International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership (IJEPL)
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Impacts of School Organizational Restructuring Into a Collaborative Setting on the Nature of Emerging Forms of Collegiality
Get PDFThis case study tells the story of an elementary school staff on the west coast of Canada that decided to address their perceived problem of teacher isolation by transforming the internal organization of their school into a collaborative environment designed to foster collegial practices among themselves. The main guiding question of this study was: can a collaborative organizational structure facilitate and sustain a level of collegiality in which people feel safe from attack, where difficult questions are addressed, and where the status quo can be safely challenged? In this study, the transformation of organizational structure of the school elicited and molded, to an extent, the professional behaviours of members of the staff into professional collegial patterns of interactions. However, we have found that educators seemed to have made individual choices to maintain a certain degree of isolation, of privacy, shielding themselves from reflective inquiry and criticism
Recruiting New Teachers to Urban School Districts: What Incentives Will Work?
Get PDFMany urban districts in the United States have difficulty attracting and retaining quality teachers, yet they are often the most in need of them. In response, U.S. states and districts are experimenting with financial incentives to attract and retain high-quality teachers in high-need, low-achieving, or hard-to-staff urban schools. However, relatively little is known about how effective financial incentives are to recruit new teachers to high-need urban schools. This research explores factors that are important to the job choices of teachers in training. Focus groups were held with students at three universities, and a policy-capturing study was done using 64 job scenarios representing various levels of pay and working conditions. Focus group results suggested that: a) many pre-service teachers, even relatively late in their preparation, are not committed to a particular district and are willing to consider many possibilities, including high need schools; b) although pay and benefits were attractive to the students, loan forgiveness and subsidies for further education were also attractive; and c) small increments of additional salary did not appear as important or attractive as other job characteristics. The policy-capturing study showed that working conditions factors, especially principal support, had more influence on simulated job choice than pay level, implying that money might be better spent to attract, retain, or train better principals than to provide higher beginning salaries to teachers in schools with high-poverty or a high proportion of students of color
Using a DEA Management Tool through a Nonparametric Approach: An Examination of Urban-Rural Effects on Thai School Efficiency
Get PDFThis paper examines urban-rural effects on public upper-secondary school efficiency in northern Thailand. In the study, efficiency was measured by a nonparametric technique, data envelopment analysis (DEA). Urban-rural effects were examined through a Mann-Whitney nonparametric statistical test. Results indicate that urban schools appear to have access to and practice different production technologies than rural schools, and rural institutions appear to operate less efficiently than their urban counterparts. In addition, a sensitivity analysis, conducted to ascertain the robustness of the analytical framework, revealed the stability of urban-rural effects on school efficiency. Policy to improve school efficiency should thus take varying geographical area differences into account, viewing rural and urban schools as different from one another. Moreover, policymakers might consider shifting existing resources from urban schools to rural schools, provided that the increase in overall rural efficiency would be greater than the decrease, if any, in the city. Future research directions are discussed
Melting Pot Influences on Secondary English Curriculum Policy
Get PDFThis article explores how racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity are addressed in secondary English curriculum policy in Massachusetts, U.S.A. Data are analyzed through theories of the sociology of knowledge and the myth of the United States melting pot. Analysis revealed that curriculum policy privileged Eurocentric literature and the English language and adhered to a melting pot ideology. The article considers how the international educational policy movement toward post-standardization may afford greater responsiveness to diversity
A Quantitative Analysis of Countries’ Research Strengths
Get PDFThis study employed a multidimensional analysis to evaluate transnational patterns of scientific research to determine relative research strengths among widely varying nations. Findings from this study may inform national policy with regard to the most efficient use of scarce national research resources, including government and private funding. Research output from 34 countries is examined using a conceptual framework that emphasizes the ratio of research resources devoted to a particular field to research output measured by publications in peer-reviewed journals. Using cluster analysis and k-means analysis, we conclude that countries’ research output (as measured by the number of published peer-reviewed articles) and their efficiency (as measured by a ratio of research output to dollars allocated to research) together indicate a comparative advantage within any given country’s own menu of research choices and an absolute advantage relative to other countries. This study implies that the more countries engage in publication in areas of relative strength and consume research in areas of relative weakness, the stronger their entire research agenda will become
The Effects of Educational Accountability on Teachers: Are Policies Too Stress Provoking for Their Own Good?
Get PDFEducation policies in the United States and other nations have established academic standards and made teachers accountable for improved standardized test scores. Because policies can have unintended effects, in this study we investigated U.S. elementary school teachers’ perceptions of their state’s accountability policy, particularly its effect on their job engagement. We found support for a path model relating lack of policy support to teacher burnout via two mediators: role conflict and reduced self-efficacy. Results of interviews with a subset of teachers were consistent with the model. We conclude with recommendations to reduce teacher stress in manners consistent with the goals of accountability policies
Exploring the Impact of Applicants’ Gender and Religion on Principals’ Screening Decisions for Assistant Principal Applicants
Get PDFIn this experimental study, a national random sample of high school principals (stratified by gender) were asked to evaluate hypothetical applicants whose resumes varied by religion (Jewish, Catholic, nondenominational) and gender (male, female) for employment as assistant principals. Results reveal that male principals rate all applicants higher than female principals and that the gender and religion of applicants failed to negatively or positively affect principals’ evaluations. These results suggest that discrimination based on an applicant’s gender and religion failed to be manifested during the pre-interview stage of the selection process. The paper concludes with a theoretical discussion of the distinction between explicit and implicit prejudice, and encourages future researchers to investigate the potential impact of prejudice on employment selection decisions and to consider whether schools should promote diversity in leadership positions
The kinds of knowledge principals use: Implications for training
Get PDFInformation about how school principals operate pertains mainly to the actions of principals. However, the kinds of knowledge that the principalship demands have not been isolated as clearly, more often than not being conflated with actions. As principals’ duties become more complex, it becomes more important to ground specific practices in robust knowledge of relevant theoretical principles. One aspect of the principal’s job where this is particularly germane is the resolution of unfamiliar, complex, unstructured challenges. This paper presents findings from research into how principals think when dealing with problematic situations, in particular the types of knowledge they use. Four broad categories of knowledge were identified and, within those, twelve specific types. The research lends credence to the oral report or think-aloud method for making thinking processes available for analysis, and the findings indicate how the content of preparation programs may be adjusted to better qualify principals for the contemporary demands of their work. A prime recommendation is the inclusion of opportunities for the development of tacit knowledge
The Unintended, Pernicious Consequences of "Staying the Course" on the United States' No Child Left Behind Policy
Get PDFThe phrase “no child left behind” has become a familiar expression in American education circles and in popular culture. The sentiment implied by these four words is noble. However, the effects of the top-down implementation of the high-stakes testing provisions of the law have been anything but salutary for public school children, teachers, and administrators. This claim is supported by data describing many of the ways in which well-intentioned but desperate educators, from the statehouse to the schoolhouse, have been driven to game the system in ironic defense of the children, teachers, and administrators least equipped to defend themselves. It is argued herein that, instead of reauthorizing the stronger accountability tenet of NCLB, it might do very well to let it fade away
Corruption and Educational Outcomes: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
Get PDFCorruption is a problem that continues to plague developed and developing countries worldwide. Previous studies have explored the negative implications of corruption on several aspects of human development, but, despite its serious and long-lasting consequences, the impact of corruption on educational outcomes has started to receive attention only in recent years. This study empirically investigates the relationship between corruption and educational outcomes, using a sample of 50 countries. Study findings show that corruption is negatively associated with educational outcomes, after controlling for other variables, and suggest that continued efforts be made to control corruption