Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 191-197). Also available on the Internet.

The research project explores the effect of empowerment to schools. All stakeholders should be empowered for improvement of quality education and school effectiveness. Two groups of schools were identified, that is, low performing and high performing schools. The aim of this research is to investigate why some schools performed better than others. The purpose of research is to prove that effective schooling can take place through empowerment and that school management can be successful where there is high commitment. The qualitative research method was employed. It refers to research that elicits participant's account and meaning, experience or perceptions. It also produces descriptive data in the participant's own written or spoken words. To gather empirical data, the following research methods were employed; literature study and focus group interview. The following categories emerged: -  Discipline  Lack of commitment and motivation in the learning environment  Management leadership styles applied in schools  Lack of support / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Education Management)

Prof. T.C. Bisschoff

Thesis (D.Tech.: Education)-School of Education, Durban University of Technology, 2008. x, 257 leaves / Educational institutions are pursuing quality improvement for various reasons. A great deal of literature on staff evaluation covering a wide spectrum of fields such as industry and commerce, including schools, has been produced and it generally identifies three main purposes of quality evaluation. Firstly, evaluation is conducted to review performance, identifying strengths and weaknesses. Secondly, it provides information about the service in order to improve the quality of the service and to demonstrate accountability. Thirdly, evaluation is aimed at encouraging personal and professional development. This study analyses the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS), an evaluation system which was implemented in South African public schools in 2005. The IQMS is a clear reaction to the autocratic mode of evaluation that operated during the apartheid era and is a major shift from the old paradigm of external evaluators. The new paradigm calls for a joint collaboration between schools, districts and supervisory units with the overall aim of enhancing the quality of education in South Africa, in addition to addressing the inequities and injustices of the past. Since its introduction, very little empirical research has been carried out to establish whether the IQMS model addresses that which it was intended to. This thesis evaluates the extent to which the IQMS is perceived to have enhanced individual development and ensured improvements in teaching and learning.

Thesis (D.Tech.: Education)-School of Education, Durban University of Technology, 2008. x, 257 leaves / Educational institutions are pursuing quality improvement for various reasons. A great deal of literature on staff evaluation covering a wide spectrum of fields such as industry and commerce, including schools, has been produced and it generally identifies three main purposes of quality evaluation. Firstly, evaluation is conducted to review performance, identifying strengths and weaknesses. Secondly, it provides information about the service in order to improve the quality of the service and to demonstrate accountability. Thirdly, evaluation is aimed at encouraging personal and professional development. This study analyses the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS), an evaluation system which was implemented in South African public schools in 2005. The IQMS is a clear reaction to the autocratic mode of evaluation that operated during the apartheid era and is a major shift from the old paradigm of external evaluators. The new paradigm calls for a joint collaboration between schools, districts and supervisory units with the overall aim of enhancing the quality of education in South Africa, in addition to addressing the inequities and injustices of the past. Since its introduction, very little empirical research has been carried out to establish whether the IQMS model addresses that which it was intended to. This thesis evaluates the extent to which the IQMS is perceived to have enhanced individual development and ensured improvements in teaching and learning. / D

Thesis (MBA) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / Quality has always been a central concern in education. Parents are ready to pay more for the best value for their money, in order to give their children the quality education. The South African education system seems to have very sound policies, but one wonders if they are well implemented, and whether customers do in deed get what they expect (customer satisfaction) from the process. The Department of Education department introduced Integrated Quality Management System in 2003 as a strategy to be used in order to improve the quality of education and improve on the performance of educators in the country. The provincial department of education‟s attempts at implementing Integrated Quality Management System since early 2004 have not been without problems; however, more especially after the signing of the Agreement on the Occupational Specific Dispensation, there has been some uncertainty about the current status of Integrated Quality Management System. The purpose of this research is to investigate the extent to which service organisations such as public schools in Limpopo Province particularly in the Mankweng cluster deliver quality service as expected by their internal and external customers.

This Doctoral thesis has arisen from a developing interest in the synergy between leadership, culture and ethos in schools, and particularly how this is manifested in the generation of quality curriculum, effective school organization and excellent outcomes for students. It particularly explores how the leadership of the Principal can empower others to effect change. Early interest in the empowering role of leadership arose through experience at Head of Department level, extended by system contribution beyond the school. The conception of the interface between leadership, culture and ethos was cemented by appointment as Foundation Principal of a new Government high school. A passionate commitment to exploring the unique opportunities, and to attempting to resolve the very specific problems of a new school led to collaboration with other Foundation Principals. Subsequently, I undertook a review of the literature and research into the specific issues inherent in the establishment of a school. Data was collected in situ through visits to new schools, across four States in eastern Australia. This research led to positions of system leadership in new schooling, and to advocacy for a “new deal” for establishing schools. The research led to a growing portfolio of articles, two of which have been published in refereed journals. The desired outcome of the research and published papers was to document some initiatives which could be undertaken by leadership teams in schools as they sought to establish effective culture and ethos in the early years of their schools. My experience in schools identified the position of Head of Department as a critical, gatekeeping position for the cultivation or resistance of desired change in schools. Accordingly, I was part of a research study which employed a Grounded Theory methodology (Strauss and Corbin, 1990) and gathered data through telephone interviews. The research found Heads of Department typically distracted, by the sheer weight of tasks endemic to their role, from the major focus on curriculum and quality teaching and learning. Three refereed journal articles to which I contributed, one as lead author, sought to reconceptualise the role. Educational systems have shown considerable interest in this research. A focus on Heads of Department led fairly naturally to an attempt to identifying other agencies within a school which could lead to cultural change. Specifically, further research sought to identify initiatives available to the leadership team as it sought to enhance curriculum provision and student outcomes. This represented an attempt to apply the very considerable literature to develop some cutting edge initiatives, and led to further journal contributions, one of which was refereed. Other schools have shown considerable interest in these initiatives. A change of situation from the Government to the Independent schooling system provided a new practical and research challenge: how to undertake Christian education which was authentic, in the sense that it was truly educative and not indoctrinative, and was effective in transmitting Christian values. The literature in the field was not encouraging in terms of the efficacy of schools’ Christian education programs in effecting values change, or of the ethical integrity of their pedagogy. The apparent deficits in models of Christian education presented in schools, as revealed in the literature, gave rise to a number of research studies in my own school, which, as an outcome, has sought to reconceptualise the school’s approach to Christian education. This attempted reconceptualisation has been documented in a number of journal articles and publications, two co-authored and refereed, in an attempt to provide some exemplars which may be influential in other schools. The overall thesis of this dissertation is that when the Principal seeks to empower and mobilize other members of the school leadership team, including key teachers and parents, effective change can occur in the school’s culture and ethos. These changes in turn can feature a range of initiatives which substantially improve learning outcomes for students. / Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Many of today’s schools are caught at the center of a perfect storm fueled by the pressures from a more demanding public, increased governmental accountability, warring political factions, shrinking resources, and new technologies and methodologies. Proponents of Quality Management/Continuous Improvement (QM/CI) have championed the philosophy for over two decades as a solution for addressing these kinds of pressures and systems problems. Unfortunately, QM/CI theory remains underdeveloped and subsequently often fails to align with or guide practice. Detert, Louis, and Schroeder propose that QM/CI theory is best explored through the organizational culture framework that borrows heavily from the work of Edgar Schein. According to Schein, organizational culture exists at the multiple levels of espoused values, material artifacts and creations, and underlying assumptions (deeply held organizational values that guide the norms of behavior). Detert and colleagues contend that there are “nine” core values that define the efficacy of QM/CI in school cultures. To assess the viability of these values, as lived out in the Leander ISD, Leander, Texas, the study employed both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, and was both confirmatory and exploratory in research intent. The Nine Core Values were examined through surveys, purposefully selected interviews, a review of the quality literature, on-site observations, and school documents, with the results triangulated to derive the findings and conclusions. Deeply and widely held values should be observable throughout the multiple levels of culture, expressed through espoused values, material artifacts and creations, and practices that reflect the norms of behavior. The findings and conclusions suggest that the first eight of the Nine Core Values are lived out in the Leander ISD as identifiable norms of behavior: shared vision, outside stakeholder involvement in educational decision-making, long term commitment, continuous improvement, employee involvement in improving the school, collaboration, fact-based decision-making, and focusing on processes rather than people. The ninth Core Value, “Quality can be improved within existing resources”, could not be corroborated across the methodological triangulations. The study also unearthed two additional Core Values, one associated with the organizational learning dimension of QM/CI, and a second incorporating the elimination of fear and blame.

Thesis (D. Ed.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 208-213). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.