Leadership for Improving Teaching Quality: Analysis of School Practice in Northeast China

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 359-374
Author(s):  
YU LI ◽  
WENFAN YAN ◽  
HENGFU WEN
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Teaching Quality ◽  
School Level ◽  
Quality Analysis ◽  
Performance Excellence ◽  
School Practice ◽  
Quality Program ◽  
Northeast Of China

Chinese education reform has vigorously advocated the improvement of teaching quality. School leaders determine the overall trend and effect of teaching quality improvement. Based on the TQM theory, Baldrige Quality Program Education Criteria for Performance Excellence framework and distributed leadership theory, we defined the concept of leadership for teaching quality. The purpose of this study is to provide new understanding of the current situation and problems of teaching quality in primary and secondary schools in the northeast of China. 908 educators from 54 primary and secondary schools participated in this study. Our findings indicated that there were significant differences among different gender, first degree, position, school level and school area. Implications for improving the leadership for teaching quality in primary and secondary schools from both internal and external perspectives were discussed.

scholarly journals A failed marriage between standardization and incentivism: Divergent perspectives on the aims of performance-based compensation in Shanghai, China

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priya Goel La Londe
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
Student Development ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Merit Pay ◽  
Teaching Quality ◽  
Policy Instrument ◽  
School Level ◽  
High Performing ◽  
Chinese Province ◽  
Performance Based Compensation

The Chinese province of Shanghai has gained international recognition as a high performing education system with strong teaching and learning outcomes. One accountability mechanism in Shanghai’s education reform strategy is statewide performance-based compensation (PBC), also known as performance- or merit pay. Providing a first time account of PBC in the Shanghai context, this study investigated variance in stated and perceived aims of this policy instrument. To explore this variance, the study drew on data from national, state, and school level policy documents, and data from interviews with 20 teachers and the principal in a high performing elementary school. The analysis revealed that PBC was intended to improve teaching quality. However, the teachers’ perceived merit pay was meant to increase teacher enthusiasm, job satisfaction, and participation in teacher and student development activities. Importantly, the teachers perceived these aims as tangential from instructional improvement goals. Based on these findings, I argue that this particular PBC policy, as a manifestation of the marriage of standardization and incentivism, is unable to fulfill the promises of this marriage – to link incentives with homogenous, uniform metrics associated with a generic and shared notion of teaching quality.

scholarly journals Role of Educational Technology in Public and Private Institutes at Secondary School Level in District Karak (Khyber Pukhtunkhwa) Pakistan

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Qaiser Suleman ◽  
Ishtiaq Hussain ◽  
Zaitoon Akhtar
Keyword(s):  
Educational Technology ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Secondary Level ◽  
School Level ◽  
Private Institutions ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Secondary School Level ◽  
Teachers And Students

Educational technology plays a fundamental role in enhancing teaching learning process. It has facilitated instructional process and made it more productive, dynamic and effective. Therefore the study was conducted to explore the role of educational technology in public and private institutes in district Karak (Khyber Pukhtunkhwa) Pakistan in comparative perspectives. The main objectives of the study were: to compare the availability of educational technology in public and private institutions at secondary level; to compare the usability of educational technology in public and private institutions at secondary level and to know the usefulness of educational technology in public and private institutions at secondary level. All the heads, teachers and students in public and private secondary schools in district Karak constituted the population of the study. In order to ensure adequate sample, 60 heads, 180 teachers and 600 students serving and studying in public and private sectors at secondary school level in District Karak were selected randomly. The study was delimited to the selected male public and private secondary schools. The study was also delimited to those technologies which are commonly used. The study was descriptive in nature therefore, the researchers decided to develop questionnaire for the collection of data. A single questionnaire was developed for the whole sample. Pilot testing was conducted to know the weakness, misconceptions and ambiguities of the questions. After conduction of pilot testing, the questionnaire was revised and then its final version was prepared in the light of valuable suggestions of the heads, teachers and students. The researchers personally visited to the respective sample and distributed the questionnaires among the heads, teachers and students in public and private secondary schools. In this way data was collected. After the collection of data, the data was organized, tabulated and analyzed. The researchers decided to apply chi-square for the statistical treatment of the data. Therefore, chi square was applied to compare the responses of the sample. After analysis of the data, it was concluded that educational technologies are not available in both sectors. Some technologies are available in minor amount but these technologies are not used in both public and private sectors. Key Words:Educational Technology, Availability of Educational Technology, Usability of Educational Technology, Importance of Educational Technology

scholarly journals PISA 2012 mathematics literacy in Serbia: A multilevel analysis of students and schools

Psihologija ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ljiljana Lazarevic ◽  
Ana Orlic
Keyword(s):  
Mathematics Anxiety ◽  
Teaching Quality ◽  
Mathematics Performance ◽  
Math Performance ◽  
School Level ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Pisa 2012 ◽  
Mathematics Literacy ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
The Relationship

In PISA 2012 cycle, the focus was on the mathematics literacy. Data collected in PISA survey in Serbia on 4684 respondents show that students on average have significantly lower performance compared to average OECD performance. The aim of the study was to explore student (variables at the first level) and school level predictors (variables at the second level) of the PISA mathematics literacy using multi-level modelling. The most important finding is that student and school level variables are explaining variability in PISA mathematics performance almost equally. Results show that on the student level, significant predictors are gender, noncognitive characteristics (mathematics anxiety, mathematics self-efficacy, mathematics self-concept, openness for problem-solving), student perceived teaching quality and studying habits. Results also indicate that several school-level variables have direct effects on the PISA math performance and that several school-level variables moderate the relationship between student characteristics and PISA performance.

scholarly journals Teachers' multiple roles and perceived loss of professionalism in Tanzanian secondary schools

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-19
Author(s):  
Godlove Lawrent
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Quality ◽  
Support Staff ◽  
Multiple Roles ◽  
Education Expansion ◽  
Teaching Competence ◽  
Competence Beliefs ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

The rapid increase in Tanzanian primary school enrolments in the last decade was prompted by the government to develop the Secondary Education Expansion Policy. My study, therefore, explored the impact of this policy on teachers’ professional lives. A qualitative approach was adopted to gain detailed insights into the phenomena under investigation. Data were collected from 30 participant teachers from four community secondary schools in Tanzania through interviews and document analysis. Overall the findings revealed that the government’s shortcomings in hiring support staff prompted teachers to perform extra duties alongside teaching. It also found that the lack of the government’s commitment to rewarding teaching quality exacerbated teachers’ engagement in other income-generating activities. Teachers’ engagement in these non-teaching tasks both in school and out of school affected their own professional identities which subsequently impacted on their teaching competence beliefs. These findings recommend that in order to enhance the quality of teaching and learning, the government of Tanzania must improve teachers’ welfare by employing enough support staff to assist in teaching and learning.

scholarly journals Application of Analytical Hierarchy Process in Teaching Quality Analysis of English Writing

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (14) ◽  
pp. 137
Author(s):  
Xiaoqin Zhang ◽  
Shengxin Wang ◽  
Yanling Cao ◽  
Guangqi Chen
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Hierarchy Process ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Evaluation Model ◽  
Teaching Quality ◽  
Quality Analysis ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Evaluation Systems ◽  
Hierarchy Process

There are two major problems in the evaluation of the teaching quality of English writing: the weak logic of the evaluation system and the low reliability of the evaluation model. To solve the problems, this paper put forward an evaluation method for the teaching quality of English writing based on the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Firstly, the authors reviewed the current evaluation methods for the teaching quality of English writing. Next, hierarchical evaluation systems were established for the teaching quality of English writing from the perspectives of teachers and students, respectively. After that, the AHP method and the grey theory were introduced to set up an evaluation model for the teaching quality of English writing. Finally, several strategies were presented to improve the teaching quality of English writing. The proposed evaluation systems and model enriched the theories on teaching quality evaluation of English writing, and promoted the teaching quality of English writing.

scholarly journals Toward a comprehensive and distributed approach to assessing university student experience

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lily M. Zeng ◽  
Luke K. Fryer ◽  
Yue Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Student Experience ◽  
Teaching Quality ◽  
University Student ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
National Surveys ◽  
Distributed Approach ◽  
The Usa

Higher education’s rapid expansion is paired with growing social expectations of its benefits and concern on its teaching quality. In response to these, institutional/national surveys based on an array of theories are widely used in universities for quality assurance, enhancement, and benchmarking. This paper reviews three major types of instruments used for such purposes, including two distinct schools of theory that have guided the development of such assessment in the USA, Australia, UK and then spread to the other parts of the world. The theories shaping the development of the two instruments, the dimensions assessed, and the challenges and criticisms involved when using such instruments for quality assurance are each discussed. This review concludes with a call for comparisons of different lines of research in this area, discussions on student learning experience that include more diverse characterizations of student experience across different educational contexts, development of tools to enable distributed leadership among teachers, and encouragement of students as partners for quality enhancement in higher education.

scholarly journals Education Reform, Equal Opportunity and Educational Achievement: Do Trend Data Adequately Report Progress?

2011 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Robert Charles Knoeppel ◽  
Curtis A. Brewer
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Educational Opportunity ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
Reading Proficiency ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
School Level ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Trend Data

Using Kentucky as a case study, the research described in this paper examines efforts to provide equality of educational opportunity.  Standards based educational reform has produced myriad data on student achievement that are used by educators, policy analysts, legislators, and researchers to discern progress.  This research makes use of multiple sources of data(CATS index, reading proficiency, math proficiency) in an attempt to more thoroughly consider progress in attempts to ameliorate gaps in student achievement that have been found to exist as related to local wealth.  Findings from the study show mixed results.  Although local wealth has decreased as a predictor of student achievement in reading, it is still a significant predictor of achievement in math.  Gaps are closing more rapidly at the elementary school level which suggests the need to study the process of education at the secondary level.  Lastly, student demographics, especially students qualifying for free and reduced lunch continue to be a significant predictor of student achievement.  We conclude that changes to state accountability systems that move the unit of analysis from the school to the student level offer the best opportunity to utilize emerging research methodologies that will enable practitioners and analysts to better analyze educational process.

Exploring the effects of authentic leadership on academic optimism and teacher engagement in Thailand

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dhirapat Kulophas ◽  
Philip Hallinger ◽  
Auyporn Ruengtrakul ◽  
Suwimon Wongwanich
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Authentic Leadership ◽  
Academic Optimism ◽  
School Level ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Suitable Model ◽  
Content Type

Purpose In the context of Thailand’s progress towards education reform, scholars have identified a lack of effective school-level leadership as an impeding factor. The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a theoretical model of authentic leadership effects on teacher academic optimism and work engagement. Authentic leadership was considered a suitable model of school leadership in light of Thailand’s explicit recognition of the importance of developing the moral capacity of students and emphasis on ethical leadership. Design/methodology/approach The study employed a quantitative cross-sectional survey design. Survey data were obtained from 605 teachers in a nationally representative sample of 182 primary schools. The data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings The results indicated that the model of authentic leadership effects on teachers’ academic optimism and work engagement was validated. A moderate relationship was observed between authentic leadership and the dependent measures of teacher attitudes. Practical implications The study identified a potentially important lack of alignment between the espoused values and actions/decisions of school principals in Thailand. When combined with prior research conducted on leadership for educational reform in Thailand, our findings highlight the systemic nature of the problem faced in changing traditional patterns of behavior in Thai schools. More specifically, despite change in the nation’s educational goals, human resource management of the nation’s school leaders continues to produce administrators and managers rather than leaders, either instructional or moral. Originality/value The study extends prior studies of school leadership in the context of Thailand’s education reform that focused more specifically on principal instructional leadership in Thailand. In addition, this study of authentic school leadership is one of only a few conducted outside of Western societies.

scholarly journals Pedagogical Coordination in Secondary Schools from a Distributed Perspective. Adaptation of the Distributed Leadership Inventory (DLI) in the Spanish Context

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 175
Author(s):  
Inmaculada García-Martínez ◽  
Pedro J. Arrifano Tadeu ◽  
José Luis Ubago-Jiménez ◽  
Carlos Brigas
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Delphi Method ◽  
Leadership Characteristics ◽  
Pilot Test ◽  
Department Heads ◽  
Academic Improvement ◽  
Potential Capacity ◽  
Set Up

Introduction: Leadership as the second factor in school improvement needs potential leaders to be effective. Method: The present study aimed to know the potential capacity of leaders in Spanish secondary schools through the adaptation of the DLI questionnaire to Spanish. To accurately adapt this questionnaire, the present research group conducted content validity processes in 2017, using the Delphi Method, in which eight experts from the Spanish Network for Research into Leadership and Academic Improvement were invited to participate (RILME). As part of a pilot test, preliminary tools were administered to 547 participants from secondary schools in Granada and Jaén (Spain). Results: The present study reports on the adaptation of the DLI instrument within the Spanish context. Acceptably high values were obtained in the analysis of reliability and internal consistency, suggesting that this item can be reliably utilised for the exploration of the dynamics of internal functioning in secondary education and the evaluation of the distribution of leadership characteristics. Conclusions: The pilot study highlights how heads of studies and department heads are potential leaders, making it easier to set up and sustain educational projects in schools.

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