School Improvement

Este artículo presenta la traducción al castellano de la tercera edición del Index for Inclusion, editado por Booth y Ainscow en 2011. Se trata de una nueva versión revisada y ampliada, especialmente en dos direcciones: los elementos que fundamentan la educación inclusiva y la propuesta de un curriculum preocupado por la sostenibilidad. Se trata de un instrumento útil para guiar la autorreflexión, la participación y el diálogo entre los diferentes miembros de la comunidad educativa. La finalidad última de esta guía es la de construir espacios educativos que promuevan la participación e incrementen su capacidad para responder a la diversidad del alumnado garantizando la equidad y calidad.

Australia's largest schooling system, the NSW Department of Education, is in a period of unprecedented change as the Department of Education initiates a range of reforms. One critical reform occurred in 2014 when the Department of Education and the New South Wales Teachers' Federation agreed to link teachers' salaries with accreditation. For the first time, all Department of Education principals, executives and teachers must complete an annual Performance and Development Plan. This article describes the work of a team of academics from the School of Education, Southern Cross University, and the Department of Education school leaders in northern NSW, exploring opportunities to accomplish school improvement through the "North Coast Initiative for School Improvement" (NCISI). The impetus for this initiative is based on the work of Alberta academics and researchers, Dr. David Townsend and Dr. Pamela Adams. The approach is based upon small teams, comprising a member of a school district's central office, a district principal and university academics, who once a month visit the leadership team of a school in order to build instructional leadership. This process involves the use of a guiding question, generative dialogue and a collaborative inquiry methodology. Early findings indicate the NCISI's approach is having positive impact leadership growth, through collaboration. Key elements of trust and professional identity have developed within teams. The very positive reaction of school communities to the project in its early stages is heartening and shows that there is a strong desire by school leaders to draw upon collaborative support in order to grow professionally. The project also demonstrates a strong level of commitment from a regional university to build productive relationships with schools.

Research indicates that underperforming teachers have a profound impact on students and on principals who struggle to deal with the underperformance. However, the impact on, and responses of, other teachers (i.e., coworkers) is rarely studied, in spite of the importance of teacher collaboration in contemporary education. Therefore, we interviewed co-workers about incidents of teacher underperformance, using the Critical Incident Technique. Our respondents reported various types of underperformance, including student-related and team-related underperformance, as well as task underperformance and counterproductive work behaviours. Dependent on the specific incident, co-workers were more directly or indirectly affected by the underperformance. They expressed frustrations, concerns and feelings of injustice, not only about the underperformance itself, but also about a lack of response by the school principal. Moreover, we found that co-worker responses depended on how they perceived the necessity, appropriateness and utility of responding, as well as their responsibility to respond. This was influenced by characteristics of the underperformance, underperformer and co-worker, principals' responses and team factors. Implications for educational research, policy and practice are discussed.

There is a growing understanding that, after engaging teaching, educational leadership is the second most important factor accounting for student success. Despite this fundamental declaration, educational leadership has fallen through the cracks. Little interest has developed concerning in depth studies of this important position in education. Educational leaders carry the unique responsibility to unify the many independent variables at play in schools, and create an atmosphere
in which the synergy produced delivers results far beyond academic achievement. As such, educational leadership preparation programs carry the enormous responsibility to address the fundamental difference between an effective school manager and an effective leader.

This practicum report investigates the effect of a short, 10-minute playground activity on working memory in children aged 8 to 12. A sample of 20 children was divided into an active and a resting group. Pre- and post-intervention memory performance was assessed using a digit span task. Results showed a significant improvement in the active group’s recall, particularly for longer sequences. These findings suggest that even brief physical activity can enhance cognitive function in educational settings.

The literature, interviews, observations, document analysis, and review of relevant financial artifacts at each site were used to form an Innovation Configuration Map, which represented financial leadership practice. Results showed that financial leadership practices are rooted in targeted resource tools, mindful internal accountability routines, and collaborative, inquiry based mindsets of school practitioners. Moreover, variations emerged such that financial leadership practices adapted to the unique context of the site. This study found that explaining, analyzing, and documenting the configurations that exist with recognized financial leadership practices helps to illuminate the connection between spending practices and school improvement efforts in different school contexts.

Professional development of teacher is acknowledged to be centrally important in maintaining and enhancing the quality of teaching and learning in schools. Cognizant of this, nationwide professional development has been designed and enacted since 2003 in Ethiopia. This paper aims to reflect on the practices of teachers' professional development in schools. In so doing, it relied on the narratives of three informants, current literature and the experiences of the researcher as an insider and teacher educator. Methodologically, the study employed narrative research, which is the process of studying and understanding experience through story telling. The findings indicated that the participants found the current teacher professional development problematic and unhelpful to bring the desired change in teachers classroom practice and student learning. The available teacher professional development was narrowly understood, poorly practiced, and orchestrated tightly from the top.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified ten core life skills that play a crucial role in promoting psychosocial health. This publication explores how these competencies can be systematically integrated into school development processes to effectively embed character and personality education. Drawing on recent empirical studies from Austria and international research findings, it presents a practice-oriented model for the promotion of life skills in schools. The approach combines value-based education with concrete reflection tools for school practice and is designed as an open educational resource (OER) to support school leaders, teachers, and educational teams. Personality development is not seen as an additional task, but as a central pillar of school improvement.

Este artigo analisa questões a respeito da presença
católica nos debates acerca da renovação do ensino
brasileiro nas décadas de 20 e 30 do século passado,
a partir da ação representativa dos intelectuais católicos atuantes no movimento, dando maior visibilidade
à reforma do ensino em Minas Gerais e a implementação das propostas pedagógicas formuladas por esse
grupo. Assim, o trabalho põe em evidência, ainda de
forma introdutória, a presença de grupos católicos no
movimento escolanovista.

The au th o r is indebted to R oger Nib 1er fo r the stim u latin g c o n v e rsa tio n s leading to th is study. The typing and p re p a ra tio n of the tex t by C h arlo tte O 'L e a ry is g re a tly ap p reciated . Thanks to m y fam ily and frien d s.

There are a number of reform initiatives underway in Turkey but some of these, which are concerned with curricular and structural changes, have encountered serious difficulties. This paper begins with a brief summary of school effectiveness and school improvement research guiding many educational reforms. It then gives some information about school demographics in Turkey, and the country's performance in some international benchmarking studies. It continues with the shifts introduced as a result of recent curricular reorganisation in Turkey and, subsequently, with various issues related to their implications. Finally, the efforts to legislate some structural changes and the major controversies arising are presented.

Providing challenging and engaging learning opportunities is one way to motivate students to learn. In this article, we discuss the contributions of the gifted education field to the development of enrichment pedagogy and identify several different types of these engaging instructional strategies, including interest-based learning pedagogy, differentiation and curriculum compacting, project-based learning, open-ended choice, and the application of creative productivity to students learning. We identify this specialized pedagogy and give examples of how these exciting pedagogical strategies can be implemented in classrooms and by enrichment specialists and school counselors, both for academically talented and for all students. We conclude with a brief overview of research that demonstrates longitudinal benefits for students who are exposed to this type of teaching, suggesting positive outcomes.

This study examined the challenges confronting the operators of private primary and secondary schools in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State. Three specific purposes, three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised all the 214 (58 private secondary school and 156 private primary school) operators in the local government area; which was used as the sample for the study. Researchers structured rating scale "Challenges Confronting Private School Operators Rating Scale (CCPSORS)" was used for data collection. The instrument was face validated by three experts in Faculty of Education. Average internal consistency coefficient of 0.79 was obtained using Cronbach Alpha statistical method. The researcher administered the instrument to the respondents with the help of two research assistants. Data were analyzed using aggregate mean. The findings revealed that inadequate funds, inadequate infrastructures, and inadequate instructional materials are challenges that confront the operators of private primary and secondary schools in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State. The study concluded that these challenges could impede students' learning experiences, limit educational opportunities, and hinder overall academic achievement; and addressing them is crucial for ensuring equitable access to quality education and fostering positive learning outcomes. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others that Private school management should make adequate funding a top priority by creating and implementing sustainable funding strategies. They should focus on improving infrastructure

Resumen: This paper reports on research carried out in Australian schools involved in a school improvement project called IDEAS. In particular, this research, completed by the Leadership Research Institute at the University of Southern Queensland focuses on the ...

The paper arises from the International Teacher Leadership project, a research and development project involving researchers and practitioners in 14 European countries. The paper provides a conceptual exploration of the idea of teacher leadership and its role in educational reform, central to which is the idea that teachers, regardless of their level of power and organisational position, can engage in the leadership of enquiry-based development activity aimed at influencing their colleagues and embedding improved practices in their schools. The paper provides an outline of the project’s methodology which builds on that used in the Carpe Vitam Leadership for Learning project (Frost, 2008a). It is a form of collaborative action research which is highly developmental and discursive. It seeks to identify principles, strategies and tools that can be applied in a range of cultural settings. The paper includes a thematic analysis of the cultural contexts and policy environments of the part...

Within the University course 'Multimedia research methods' addressing CPD for teachers, trainees were asked to record their typical lesson and to analyze it according to a specific protocol, called Evident, encompassing several tools. The theoretical frameworks inspiring this action-research approach are the School Effectiveness Approach by B. Creemers and L. Kyriakides, 'Visible Learning' by Hattie and the Lesson Study practice, mainly used in Asian countries. After analyzing their videos, teachers would visualize their positioning in a radar diagram helping them to understand what factors should be improved in order to carry out an effective lesson. Furthermore, teachers were asked to peer review the work of one other colleagues. This resulted in a very powerful exercise to improve and better plan an effective classroom lesson. The paper provides a detailed description of the methodology employed, the corresponding tools and the analysis of the main results coming ...

Charter school boards play a critical role in ensuring academic achievement, legal compliance, and fiscal oversight. Despite this, many governing bodies lack structured tools to evaluate their practices and align actions with instructional outcomes. This study introduces the Charter Governance Walkthrough and Governance Action Plan™ System, a trademarked evaluation and improvement model aligned to the S-UDLCD™ Leadership & Effectiveness Matrix™. Grounded in systems theory, UDL, and MTSS, the framework integrates governance self-assessment with strategic planning. The research examines its theoretical foundation, implementation across Florida charter schools, and implications for board accountability, renewal, and sponsor relations.
© 2025 Terrence Narinesingh, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

There is increasing interest in research-based education in the Western World as it is assumed to strengthen school improvement capacity. Previous research shows that school principals play a pivotal role in realising such vision. The aim of this article is to explore the influence of principals on research-based education in their local municipal adult education (MAE) institutions. The study is informed by the theory of practice architecture. Data rely on 10 interviews with the principals of eight local MAE institutions. The study draws attention to how inherent contradictions in the national education system may hinder the policy ambitions related to research-based adult education. These contradictions not only affect principals' leadership practices in various ways, but also their ability to ensure research-based adult education. It is suggested that understanding the practice architecture is fundamental to enhancing leadership practice, which is also exemplified.

This study is an investigation of school administrator preparation in Baja California, México undertaken by professors in the US and Mexico. We used focus groups to determine the day to day challenges of rural school directors and what recommendations might be implied for educational administrator preparation. This study crosses the border between Mexico and the United States. The rationale is based on two ideas: first, research in other countries provides an opportunity to examine programs and identify alternative theories, procedures, and practices of educational leadership; second, cross-cultural research can yield different perspectives and allow researchers from each culture to perceive leadership practices in a new light. In the following sections, we will review writers who have argued for the internationalization of the field of educational administration and examine models of culture that can be useful in pursuing this analysis. Then we will look at education in Mexico and the status of the field of educational administration. This will lead us to the major questions of this study.

Over ervaringen met de tampon: Onding of beste uitvinding? 'Een uitkomst voor u is het geheel nieuwe verband Tampax. Veilig, hygiënisch, gemakkelijk, klein, reukloos.' Zo staat in een van de eerste advertenties voor menstruatietampons in Nederland, in 1938. Dezelfde voordelen gelden volgens advertenties anno 2024 nog steeds. De twee bekendste merken stammen uit de Verenigde Staten: Tampax (geproduceerd vanaf 1936 door Tambrands) en o.b., dat Johnson & Johnson vanaf 1947 op de markt brengt. O.b. staat voor 'ohne Binde', wat in Nederland in advertenties steeds uitgelegd wordt als 'onmerkbare bescherming'. Hoe ervaren gebruikers deze 'nieuwe verbandmiddelen'? Het Nederlands Openluchtmuseum sprak tientallen mensen over hun ervaringen met menstruatie in het alledaagse leven. De een noemt 'tampons, anticonceptiepil en contactlenzen de "beste" uitvindingen van de 20e eeuw'. Een ander vindt tampons 'erg vervelend om te dragen', of gebruikt herbruikbare producten om '(afval) te besparen'.

Problems cannot be solved at the same level of consciousness that created them!-Albert Einstein Two a�ernoons a week, 12-year-old Kelvin goes to an enrichment cluster at the Noah Webster School in Har�ord, Connec�cut. When he was selected for the program, Kelvin said, "It feels good, but I was amazed. I was about to faint! I was super, super surprised." The reason for Kelvin's amazement was that he had never considered himself to be a good student, at least not in the tradi�onal way. And the program was not exactly the kind of place you would expect to find youngsters like Kelvin, who lives in subsidized housing and whose family manages to survive on a monthly welfare check and food stamps.

In this study, FRAM- cooperation was in focus. FRAM is an inter-municipal school development cooperation that has been going on in a few communities in the metropolitan regions. The aim has been to highlight how FRAM by using interview surveys contributed to quality improvement and school improvement in the evaluated schools. The starting point of this study was to examine the degree to which two actors in management, namely managing directors and principals, have perceived FRAM´s contributions and how they feel it has led to quality improvement.The study is a qualitative research study in which management directors and principals have been interviewed on the basis of one Frame factor theoretical perspective. There, participants and their flexibility have taken into account the institutional framework and the conditions in which they are involved. This is a dialectical interplay between the individual and the institutional norms and practices in which the actions of individuals are ...

A growing body of research has linked educational leadership and student achievement; however, the oppression of students of diverse race, ethnicity, and social class has perpetuated inequities and educational gaps for decades across the United States. Some educational leaders who care deeply about equity and social justice are examining their core values, behaviors, and beliefs, as well as their organization’s policies and practices to identify and implement knowledge and skills that disrupt the inequities producing educational and opportunity gaps. This article reports findings that are part of a larger qualitative descriptive case study that investigated the implementation and experiences of Eaveston School District’s intentional journey to become a culturally proficient school district. For this article, the authors included findings related to (1) how the implementation of the Cultural Proficiency Framework influenced change, and (2) the challenges educational leaders face whil...

The issue of school improvement is complex, and although reform initiatives have emanated from positive intentions for schools, many have been detrimental to school culture. Collaborative school culture has been cited as an essential element of school improvement; thus, a need exists to better understand how principals perceive and shape collaborative school cultures. This study examined leadership approaches and workplace conditions critical to the development of collaborative school cultures. The importance of the principal’s role in shaping collaborative culture is often noted in the literature. Using a sequential mixed methods explanatory research approach, the study consisted of two phases that employed quantitative and qualitative measures. Massachusetts’ principals (1,773) were contacted by email to participate in an on-line survey, with 261 principals completing the survey, resulting in a response rate of 15%. Ten telephone interviews were conducted after survey results were...

From the late 17th century to the early 20th century, Vienna’s coffeehouses were havens for artists, journalists, writers, musicians, socialites, outsiders and others. These venues were the breeding grounds for ideas, intellectual schools, and social movements. Unfortunately, political, social, and economic factors led to the decline of Vienna’s coffeehouse culture. However, its influence continues to be mythologised. In the 21st century, with the rise of social media, on-demand entertainment, smartphone addiction, and the decline of public spaces, it is perhaps more important than ever to reclaim the legacy of the Viennese coffeehouse. This essay explores an attempt to bring the spirit of the Viennese coffeehouse to life through small-scale beverage experiments with students and colleagues.

The success of the RP can be attributed to teachers who demonstrated a respect for students as people and learners, and who were able to systematically nurture and assess the development of students' self-directed learning, critical thinking, social awareness and engagement. Research: Sustainable pedagogical innovation depends on systemic changes at the classroom level, supported by cultural and organizational changes at the school level.

Thank you for understanding the long hours, for carrying the weight at home and for constantly supporting and encouraging us. You are one of our many gifts from God and we are so blessed. We would also like to thank our school families at St. Nicholas of Tolentine School, St. Matthias School and Northside Catholic Academy. It has been our privilege to work side by side with such dedicated teachers and parents and engaged and joyful students. You have been the inspiration for our work towards continued improvement in Catholic schools.

School culture plays a pivotal role in shaping the effectiveness of management practices within primary and secondary educational institutions. It encompasses shared beliefs, values, traditions, and behaviours' that define how a school operates and influences the interactions between teachers, students, and administrators. This paper explores the relationship between school culture and management practices, highlighting how a positive school culture can enhance leadership, teacher performance, student achievement, and community involvement. Effective school leadership, clear communication, and professional development are key components of a strong school culture that fosters collaboration, academic excellence, and a supportive learning environment. Conversely, a negative school culture can hinder management practices, resulting in low morale, poor academic performance, and a lack of engagement. The paper further discusses the challenges faced by school leaders in aligning culture with management practices, including resistance to change, conflicting values, and 1 resource limitations. Ultimately, this study underscores the importance of cultivating a positive school culture as a foundation for effective management in primary and secondary education, contributing to improved educational outcomes and school success.

Providing challenging and engaging learning opportunities is one way to motivate students to learn. In this article, we discuss the contributions of the gifted education field to the development of enrichment pedagogy and identify several different types of these engaging instructional strategies, including interest-based learning pedagogy, differentiation and curriculum compacting, project-based learning, open-ended choice, and the application of creative productivity to students learning. We identify this specialized pedagogy and give examples of how these exciting pedagogical strategies can be implemented in classrooms and by enrichment specialists and school counselors, both for academically talented and for all students. We conclude with a brief overview of research that demonstrates longitudinal benefits for students who are exposed to this type of teaching, suggesting positive outcomes.

A growing body of research has linked educational leadership and student achievement; however, the oppression of students of diverse race, ethnicity, and social class has perpetuated inequities and educational gaps for decades across the United States. Some educational leaders who care deeply about equity and social justice are examining their core values, behaviors, and beliefs, as well as their organization’s policies and practices to identify and implement knowledge and skills that disrupt the inequities producing educational and opportunity gaps. This article reports findings that are part of a larger qualitative descriptive case study that investigated the implementation and experiences of Eaveston School District’s intentional journey to become a culturally proficient school district. For this article, the authors included findings related to (1) how the implementation of the Cultural Proficiency Framework influenced change, and (2) the challenges educational leaders face whil...

This qualitative study examined the challenges and opportunities for integrating learning through play in teacher professional development in refugee and host communities in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda. By centering the professional development needs of teachers, our work contributed to a vital evidence base for The LEGO Foundation’s Playful Learning in Crisis Settings (PLiCs) initiative, which aims to enhance educational services that include learning through play for children and youth (ages 3 to 12+) living in protracted refugee settings in East Africa.

School Improvement Plans (SIPs) have been shown to be generally of poor quality and written more as acts of compliance than efforts at genuine reform. This raises the question: if SIPs are ineffective at improving schools, what is their larger purpose? In this conceptual paper, we argue that SIPs are discursive sites where schools can signal their adherence to ostensibly proven and acceptable models of reform. They do so through the use of reform symbols, discursive markers that signal legitimized organizational change through the adoption of accepted modes of improvement. We illustrate this concept by showing how a variety of SIPs use reform symbols that point to the work of no-excuses Charter Management Organizations. Such organizations, emblems of an era of accountability and narrow models of school improvement, are used as symbols of legitimacy that help schools secure their survival without engaging in the difficult work of change. The examples we use show clearly how reform symbols might take a variety of forms, appearing as important signifiers in a range of policy artifacts across the landscape of school improvement. We further argue that such reform symbols reduce the complexities of educational change, thus reinforcing an ideological field that constructs underperformance as normative and “school improvement” as both urgent and possible.

I, Xoliswa Hetty Mdabe, declare that i. The research reported in this dissertation, except where otherwise indicated, is my original work. ii. This dissertation has not been submitted for any degree or examination at any other university. iii. This dissertation does not contain other persons' data, pictures, graphs or other information unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other persons. iv. This dissertation does not contain other persons' writing unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other researchers. Where other written sources have been quoted, then: a) their words have been re-written, but the general information attributed to them has been referenced; b) Where their exact words have been used, their writing has been placed inside quotation marks and referenced. v. Where I have reproduced a publication of which I am an author, co-author or editor, I have indicated in detail which part of the publication was actually written by myself alone and have fully referenced such publications. vi. This dissertation does not contain text, graphics or tables copied and pasted from the internet, unless specifically acknowledged, and the source being detailed in the dissertation and the References section.

Syftet är att beskriva och analysera rektors pedagogiska ledarskap utifrån de arbetsvillkor som styr den dagliga praktiken. Syftet är även att undersöka rektors möjligheter att påverka arbets-respektive utvecklingsorganisationen och att analysera relationen mellan arbetet på den egna förskolan och huvudmannanivåns styrning och stöd. Att studera är en spännande resa. Det går aldrig att förutsäga vilka nya perspektiv som fångar ens uppmärksamhet och skapar nyfikenhet. Genom utbildningen och skrivandet har jag fått möta tankar och idéer som utmanat mina. Att ha fått reflektera kring olika begrepp har gett nya perspektiv som jag har kunnat bära med mig tillbaka in mitt arbete. Det har därför varit en förmån att kunna studera parallellt med att arbeta även om det också varit tidskrävande och annat har fått stå tillbaka. Min studie är nu klar och förhoppningsvis kan den vara ett bidrag till den samlade kunskapen om pedagogiskt ledarskap, även om jag med stor ödmjukhet inser att det finns så oändligt många fler perspektiv att upptäcka inom området. Jag vill tacka alla som på olika sätt har bidragit till att jag nu kan sätta punkt för mitt examensarbete. Joakim, det är tack vare dig som jag kom igång från första början. Utan dina frågor och längtan efter att hitta nya perspektiv hade jag kanske inte tagit mig an utmaningen. Tack för alla intressanta samtal och nyfikna frågor. Jag känner mig rik att ha en sådan kollega och vän. Tack till er rektorer för att ni så frikostigt delat med er av er tid och era tankar. I ett år har era röster ljudit i mina tankar och ni har hjälpt mig att bättre förstå det pedagogiska ledarskapet. Utan er medverkan hade uppsatsen inte haft något innehåll. Jag är tacksam till Helene som tagit sig tid att läsa arbetet, kommit med synpunkter och ställt kloka frågor. Med din hjälp har jag kunnat tydliggöra texten. Till sist vill jag tacka min man Christer som tålmodigt och på olika sätt backat upp när jag behövt tid att vara i min bubbla för att läsa och skriva. Med ditt stöd har jag nu kommit i mål.

Syftet är att beskriva och analysera rektors pedagogiska ledarskap utifrån de arbetsvillkor som styr den dagliga praktiken. Syftet är även att undersöka rektors möjligheter att påverka arbets-respektive utvecklingsorganisationen och att analysera relationen mellan arbetet på den egna förskolan och huvudmannanivåns styrning och stöd. Att studera är en spännande resa. Det går aldrig att förutsäga vilka nya perspektiv som fångar ens uppmärksamhet och skapar nyfikenhet. Genom utbildningen och skrivandet har jag fått möta tankar och idéer som utmanat mina. Att ha fått reflektera kring olika begrepp har gett nya perspektiv som jag har kunnat bära med mig tillbaka in mitt arbete. Det har därför varit en förmån att kunna studera parallellt med att arbeta även om det också varit tidskrävande och annat har fått stå tillbaka. Min studie är nu klar och förhoppningsvis kan den vara ett bidrag till den samlade kunskapen om pedagogiskt ledarskap, även om jag med stor ödmjukhet inser att det finns så oändligt många fler perspektiv att upptäcka inom området. Jag vill tacka alla som på olika sätt har bidragit till att jag nu kan sätta punkt för mitt examensarbete. Joakim, det är tack vare dig som jag kom igång från första början. Utan dina frågor och längtan efter att hitta nya perspektiv hade jag kanske inte tagit mig an utmaningen. Tack för alla intressanta samtal och nyfikna frågor. Jag känner mig rik att ha en sådan kollega och vän. Tack till er rektorer för att ni så frikostigt delat med er av er tid och era tankar. I ett år har era röster ljudit i mina tankar och ni har hjälpt mig att bättre förstå det pedagogiska ledarskapet. Utan er medverkan hade uppsatsen inte haft något innehåll. Jag är tacksam till Helene som tagit sig tid att läsa arbetet, kommit med synpunkter och ställt kloka frågor. Med din hjälp har jag kunnat tydliggöra texten. Till sist vill jag tacka min man Christer som tålmodigt och på olika sätt backat upp när jag behövt tid att vara i min bubbla för att läsa och skriva. Med ditt stöd har jag nu kommit i mål.

Policymakers worldwide are grappling with devising robust policies aimed at enhancing adult learning, due to its growing significance in bolstering competitiveness within knowledge-based economies. However, there is scant research on adult learning strategies for improving intrapersonal or social practice approaches, particularly in work settings, and there is also limited understanding of how organisational and personal backgrounds can shape these practices. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify adults' learning strategy profiles and examine covariates (organisational identity, work flexibility, and personal characteristics) predicting these profiles in the workplace. Using a sample of 2057 adults from PIAAC Türkiye data, we employed a Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) with covariates. Our findings reveal five learning strategy profiles: high exploration-oriented, average active, minimalist, introverted, and passive learning. Furthermore, organisational identity, rather than the other characteristics, predicts adults' classification into the high exploration-oriented or average active learning strategy profiles. This study also extends the literature by demonstrating the impact of work flexibility on adult learning strategy profiles in the workplace. We discuss key implications for policy and practice.

The aim of the study was to investigate the role of professional identity as a moderator in the relationship between the teachers’ collective responsibilities and the school improvement perspective. Data were collected from 922 teachers employed at primary, secondary, and high schools in Türkiye and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the potential structural linkages among professional identity, collective responsibility, and perspectives on school improvement. The results demonstrated that teachers’ collective responsibility was associated with their perceptions of the school improvement and components that need to be improved. The study determined the significant role of collective responsibility on teachers’ school improvement perceptions and the significant moderator role of teacher professional identity in the relationship. Focusing on testing the relationship among collective responsibility, perspectives of school improvement, and teachers’ professional identity, this study how countries with high differences between schools in international exams can improve the differences. School leaders should support teachers to join in board meetings of school. This can help with school improvement practices.

This study aimed to explore the cultural barriers to change in public primary and secondary schools in Türkiye. The study is based on a qualitative research approach. The participants consist of 42 school leaders working in various primary and secondary schools in Türkiye. Data originated from semi-structured interviews and observations, and content analysis was conducted during the data analysis. Regarding the characteristics of school cultures, the participants emphasised an organisational culture that is open to innovation and solidarity among individuals. Concerning the cultural barriers to change in schools, the resistance to innovation was highlighted as linked to individual behaviour. Finally, the way in which school members resist change is important. The results highlight a lack of cooperation as one of the main barriers to change. Resistance to collaboration and lack of development of professional learning networks currently inhibit school change in Türkiye. The results show that cultural factors affect the success of change initiatives in schools that are open systems, and understanding and overcoming obstacles. Starting the change process in this way can transform schools into learning and developing organisations.

Many countries around the globe are focusing on improving the quality of education for student achievement. In this global pursuit of educational enhancement, Turkey has implemented a School Improvement (SI) programme, specifically demonstrating the importance of change leadership (CL). The current study aimed at examining the optimisation of school components through the SI programme based on CL. We adopted mixed method and longitudinal research by using quantitative (survey) and qualitative (focus group and observation) instruments. Our quantitative findings indicate that the SI programme changed the participants' perspectives on involving themselves in the SI. Participants from experimental schools emphasised that the SI experimental programme improved their capacities to identify and manage areas for SI. Additionally, our findings revealed the importance of parental involvement and leadership practices for the sustainability of SI. Further conclusions and implications are fully discussed. K E Y W O R D S change leadership, change management, school components, school improvement This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

ABSTRACT

Despite evidence provided through decades of educational research regarding effective practices in high-performing, high-poverty schools, Mississippi continues to trail other states in improving student achievement outcomes (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2016). Educational research provides evidence regarding the importance of school leadership, the specific practices school leaders engage in to bring about sustainable improvement, and school leadership preparation and support to improve struggling schools (Elmore et al., 2014; Manna, 2015; Fullan et al., 2006; The Wallace Foundation, 2010). Research also acknowledges leadership to improve
failing schools adds complexity and requires a particular set of leadership knowledge and behaviors (Elmore, 2008b; Marzano et al., 2005; Muhammad, 2009; Reeves, 2009).

In order to consider solutions to high-poverty struggling school concerns in Mississippi, the quantitative research study was designed to compare the capacity for improvement in high needs improving and high-needs struggling Mississippi schools. Net gain or loss of Quality of Distribution Index (QDI) scores and School Performance Level (SPL) points over five years of
school performance data determined schools’ research designations of improving or struggling. Matched school pairs included one improving and one struggling school matched on baseline QDI score, size of school, and school poverty level. A total of 19 schools participated in the research study – 12 improving and seven struggling. Of the 19 schools, 14 were matched with a comparable school for a total of seven for matched-pairs testing.

The focus of the research was measurement and comparison of internal coherence (IC) defined as “…a school’s capacity to engage in deliberate improvements in instructional practice and student learning across classrooms, over time…” (Elmore, Forman, Stosich, & Bocala, 2014). Participating staff and principals completed the Internal Coherence Survey (Elmore & Forman, 2012). Resulting scores were tested in ten hypotheses using paired- and independent samples t-tests, Pearson’s correlations, and Kendall’s tau-b. The primary hypothesis considered the difference in IC in high-needs improving and struggling schools. A paired-samples t-test
indicated a statistically significant difference in the capacity for improvement in the two school types. Statistical testing for eight supporting hypotheses confirmed, either through statistically significant results or non-statistically significant results, the viability of internal coherence is a factor to consider in additional research and as a focus for an improvement strategy for high poverty schools in Mississippi.

Many countries around the globe are focusing on improving the quality of education for student achievement. In this global pursuit of educational enhancement, Turkey has implemented a School Improvement (SI) programme, specifically demonstrating the importance of change leadership (CL). The current study aimed at examining the optimisation of school components through the SI programme based on CL. We adopted mixed method and longitudinal research by using quantitative (survey) and qualitative (focus group and observation) instruments. Our quantitative findings indicate that the SI programme changed the participants' perspectives on involving themselves in the SI. Participants from experimental schools emphasised that the SI experimental programme improved their capacities to identify and manage areas for SI. Additionally, our findings revealed the importance of parental involvement and leadership practices for the sustainability of SI. Further conclusions and implications are fully discussed. K E Y W O R D S change leadership, change management, school components, school improvement This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

The current study aimed at revealing the reality of the four administrative processes in the educational departments in Aswan Governorate, to develop mechanisms for developing administrative processes in the educational departments in Aswan Governorate in the light of an introduction to re-engineering the administrative processes. This is to develop a suggested proposal and apply it in the educational departments in Aswan Governorate to develop administrative processes. The researcher applied the descriptive approach due to its suitability to the nature of this study. A questionnaire was designed and applied to a sample of (341) department directors, heads of departments, employees and administrators in educational departments in Aswan Governorate. The following results were concluded: 3. Responses about the reality of the administrative operations "planning -organizing -directing -control" in the educational departments in Aswan Governorate were medium. The general average for this item was the reality of administrative operations (63.18) with a standard deviation of (387,11), and the degree of its achievement was medium. 2. Responses about the degree of realization of the mechanisms of developing administrative processes in the light of the entrance to the re-engineering of operations were high with (agree), and the average value for this item was (63.11) with a standard deviation of (32.112).

This article is concerned not so much with school improvement issues per se as with the messages about school improvement provided by academic texts. School improvement texts are important because they can be expected to reflect the current state of play of intellectual thinking about school improvement and because they also clearly have some impact on policy and practice, that is, to some extent they frame up school improvement issues for practitioners and policymakers. Yet academics holding socially critical perspectives have sometimes been dismissive of school improvement and other education management texts because of their perception of a 'problem-solving' tendency which is socially and politically decontextualised. Thus, when Jenny Ozga provided a review of education management texts in the British Journal of Sociology of Education in 1992 she didn't actually review any books because she didn't think they were worth it (Ozga, 1992). Nevertheless a decade later the extraordinary proliferation of education manage ment texts - including school improvement texts - is harder to ignore. It means that reviewing the arguments of such texts needs to become a key agenda for those who want to address critical concerns about education. Or put another way, while academics may often find it hard to exert direct influence on education policy, we can and should at least engage with the way the academic 'community' sends out distinctly mixed messages about policy and how practitioners should best respond to it. Along these lines, this article introduces a book we have recently written to provide a critical response to the education management literature of the last decade. It then focuses more specifically on textual apologism in school improvement literature and within that, looks at David Hopkins's recent book School Improvement for Real (Hopkins, 2001) in particular. 'Education Management in Managerialist Times' Our new book Education Management in Managerialist Times: Beyond the Textual Apologists (Thrupp and Archer, 2003) is intended to respond to both problem solving education management texts and more 'serious' texts whose writers would no doubt distance themselves from any simple 'how to' approach. The book begins by outlining what we believe are well-founded social, political and educational con

Australia's largest schooling system, the NSW Department of Education, is in a period of unprecedented change as the Department of Education initiates a range of reforms. One critical reform occurred in 2014 when the Department of Education and the New South Wales Teachers' Federation agreed to link teachers' salaries with accreditation. For the first time, all Department of Education principals, executives and teachers must complete an annual Performance and Development Plan. This article describes the work of a team of academics from the School of Education, Southern Cross University, and the Department of Education school leaders in northern NSW, exploring opportunities to accomplish school improvement through the "North Coast Initiative for School Improvement" (NCISI). The impetus for this initiative is based on the work of Alberta academics and researchers, Dr. David Townsend and Dr. Pamela Adams. The approach is based upon small teams, comprising a member of a school district's central office, a district principal and university academics, who once a month visit the leadership team of a school in order to build instructional leadership. This process involves the use of a guiding question, generative dialogue and a collaborative inquiry methodology. Early findings indicate the NCISI's approach is having positive impact leadership growth, through collaboration. Key elements of trust and professional identity have developed within teams. The very positive reaction of school communities to the project in its early stages is heartening and shows that there is a strong desire by school leaders to draw upon collaborative support in order to grow professionally. The project also demonstrates a strong level of commitment from a regional university to build productive relationships with schools.