicity. All students used in this study were enrolled in the ninth grade during the 2005-2006 school year at one of six schools selected for this research. Participants were enrolled in Algebra I and/or Biology I course(s) and therefore took the standardized Subject Area Test in these disciplines. Data indicated students enrolled in ninth grade academies scored significantly higher then ninth graders enrolled in traditional high schools on both the Algebra I and Biology test. Further analysis of data revealed significant differences based on ethnicity in achievement of Biology I students in the ninth grade academies when compared to the Biology I students in the traditional high schools. The African American students in the ninth grade academies had a higher mean score on the Biology I SAPT than Caucasian and African American students enrolled in the traditional high schools. Additionally, the Caucasian students in the ninth grade academies scored only .03 higher than the mean score of African American students in the ninth grade academies
A Mandatory Uniform Policy in Urban Schools: Findings from the School Survey on Crime and Safety: 2003-04
Get PDFThe main purpose of the study is to examine the relations between a mandatory school uniform policy and student problem behavior. The study is based on the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS) 2003-04 data. Analyzing data from 421 urban schools, the study found that schools adopting a mandatory uniform policy are negatively associated with rates of student problem behaviors except at the high school level. As with other school safety initiatives, parental involvement at the elementary school level, and teacher training and community efforts at the high school level were revealed as negative predictors of student problem behavior
Saudi National Assessment of Educational Progress (SNAEP)
Get PDFTo provide a universal basic education, Saudi Arabia initially employed a rapid quantitative educational strategy, later developing a qualitative focus to improve standards of education delivery and quality of student outcomes. Despite generous resources provided for education, however, there is no national assessment system to provide statistical evidence on students’ learning outcomes. Educators are querying the curricula and quality of delivery for Saudi education, especially following low student performances on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2003 and 2007. There is a growing demand for national assessment standards for all key subject areas to monitor students’ learning progress. This study acknowledges extant research on this important topic and offers a strategy of national assessment to guide educational reform
The Importance of Change: Changes at a Teacher Education College in Israel - Declared and Perceived Aspect
Get PDFThis study examines changes at a large teacher education college in Israel and considers how teacher educators perceive these changes. The research tools included protocols documenting formal meetings of college decision makers, questionnaires distributed among the college teaching faculty, analyzed quantitatively, and in-depth narrative interviews with twenty faculty members, analyzed for qualitative content. Results point to two aspects of change: the declared aspect of the college decision makers and the perceived aspect of the teacher educators who must implement decision makers' policy. Findings indicate that the two aspects do not entirely coincide, though they overlap on some parameters, especially those related to the teaching environment and to the well-being of teacher educators
An Analysis of How the Gender and Race of School Principals Influence Their Perception of Multicultural Education
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to investigate secondary school principals’ perceptions of multicultural education in a rural southeastern state. The researchers wanted to ascertain whether or not the race or gender of school principals have a role in how those principals view multicultural education in theory (its theoretical value). For the purpose of this study, multicultural education in theory was defined as the belief that multicultural education is for all students, elevates students’ self-esteem, is embedded in cultural pluralism, and recognizes the social, political, and economic community and societal constructs on students of color (Fernandez, 1996). Three hundred and two secondary school principals were surveyed in a designated southeastern state. A significant difference was discovered with regard to the gender of the school principals and their perceptions of the theoretical value of multicultural education
Teachers, policymakers and project learning: The questionable use of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ policy instruments to influence the implementation of curriculum reform in Hong Kong
Get PDFFollowing the return of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region developed wide-ranging curriculum reforms, including project learning. A recent survey has indicated that over 80% of Hong Kong primary and secondary schools have adopted project learning as a curriculum task. Such an outcome is hard to reconcile both with the culture of Hong Kong schools and the generally bleak picture that pervades the literature on educational change.
In seeking an explanation for this apparent success we focus attention on the policy instruments that were used by government agencies to facilitate the process of implementation. Our analysis revealed that teachers were caught in a pincer movement that involved voluntary activities promoting project learning and coercive measures that monitored and evaluated successful implementation. Teachers’ views of these policy instruments differed markedly from those of policymakers. This confluence of mixed approaches, while apparently successful, is also shown to be problematic. Finally, the paper is located in a theoretical framework with its origins in recent policy theory that to date has not been applied to educational contexts
Teachers as Partners in the Prevention of Childhood Obesity
Get PDFThis paper presents a community-school-higher education partnership approach to the prevention of childhood obesity. Public elementary school personnel, primarily teachers, participated in the design and delivery of a curriculum targeting primary caregivers of 8-9-year-old children. Theoretical framework and methodological approaches guided the development of a cognitive behavioral lifestyle intervention targeting childhood obesity prevention in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a U.S. commonwealth. This project demonstrated that in populations with health disparity, teachers can be a valuable and accessible resource for identifying key health issues of concern to communities and a vital partner in the development of parent and child interventions. Teachers also benefited by gaining knowledge and skills to facilitate student and parent learning and impact on personal and familial health. Successful community-school-higher education partnerships require consideration of local culture and community needs and resources. Moreover, within any community-school–higher education partnership it is essential that a time sensitive and culturally appropriate feedback loop be designed to ensure that programs are responsive to the needs and resources of all stakeholders, and that leaders and policymakers are highly engaged so they can make informed policy decisions
Evaluating Higher Education Policy in Turkey: Assessment of the Admission Procedure to Architecture, Planning and Engineering Schools
Get PDFThe admission procedure to higher education institutions in Turkey is based on the student’s high school grades and Central University Entrance Examination (CUEE) score, with a much greater weight on the latter. However, whether the CUEE is an appropriate measure in the admission process to universities is still a much-debated question. This study assesses the validity of the CUEE as a selection tool for design-based departments by examining the relationship between CUEE scores and success in university education in two design-based departments, architecture and city planning. The analysis is then extended to test the relationship in three engineering departments, computer engineering, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering. Based on the bivariate correlation and one sample t-test result, we report that CUEE scores and graduation grades have no relationship at all. We conclude that the current admission procedure to design-based schools based on solely a central examination score is not preferable
Salary and Ranking and Teacher Turnover: A Statewide Study
Get PDFThis study examined three years of data obtained from the Academic Excellence Indicator System of the State of Texas regarding teacher turnover rate and teacher salary. Across all public school districts, teacher salary was consistently negatively related to teacher turnover; that is, where salary was lower, turnover rate was higher When data were regrouped by highest- and poorest-paying school districts, teacher turnover rate was found to be twice as high in the poorest-paying school districts. Implications of these findings and suggestions for further research are discussed