Beyond Instructional Leadership: The Lived Experiences of Principals in Successful Urban Schools

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. White-Smith
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Leadership ◽  
Urban Schools ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Quality Of Instruction ◽  
Underserved Students ◽  
National Statistics ◽  
Professional Characteristics ◽  
Latino Student Achievement

Despite national statistics that suggest declining African American and Latino student achievement, few schools accept the challenge of educating the neediest students, and even fewer succeed. This phenomenological study examined the experiences of and strategies employed by three principals of urban schools that effectively educate traditionally underserved students. Contrary to instructional leadership practices, these principals limited opportunities for teachers to share in the decision-making process regarding school operation and leadership, instead expecting teachers to concentrate on classroom instruction as the priority. Additionally, these principals focused and nurtured teachers’ personal and professional characteristics to enhance the quality of instruction at their particular schools.

scholarly journals Systems Thinking for Principals of Learning- Focused Schools

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-23
Author(s):  
Haim Shaked ◽  
Chen Schechter
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Leadership ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
School Setting ◽  
Data Interpretation ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Quality Of Instruction ◽  
Leadership For Learning ◽  
Learning Focused

Systems thinking involves attempts to understand and improve complex systems, examines systems holistically, and focuses on the way that a system's constituent parts interrelate. This essay provides examples of how systems thinking can enable principals to demonstrate instructional leadership and nurture learning-focused schools in the current era of complexity, diversity, and accountability. These examples illustrate how systems thinking contributes to developing school curriculum, empowering professional learning communities, and fostering performance data interpretation. Overall, systems thinking offers a comprehensive way of both conceptualizing and practicing leadership for learning within the entire school setting, which leads directly to enhancing the quality of instruction and raising students' achievement.

Effect of Resource Factors and Quality of Instruction on Performance in Mathematics of Nigeria Secondary School Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-69
Author(s):  
Umar Abdullahi ◽  
Musa Sirajo
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Secondary School Student ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
School Students ◽  
Quality Of Instruction ◽  
The Public

It seems that educational system in Nigeria has undergone only quantitative improvement in terms of number of schools and students’ enrolment. However, there has been little effort in respect to the capacity to manage them through provisions of adequate financial, human, material and physical resources. Physical and material resources in secondary schools were discovered to be inadequate and poorly equipped. Some of the secondary school buildings were dilapidated, also the allocated financial resource, teaching and non-teaching staff are grossly inadequate compared with the students’ enrolment. The public, the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders in education are expressing serious concern about the consistency of the poor performance of secondary school students especially in mathematics. Increase in population and the government’s free education programs make people want to take advantage of the education provided. Provision of both professionally qualified and non-qualified teachers by government and non-state providers of education also appear not to ameliorate the problem of declining performances in mathematics. The effect of all these on the public secondary school student academic performance in mathematics concern the researchers of this study. It is against this background that the study sought to empirically investigates effect of resource factors and quality of instruction on performance in mathematics of Nigeria secondary school students.

scholarly journals Children’s Understanding of Informed Assents in Research Studies

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 871
Author(s):  
Hortense Cotrim ◽  
Cristina Granja ◽  
Ana Sofia Carvalho ◽  
Carlos Cotrim ◽  
Rui Martins
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
High Capacity ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Objective Understanding ◽  
Level Of Understanding ◽  
Age And Sex ◽  
Acceptance Of Health Care

The assent procedure reflects an effort to enable the minor to understand, to the degree they are capable of, what their participation in the decision making process would involve. Aims: To evaluate the minors’ ability to understand the information provided to them when obtaining assent and to evaluate the opinion of the parents regarding the importance of asking the child’s assent. Methods: The sample included a total of 52 minors aged between 10 and 17 years who underwent exercise echocardiogram. The Quality of Informed Consent is divided into two parts: Part A was used to measure objective understanding and part B to measure subjective understanding. Results: The results show that the minors have a high capacity to understand the information given to them when asking for assent. A positive relationship was found between the two parts of the questionnaire. No statistically significant relationship was found between age and sex and part A and part B or between both age groups (<14 years old and ≥14 years old) and the measure. In the case of the parents, 96.6% of parents consider assent as an advantage for the child’s acceptance of health care. The opinion of the parents is not related to the age, sex or level of schooling. Conclusion: Minors showed a substantial level of understanding regarding the information provided to them. The parents considered the implementation of assent fundamental to the child’s acceptance of health care.

scholarly journals Renal Manifestations of Fabry Disease: A Narrative Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 205435812098562
Author(s):  
Cassiano Augusto Braga Silva ◽  
José A. Moura-Neto ◽  
Marlene Antônia dos Reis ◽  
Osvaldo Merege Vieira Neto ◽  
Fellype Carvalho Barreto
Keyword(s):  
Fabry Disease ◽  
Specific Treatment ◽  
Narrative Review ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Formal Tool ◽  
General Aspects ◽  
Progressive Accumulation ◽  
Source Of Information ◽  
Worse Prognosis

Purpose of review: In this narrative review, we describe general aspects, histological alterations, treatment, and implications of Fabry disease (FD) nephropathy. This information should be used to guide physicians and patients in a shared decision-making process. Source of information: Original peer-reviewed articles, review articles, and opinion pieces were identified from PubMed and Google Scholar databases. Only sources in English were accessed. Methods: We performed a focused narrative review assessing the main aspects of FD nephropathy. The literature was critically analyzed from a theoretical and contextual perspective, and thematic analysis was performed. Key findings: FD nephropathy is related to the progressive accumulation of GL3, which occurs in all types of renal cells. It is more prominent in podocytes, which seem to play an important role in the pathogenesis of this nephropathy. A precise detection of renal disorders is of fundamental importance because the specific treatment of FD is usually delayed, making reversibility unlikely and leading to a worse prognosis. Limitations: As no formal tool was applied to assess the quality of the included studies, selection bias may have occurred. Nonetheless, we have attempted to provide a comprehensive review on the topic using current studies from experts in FD and extensive review of the literature.

Understanding the Experiences of Elderly Bereaved Men and the Bond With Their Pets

2021 ◽  
pp. 003022282110048
Author(s):  
Monique C. Thompson, PsyD ◽  
Angela B. Kim, PhD
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Method ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Companion Animal ◽  
Social Connection ◽  
New Normal ◽  
Purposeful Sampling ◽  
Older Males

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the bereaved Older males’ experiences with the interaction and ownership of a companion animal after the death of their partner. The primary researcher recruited 13 participants via a criterion-based purposeful sampling method to assure the quality of the information collected. Results revealed six themes: (a) bonds with their pets grew stronger and closer after the loss of their wife; (b) men were able to express their grief to their pets; (c) companion animals helped the men psychologically during grief; (d) pets were influential during times when the wife’s presence would have been valuable; (e) companion animals helped men with loneliness and social connection; and (f) companion animals helped men find a new normal by providing a purpose and routine during bereavement. The pets proved to be a source of support for these widowed men.

Stakeholders’ perceptions of the quality of education in rural schools in Kazakhstan

2021 ◽  
pp. 136548022110310
Author(s):  
Mir Afzal Tajik ◽  
Duishon Shamatov ◽  
Lyudmila Fillipova
Keyword(s):  
Urban Schools ◽  
Rural Schools ◽  
Education System ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Quality Of Education ◽  
Educational Provision ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Education Managers

Since its independence in 1991, Kazakhstan has initiated major reforms to upgrade its education system. However, significant disparities exist in the quality of educational provision in rural and urban schools. This study presents the stakeholders’ – school leaders, teachers, students, parents, and education managers – vision, priorities, and aspirations of quality of education, as well as the opportunities, resources, and support available to them, and the disparities and challenges they face in achieving the quality of education they aspire for.

scholarly journals Questioning Facilities Management in Higher Education in Egyptian Context for Better Decision-Making Process of Funding Allocation

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Mona Mohamed Abd Elghany ◽  
Reem Aly Elharakany
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
Quality Of Education ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Facilities Management ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Strategic Relationships

The quality of education is influenced by the managerialization of the universities, which refers to the introduction of substantial changes in the decision-making processes of the academic institutions, and the application of renewed information systems along with new managerial methodologies to restructure the organisational strategic relationships with stakeholders. This paper proposes a questionnaire to assess the importance of facilities in universities according to their financial budget consumed value. Semi Structured Interviews were conducted with the heads of logistic and financial departments in Egyptian universities, twenty public universities and twenty-three private universities, in order to identify criteria for the most significant university's facilities and appealing infrastructure that contributes to the quality of education.

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