Showing papers in "Journal of Educational Administration in 2002"

The configuration of the university image and its relationship with the satisfaction of students

Abstract: This work centers on the study of the image of universities, with the aims of explaining the process of image forming by means of its different components, both in its cognitive and affective dimensions and of analyzing its relationship with the students’ satisfaction with the university. The results of the empirical work carried out on a representative sample of 6,775 students studying at a Spanish university demonstrate that the cognitive component of image is an antecedent of the affective component. In turn, both of those components influence the forming of the overall image of the university and the cognitive, affective and overall images statistically and significantly influence the students’ satisfaction with the university.

The effects of transformational leadership on teachers’ commitment to change in Hong Kong

Abstract: The effects of principals’ transformational leadership practices on teachers’ commitment to change are examined in this study in Hong Kong primary schools. Mediating variables in the study included school culture, strategies for change, school structure, and the school environment. Results suggest strong significant effects of transformational leadership on mediating variables and weak but significant effects on teachers’ commitment to change. In comparison with other relevant evidence, it is suggested that the pattern of transformational leadership effects is similar in both North America and Hong Kong, but the magnitude of these effects is far less in Hong Kong.

The impact of principal leadership behaviors on instructional practice and student engagement

Abstract: For decades educators have espoused the importance of the principal as the instructional leader of the school. The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between principal leadership behaviors and teacher instructional practice descriptors. This relationship was observed among schools participating in a systemic school improvement process. The study included eight elementary, eight middle, and eight high schools in the USA. Teachers in each school were surveyed on the principal’s instructional leadership abilities. Student and teacher engagement data were collected through school‐wide observations using the instructional practices inventory. Instructional leadership dimensions were found to correlate highly with instructional practice descriptors. This study confirms the significance of instructional leadership and provides specific insight into the nature of that leadership.

Schools as learning organisations: The case for system, teacher and student learning

Abstract: An Australian government‐funded four‐year research project involving 96 secondary schools, over 5,000 students and 3,700 teachers and their principals has provided a rich source of information on schools conceptualised as learning organisations. The LOLSO project focused on three aspects of high school functioning: leadership, organisational learning and the impact of both on student outcomes. This research has established a relationship between the system factors of leadership and organisational learning and student outcomes as measured by student levels of participation in and engagement with school. This paper summarises this research and reports on a study that empirically tests the relationship between students’ participation in and engagement with school and student achievement using model building and path analysis. The importance of learning at the system, teacher and student level is discussed in the context of school restructuring.

Tightly coupled policy in loosely coupled systems: institutional capacity and organizational change

Abstract: This article examines the loosely coupled nature of the US educational system and explores recent systemic reform initiatives designed to improve education through more tightly coupled education policy and practice. The utility and limitations of loose coupling as an organizational construct are examined and critiqued. A number of significant forces are exerting ever‐greater pressure on policymakers to more tightly couple US education, including environmental pressures, the emergence of powerful new institutional actors, an emergent institutional capacity, and institutional isomorphism. After reviewing the effectiveness of systemic reform initiatives in several states, the article concludes that education in the USA is moving toward a system of fragmented centralization in which policymakers have greater opportunity to craft more coherent, systemic education policy amidst competing demands for limited resources.

The new managerialism in education management: corporatization or organizational learning?

Abstract: During the 1990s, many schools and universities had begun to phase out traditional forms of educational governance and adopted forms and practices used in private and corporate management. Yet, the meaning (and implementation) of these changes is contested. Proponents of the new managerialism in education argue that managerial methods are necessary to respond to the demands of a changed environment with dramatically increased degrees of uncertainty in a knowledge‐dependent society. Opponents view the new managerialism in the context of capitalist corporatism penetrating heretofore sacrosanct boundaries of non‐market institutions. In this paper, I argue that the ongoing changes in education management are better understood as instances of organizational learning in response to the limits of bureaucratic organization in turbulent environments.

Team heterogeneity and its relationship with team support and team effectiveness

Abstract: Explores the origins of school‐staff team effectiveness by focusing on team characteristics, especially on team heterogeneity and team support. Based on educational and organizational theory, we derived propositions about how heterogeneity may affect team support and team effectiveness. More specifically, we hypothesized that task‐related attributes of heterogeneity (functional, educational, and team tenure) would relate positively to team support and team effectiveness, whereas relations‐related attributes would relate negatively to team support and team effectiveness. With a sample of 48 teams, identified as intact work teams, we found results partially confirming our propositions. Specifically, high heterogeneous teams in gender and functions were more supportive and effective than low heterogeneous teams in those attributes. By contrast, high heterogeneous teams in tenure were less supportive and effective than low heterogeneous teams in that attribute. The results are discussed in light of the specific context of schools, and several theoretical and managerial implications are drawn.

Personal empowerment, efficacy, and environmental characteristics

Abstract: Examines the personal empowerment and efficacy of teachers, and relates these constructs to environmental characteristics in order to provide information for principals to assist teachers in personal growth. Presents multiple regressions for the Vincenz empowerment scale with The School Culture Survey, teacher efficacy scale, learner‐centered battery, paragraph vompletion method, as well as for satisfaction and age‐related variables. Multiple Rs were low to moderate for all variables except for the paragraph completion method, which were nonsignificant. Significant predictors of personal empowerment were administrator professional treatment of teachers, reflective self‐awareness, honoring of student voice, personal teaching efficacy, and satisfaction with teaching as a career. Presents strategies for principals to use in helping teachers increase in empowerment.

The worklife of the assistant principal

Abstract: Literature and research have substantiated a noticeable trend in the recognition of the important role the assistant principal plays in schools. Despite this awareness, the knowledge base remains inadequate to meet the needs in understanding this vital role in educational administration. Given this void, this article reviews literature on multiple dimensions of the worklives of assistant principals and analyzes survey data from 125 assistant principals in Maine to ascertain how assistant principals allocate their time, at what roles and activities they feel successful, and the relationship between perceived success and quality of worklife ratings. The findings highlight the importance of understanding functions of the role and adequate teaching experience before assuming the role. They also raise concerns about the minimal amount of time assistant principals allocate to instructional leadership and professional development, and the extent to which serving as an assistant principal prepares one for the principalship.

Strategic planning and school management: full of sound and fury, signifying nothing?

Abstract: Strategic planning, in the form of school improvement planning, has become the dominant approach to school management in English schools. This has evolved from earlier forms of strategic planning and has significant inherent weaknesses that undermine the extent to which school improvement planning can contribute to the effective management of schools. The development of school improvement planning is examined in this article and its weaknesses analysed. Implied models of school management and leadership, the legacy of school effectiveness and improvement research and the role of the school principal are considered. Based on this analysis, an alternative approach to planning in schools and to school organisation and a more flexible approach to school organisation and leadership is proposed that is grounded in a shorter planning time scale and the development of structures that facilitate involvement, cooperation and collaboration.

Developments in school‐based management: The specific case of Queensland, Australia

Abstract: This history of the politics of moves towards school‐based management in Queensland education is located within a broader historical and political analysis of such moves across Australia since the Karmel Report. This paper specifically focuses in on developments in Queensland. The Queensland analysis traces the moves from Labor’s Focus on Schools through the Coalition’s Leading Schools and the most recent Labor rearticulation in the document Future Directions for School‐based Management in Queensland State Schools. The analysis demonstrates that the concept of school‐based management has no stipulative meaning, but rather is a contested concept. More generally, the paper provides an account and analysis of new forms of governance in educational systems and the tension between centralising and decentralising tendencies as school‐based management is adopted in order to address a number of competing policy objectives.

Planning for future leadership of schools: an Australian study

Abstract: There is growing evidence of a worldwide shortage of persons willing to apply for vacant principal positions in schools. Reports a study about why more persons are not applying for principal positions in Catholic schools in New South Wales, Australia. An analysis of the career aspirations of those eligible and likely to apply at some stage for a principal position revealed a high level of “unwilling” respondents. Ranks and discusses ten factors identified from a study of their perceptions of issues that would discourage or encourage them to apply. The most significant negative factor is the impact on family and personal life. Others include gender issues and the nature of the selection and interview process. The significant positive factor is that principals have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. Reflections on the findings include addressing the changing nature of school culture, the implications for the principalship and the need to develop a culture of leadership in schools.

School ethical climate and parental involvement

Abstract: Using structural equations modeling, this study explored the association between school ethical climate (characterized by values of caring, rules and a professional code) and two types of parental involvement: cooperation‐based and conflict‐based. The mediating effects of perceived parental influence and trust and parents’ socioeconomic (SES) level were considered as well. School‐level data were obtained from 157 teachers representing 20 elementary schools in Israel, and individual‐level data were obtained from 936 parents. Results showed that an ethical climate characterized by rules and a professional code was more common and more strongly related to parental involvement than a caring climate. Different patterns were detected for the two SES groups: high‐SES parents tended to be less involved (both cooperation‐wise and conflict‐wise) than low‐SES ones when the school climate was perceived as more ethical. Results have implications for research on school values and school culture.

Academic staff perceptions of administrative quality at universities

Abstract: Gives direction as to how administrative quality at a university can be measured on an interval scale. The measure is based on a model of academic staff perceptions in relation to central, faculty or school administration (as the case may be). The Australian Government set up a new Australian University Quality Agency in 2001 and one of its objectives is to measure quality in administration (management). Proposes that academic staff perceptions of administrative quality consist of two first order aspects, operationally defined by a number of second order aspects. The 21 stem‐items measuring each second order aspect are set up in Guttman patterns, conceptually ordered by increasing “difficulty”. Academics are asked to respond to each of the 21 stem‐items in two parts, conceptually ordered from “easy” to “hard”. This model has been pilot tested successfully with a small sample (N = 27) and is now ready for a full test.

The synergistic leadership theory

Abstract: Modernist theories in leadership were traditionally dominated by masculine incorporation and lacked feminine presence in development and language. The synergistic theory of leadership (SLT) seeks to explicate the need for a post‐modernist leadership theory by providing an alternative to, and not a replacement for, traditional theories. Six aspects particular to the SLT influence the ideas and include issues concerning diversity and the inclusion of the female voice in the theory. Four factors are key to the relational and interactive nature of the theory, which provides a useful framework for building and understanding the interdependent relationships. In a tetrahedron model, the theory uses four factors, including leadership behavior, organizational structure, external forces, and attitudes, beliefs, and values to demonstrate aspects not only of leadership but its effects on various institutions and positions. Developed through a qualitative approach, the theory has been validated qualitatively and quantitatively nationwide and is currently being validated internationally.

From “loose coupling” to “tight management”? Making sense of the changing landscape in management and organization theory

Abstract: This article briefly considers the changes in organizational thinking about schools and colleges as formal organizations over the past 40 years. While there are signs for a “paradigm” shift away from earlier conceptions of “loosely coupled” organizations and even of a growing indifference of organization scholars to the particular problems of managing and organizing education, there are also indications that our ability to organize schools and universities effectively and efficiently is becoming rapidly more important in an increasingly knowledge‐dependent society.

Singing the same tune: Principals’ and school board members’ perceptions of the superintendent’s role as instructional leader

Abstract: Understanding the multifaceted roles and responsibilities of the district superintendent as an instructional leader has proved to be a long‐standing and sometimes elusive endeavor. In spite of the consistency of research findings, instructional leadership remains one of the more controversial characteristics associated with the examination of the district superintendent. The findings reported here are part of a larger study on the role and responsibilities of the superintendent as an instructional leader. Specifically, this investigation examined the covariance between school principals’ and school board members’ views of the instructional leadership of the district superintendent. Results from this correlational and regression analysis empirically illustrate a statistically significant relationship between superintendent vision and the factors of organizational mission, program and personnel evaluation, principal decision‐making and school board/community involvement. The findings also suggest that involvement of professional educators and members of the community in formulating instructional programs significantly affects the success of the district leader.

The quest for a new hierarchy in education: from loose coupling back to tight?

Abstract: Building on and reconsidering previous research on organizational models of education, the authors argue that while many administrators in education are still trying to manage ambiguous, and occasionally “anarchic” organizations effectively, the ambivalences of both loose and tight structures are today better understood than 25 years ago. In a development paralleling the evolution of organizational thinking in corporate management which no longer posits a “one‐best‐system hierarchy”, developments in education theory and practice point to the emergence of hybrid models of organization that capture the advantages of centralization and coordination produced by hierarchy while attempting to harness the advantages of more decentralized organizational structures.

Efficiency measurement of Australian public sector organisations: The case of state secondary schools in Victoria

Abstract: The growth in importance of performance assessment in education over recent years has been linked with a concern to ensure that the service represents “value for money”. Increasing concern over funding of schools by government and the limitation on the resources available to the education sector has given rise to demands for greater efficiency and public accountability. These concerns reflect the need for comprehensive techniques to assess the degree to which school management practices and the education industry structure promote efficiency in education. An additional problem has been that, whilst there are many different desirable outcomes which are appropriate for education authorities to pursue, conventional models handle these one at a time.

Leadership: spanning the technical and institutional dimensions of organizations

Abstract: This article brings together the issues of leadership and organization. We begin by discussing the concept of leadership, emphasizing the importance of the context in which leadership occurs. Because the type of leadership addressed in this paper occurs in the context of formal organizations, we revisit the concept of “loose‐coupling”, which reveals the rational and institutional dimensions of organization, explaining how each dimension provides a different form of determinacy on and through which leadership can act. We end by drawing on a study in which we are currently engaged to examine the forms that leadership may take in the rational and institutional dimensions of organizations.

Rationality and reality in organizational management: Using the coupling metaphor to understand educational (and other) organizations – a concluding comment

Abstract: In this paper, I argue that ideas about loose coupling can serve a useful purpose in organization theory, but only if they are re‐worked substantially. This re‐working, I argue, will involve merging ideas about loose coupling with ideas found in other lines of work developed contemporaneously, including research on the “new” managerialism, institutional theory, and organizational ecology. Such a re‐working, I hope, will entail closer attention to the elements in educational systems that can be coupled and to an expanded list of coupling mechanisms. Using this expanded list of coupling mechanisms, and thinking more clearly about how educational organizations are embedded in dense and complex webs of couplings calls for a movement away from an exclusive concern with loose and tight couplings among dyadic elements in organizational systems, and toward a concern with “tangled” couplings.

Professional development and management training needs for heads of department in UK secondary schools

Abstract: Reviews current thinking about the professional development and management training needs of heads of department in secondary schools and argues for the inadequacy of some of the “front‐end” models of professional development and training currently in use. The results of a survey of 21 schools in the UK showed that, although the assumption is often held that heads of department are appointed because they already possess the knowledge and skills to undertake the role effectively, this is not always the case. The plethora of training needs identified conveys a sense of frustration of most of the interviewees with their lack of opportunity to contribute effectively to whole‐school decision‐making and development planning. Argues for the possibility of developing more appropriate forms of professional development and training which would incorporate the notions of school‐based research and collegial reflective practice within learning organisations.

Letting go while holding on

Abstract: Power relations affect all aspects of our lives. MacGregor Burns states that “Power is ubiquitous; it permeates human relationships … Power shows many faces and takes many forms”. The purpose of this paper was to explore women principals’ experiences with power relations in the schools during times of increase in decentralization and accountability. The findings of this phenomenological study were that the six principals viewed power as an enabling, and a positive energy for change and growth in schools rather than a source of “top‐down” domination. Their descriptions of power also asserted that “power is not reducible to any one source”, and that an understanding of poststructuralist and structuralist theories of power will be essential for school leaders facing the dilemmas and challenges of the twenty‐first century.

Law enforcement officers in schools: setting priorities

Abstract: Increasingly, law enforcement officers are being assigned to US schools as part of the “School Resource Officer” (SRO) program. The SRO’s role is defined as that of a law enforcement officer, a counselor on law‐related matters, and a classroom teacher of law‐related education. This study is a survey conducted to determine what personal characteristics, skills, and job tasks were deemed to be important for an SRO from the perspectives of principals, law enforcement administrators, and SROs themselves. A 64‐item Likert‐scale questionnaire was administered to 161 principals, 159 SROs, and 57 law enforcement administrators in North Carolina. A series of one‐way ANOVAs indicated revealed many significant differences in the importance ratings given to the various items by these three stakeholder groups, suggesting that job expectations for the SRO need to be clarified, and that the SRO role needs to be more clearly defined.

The impact of educational policy on headship in primary schools in England, 1994‐2001

Abstract: This article traces the impact of educational policy on the role of primary head teachers in Britain spanning the end of the New Right and the start of the New Left policy implementation processes. It is based on the reported perceptions of a sample of primary school head teachers who have been in post over the entire seven year period. It is argued that the conceptual framework derived from the early work on headship in the UK is still appropriate to an analysis of the role of the primary school head as both leading professional and chief executive but that the emphasis has shifted from one in which heads are selected from aspects of their role to one in which heads are now required to extend their involvement in school management across the main aspects of both parts of their role.

Autonomy, accountability, and organizational complexity in higher education: the Goettingen model of university reform

Abstract: Managerialist responses to increasing complexity and a heightened need for accountability are not limited to Anglo‐Australian education systems. In traditionally state‐controlled university systems like Germany, policies designed to increase institutional and organizational autonomy and flexibility have been initiated drawing on ideas from the new managerialism, new public management, and organization theory. This paper considers the reform efforts at one prominent German university, arguing that significant increases in competitiveness and self‐management can be made even in a formally state‐controlled environment.

Managerial rationalisation and the ethical disenchantment of education: A Weberian perspective on moral theory in modern educational organisations

Abstract: This paper explores the moral and ethical dimension of indeterminacy in educational administration within the context of the managerialisation of education. Drawing on Max Weber’s seminal work on rationalisation, disenchantment, and the ethic of responsibility and the ethic of conviction, the author discusses the conflict between accountability and educational autonomy. While this conflict constitutes a key dilemma of educational leadership, educational theorists all too often attempt to resolve the conflict in favour of accountability over commitment consistent with managerial principles. By contrast, it is argued that mature educational leadership is characterised by an appreciation that conflicting ethical orientations are irreconcilable and that sound educational policy and practice must reflect practical realities and demands without sacrificing educational ideals.

Knowing when to hold ’em and fold ’em

Abstract: This article furthers understanding of the tacit knowledge of school administrators and provides a fresh look at the issue of boundedness in the superintendency. The tacit knowledge of a group of Ohio superintendents was examined in light of superintendent classification as place‐bound (rising through the ranks in one school district) or career‐bound (assuming the superintendency in multiple districts across the span of a career). Tacit knowledge items were culled from interviews conducted with the superintendents. The 469 items were sorted by an expert panel and then cluster analyzed to determine categories of tacit knowledge for place‐bound and career‐bound superintendents. A total of 21 categories describe the tacit knowledge across the superintendent group. Differences in categories and amounts of tacit knowledge were found between the place‐bound superintendents and the career‐bound superintendents.

The political power of school principals in Israel: A case study

Abstract: This case study explored the way principals in Israel organized a forum and assumed roles beyond their educational responsibility. This occurred as an unexpected result of a state‐wide project that was initiated and operated by the Ministry of Education. The aim of the project was to strengthen local educational systems by developing local educational leaderships and by improving scholastic achievements. Participant observation, interviews, and reading of documents and newspapers revealed that the principals changed their role in a three‐phase process. First, the project unintentionally raised principals’ awareness of the social‐political nature of their work. Second, principals organized into an interest group that cooperated with other community groups. Third, they sought to revitalize their respective communities, beyond their educational leadership. They extended their turf from school to community, and their role from school leadership to community avant‐garde.

Mentoring school governance and management: An evaluation of support to schools’ boards of trustees

Abstract: The aim of the research project reported here was to evaluate the process and outcomes of the in‐depth training programme provided to primary and secondary schools’ boards of trustees by the Far North Rural Education Assistance Programme (REAP) in New Zealand. Practical research questions were developed from an analysis of the policy context and programme contracts. The international research literature on mentoring and effective support programmes was then examined. Data were collected using four methods: documentary analysis; case studies of eight selected school communities; a survey of all members of 24 participating boards’ of trustees; and a focus group interview of programme consultants. Construct validity, multiple data types and sources, reasonable survey response rates, bias control strategies and triangulation permitted tentative conclusions and provisional recommendations to be drawn. It was found that the REAP scheme was valued for three main reasons; it built governance capacity in school communities; delivered “free”, appropriately‐scaled, culturally sensitive and customized support on‐site; and it improved the ability of schools to self‐manage improvements. It was also found that the Far North REAP Office played a key role in conceptualizing, developing, brokering and managing these board mentoring services, and developed a model of brokerage that might be usefully replicated through the Ministry of Education’s contracting processes.