Stopping the tragedy before it occurs

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamad Naja ◽  
Hoda Baytiyeh
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Public School ◽  
Structural Safety ◽  
School Buildings ◽  
Earthquake Activity ◽  
Survey Questionnaire ◽  
Structural Vulnerability ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Apparent Lack ◽  
Content Type

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer an assessment of seismic structural vulnerability of a sample of public schools using Lang survey questionnaire. The structural integrity of public schools in Lebanon is a source of deep concern due to their outdated design and deteriorated status, their apparent lack of compliance with seismic design regulations, the unknown status of their safety and stability, their substandard maintenance and their low construction quality. These schools have not undergone any strengthening improvements to enhance their load-carrying capacity or their resistance to earthquake activity. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on survey questionnaire illustrating the seismic risk exposure of public schools in Lebanon. It offers an assessment of seismic structural vulnerability of a sample of public schools using Lang survey questionnaire. It stresses the needs of retrofitting of public school buildings to enhance their functional capacities against future destructive earthquakes. Findings – The findings of the survey emphasize the seismic structural vulnerability of the majority of public schools in Lebanon and call for deeper assessment and investigation that involve government officials for strengthening and retrofitting of public school buildings as part of holistic disaster risk-reduction strategy to prevent the induced serious risk to children in the event of a devastating earthquake. Originality/value – This article should alert school administrators, public leaders and government officials regarding the seismic threats and their subsequent effects on the structural safety of public school buildings in Lebanon. The assessment of seismic structural vulnerability has rarely been performed or even discussed in the Lebanese-related literature.

Ideological leadership in public schools

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-320
Author(s):  
Ori Eyal ◽  
Talya R. Schwartz ◽  
Izhak Berkovich
Keyword(s):  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Public School ◽  
Charismatic Leadership ◽  
Measurement Tool ◽  
Leader Member Exchange ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Member Exchange ◽  
New Evidence

PurposeThis study aims to explore the conception and construct of ideological leadership (IL) as it relates to public organizations, such as public schools, and to validate a tool for its measurement in this setting.Design/methodology/approachData was collected from 633 teachers working at 69 randomly-sampled Israeli public schools. In each school, an average of nine (SD = 2) randomly-sampled teachers completed questionnaires that measure IL, transformational leadership, organizational commitment, leader-member exchange and motivational factors. The data underwent validity and hypotheses tests.FindingsThe hypothesized presence of the personalized and socialized IL orientations among public-school principals has been confirmed. Only personalized IL predicted teachers' outcomes above and beyond transformational leadership, affecting measures of organizational commitment, leader-member exchange and controlled motivation.Originality/valueNew evidence supports the validity of this proposed measurement tool. New evidence also suggests that although ideology has been known to be a factor of charismatic leadership, IL in close public-school settings accentuates practices of control, rather than proselytizing coherent worldviews to teachers. This, in turn, may have a deleterious influence on work outcomes and outweigh the possible benefits of IL. Accordingly, it is suggested that school leaders should critically consider the desirability of embracing ideological zeal as part of their leadership tools.

The effects of empathy on support for Christmas music performance in public schools

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitchell R. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Public School ◽  
Minority Students ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Original Design ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Teaching Philosophies ◽  
Before And After

Purpose Despite an ever-diversifying student population, it is still commonplace for US public schools to present Christmas concerts. These concerts can force minority students to choose between their own religious convictions and school participation. For some students, participation in public-school Christmas concerts can damage their personal identity and assimilate them into ways of being that are not their own. This study aims to test a method for teaching preservice teachers to empathize with minority students. Design/methodology/approach Using the framework of action research, the study followed a one-group pretest-posttest design. Participants (N = 19), all of whom identified as some kind of Christian, were asked to perform a concert featuring Satanic Worship prayers and a children’s Christmas song. This intervention was meant to induce empathy for religious minority students who feel uncomfortable performing Christmas songs because they are antithetical to their own faiths. Participants’ perceptions of public-school Christmas music performance was measured before and after the intervention. Findings The intervention effectively increased empathy for minority students. As a result, participants expressed altered teaching philosophies that were inclusive of religious minority perspectives. Originality/value This study demonstrates the effectiveness of empathy-fostering interventions as tools for teaching teachers to work with diverse student populations. The intervention tested in this study is of the researcher’s original design.

Risk assessment of high schools in Lebanon for potential terrorist threat

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 460-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamad K. Naja ◽  
Hoda Baytiyeh
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
High Schools ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Structural Safety ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Educational Processes

Purpose Terrorist attacks on schools and colleges have disrupted educational processes and caused fear, deaths and tragedies. Considering the recent increase in terrorist attacks on educational facilities in different parts of the world, vulnerability and risk assessments have assumed crucial importance in the design and evaluation of mitigation plans to reduce the traumatic impacts of such events. This paper aims to assess the vulnerability and risk of Lebanese high school assets to terrorism. Design/methodology/approach Through site visits to various high schools in Lebanon, the authors evaluated specific features common in the majority of Lebanese high schools and identified six categories of schools. Using Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA 428) guidelines, one high school from each category was surveyed and analysed. Findings The results reveal a relatively high vulnerability to and risk of the threat of terrorism and a lack of protective plans and mitigation measures to minimise this risk among the majority of the investigated high school facilities. Originality/value This paper should alert school administrators, public leaders and government officials regarding the terrorist threats and their subsequent effects on the structural safety of school buildings in Lebanon. The risk assessment of schools to terrorism has rarely been performed or even discussed in the Lebanese-related literature.

scholarly journals Developing an Effective Maintenance Culture for Some Monumental Public School Buildings in Ibadan, Oyo State Nigeria.

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
B.I.O Dahunsi
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Public School ◽  
State Government ◽  
The State ◽  
School Buildings ◽  
Technical Expertise ◽  
Building Maintenance ◽  
Historical Importance ◽  
Maintenance Work

As part of effort to understand challenges faced with building maintenance practices in Nigeria an investigation of the maintenance culture in some of the oldest public schools in Ibadan, Oyo State Nigeria was carried out. A total of five schools located within Ibadan metropolis were selected based on their historical importance, year of establishment and viability of alumni. Site visits were carried out, during these visits, oral interviews accompanied with questionnaires was administered on the stake holders, the buildings were visually assessed to determine severity of degradation experienced by the buildings and the risk it poses to learning. Photographs of structures been assessed were also taken. Results shows that, the buildings have not been properly maintained over the years and can be attributed to the following: lack of funding for maintenance works, absence of guidelines for maintenance of school buildings by Government, lack of maintenance department in the schools visited and unplanned approach to implementation of maintenance work. As part of effort to salvage the situation, some recommendations were made, they are: the establishment of maintenance department in all schools with technical expertise and the formation of a School Buildings Maintenance Board (SBMB) by the state Government

Probability of change orders and the effect on cost and schedule for new public school buildings

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1087-1104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pramen P. Shrestha ◽  
Kabindra Kumar Shrestha ◽  
Haileab B. Zeleke
Keyword(s):  
Public School ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
School Buildings ◽  
School Building ◽  
Change Orders ◽  
Building Projects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New School ◽  
New Public ◽  
The Cost

Purpose Change orders (COs) adversely affect the cost and schedule of projects, specifically during the construction phase. COs of 95 new public school building projects contracted by the Clark County School District (CCSD) of Nevada were analyzed to quantify the cost and schedule growth as well as to determine the effect of COs on cost and schedule growth. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected from CCSD through questionnaire survey. Descriptive statistics and statistical tests were conducted to determine the effect of COs on cost and schedule growth. Findings It was found that the average amount of COs as well as cost and schedule overruns were 5.9, 3.0 and 7.4 percent, respectively. Statistical tests showed that the amount of COs had an adverse effect on schedule growth; schedule overruns in projects with less than 4 percent COs were significantly lower than projects with more than 4 percent COs. Cost overruns did not significantly differ in those two types of projects. The primary contribution of this study is that it provides the tools and the framework for school district engineers to determine the probability of the occurrence of COs as well as the optimum percentage of COs for a minimum effect on cost and schedule growth of new public school buildings. Probability curves were also developed to determine the likelihood of the occurrence of COs, cost growth and schedule growth in these projects. These findings could be used by school districts to avoid or reduce COs in future projects, minimizing the effect on cost and schedule growth during the construction phase. Research limitations/implications The findings and the probabilities curves developed in this study should be used carefully in other cases. These data were specific to the owner, location and types of buildings and generalizing these findings may have negative consequences. Practical implications The practical implications are that this study could provide a tool to school building administrators to determine the probability of having COs as well as cost and schedule overruns and the effects of COs on cost and schedule overruns. To the authors’ best knowledge, no other studies of this type have been conducted previously. Social implications The social implication of this study is it will help to efficiently use the tax payers’ money while building new school buildings. Originality/value This study has collected the hard data of COs, cost and schedule data of CCSD new school building projects. Therefore, the data are from the projects completed by CCSD. So, the paper is written from the original data received from CCSD.

Leaders’ experiences in Arizona’s mature education market

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda U. Potterton
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Public School ◽  
School Choice ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Education Market ◽  
Policies And Programs ◽  
Mature Market

Purpose In Arizona’s mature, market-based school system, we know little about how school leaders make meaning of school choice policies and programs on the ground. Using ethnographic methods, the author asked: How do school leaders in one Arizona district public school and in its surrounding community, which includes a growing number of high-profile and “high-performing” Education Management Organisation (EMO) charter schools, make meaning of school choice policies and programs? The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The author analysed 18 months of qualitative fieldnotes that the author collected during participant observations and six semi-structured school leader interviews from both traditional district public schools in the area (n=4) and leaders from EMO charter schools (n=2). Findings School leaders’ decision-making processes were influenced by competitive pressures. However, perceptions of these pressures and leadership actions varied widely and were complicated by inclusive and exclusive social capital influences from stakeholders. District public school leaders felt pressure to package and sell schools in the marketplace, and charter leaders enjoyed the notion of markets and competition. Practical implications As market-based policies and practices become increasingly popular in the USA and internationally, a study that examines leaders’ behaviours and actions in a long-standing school choice system is timely and relevant. Originality/value This study uniquely highlights school leaders’ perceptions and actions in a deeply embedded education market, and provides data about strategies and behaviours as they occurred.

Does greater school resource allocation improve efficiency in education production? Performance assessment of Spanish public sector-funded schools

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 903-915
Author(s):  
Manuel Salas-Velasco
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Public School ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Private Schools ◽  
Production Performance ◽  
School Level ◽  
School Autonomy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
International Student Assessment

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to measure the efficiency performance of public sector-funded schools in Spain. Design/methodology/approach Using school-level data from Program for International Student Assessment 2012, cross-sectional models were estimated using stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). Technical efficiencies of public sector-funded schools (public schools and centros concertados), and their determinants were estimated using a one-step maximum likelihood procedure. SFA models include both a stochastic error term and a term that can be characterized as inefficiency; the non-negative technical inefficiency effects are assumed to be a function of school characteristics. Findings The results show that greater school autonomy and school responsibility for resource allocation are associated with efficiency improvement. Subsidized private schools (called centros concertados) were more efficient than public schools. The former are free of bureaucratic constraints that encumber public schools, and they are able to control many more decisions at the school level (e.g. they select their own teachers). Originality/value This paper shows the value of school autonomy for educational performance. The author defines school autonomy as the operational empowerment of the principals and teachers. Therefore, the government could grant greater autonomy to public schools (school-based management), since school autonomy is a driver of efficiency. Further, teachers’ morale is also an environmental driver of efficiency. Schools tend to be more efficient when teachers work with enthusiasm or value academic achievement. And this is more likely to occur in private schools, even though teachers are hired (they are not civil servants) and have a lower salary than public school teachers. The lack of motivation of many teachers in public schools may be in the absence of incentives – there is no possibility of promotion and everyone is guaranteed a wage increase every three years –and in the bureaucratization of the public school system.

Computer Usage by Speech-Language Pathologists in Public Schools

1988 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 423-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail Ruppert Houle
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Public School ◽  
Computer Technology ◽  
Computer Usage ◽  
Attitudes Toward Computers ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Frequent Users ◽  
Service Training

This study investigated factors that influence public school speech-language pathologists' acceptance and/or resistance to computer technology. Significant differences were found between speech-language pathologists who are frequent users of computers in the workplace and those who seldom or never use them. These differences were attributed to differences in attitudes toward computers, available funding for computers, in-service training, and physical facilities.

scholarly journals Identification of Cost-Optimal Measures for Energy Renovation of Thermal Envelopes in Different Types of Public School Buildings in the City of Valencia

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 5108
Author(s):  
María Esther Liébana-Durán ◽  
Begoña Serrano-Lanzarote ◽  
Leticia Ortega-Madrigal
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
School Buildings ◽  
Regulatory Requirements ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
Global Cost ◽  
The City ◽  
The Eu

In order to achieve the EU emission reduction goals, it is essential to renovate the building stock, by improving energy efficiency and promoting total decarbonisation. According to the 2018/844/EU Directive, 3% of Public Administration buildings should be renovated every year. So as to identify the measures to be applied in those buildings and obtain the greatest reduction in energy consumption at the lowest cost, the Directive 2010/31/EU proposed a cost-optimisation-based methodology. The implementation of this allowed to carry out studies in detail in actual scenarios for the energy renovation of thermal envelopes of public schools in the city of Valencia. First, primary school buildings were analysed and classified into three representative types. For each type, 21 sets of measures for improving building thermal envelopes were proposed, considering the global cost, in order to learn about the savings obtained, the repayment term for the investment made, the percentage reduction in energy consumption and the level of compliance with regulatory requirements. The result and conclusions will help Public Administration in Valencia to draw up an energy renovation plan for public building schools in the city.

Understanding inequality in public school admission in urban China

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 434-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Liu
Keyword(s):  
High Schools ◽  
Secondary Education ◽  
Public School ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Junior High ◽  
Urban China ◽  
Junior High Schools ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Education Development ◽  
Content Type

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to apply analysis of public discourses on Ze Xiao to explore and interpret the power relationships shaping inequality in admission to public junior high schools in urban China. Design/methodology/approach – This study first introduces the rise of Ze Xiao as an educational phenomenon in China. It then elucidates power relationships in public school admission by analyzing continuities and changes in stakeholders’ interaction in public school admission. It concludes by discussing educational reform for equal public school admission in urban China. Data were collected from written and spoken texts about public school admission, including newspaper articles from the 1980s to the 2000s, policy documents and interviews with relevant stakeholders. Findings – Findings demonstrate that multi-layered power relationships caused diverse inequalities in admission to public secondary education in urban China. These are represented by political and institutional privileges and an imbalance in education development during the social transition from a profit-driven approach in the 1990s to a balance-centered one after 2000. Arguably, there is a necessity to further promote a systematic reform to terminate the privileges and imbalance for an equal and balanced public secondary education in urban China post-2015. Originality/value – This study attempts to make a contribution toward reconstructing the meaning of inequality in admission to public junior high schools in urban areas by revealing the power relationships among stakeholders constituted through their interactions in public education during the different stages of socio-economic development in urban China.

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