The present research aimed to investigate current and desirable states of the effective management of primary schools and to develop the model of effective management of primary schools. The present research consisted of 6 phases. In Phase 1, rationale, and related theories and a review of literature were studied to formulate the conceptual framework and knowledge of elements of effective management of primary schools; in Phase 2, the pilot study on those components was conducted, and the concept on the predetermined components was revised. In Phase 3, a focus group discussion on the components of effective management was held, and the concept was further developed. Phase 4 involved investigating the current and the desirable states as well as the needs for effective management of primary schools; simultaneously, statistical results were taken into account to improve management. In Phase 5, the model of effective management was created. The final phase involved public hearing for evaluation, confirmation, and approval of the model. The samples of this study were 370 of school administrators and teachers. The target group for the pilot study was primary school administrators from three schools awarded with the Best Practice, while that for a focus group discussion included 10 qualified experts. In addition, the target group for public hearing was 39 stakeholders, namely 1 administrator and 10 teachers from each school. The research instruments were a content validity evaluation form, a questionnaire and an evaluation, confirmation and approval form. Assessment of content validity showed that the reliability coefficient of the questionnaire was 0.98 with the 0.60 – 1.00 IOC range. Statistics used for data analysis included frequency, percentage, means, standard deviation and priority needs index using PNImodified. The research Results were as follows: Overall, the current state of management of primary schools was at a moderate level. When each element was considered individually, it was found that organizational cultures and strategic management had the highest level of opinions, whereas information technology had the lowest level. As regards the desirable state, effective management of primary schools was overall at the highest level. In this aspect, leadership had the highest level of opinions, while strategic management came second; school effectivenesshad the lowest level. What’s more, sorted by priority levels, the aspect with the highest priority was information technology, followed by a learning organization, leadership, strategic management, effectiveness of schools and organizational cultures. In relation to appropriateness of the model of effective management of primary schools, the results indicated that the elements had overall 96.07 percent approval and 3.93 percent disapproval. Among all elements, leadership had the highest percentage points, followed by organizational cultures, and a learning organization had the lowest percentage points. Moreover, all elementsin this aspect had more than 87.20 percent. As regards utility, the elements had overall 96.87 percent approval with 3.13 percent disapproval; strategic management had the highest percentage points, followed by school effectiveness, and information technology with the lowest percentage points. All elementsin this aspect had above 87.20 percent. As for feasibility, the results showed that the elements had overall 97.33 percent approval and 2.67 percent disapproval. Of all elements, strategic management had the highest percentage points, followed by organizational cultures, whereas information technology had the lowest percentage points. All items in this aspect had above 87.20 percent.
The Level of Implementation of the Strategic Management in Primary Schools