Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The educational landscape in South Africa is unique and has also seen many changes since the dawn of democracy more than 20 years ago. The apartheid education system was marred by severe inequalities between schools and, for this reason, the democratic government post 1994 established a number of policies and interventions in an attempt to improve access, equity and quality between schools. The country has made significant advances in improving access to education. This is reflected in the Millennium Development Goals progress indicators showing that, as of 2013, almost all learners between the ages of 7 and 15 were enrolled in schools. While great strides have also been made with regard to equity, evidence shows that many schools in South Africa are still largely inequitable. Education quality, however, is an area that is still of grave concern and the matter requires much attention from educational stakeholders. International studies, such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), use learner performance to measure the quality of the system. Such studies consistently report that South Africa is performing poorly and that large inequalities still exist between schools in the country. Improved quality is associated with effective schools and, in South Africa, only 20% of schools have been found to be functional or effective. Much of research focussed on school effectiveness, both nationally and internationally, however has been explained by factors in the school, including the appropriateness of curriculum content, infrastructure, resources in the school and teacher content knowledge. These factors have been found to be strongly correlated with effective schools.

The case study examines the outcomes of a process of re-structuring, renewal and cultural change in a school undergoing transformation from a senior high school to a middle school. The research investigates the impact of school improvement initiatives on the school and classroom culture and learning environment after 12 to 18 months of reform implementation.The research approach is a developmental mixed method investigation utilising quantitative and qualitative data collection procedures. The study proceeded through two stages: Quantitative surveying of students and parents prior to the implementation of school improvement initiatives; and quantitative and qualitative surveying of students and parents after 12 and 18 months, respectively, of reform implementation and application of the treatment.Evidence of change in the college and classroom culture and learning environment was evident after twelve months. The case study identified that students and parents identified changes in a number of elements of the classroom culture and learning environment. These included improvements in home-school communications, involvement in classroom planning and organization, relationships between teachers and students, school culture and evidence of pedagogical change. The research also identified that change had not occurred in the attainment of student learning outcomes, educational values and parent confidence to assist students in their learning.It became apparent that change in the organisational culture had occurred within the first 12 to 18 months. However, change to the deeper cultural dimensions of educational values and student learning outcomes were less in evidence.

This dissertation presents the results of a study to assess the impact of a stress management, a self-development, and a relaxation technique on the quality of school life and attendance of 448 Year 5 and 6 students in 16 classes at 4 Lower Hunter Valley primary schools in New South Wales, Australia, in 2000. The importance of contextualising student quality of school life as a key indicator of school effectiveness and measure of school improvement is also argued. The Quality of School Life questionnaire (Ainley & Bourke, 1992) scales were used pre- and post- intervention as indicators of student perception of aspects of their school life including stressful and satisfying elements. Various student, teacher, and class contextual variables were also investigated. Overall, the interventions implemented in this study appeared to have had some small impact on student quality of school life, student absence, teacher stress, teacher satisfaction, and teacher absence. Of particular interest are the apparent differential effects of some of the interventions for: teachers and students, classes, schools, and, at least in part, the effectiveness of the implementation of the interventions. Possible explanations of these differences are discussed while implications including the apparent importance of positive peer relationships and an exciting and enjoyable curriculum in ensuring students have a high quality of school life are described. In the broader context of school effectiveness and school improvement, it is hoped that further investigation will be undertaken of the intervention strategies explored and refined in this study, and perhaps other strategies intended to enhance student quality of school life. In particular, interventions are needed that facilitate the establishment of classroom environments where students and teachers want to be, where educational outcomes are enhanced, and students are led to a broader life experience. / PhD Doctorate

<p>Pupil achievement and behaviour in schools was earlier seen as given by socioeconomic and biological factors. But since the late 1970s the school effectiveness research has come to give school factors a much greater role for pupils’ attainments. Research has shown that schools´ pedagogical and social climate, which is to be seen as a complex product of deeply felt values and norms held by school principals and teachers and developed through practical actions, can explain variations in effectiveness between schools. Effectiveness is here to be seen as a higher mean cognitive and non cognitive student outcome than is expected with regard to initial attainment or family background. In this context all schools can be effective.</p><p>The purpose of this dissertation is to study the pedagogical and the social climate in two secondary schools in order to answer the question of how the climate can describe their conditions for future evolvement in effectiveness. The method of data collection is qualitative enquiries and has been conducted through interviews with principals, teachers and pupils. Our two schools are based in the same council and have a similar intake of pupils. The results derived from the study show that one school has a better pedagogical and social climate than the other which at the same time gives it greater conditions for future effectiveness.</p>

Pupil achievement and behaviour in schools was earlier seen as given by socioeconomic and biological factors. But since the late 1970s the school effectiveness research has come to give school factors a much greater role for pupils’ attainments. Research has shown that schools´ pedagogical and social climate, which is to be seen as a complex product of deeply felt values and norms held by school principals and teachers and developed through practical actions, can explain variations in effectiveness between schools. Effectiveness is here to be seen as a higher mean cognitive and non cognitive student outcome than is expected with regard to initial attainment or family background. In this context all schools can be effective. The purpose of this dissertation is to study the pedagogical and the social climate in two secondary schools in order to answer the question of how the climate can describe their conditions for future evolvement in effectiveness. The method of data collection is qualitative enquiries and has been conducted through interviews with principals, teachers and pupils. Our two schools are based in the same council and have a similar intake of pupils. The results derived from the study show that one school has a better pedagogical and social climate than the other which at the same time gives it greater conditions for future effectiveness.

The purpose of this study is to investigate if cultural backgrounds affect how staff from Scandinavian international schools view school development. The study is based on the alternative hypothesis that cultural backgrounds affect school development. A survey was sent to seven Scandinavian international schools with questions designed to detect the views respondents have on school development based on the two most prominent school development perspectives; school improvement and school effectiveness. I investigated and analyzed respondents’ views about their own development work at their school today and what they would like it to look like. In addition, I examined what processes and standards they considered important when engaged in school development work. Also, I wanted to see if there were any differences in views depending on where the respondents had had their higher education, were born, or if years spent in Scandinavia had influenced their views. The results indicated that it is not statistically likely that respondents’ cultural backgrounds affect their views on school development. There could be many reasons for this outcome but since these have not been studied, I can only speculate. One reason could be that the majority of the respondents have spent more than ten years in Scandinavia which might have homogenized the respondents’ views on school development.  Another reason could be that the majority of the respondents come or have had their higher education in either an English speaking country or in Scandinavia.

The level of increased central government that we have experienced during the last decades in school, for the purpose of increasing equality and to adapt the Swedish school to a certain international standard, clearly shows that increased control scarcely leads to improvement. The aim of this paper is to examine whether teachers believe that national tests contribute to equivalent assessment and increased goal attainment. Furthermore the teachers’ attitude towards and work with national tests is described. The paper is written from a school improvement perspective, where good examples from current research on what creates increased quality in school meaning increased goal attainment and equivalent assessment are related to research on school effectiveness and increased testing in schools. The study builds upon a quantitative survey among teachers in upper primary - and secondary school in a medium-sized municipality in Sweden. The result shows that the teachers have a somewhat more positive than negative attitude towards national tests, as a whole. The teachers use the tests in their instruction and they are a part of their planning. The advantages mentioned are the possibilities of showing off good examples, making the curriculum concrete, prepare the students for the test and get guidelines and support in assessment and grading. The teachers in the survey don’t consider the tests giving a full image of the abilities of a student nor do they consider the tests themselves relevant for the student’s learning. The result also shows a certain variation in the attitude of the teachers. Teachers, who have worked the longest period of time, more than 20 years, are those with the best attitude towards the test and their ability to contribute to increased goal attainment and equivalent assessment. Teachers who have worked the shortest period of time are the most skeptical to the positive effects of the tests. The teachers generally consider the tests contributing to equivalent assessment to some degree, but have the least positive stance toward the ability of the tests leading to improved quality meaning increased learning and goal attainment.

本研究旨在探討桃園縣國民小學校長空間領導與學校效能之現況與差異，以及空間領導與學校效能之關係。本研究以問卷調查進行，以「永續校園推廣計畫」、「Innoschool 全國學校經營創新獎（校園環境美化組）」、「活化校園閒置空間總體計畫」之桃園縣96至101年之國民小學空間校園營造獲獎或受補助學校共計31所學校，以及隨機抽樣未獲上述獎項學校31所，共計62所學校之840位教職人員為受試者，回收問卷733份，有效問卷708份，回收率87%，可用率84%。調查結果以獨立樣本t考驗、單因子變異數分析、Pearson積差相關、多元迴歸分析等進行資料分析並提出若干建議，研究結論如下： 一、桃園縣國民小學教職人員知覺校長空間領導為中高程度，以「以空間領導體　 　　現教育意境」之知覺程度為最高，依序為、「以空間領導提升行政效能」、「以　 　　空間領導帶動課程發展」、「以空間領導激發教學創新」、「以空間領導拓展社 　　區關係」與「以空間領導豐富學習資源」。 二、桃園縣國民小學教職人員知覺學校效能為中高程度，以「社區認同」之知覺　 　　程度為最高，依序為「教師教學」、「行政品質」、「學生表現」與「環境營造」。 三、桃園縣國民小學教職人員以男性、擔任校長職務、年齡在41至50歲、學歷在 研究所以上、服務年資在21年以上、學校規模在19至36班、獲獎學校之教職 人員知覺「校長空間領導」的程度較高。 四、桃園縣國民小學教職人員以男性、擔任校長職務、年齡在41至50歲、學歷在 研究所以上、服務年資在21年以上之教職人員知覺「學校效能」的程度較高。 五、桃園縣國民小學校長空間領導與學校效能有顯著正相關，校長空間領導越 高，學校效能也越佳。 六、桃園縣國民小學校長空間領導對學校效能有顯著的預測力，以「以空間領導 豐富學習資源」對學校效能最有預測力。

學校公共關係的經營影響學校效能的成效，為瞭解二者的現況，及彼此間關係，乃從事本研究。本研究以問卷調查法進行研究，抽取101學年度新北市78所國中教師做為研究對象，問卷共發出906份，回收671份，回收率74.06％。所得資料以描述性統計分析、t考驗、單因子變異數分析(one-way ANOVA)與薛費法（Scheffe）、Tamhane T2 進行事後比較以及皮爾森積差相關分析(Pearson Correlation)等統計方法來進行資料分析。歸納研究結果獲致如下結論： 一、新北市國民中學學校公共關係屬「中上」程度表現 各層面中以「資訊傳遞」層面表現最佳，其餘依次為「成果回饋」、「意見互動」、「物質支援」、「行動參與」，以「資源分享」最難表現。 二、新北市國民中學學校效能屬「中上」程度表現 各層面中以「行政領導溝通」層面表現最佳，其餘依次為「社區認同參與」、「環境設備規劃」、「學校組織氣氛」、「教師教學輔導」，以「學生學習表現」最難表現。 三、不同背景變項的教師在學校公共關係的看法上並無顯著差異。 四、不同背景變項的教師在學校效能的差異情形 (一) 不同性別、現任職務、服務年資的教師，對於學校效能看法上，並無顯著差異。 （二）不同最高學歷的教師在學校效能看法有顯著差異，最高學歷為師範院校的教師顯著高於研究所。 （三）不同學校規模的教師在學校效能看法上有顯著差異，25至48班顯著高於73班以上。 五、新北市國民中學整體學校公共關係與學校效能具有高度相關，且為正相關，其相關係數為.730。 依據研究結果，提供國中校長、教育主管機關、未來研究者幾點建議做為參考 / What this study aimed at was to understand the current situation of school public relation and school effectiveness in junior high school of New Taipei City and the correlation between them. Questionnaire survey is used as the research method in this study. 906 samples were delivered to teachers of 78 junior high schools in New Taipei City, among them were 671 retrieved valid. The collected data were analyzed by Descriptive Statistical Analysis, t-test, One-way ANOVA, Scheffe and Pearson’s product-moment correlation. The analysis of the data revealed the following conclusions: 1.The performance of the school public relation in junior high schools of New Taipei City is above middle degree. Among the performance aspects, “information transmission” ranked first, followed by “feedback, exchange of ideas, material support, participation and resource sharing”. 2. The performance of the school effectiveness in junior high schools of New Taipei City is above middle degree. Among the performance aspects, “administrative communication” ranked first, followed by “commnity participation, facility planning, organizational climate of school, teachers’ teaching and counseling, and students’ learning expresses”. 3.Teachers with various backgrounds were no significant difference on school public relation. 4.Teachers with various backgrounds were different in school effectiveness. (1) No significance was found in opionions of teachers with different genders, current positions and working seniority. (2) Significance was found in opionions of teachers with different educational background. Teachers graduating from normal universities bore greater significance than those graduating from graduate schools. (3) Significance was found in opionions of teachers with different school sizes. Schools with 25 to 48 classes bore greater significance than schools with more than 73 classes. 5. A highly positive correlation exists in the school public relation and school effectiveness in junior high school of New Taipei City. The Correlation is .730. According to the results of the study,some suggestions are offered to junior high school principals,educational authorities,and future researchers.

The main purpose of this study was to identify, describe, and explain the school effectiveness characteristics that might influence English language certification in selected secondary schools in a Third World country, Nigeria. Ethnographic methods of participant observation, interviews, questionnaires, camera and video recordings, and documentary analysis were used to study six secondary schools in urban, sub-urban, and rural settings. The study was conducted in response to the call for the contextualization of School Effectiveness Research (SER). One incontrovertible conclusion in School Effectiveness Research (SER) is that the accumulation of evidence on the characteristics of school effectiveness has not answered the perplexing question of why certain characteristics work in one school and not in others. Many researchers have suggested contextualizing SER as one way of dealing with this nagging problem. The contextualization of SER, argued these researchers, would ensure that local school and classroom cultures were taken into consideration in the design, implementation, and interpretation of School Effectiveness Research. Studying the nuances of local school cultures might illuminate the relationships between school effectiveness characteristics and the classroom instructional strategies employed by effective teachers to enhance student academic achievement. Results from the six case studies indicated support for many school effectiveness characteristics that have been attested to in the literature, such as strong and purposeful school leadership, clear and articulated goals, high expectations of student achievement, a safe and orderly environment conducive to learning, and frequent evaluation of students' progress. But some characteristics that might be peculiar to the Third World were also unraveled by the study. For instance, extramural lessons seemed to be an important feature in certain schools that achieved effective examination results but lacked effectiveness characteristics. There appears also to be a link between the identified school level effectiveness characteristics and the classroom level instructional strategies employed by effective teachers in English language classrooms. The study of the dimensions of effective instruction in Nigerian English language classrooms yielded some "language examination-oriented instructional strategies" that were different from the "mediational instructional strategies" used by effective language teachers in Californian classrooms in the United States of America. It was felt that these differences were a result of contextual differences in the two developed and developing world domains.