scholarly journals Between legal requirements and local traditions in school improvement reform in Austria: School leaders as gap managers

2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-182
Author(s):  
Mariella Knapp
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Legal Requirements ◽  
Local Traditions

Leadership to Support and Sustain Data Use in Data Teams

2018 ◽  
pp. 98-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Schildkamp ◽  
Cindy Louise Poortman
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Leadership Behaviors ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Data Use ◽  
Intellectual Stimulation ◽  
Data Teams ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
Data Team ◽  
Different Parts

This chapter focuses on how school leaders can support the use of data in data teams with the data team intervention, a step-by-step systematic approach to school improvement. First, the data team professional development intervention is described and an example of a data team in action is provided. Next, the authors closely examine the role of the school leader in supporting the use of data in data teams. Several leadership behaviors that are important to support data teams are described: developing a vision, norms, and goals for data use; providing individualized support; providing intellectual stimulation; creating a climate for data use; and, networking to connect different parts of the organization. Concrete examples are provided with regard to how these behaviors are demonstrated in data teams. The chapter ends with a checklist and reflection tool, which school leaders can use to reflect on their own leadership behaviors with regard to supporting data use in data teams.

Teacher Collaborative Inquiry and Democracy in Schools

2017 ◽  
pp. 255-276
Author(s):  
Kristy Cooper Stein ◽  
Taeyeon Kim
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Organizational Change ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Collaborative Inquiry ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Democratic Leadership ◽  
Democratic School ◽  
Democratic Communities ◽  
Practical Recommendations

This chapter presents possibilities and challenges of teacher collaborative inquiry from the perspective of democratic leadership. Under the pressure of complexity in today's education, building democratic communities is an important strategy for helping leaders and teachers solve problems and create change. Given this, teacher collaborative inquiry can be a useful intervention for democratic school improvement. By examining this premise theoretically with the concept of Woods' (2005) democratic leadership, the authors explore possibilities for how teacher collaborative inquiry could foster democracy. To link the theories to reality, the authors present two case studies of teacher collaborative inquiry groups in one high school, which reveal challenges that school leaders will need to consider when enacting inquiry for democratic purposes. The chapter closes with practical recommendations for diverse leaders seeking guidance for creating democracy in the pursuit of organizational change.

scholarly journals Promoting collaboration in a competitive context: school improvement networks in Chile

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-226
Author(s):  
Mauricio Pino-Yancovic ◽  
Constanza Gonzalez Parrao ◽  
Luis Ahumada ◽  
Alvaro Gonzalez
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
School Performance ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
National Study ◽  
Opportunities To Learn ◽  
Improvement Strategy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
School Networks ◽  
System Improvement

Purpose Chile has developed the school improvement networks (SINs) strategy to support the work of school leaders. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the functioning and effect of the SINs strategy as perceived by principals and curriculum coordinators across the country. Design/methodology/approach An adapted version of the Educational Collaborative Network Questionnaire was applied to a sample of 1,723 participants from 1,375 schools distributed in 398 networks. Descriptive, factor and sub-group statistical analyses by school performance categories and by different roles within these schools and networks are presented. Findings Results indicate that school leaders perceive SINs as an opportunity to work effectively in shared projects that can later be implemented in their own schools. Participants indicate that they can share knowledge in their networks and use it to solve problems in their own schools, which is especially relevant for secondary school leaders who work in difficult circumstances. Results suggest that it is important to facilitate greater autonomy for school leaders in their networks, especially regarding decision making about network goals and activities that are more significant to their contexts. Originality/value This is a national study of a recent school improvement strategy, which provides evidence, from the perspective of school leaders, of its strengths and improvement areas. This study shows that despite being in a competitive context, principals and curriculum coordinators value the opportunities to learn from and with others. These results can be of value for other contexts attempting to promote school networks as a means for school and system improvement.

scholarly journals Organizational building versus teachers’ personal and relational needs for school improvement

2020 ◽  
pp. 136548022097287
Author(s):  
Mette Liljenberg ◽  
Ulf Blossing
Keyword(s):  
Public School ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Research Team ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
School Organization ◽  
School Leader ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Critical Aspects

Organizational building is essential if school leaders are to promote school improvement, but it can be difficult to combine with school leaders’ requirements to satisfy teachers’ personal and relational needs. The the aim of this study is to explore critical aspects when combining organizational building with requirements to satisfy teachers’ personal and relational needs in efforts to strengthen improvement capacity. The paper draws on a 3-year collaborative research project between a research team at a Swedish university and a municipality. It is based on data acquired in 137 interviews with 535 respondents in 28 public school and preschool units. The results highlight the importance of combining organizational building with efforts to improve teachers’ understanding of, motivation to promote, and adaptation to, the goals of the school organization. The significance of the study lies in clearly distinguishing the need to link organizational building and requirements to meet teachers’ personal and relational needs. Continually telling the story of the school and thus enabling teachers to personally connect to the improvement history is suggested as an innovative school leader strategy.

scholarly journals PERSONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AS A PREMISE FOR TEACHER’S LEADERSHIP

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (7) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Remigijus Bubnys ◽  
Natalija Kauneckienė
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Flexible Structures ◽  
Institutional Development ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Group Activities ◽  
Professional Activities ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

<p>Strategic documents on education emphasize learning leadership, discuss teachers’ activities related to continuous personal improvement in professional activities: by involvement in improvement of school activities, conducting research, participating in specialized group activities, projects, collaboration with colleagues, etc. Innovative trends of teachers’ professional development are the basis for the development of efficient leadership: a challenge promoting to introduce changes in teachers’ improvement by creating new conditions and possibilities for both teachers and school leaders. It is important for school leaders to ensure coherence between personal and institutional development needs, to create flexible structures while organizing support for teachers and promoting fostering of continuous learning culture in the organization. The research aim is to analyze experiences of heads of departments with regard to teachers’ personal professional development possibilities in their professional activities. The results disclose that teachers ambiguously assess the activity of the head of the department: concrete, individual support, attention, encouragement are emphasised but teachers are against observation and assessment of their activities. This is related to several reasons: teachers’ attitude towards change processes, innovations in teachers’ professional development, competencies of heads of education departments, and general school culture. It is important to create conditions for manifestation of teacher leadership in schools, creating conditions for every teacher to continuously improve the educational process, develop personal competencies, actively and responsibly participate in group activities, get involved in school improvement processes. Middle level leaders, heads of departments, acting as mediators while implementing individual, group and organizational level tasks, promote the development of teachers’ competencies.</p>

scholarly journals Student voice to improve schools: Perspectives from students, teachers and leaders in ‘perfect’ conditions

2020 ◽  
pp. 136548021990106
Author(s):  
Mari-Ana Jones ◽  
Sara Bubb
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Student Voice ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Time Constraints ◽  
Allocation Of Resources ◽  
Alternative Structures ◽  
Student Council ◽  
Comprehensive Framework

This article explores the use of student voice to contribute to improving schools. Through the gathering of perspectives and experiences of staff and students, it considers how the responses to requirements for both student voice and school improvement interrelate and identifies challenges to be addressed. The research was conducted in Norway because, with its long-standing engagement with children’s well-being and rights expressed through its comprehensive framework of legislation and allocation of resources, it has arguably created ideal conditions for students to be involved in improving schools. Findings revealed some recognition of the centrality of student voice in the enactment of democracy in schools: students and teachers had positive perceptions of student voice, and school leaders were willing to incorporate student voice in school improvement processes. Current uses of student voice were, however, largely restricted to the operations of the student council for a range of reasons. The absence of alternative structures, time constraints and doubts about competence were reported, leading to student voice having little impact on school improvement, even in what might be considered ‘perfect’ conditions.

Fostering Collective Efficacy?: What School Leaders Should Know

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-84
Author(s):  
T.J. Hoogsteen
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Collective Teacher Efficacy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Education Reforms ◽  
District Leaders ◽  
Change Initiatives ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Know How

Statements claiming that efforts of policy makers, system and school leaders, and staff developments toward education reforms might be better served  by strategically and intentionally considering how to foster collective efficacy throughout the conceptualization, design, delivery, and assessment of change initiatives (Donohoo, 2018, p. 340) have led schools and districts to attempt to do just that.  However, such conclusions may not be justified.  The present review examines available research using a framework inspired by Willingham (2012) which is meant to guide leaders in evaluating the trustworthiness and value of research.  Willingham (2012) notes that leaders should be able to recognize the change when it happens, know how large the change should be, and estimate the length of time the change will take. This framework is applied to CTE literature to gauge whether the research base surrounding collective teacher efficacy is useful to school and district leaders when making decisions regarding school improvement and organizational change initiatives.  The article concludes with suggestions for future research.     

Establishing a Data Culture Using a Data-Driven Instructional System for School Improvement

2021 ◽  
pp. 647-661
Author(s):  
Julius N. Shanks
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Instructional System ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Federal Mandates ◽  
Improve Student Achievement ◽  
Data Culture

School leaders are faced with enormous responsibilities in addressing student achievement as directed by district, state, and federal mandates. There is a need for school leaders to structure and implement how to acquire, analyze, and commit action from identified gaps in student learning using assessment data. A major part of the process is establishing how teachers use student data to improve teaching and learning opportunities. When discussing school improvement measures and initiatives, one commonly refers to observations, feedback, and professional learning communities as its core components. This chapter provides a framework using a data-driven instructional system (DDIS) as a model for school improvement in establishing a school data culture that can improve student achievement.

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