1,720,965 research outputs found
Enabling strategic total quality management within school improvement in Australian public primary schools
Get PDFGoing Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Exploring leadership influence within data-informed decision-making practices in Australian independent schools
No full textThere is increasingly strong pressure on schools to use data within their decision-making processes; the pressure comes not just from high-stakes testing but also from the subsequent comparative analysis conducted in the international, national, state, and local jurisdictions that represent the educational systems responsible for ensuring that students continue to receive quality education (Harris & Jones, 2017). There is paucity in empirical research within Australia on the practice of data use within schools; research is lacking on data interactions among school leaders in their workplace settings (Coburn & Turner, 2012). This study contributes toward this identified gap in Australian research literature on the practice of data-informed decision making (DIDM) in schools. Using a case-study approach at two K-12 independent schools in Victoria, Australia, the study sought to understand the "how" and "why" of DIDM systems that are currently in use within Australian independent schools in order to better understand what data-informed school improvement processes are being used in practice in this sector of Australian schooling. Based on the findings, we offer recommendations for developing improved system capabilities that make schools data literate and numerate and identify the important transformational role that senior and middle-level school leaders play in building up data-informed collaborative school cultures within their schools.There is increasingly strong pressure on schools to use data within their decision-making processes; the pressure comes not just from high-stakes testing but also from the subsequent comparative analysis conducted in the international, national, state, and local jurisdictions that represent the educational systems responsible for ensuring that students continue to receive quality education (Harris & Jones, 2017). There is paucity in empirical research within Australia on the practice of data use within schools; research is lacking on data interactions among school leaders in their workplace settings (Coburn & Turner, 2012). This study contributes toward this identified gap in Australian research literature on the practice of data-informed decision making (DIDM) in schools. Using a case-study approach at two K-12 independent schools in Victoria, Australia, the study sought to understand the "how" and "why" of DIDM systems that are currently in use within Australian independent schools in order to better understand what data-informed school improvement processes are being used in practice in this sector of Australian schooling. Based on the findings, we offer recommendations for developing improved system capabilities that make schools data literate and numerate and identify the important transformational role that senior and middle-level school leaders play in building up data-informed collaborative school cultures within their schools
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
The effectiveness of total quality management as a school improvement process
No full textPurpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the contribution that Total Quality Management (TQM) programs have made in the provision of quality education within schools in Victoria, Australia. Through case-study analysis, two state primary schools in Victoria who have made use of TQM programs within their school improvement processes were studied.
Design/Methodology/Approach In order to investigate the experiences of the two case-study schools, a mixed-methods approach was used. This study has been designed as a retrospective, instrumental, organisational case-study using mainly qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews, content analysis, document analysis and semi-structured observations as well as one quantitative method that involved using a Self-Assessment Quality Checklist. Grounded theory methods were used for data-coding and the Australian Business Excellence Framework was used as the main data analysis tool. The participants from each case-study school included: The principal, a middle ¬management member -coordinator, a teaching staff member, an administrative staff member, the Total Quality Management consultant and a school council member using a multi-level data collection approach. The analysis determined the extent to which TQM programs can be used as valuable contributors towards school improvement processes conducted in state primary schools within Victoria, Australia. It looked at the effect these particular TQM programs have had on the overall teaching and learning process and studied significant aspects of these programs which have assisted the case-study schools in developing a culture for continuous improvement.
Findings The findings of this study indicate that there are a number of positive implications for the application of Total Quality Management philosophy and programs within educational organisations such as primary schools. Through this study, it was found that TQM programs have a definite impact on the leadership system, the organisational culture and the mechanisms of continuous improvement within schools. It was also found that there are serious implications for the application of TQM programs within state primary as well as state secondary schools in Victoria, Australia.
Originality/Value As a synthesis form of the analysis, a model for school improvement that focuses on schools being strategically-oriented learning organisations through an effective leadership system has been suggested. Also, recommendations on the use of the Australian Business Excellence Framework as a self-assessment auditing tool by schools in Victoria, Australia have been made
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Local and global congeries shaping educational administration in India
Get PDFThis chapter takes a historic perspective to analyse the way in which educational administration in India has evolved since the British colonial period. The chapter begins with a general discussion on educational administration as a field of study before specifying how it has evolved in India since British colonial times. The chapter argues that, because of modern India’s colonial history, local and global forces have historically shaped educational administration in India; hence, the problems and developments in the field cannot be understood in isolation. It is important to historically situate the context of educational administration since British colonial times for a better understanding of administrative problems and challenges of education reform initiatives
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