British school improvement research: the contribution of qualitative studies

Abstract

This article recounts the development of a relationship between a university researcher and a public school practitioner, and describes how changes in this relationship affected the research process itself. The article addresses three issues central to qualitative studies in education: the attempt to have research benefit practice; the formation of reciprocal relationships between researchers and those researched; and the writing of ethnographic accounts. The story is told in separate voices, alternating between the person researched and the researcher. Each voice describes how the relationship moved through six distinct, yet related, phases. Beginning with caution and skepticism, moving toward trust and self‐disclosure, each of these phases affected the conduct of the research study and its findings.     

Teacher evaluation and school improvement: An analysis of the evidence

In recent years, substantial investments have been made in reengineering systems of teacher evaluation. The new generation models of teacher evaluation typically adopt a standards-based view of teaching quality and include a value-added measure of growth in student learning. With more than a decade of experience and research, it is timely to assess empirical evidence bearing on the efficacy of this school improvement strategy. This paper examines the new generation of teacher evaluation along three lines of analysis: evidence on the magnitude, consistency, and stability of teacher effects on student learning, evidence on the impact of teacher evaluation on growth in student learning, and literature from the sociology of organizations on how schools function. Although the trend towards focusing on teacher evaluation is increasingly evident internationally, most of the empirical research evaluated in this paper is from the USA. This critical evaluation of the empirical literature yields two key conclusions. First, we conclude that the policy logic supporting this reform remains considerably stronger than the empirical evidence. Second, we suggest that alternative improvement strategies may yield more positive results and at a lower cost in terms of staff time and district funds.     

Whole school approaches to education for sustainable development: a model that links to school improvement

This study applies a model of school organisation developed by one of the authors to investigate school improvement processes leading to a whole school approach in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) literature. The model is operationalized to a survey instrument and distributed to Swedish upper secondary teachers. The instrument provides empirical indications of teachers’ perceptions of their schools in terms of four major dimensions of an ESD whole school approach, the importance assigned to a holistic vision, routines and structures, professional knowledge creation, and practical pedagogical work. The aims of the study are to compare the teachers’ perception of their school organisation. We compare perceptions of teachers working in schools actively implementing ESD and teachers in comparable reference schools. Comparisons are also made between teachers from schools applying different strategies and quality approaches in implementing ESD. The results indicate that, relative to teachers in ordinary schools, those in ESD schools perceive their school organisations to have higher quality and coherence, with greater potential to support teaching and pedagogical work in practice. However, there is substantial variation in perceptions of teachers from different ESD schools. The model’s robustness is validated by coherence of earlier results in the same schools.     

Medico-science and school hygiene: a contribution to a history of the senses in schooling

This article takes as its inspiration Ian Grosvenor’s conjectural essay presented for the symposium “Historiography of the Future: Looking Back to the Future” held at the International Standing Conference for History of Education (ISCHE) 33 in July 2011 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. It contributes to a sensory history of schooling by examining how the problematisation of schoolchildren’s eyesight in school hygiene manuals noted by Grosvenor was, to a large extent, made possible by the deeper transformations that occurred in science in the mid-nineteenth century. These included changes in scientific practices and techniques, the invention of new instruments and the emergence of new “scientific selves” that were, in large part, linked to the emergence of objectivity as a scientific ideal. The “objective view” and practices associated with the ideal of objectivity combined with the predominant style of statistical reasoning reinforced the truth claims of senses research by preeminent European scientists. In turn, it made credible and legitimated the findings that resulted when new scientific techniques, methods and instruments associated with the ideal of objectivity were applied to investigations of schoolchildren’s eyesight in the mid-nineteenth century. Medico-scientific investigations that began by first identifying aspects of schooling that caused harm to the sense of sight were later expanded into multiple hygiene(s) and made possible a broader discourse of school hygiene elaborated in the school hygiene manuals that proliferated in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The extent to which precepts of school hygiene underscored the reform of pedagogy and the materialities of schooling suggests that the results of these investigations were profound and far-reaching.     

The school curriculum for ethnic minority pupils: A contribution to a debate

This paper discusses some of the canicular needs of children of migrant parents in the United Kingdom (in particular those of South Asian and West Indian origins), against the background of current provision. The author argues the merits of a cultural accommodation strategy and outlines the human rights model of education which that strategy implies. He then analyses three major problem areas faced by children of migrant workers: conflicts of identity, communication difficulties, and unequal access to employment opportunities. In a final section, tentative but practical suggestions are given of how the school curriculum can address these problems.

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Zusammenfassung In diesem Artikel stellt der Verfasser die curricularen Bedürfnisse von Gastarbeiterkindern (besonders denen südasiatischer und westindischer Herkunft) im Vereinigten Königreich dem gegenwärtigen Angebot gegenüber. Er befürwortet eine Strategie der kulturellen Akkommodation und skizziert ein dieser Strategie entsprechendes Menschenrechts -Modell für Schulerziehung. Darauf analysiert er drei Hauptproblemgebiete von Gastarbeiterkindern: Identitätskonflikte, Kommunikationsschwierigkeiten und ungleicher Zugang zu Beschäftigungsmöglichkeiten. Im letzten Teil macht er einige praktische Vorschläge, wie das Schulcurriculum diese Probleme angehen könnte.

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Résumé Cet article traite des besoins caniculaires des enfants d'immigrants au Royaume-Uni (particulièrement ceux qui sont originaires des Indes Occidentales et du Sud Asiatique) en fonction des prestations éducationnelles courantes. L'auteur démontre les mérites d'une stratégie d'acclimatation culturelle et trace dans les grandes lignes le modèle d'éducation droits de l'homme qu'implique cette stratégie. Il analyse alors trois catégories de problèmes majeurs qui confrontent les enfants des travailleurs étrangers: conflits d'identité, difficultés de communication et inégalité des chances d'accès à l'emploi. L'auteur termine en montrant, par des suggestions d'ordre pratique, comment le curriculum peut s'attaquer à ces problèmes.

     

Capacity building for school improvement: a case study of a New Zealand primary school

Capacity building is now mentioned synonymously with school improvement in much of the literature with an absence of debate on the implications of political, social and economic trends. This article explores capacity building in one low decile, multicultural, New Zealand primary school. The research, positioned within an interpretivist paradigm, utilises a case study and grounded theory approach to explore four aspects: 1. processes that enhance improvement; 2. internal and external influences on capacity building; 3. wider societal factors that influence the development of capacity; 4. links between capacity building and improvement. This article suggests that capacity building for school improvement is time and context dependent and is unique to the setting. It occurs in response to individual, collective and systemic need in ways that sustain equilibrium while moving towards improvement. The paper explores key attributes of capacity building: vision; stakeholders as change agents; school culture; professional development. Practices that are examined include knowledge production and utilisation; division of labour; roles and responsibilities; a switching-on mentality. These groups of factors lend themselves to a discussion of four important themes in the capacity building and school improvement process: situated activity; connectedness; leadership, governance and management; outcomes. This article concludes that the confluence of these contributing factors enables tensions and needs of context to be managed in ways that ensure equilibrium of people, school and system while moving in the direction of improvement.     

Rethinking school effectiveness and improvement: a question of paradigms

The purpose of this article is to contribute to progressive school change by developing a more systematic critique of school effectiveness (SE) and school improvement (SI) as paradigms. Diverse examples of paradigms and paradigm change in non-educational fields are used to create a model of paradigms for application to SE and SI, and to explore the implications of their hegemony, their rootedness in a neoliberal policy environment, and their limitations as theories and methodologies of school evaluation and change. The article seeks to identify reasons for the inadequacy of orthodox SI in helping schools face contemporary challenges, including schools serving populations burdened by poverty, and finally identifies some alternative approaches to educational change. The article draws examples from an English context, but with international resonances.     

Introduction to Special Feature: Alternative perspectives on school improvement

The growth of interest in school improvement in the last decade has been striking. In the UK, the educational system has moved to a position where school improvement is not merely expected but demanded. As a result, a large number of school improvement projects and initiatives have emerged to meet this demand. Many of these initiatives have emphasised structural change and have located change efforts at the level of the school. However, the research evidence concerning successful school improvement programmes demonstrates the importance of changing school culture and focusing upon teaching and learning. The Improving the Quality of Education For All (IQEA) project embraces both these elements. Over the last 10 years the project has achieved demonstrable success in a diverse range of school contexts and is at the forefront of school improvement work within the UK. This special feature considers IQEA from a variety of perspectives and provides important insights into the theory, process and practice of successful school improvement.     

The role of feedback from the school leader during teacher evaluation for teacher and school improvement

Since the turn of the century, teacher evaluation has been introduced around the world with the intent to improve teaching. However, in the literature on teacher evaluation, often findings reveal critical accounts about the effectiveness of feedback in teacher evaluation for teacher and school improvement. This article presents a qualitative study in eight schools where teachers did indicate to find the feedback they discussed with school leaders during teacher evaluation processes useful. In this study, we investigate whether we can identify what teachers actually do with this feedback and which factors contribute to their response. Our findings demonstrate the importance of school organizational characteristics and an integrated leadership approach for the feedback response of teachers. Also, our findings reveal how teacher evaluation is used in these schools to further school improvement.     

Learning to live together. The contribution of school

The paper we present is a biographical qualitative study on the school experience and its repercussions on the lives of young people. The paper has two aims: (1) to understand the repercussions of school experiences on the construction of personal identity, and (2) to incorporate the voices of alumni into a reflection on the present and future challenges facing primary education. The study is framed by the movement known as student voice. For this purpose, the interpretations ex-students were collected through in-depth interviews. The conclusions reveal the persistent effects of the school experience over the years as young people establish a sense of identity. The young people explain the attitudes and abilities that make up their way of living, and they relate this to what they learned in their early childhood and primary education.     

A dynamic approach to school improvement: main features and impact

This paper refers to the dynamic approach to school improvement (DASI) which attempts to contribute to the merging of educational effectiveness research and school improvement. The main underlying assumptions and the implementation phases of DASI are discussed. Moreover, a study aiming to compare the impact of DASI in helping schools to reduce bullying is presented. The results reveal that DASI has a stronger impact on improving school factors and reducing bullying than other approaches to school improvement. Suggestions for further research investigating the sustainability of DASI on school effectiveness are provided and policy implications are drawn.     

Lasting leadership: Toward sustainable school improvement

After decades of meager results in school improvement efforts that work and that last, it may seem irrational to hope that this time it could be different—that we could learn and apply approaches to lasting school improvement. Obama (2006, The audacity of hope. New York: Crown publications) might refer to such hope as audacious. What gives us the impulse for hope in the face of continued disappointment? This is not to suggest that all of our efforts have come to naught. Having witnessed and participated in hopeful approaches for more than 40 years, I’ve seen noteworthy programs and heard exceptionally wise ideas. Islands of hope existed in each decade, yet even these remarkable islands drop below sea level when founders, principals or key teachers leave. As long as any one individual is indispensable, sustainability is a distant dream. As I’ve talked with educators, parents, students and community members over these years, I’ve been bombarded with questions. The question I find most compelling is: “We can now understand our schools as they exist. And, we have an improving image of what sustainable schools look like, but how do we get there from here? How do we find our way to the sustainability we yearn for?     

The effect of school inspections on school improvement

This study uses a school-level longitudinal control-group design to examine how teachers and principals of inspected versus uninspected schools perceive school improvement at their schools. During the phasing in of school inspections in the states of Berlin and Brandenburg (Germany), both inspected and uninspected schools were surveyed with respect to school improvement activities over a 1-year period. The main finding is that principals’ and teachers’ perceptions of school quality were highly stable, irrespective of the introduction of school inspections. The results show school inspections had a comparatively low impact on the aspects of school quality measured here.     

School leadership and school improvement: an examination of school readiness factors

ABSTRACT

This article reports on an investigation into the influence stemming from school leadership as an important consideration in relation to school improvement. School readiness, based on [Schiemann, W. A. 2014. “From Talent Management to Talent Optimization.” Journal of World Business 49 (2): 281–288. doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2013.11.012]. Accountability, Capability and Engagement (ACE) leadership model, was assessed through self-reported school leader behaviours, attitudes, perceptions, and school improvement attributes. To clarify, school readiness refers to how a school principal optimises staff and other school resources to best achieve school improvement agendas. School readiness survey results and student achievement outcomes for one entire school district were analysed, indicating that school readiness did indeed impact student achievement. Findings reveal a need for school leaders to focus more clearly on overall school alignment and optimisation behaviours, and these are discussed in relation to specific leadership recommendations and how leadership can better support and encourage school improvement in terms of educational accountability.     

Using the dynamic approach to school improvement to promote quality and equity in education: a European study

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability - This paper presents the results of a European study investigating the extent to which the Dynamic Approach to School Improvement (DASI) can...     

Data feedback for school improvement: The role of researchers and school leaders

The aim of this study is to better understand the role of researchers and school leaders in supporting school improvement through data feedback in the context of more responsive forms of accountability in the Netherlands. A process evaluation was conducted concerning the first three years of a collaborative project of a multi-management group of 18 primary schools and a group of researchers. The results show that implementing a system of data feedback starting from a shared vision on the need to learn from data, fostered processes in the school of learning from data for school improvement. The results also show a growing inquiry habit of mind amongst school principals, whereas the researchers learned how to take their role in the collaboration by providing conditions that enhance school improvement from data feedback. The results indicate that the collaborative process can be characterised by several learning functions and thus contribute to a better understanding of how the conditions for data feedback and school improvement can be enhanced.     

中小学校督导评估指标体系的问题与改进

学校督导评估指标体系是广泛应用于督导工作中的评价工具,它的科学性、有效性直接影响着教育督导效能的发挥.本文以多个评估指标体系文本为分析对象,结合教育评价理论和系统论原理进行深入剖析,发现了当前指标体系构建中存在的一些问题,进而提出相应的改进建议.