M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. (Philosopy of Education) / Every year the failure rate among matrics causes great concern among various parties such as the students’ parents, the community and teachers. These reports focus attention on a serious problem, namely the effectiveness of schools in South Africa. Economic, social and political factors significantly contribute to the large percentage of matric students who either drop out or fail their studies. The high number of dropouts and students who fail, is a serious problem that have severe implications and it must be addressed urgently. In order to address this problem it is imperative to investigate school effectiveness. The specific purpose of this study is to investigate schools in South-Africa, to identify problems, define criteria that can be used in school improvement programmes and to design models that explain the role of the criteria during implementation of school improvement programmes. The study required literature research in order to investigate the factors influencing the performance of students and to determine possible criteria for school effectiveness. The following criteria resulted from the research and would be interpreted in a functional simulation improvement model : * Clear academic goals * Social network * School ambience * Responsible leadership * Teacher efficiency * Quality instruction * Pupil well-being

M.Phil. (Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract