School Improvement

A number of scholars are exploring district and site relations in organizational change efforts in the larger policy context of No Child Left Behind. These studies suggest the importance of the central office as a support to the work of reform and offer strategies for building relations between district offices and sites in order to implement and sustain change efforts. What is frequently overlooked in these studies is that organizational change efforts are often socially constructed. Therefore, examining the underlying social networks may provide insight into structures that support or constrain efforts at change. This exploratory case study uses social network analysis and interviews to examine the communication and knowledge network structures of central office and site leaders in an 'in need of improvement' district facing sanctions under No Child Left Behind. Findings indicate sparse ties among and between school site and central office administrators, as well as a centralized network structure that may constrain the exchange of complex information and ultimately inhibit efforts at change.

A central premise in the literature on leadership highlights its central role in organizational change. In light of the strength of this conceptual association, it is striking to note the paucity of large-scale empirical studies that have investigated how leadership impacts performance improvement in organizations over time. Indeed evidence-based conclusions concerning the impact of leadership on organizational change are drawn largely from case studies and crosssectional surveys. Neither approach satisfies the design requirements for studying the contribution of leadership to performance improvement in organizations. This paper tests a longitudinal, multilevel model of change in distributed leadership, school improvement capacity, and student performance over a four-year period. The results suggest that change in distributed leadership and organizational capacity for improvement make significant contributions to growth in student learning in reading and math.

Disproportionality plagues schools nationwide in special education placement, dropout, discipline referral, suspension, and expulsion rates. This study examined predictors of teacher referrals to school counselors for disruptive behavior in a sample of students selected from the Educational Longitudinal Study 2002 (National Center for Education Statistics, n.d.). Findings demonstrated that students’ race predicted English teacher referrals; students’ gender, previous disciplinary infractions, and teachers’ postsecondary expectations for students predicted English and math teacher referrals. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.

This article describes the results of a study into the utility of the SVI model, a model in which internal and external evaluation are balanced. The model consists of three phases: school self-evaluation, visitation and inspection. Under the guidance of school consultants, 27 Dutch primary schools have built up two years of experience with the SVI model. The results show that the school leaders developed a positive attitude towards school self-evaluation and visitation. They found that both self-evaluation and visitation have improved their insight into the quality of the school. However, a content analysis of the school self-evaluation reports shows that the school self-evaluations are often of low quality. For example, it appeared that most of the self-evaluation reports do not provide answers to questions the schools have formulated at the beginning of the self-evaluation. Moreover, the teams of critical friends and the inspectors concluded that the school self-evaluations do have many shortcomings. Based on these results, we conclude that school self-evaluation is a very difficult task for most schools. It is therefore crucial that schools receive external support and that they build up experience with school self-evaluations over a period of years.

This study investigated the efficacy of the INSIGHTS into Children's Temperament intervention in supporting the academic development of shy kindergarten and first-grade children. INSIGHTS is a temperament-based intervention with teacher, parent, and classroom programs. The participants included 345 children from 22 low-income, urban elementary schools who were randomly assigned to INSIGHTS or a supplemental after-school reading program. Growthcurve modeling showed that shy children in INSIGHTS evidenced more rapid growth in critical thinking and math than their shy peers in the attention-control condition during kindergarten and the transition to first grade. The effects of INSIGHTS were partly indirect through improved behavioral engagement. INSIGHTS enhances the academic development of early elementary school children with shy temperaments.

Scholars have increasingly sought to understand how the process of school improvement differs among schools operating in different school levels, conditions, and contexts. Using Rosenholtz's (1985) conception of “moving” and “stuck” schools as a framework for thinking about school improvement, this study examines the learning outcomes of 39 Hong Kong secondary schools over a 3-year period. We examine whether features of leadership and school capacity differed with respect to these learning outcomes within the sample of moving and stuck schools. This research in Hong Kong has identified several factors that appear to synergistically contribute to differences in patterns of improvement in learning across different subjects in both moving and stuck schools. These factors include resource management of principals and school capacity in terms of professional learning community; workload of teachers; alignment, coherence, and structure; and resource capacity. This study extends the research on leadership and capacity building as a means of school improvement, in the process elaborating on their impact within a non-Western society.

This article considers the nature of professional development, how it occurs in individuals, and how educational leaders and managers can facilitate professional development for the purpose of school improvement. Social theories of learning provide compelling explanations of the conditions through which professional development occurs in and among individuals within a community of practice. Research into professional learning communities suggests ways forward for educational leaders and managers to foster environments in which individual and organisational learning is optimised through collaboration and shared leadership.

This qualitative study of teachers in three low-performing elementary schools in Chicago reveals that transformational leadership behaviors were important to teacher motivation, affecting whether they believed that they could improve student performance as the accountability policy required. The findings suggest that principal leadership is critical to turning around low-performing schools. Implications include developing policies to hire principals with proven track records and increasing the capacity of current principals to ensure that they are able to support and motivate teachers in low-performing schools.

Purpose -The main purpose of this study is to identify the successful leadership practices of head teachers for school improvement at secondary level in Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach -The study was descriptive (survey type) in nature. It was conducted on a sample of 351 secondary school head teachers, 702 elementary and secondary school teachers working in the government secondary schools of Punjab province. Data were collected using a mixed-methods research design that included: review of related literature, documents indicating school achievements and student attainment, questionnaires and in-depth semi-structured interviews with different stakeholders including the head teachers, teachers, parents and students. The validity and reliability of the instruments was ensured through experts' opinions and pilot testing in mid-2007; the overall reliability was established at 0.923 alpha level. Findings -The findings of the study revealed that the majority of the head teachers of successful schools developed a common and shared school vision and promoted a culture of collaboration, support and trust. They empowered others to lead and distributed leadership responsibilities throughout the school; involved different stakeholders in the process of decision making; developed and maintained good relationships among different personnel of school community. They emphasised the professional development of teachers as well as themselves, and involved parents and community in the process of school improvement. Practical implications -The findings of this article may be useful for other countries of almost similar socio-economic status, to improve quality of teaching and learning at secondary level. Originality/value -The paper shows that policy makers, administrators, managers and head teachers at secondary school level may improve school performance by adopting effective strategies for school improvement in Pakistan.

The present study examines the possibility that teacher knowledge about learning may have an impact on the effectiveness of a school. Thirty-two secondary qualified teachers engaged in a professional development program that provided a framework for reflective study of the learning process, analysis of key aspects of learning in their classes, and identification of the implications for teaching. Changes in teacher effectiveness were monitored in several ways: (1) changes in the display of effective teacher behaviours consistent with a social-constructivist model of learning, (2) changes in perceived ability to facilitate learning in classes, and (3) changes in student performance. The findings support the prediction that involvement in a systematic exploration of the learning process, with teachers explicating their knowledge of learning, has an direct impact, on the display of effective teaching behaviours and on teachers' personal explicit theory of learning.

Student participation in school decision-making and reform processes has taken inspiration from reconceptualisations of childhood. Advocates for student voice argue for the repositioning of children and young people in relation to adults in schools. This article works with data from a multi-sited case study of three primary schools and students’, teachers’ and school leaders’ accounts of their student voice practices. We consider the relationships between students in student voice activities in primary schools, and the possibilities and ambivalences of representative students ‘speaking for’ other students. We integrate recent insights from moves beyond voice in childhood studies, and from the turn to listening in cultural studies, and raise questions for students, teachers and researchers who seek to encourage student voice in primary schooling.

In the last 20 years the Ethiopian education system has rapidly expanded, leading to a 500% increase in primary school enrolment. The Ministry of Education (MoE) has sought to address a perceived decline in educational quality through nationally-mandated programmes for school improvement and teachers’ professional development . Such programmes – imported on the advice of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Department for International Development (DfID) and other development partners – are implemented “mechanistically”, without adaptation for societal or organisational cultural contexts. This article reviews empirical research from the last decade, including “grey” literature, in the school improvement (SI) and school effectiveness research (SER) traditions to draw implications for primary school principals in Ethiopia.

What does it mean for a child to fulfil his or her potential? This article explores the contexts and implications of the  much-used concept of potential in educational discourses.
We claim that many of the popular, political and educational uses of the term in relation to childhood have a problematic blind spot: interpersonality, and the necessary coexistence for the concept to be receivable of all children’s ‘potentials’. Rather than advocating abandoning the term—a futile gesture given its emotive force—we argue that the concept of children’s potential must be profoundly rethought to be workable as a
philosophical notion in education. In an era marked by the unspoken assumption that ‘unlimited potential’ is always a good thing, we argue that it might be necessary to think
about the limitations of the notion of individual potential; namely, the moment when it comes into contact with other people’s projects. We propose a conceptualisation of
potential as the negotiated, situated, ever-changing creation of a group of individuals, in a process marked by conflict, and which remains essentially difficult.

The aim of this paper is to describe and discuss Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a research method to facilitate student voice in school research. The paper sets out a model for conducting AI in schools. The research questions identified are: What are the researcher’s reflections when using Appreciative Inquiry in school research? What challenges and opportunities can be found when using Appreciative Inquiry in research processes with students? An application of the model will be presented and problematised. The conclusions indicate the importance of inviting students to participate in the process of defining research topics, and of using multimodal methods for facilitating students’ exploration of school experiences. It is also vital that adults support students in imagining and articulating visions on how to improve the school, as well as plans designing for enacting visions. Finally, a ‘whole school approach’ is emphasised for contributing to sustainable appreciative student voice work in schools.

Data literacy is assumed to be a precondition for the effective implementation of data-based decision making in schools. This study was aimed at investigating changes in 1182 educators' data literacy with regard to student monitoring system data, during a 2-year intervention, which was assessed by using a pretest and posttest.

A multivariate multi-level IRT analysis was conducted. The multivariate approach enabled the identification of differences in initial data literacy and development, based on educators' characteristics. Findings showed significant improvements in educators' data literacy. Furthermore, the ‘knowledge gap’ between educators with a master's degree versus higher education was closed, just as the gap between teachers and school leaders.

To what extent can heads use an inclusive values-led approach to school development in the face of pressures from Ofsted and their Local Authority to focus almost exclusively on attainment outcomes? We explore leadership of school improvement in a qualitative study of ten head teachers in the English county of " Preshire " , who worked with the 3 rd edition of the Index for Inclusion, , a guide to values led school improvement. We situate the study within a review of conflicting research advice about the characteristics of successful heads and how 'values', seen as motives for action, affect the recommendations from research. We found that the heads were able to use shared inclusive values to accomplish, with their staff, a degree of control over the way their schools are improved. To an extent they were able to resist extreme local pressures to engage in short term strategies to force up attainments. By making their inclusive values explicit they showed courage rather than compliance. To varying degrees they used 'the Index' to create inclusive, democratic and sustainable school improvement plans while conforming to Ofsted requirements. We consider the possibilities for more widespread implementation of school development led by inclusive values.

Research points at various factors for the low and even decreasing proportion of women in the IT sector in developed countries, e.g., psychological causes, social factors, or structural conditions. These possible explanations all have one thing in common: they recognize adolescence as the essential confidence-building phase in girls. Girls aged 12 to 15 years old seem to lose interest in computer science (CS). Providing mentors and female role models are two key elements to counteract gender stereotypes in CS. "RemoteMentor", a joint Austrian research project brought these two approaches together and expanded them in the form of "remote tutoring": female students aged 14 to 15 received one-on-one human support through smartphones for their coding project during their regular CS and arts lessons. The aim of the one year investigation was to analyse gender aspects in the tutoring process and the output of the collaborative coding project. This was done with group discussions , the evaluation of the online tutoring units and an analysis of the final games in regard to the applied Computational Thinking concepts. Results showed that the project was a promising approach to support and motivate at least a certain group of female students in coding.

This study of an outdoor-based leadership course for teenagers shows how open-ended, difficult group tasks can enable participants to develop ‘dispositions for learning’, which promote ‘responsible leadership’. The latter is defined as responding ethically and uniquely to encounters with difference. Uses of educational psychology often circumscribe ‘challenge’ to avoid risk and promote predictability; a riskier, wilder conception is proposed instead through a ‘pedagogy of challenge’. It is shown that course participants reflected on their most difficult moments, most of which ended in failure and dispute, as their most powerful and memorable learning experiences. Implications for schools and classrooms are considered.

"This study investigates the implementation of educational research among urban secondary schools in Malaysia. The respondents include school teachers and administrators, lecturers in education institutions, and committee members of the state education departments. Data collected from interviews were coded and analyzed using open, axial and selected coding procedures.
Six core categories emerged from the data namely implementation initiative,
implementation obstacles, collaboration, research knowledge, research needs,
and suggestions to overcome the weaknesses. The findings showed that the
quality and quantity of education research in school depend on the existence
of a research culture. The findings of this study form an education research
acculturation theory for research implementation in schools."

Despite gains in the LGBTQ community, many schools still feel cold and unwelcoming for LGBTQ youth. Identity development is important for adolescents, but LGBTQ students often see the ability to freely share their identity limited in public education. Providing a gay-straight alliance (GSA) club within the school has been shown to increase feeling of acceptance and well-being for LGBTQ students. This article looks at the history of GSA in education, the positive and negative outcomes of LGBTQ inclusion and the author's personal reflection of successes and challenges as a sponsor for a GSA club during its inception year.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine highly detailed "low-inference" transcripts (LITs) of peer coaching conversations, drawn from two public US high schools located in New York City, to explore the kinds of interactions that led peers to be more reflective about their instructional practice. Design/methodology/approach -Using the constant-comparative method of analysis, highly detailed LITs of peer coaching conversations were analyzed to identify instances where peers had what the researchers identified as an "Aha!" moment, where the peer's prior belief or opinion about their instruction and/or planning shifted. Subsequent re-coding identified specific strategies that caused the shift. Findings -Three kinds of interactions were identified as leading to an "Aha!," all of which involved a thoughtful and strategic use of the LITs during the coaching conversation. Conversely, findings suggested that passive use of the transcripts was less successful. Research limitations/implications -Future research should explore the nature and staying power of the shifts in peer thinking, and the extent to which these shifts lead to instructional changes and improved student performance. Practical implications -LITs are a promising tool for instructional coaching. The evidence suggests when in the hands of a skilled coach the transcripts can shift teachers' thinking in ways that are likely to improve instructional practice and thus student outcomes. Originality/value -This study highlights the value of pairing strategic and thoughtful peer coaching with highly detailed LITs, and identifies specific kinds of interactions that lead to shifts in thinking about instruction.

The school improvement came into question that schools meet the educational needs has been
made to make it more effective, changing in parallel globalization. The purpose of school improvement
is to rise levels of student achievement and school environment to increase participation.
In this context, the basic aim of this study was to determine the ideas of the principals about
school improvement and what strategies they use in order to improve their schools. The research
was conducted with the principals of the primary schools in Karabağlar, a town in the province of
metropolitan area of Izmir. This study is a descriptive research that used qualitative data. The data
were collected through semi-structured questions from 37 principals and analyzed qualitatively.
Some of the results obtained in this study were as follows: According to the principals, on the top
of the list of the things to do to improve schools were “improving co-operation and communication”.
In the second place, there were “teacher development” and “meet the need for personnel”.
In third place there were “improving the physical conditions” and “provision of educational technologies
and increasing their use”. The first thing the principals do to improve their schools was
“increasing the number of the technological devices and the use of technology”. On the top of the
list of what the principals want to do but cannot do were “lack of financial allocations” and “lack
of financial sources”.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of distributed leadership in Public Senior High Schools (SHS) with regard to school improvement. Using the Explanatory Sequential Mixed-Method design, 92 teachers and 4 head masters and 4 assistant head masters were randomly and census sampled. Three research questions were formulated and were analysed using simple percentages, mean and constant comparative thematic approach. The study revealed that generally head and assistant head masters and teachers recognize the practice of distributed leadership style in the SHS that is they perceive distributed leadership as a shared leadership where everyone is considered as a leader and given leadership opportunities. The findings further revealed that traditional and rigid leadership structure, lack of shared responsibility amongst teachers, leaders fear to involve teachers were the dominant challenges of distributed leadership in the study area. The study concluded that majority of the head masters, assistant head masters and teachers are currently practicing the distributed leadership since the success of distributed leadership depends on whether the leadership is willing to relinquish power, and the extent to which staff embrace the opportunity to lead. Based on the findings and conclusion drawn for the study, it is recommended that leadership in public SHS develops strategies that allow all teachers who are capable and willing to get an opportunity to lead certain areas of the school.

Videotape and participant observation were used to document an American high school teacher workgroup's experience with collaborative teacher inquiry and to monitor changes in practice through two cycles of instructional planning, classroom implementation, and reflective analysis. Detectable changes in practice were observed, including a substantial improvement for two of the four teachers in fidelity of implementation of an instructional innovation. Results support claim that meaningful instructional changes are more likely when teachers work in job-alike teams, are led by trained leaders, use inquiry-focused protocols, and have stable settings in which to engage in the continuous improvement of instruction.

This study provides an account of the agendas, participation and influence of management, teachers, students and parents at a primary school in Tigray, Ethiopia. A literature review revealed gaps in the knowledge of these stakeholders’ involvement in school leadership structures in the current national policy context. A broader review of the major traditions of school research informed the design of this ethnographic case study. Fieldwork at ‘Ketema School’ took place over an eight-month period in 2014, and involved participant observation, informant-led interviews, and the collection of institutional documents. Data collection focused on the meetings of various bodies, and the activities of a single class in Grade 6 and 7. Inductive analysis of the case data was supported by Atlas.ti.

The study reveals a convergence of understandings about the purposes and processes of the school consistent with the state-authorised model of schooling for national development. Structures and processes of surveillance and control incentivise and normalise compliance with government directives. These include positions of distributed leadership and mechanisms of mutual surveillance and internal accountability through which teachers and students share responsibility for supervising peers and colleagues. For example, the student leaders of the ‘one-to-five’ networks perform an academic support and behavioural control function in relation to their peers; and gim gima is a practice of public critique used for exposing misconduct. Meetings and other participative spaces enable members of the school community to share their views on conditions in school according to their interests and priorities; however, these forums are dominated by management agendas, and school-level decisions are restricted by a strong external policy context.

This study extends knowledge of school leadership practices in Ethiopia and informs wider debates around community participation, accountability and school autonomy in developing countries. Recommendations are made for sharing and strengthening democratic practices and for future research.

The purpose of this study was to investigate servant leadership within a sample of private schools in Beirut, Lebanon. For that purpose, 46 school principals and 276 teachers from 46 private schools in Beirut participated in the study. An adapted version of the Leadership Skills Inventory (LSI) (Hunter, 2004) was employed to assess the shape of the servant leadership skills of school principals through their own lens and through that of their teachers. Additionally, teachers and school principals responded to an open-ended question pertaining to servant leadership. The quantitative data thus collected was analyzed with the help of SPSS 21.0. Qualitative data generated through the open ended question was analyzed using thematic analysis. Results indicate that some school principals enjoyed attributes of servant leaders, despite the fact that the concept of servant leadership was unknown to the majority of the participant sample. Few participants, however, suggested explanations for the term, utilizing Christian and Islamic faith. Recommendations for practice and future research are proposed.

For the 21st century educator the delivery of learning is not solely centred on the attainment of knowledge and skills. They define the needs of the learner and focus on the pedagogies needed to foster 21st century learning and readiness for college and careers. Once defined, the choice of curricula, learning experiences, types of assessments and teaching strategies are planned. Al Yasat Private School in Abu Dhabi, is one example of a successful twenty-first century school. In this paper, the authors describe the elements of this exemplary K-8 school, outlining how a purpose built learning environment can activate twenty-first century student learning. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change. www.ijicc.net Volume 3, Issue 1, May, 2017 88 In a move away from the traditional school concept where students work in rows and on their own, Al Yasat was built on the foundations of a 21st century learning premise, opening up opportunities for an integrated learning approach. Students working with students in personalised learning spaces opens the door for teachers to transform their teaching, tailoring instruction to students' individual needs and interests. Students use new tools to learn content at their own pace and taking ownership of their learning in the process. Al Yasat is building a culture of personalized real world learning opportunities for success after high school in college and careers. Through the use of various staff observations, surveys and interviews evaluating the link between improved pedagogical approaches and the use of the new learning environments key findings emerged. Supporting an invigorated coaching, mentoring and feedback loop has seen growth in the organisational learning throughout the school.

This paper introduces student leadership and internal accountability mechanisms at a government primary school in Ethiopia. The network system (also known as 'one to five') is a means of sharing responsibility with students for supporting the academic learning, and regulating the behaviour, of their peers. Another practice, gim gima, is a forum for public critique, whereby students, teachers and others in the school community evaluate the conduct of their peers and leaders, with a view to identifying misconduct, learning from mistakes, and making future improvements. This paper draws from ethnographic research undertaken for my PhD research.

he thesis of this article is that, in view of the increasingly complex nature of change and in the light of insights from the complexity theory, managing educational change for school effectiveness and school improvement should shift from top-down to consensus-based decision-making models. The discussion uses the Primary School Management Development Project in Botswana as a case study. The complexity theory and current research are applied to critically analyse the project. In the final analysis, an all-inclusive bottom-up model of management of change, reform and innovation that encourages active interaction, collaboration, partnership, involvement and participation in educational development is recommended.

Different factors determine innovation in developed and developing countries. Innovation basically emerges in two forms: creating new information via researching a specific subject extensively and performing experiments, in other words making research and development (R&D) investments, is the most fundamental innovation creation mechanism; and obtaining information by being inspired by or transferring the innovations others have made is another mechanism. Whereas the first mechanism can be carried out mostly by developed countries, developing countries cannot produce innovations based on their own internal endeavours due to insufficient and unqualified physical and human capital accumulation, creating a vicious circle, and also to financing problems experienced.

Es importante contar con ideas interesantes para iniciar innovaciones, pero también lo es conocer los frecuentes problemas a los que han de enfrentarse las personas que las lideran, así como las de quienes colaboran en su desarrollo y participan de las mismas. El objetivo de este trabajo es revisar las dificultades que atraviesan los centros al plantearse innovar en nuestro contexto actual, examinando en concreto los problemas habituales en las aulas que comienzan a implementar grupos interactivos, una práctica propia de las escuelas que se transforman en Comunidades de Aprendizaje. En este artículo se sintetiza una investigación longitudinal realizada en un centro aún no transformado. Se ha realizado un estudio de caso único siguiendo las pautas del modelo etnográfico, desarrollando observación participante y entrevistas a los agentes implicados. Los resultados permiten identificar cuatro tipos de dificultades en esta práctica innovadora: tendencia a la individualidad, al silencio o al ruido, a la exclusión y al trabajo superficial. El proceso de implementación de grupos interactivos requiere la evaluación de los procesos y los resultados por parte de equipos internos al centro y externos, donde debe potenciarse la capacidad de reflexión, la autocrítica y la voluntad de aprender por parte de todas las personas implicadas en el desarrollo de los grupos interactivos.

This study attempted to investigate the concept of self-leadership within 80 private schools in Beirut, Lebanon. Through a survey, participant principals were requested to rank the self-leadership skills they believed to exhibit and practice. As such the study highlights the 8 top ranking and the 8 low ranking self-leadership skills displayed by school principals as per their own view point. Moreover, this study sought to identify the obstacles inhibiting respondents from acquiring and practicing selfleadership skills. Data was analyzed using SPSS 18.0. Descriptive statistics were used to describe and summarize the properties of the mass of data collected from the respondents. Percentages were calculated per each item of the survey instrument. Results indicate that while the skills of self-leadership were not being effectively practiced, the concept of self-leadership itself was not clear enough to Lebanese private school principals. This was manifested by the conflicting responses they gave on various items of the survey. The study offers recommendations to help principals enhance their knowledge, attitudes and skills related to self-leadership.

This qualitative interpretive study explores issues and challenges influencing school improvement opportunities for Science and Mathematics in selected South African high schools through a systems leadership lens. Unstructured interviews were conducted with 13 participants comprising a principal, deputy principals, heads of department (HODs) for Science and Mathematics, and Mathematics and Physical Sciences teachers in four schools. The data from the interviews were analysed using the constant comparison techniques, allowing for inductive theme and concept building through abstraction. Findings show that participants, irrespective of school context, were generally eager to enhance the teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics. These challenges include the curriculum policy, the role of the district education office, professional development, learner-related challenges, and resources. It is recommended that the Department of Basic Education work closely with the relevant stakeholders, including teachers, to ensure context-friendly educational policies, thus ameliorating implementation challenges.

Summary A drive for accountability in public administration throughout development agencies has been manifested in the adoption of tools of strategic planning and ex post evaluation. The result has been the adoption of a planning, implementation and evaluation tool known as the Logical Framework (LF). Previous training assistance in Project Cycle Management (PCM) provided to beneficiar- ies of PHARE assistance

The study investigates the perspectives of five educators on the influence of cultural care and invitational education (IE) through qualitative participatory action research (PAR). Invitational education is a theoretical framework that facilitates a positive learning environment and encourages individuals to reach their unlimited potential. Like IE, cultural care is a theory of practice that uses a social-emotional approach for school improvement. However, cultural care considers race and culture as fundamental to promoting outcomes for all students. In connection to IE, cultural care is a strengths-based approach to encourage and produce positive outcomes and promotes a strong consideration to race and culture. The study examined teacher practices and perceptions to evaluate the influence of invitational practices and cultural care. Data were analyzed through two theoretical frameworks, invitational education and culturally responsive pedagogy. Themes were derived from analyses of data collected through interviews pre-and postintervention implementation, recorded observation notes, and artifacts. Findings indicated that inviting practices and cultural care positively influenced the climate of the learning environment, affirmed the importance of teachers listening to students with intentionality, and highlighted the need for educators to recognize students' basic and academic needs. These needs acknowledged student presence, behavior, and growth from a strengths-based approach. The participant educators reported a shift towards a positive learning environment. Recommendations for practice include establishing site-based equity teams and implementing professional learning communities to enhance teachers' professional development.

This study ascertained the principals' provision of incentive for secondary schools' improvement in Oyo State. Two research questions guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study was 8,701 which comprised 969 principals and 7,732 teachers in public secondary school principals in Oyo State. Proportionate Stratified sampling technique was used to draw 871 respondents made up of 97 principals and 774 teachers. Two versions of a 19 item researchers' developed instrument titled ''Principals' Incentive Practices for Schools' Improvement Questionnaire (PIPSIQI)'' and ''Principals' Incentives Practices for Schools Improvement Questionnaire (PIPSIQII)'' were used for data collection. Mean rates and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed among others that principals and teachers agreed that involving staff in decision making process to enhance their commitment in implementing the instructional programme, prompt attention to teachers on-the-job problems, praising teachers for excellent performance, assigning responsibility with commensurate authority to give teachers opportunity to demonstrate their skills and maintaining mutual relationship among others are teachers' incentive practices provided by secondary school principals in Oyo State. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that there is need for State Ministry of Education to regularly organize interactive workshops that include both principals and teachers for working out modalities for improvement on provision of incentives for teachers. Conclusions were drawn and other recommendations were made.