In 1991, one year after the Namibian independence, the Ministry of Education and Culture was organised in six departments and six regional directorates. The regional directorates were established as early as in 1991. The establishment of the regional directorates was the first step towards decentralisation of education management, which took a form of de-concentration. During the late 1990s, the regional directorates were subdivided into thirteen regional education directorates to be in compliance with the central government policy of decentralising functions from the head offices of various ministries to the regional administrations in the thirteen regions. During 2000, the Namibian Ministry of Education introduced cluster-based school management as a decentralisation reform, granting authority and responsibility for managing school supervision and in-service training for school managers and teachers to clusters, to be implemented in all the thirteen education regions. Cluster–based school management reform has been adopted as a strategy for improving school supervision and teaching in Namibia. However, there is little empirical evidence on the effects of school clustering on the quality of teaching in Namibia. This study examined the implementation of cluster-based school management reform in the Namibian primary schools. The specific focus of the study was to assess: (1) the implementation of cluster-based school management reform in the Namibian primary schools; and (2) the relationship between cluster-based school management reform and improving teaching at classroom level. The data for this study were collected through: (1) survey research in thirty-seven primary schools in five regions: Caprivi; Erongo; Hardap; Karas and Kunene, and (2), case studies, based on interviews; focused group discussions; informal conversations; observations; and document analyses in the three primary school clusters in two of the five education regions. The study’s main findings are that the implementation of cluster-based school management reform has been constrained by resource scarcity and reluctance to share resources; potential threat to the authority of school inspectors and school principals; and incongruence between the ideologies existed prior to the introduction of the reform and the democratic ideology. The other main finding from this study is that there is insufficient evidence to show that the teaching methods of teachers who have received support from the school management reform are notably different from those who have not. This study demonstrates a number of obvious missing links between cluster-based school management and improving teaching, because the reform lacks: (1) clarity, guidelines and resources to support and monitor teaching in schools and at classroom level; (2) clarity on the roles and responsibilities of key implementers in improving teachers’ teaching practices; (3) capability to transform school traditions and culture into a culture which transforms teaching in schools; and (4) clarity on how teacher involvement can be utilised to improve teaching in schools. This study concludes that there is no evidence from this study that cluster-based school management reform relates to improving teaching. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur praktikhandledare inom bygg- och anläggningsprogrammet uppfattar byggelevers yrkeskunnande och om de upplever någon skillnad i yrkeskunnandet mot före gymnasiereformen 2011. Studie- och yrkesvägledare fungerar som en länk mellan eleverna och branscherna där det är viktigt för vägledaren att ha kännedom om branschernas synsätt. Studien är genomförd med kvalitativ metod där tio APL-handledare på byggarbetsplatser i Värmlands län intervjuats. Intervjuerna är analyserade enligt innehållsanalys och ställs mot Illeris teorier om lärande och kompetens. Analyserna är inramade av Bourdieus habitusteori. Resultaten visar att APL-handledare har svårt att definiera vad yrkeskunnande är och därmed har uppfattningarna skiljts åt gällande vad som förväntas av APL-elever. Det framkommer även att egenskaper som förväntas av APL-eleverna närmast kan definieras som Bourdieus kapital än konkreta yrkesfärdigheter. Våra resultat visar dessutom att APL-handledarna inte har någon uppfattning om vad som står i examensmålen för bygg- och anläggningsprogrammet. Vi hoppas att denna studie ska bidra till en ökad förståelse för studie- och yrkesvägledarens uppdrag som ibland blir en medlande länk mellan de olika aktörerna; skolan, arbetslivet och eleven. / The purpose of this study is to investigate what building and construction workers who mentor students from the vocational-education program of building and construction think about the students’ vocational skills. The study also hope to ascertain whether the construction workers have noticed any difference in the students’ vocational skills after the school reform of 2011. As aspiring guidance counsellors we aim to play the role of a bridge between the students and their chosen field of employment. For guidance counsellors it is important to have a solid grasp of the values and views found in different fields of employment and to manage the expectations of the students. For this study, we used a qualitative method in which we interviewed ten mentors on construction sites across the county of Wermland. The content of the interviews was later analysed and compared to Illeris’ theory of knowledge and competence. As a theoretical framework, we also used Bourdieu’s theory of Habitus. The results show that the mentors had difficulty defining vocational skills in a meaningful and concise manner, which leads to students finding it difficult to know what is expected of them. The characteristics of the students are better defined in Bourdieu’s theory of habitus. The results also revealed that the mentors did not have a clear picture of what was expected of a student and did not understand fully what the student would need to learn in order to pass the relevant examinations at the end of the course. We hope that this study will contribute to a clearer understanding of the role of the guidance counsellor, which in this case is to act as a bridge between those already working in the construction industry and the students hoping to work within the construction industry after they have graduated.

The purpose of this study was to investigate special education outcomes in relation to state standardized testing. It specifically sought to determine if a relationship existed between selected data from the Texas Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) comparing district students receiving special education services TAAS scores with selected district demographic, fiscal, and special education data. The population for this study consisted of all 2001-2002 grades 3-8 and 10 public school students with the exception of charter schools, special-purpose statutory districts, and state-administered districts. The reading analysis incorporated data from 896 Texas school districts. The mathematics analysis used data from 914 school districts. Multiple linear hierarchical regression was chosen as the method for statistical analysis. Data was obtained from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) as a special data pull. For both the reading and mathematics analyses, wealth and ethnicity were statistically insignificant although ethnicity individually accounted for a large percentage of the variance for both the reading (20.3%) and mathematics (13.2%) scores as well as producing negative β weights. All other predictor variables produced varying degrees of statistical significance. Community type, socioeconomic status, instructional expenditures per students, and instructional expenditures per student receiving special education services also produced negative β weights. Two variables in this study, enrollment and the percentage of students receiving special education services tested, produced positive β weights, substantial squared structure coefficients, and positive Pearson correlation coefficients. Of these two predictors, the strongest overall positive predictor for students receiving special education services success on the grades 3-8 and 10 reading and mathematics TAAS exams was the percentage of students receiving special education services tested. These percentages produced the largest positive correlations with passing rates (reading r = .283, mathematics r = .219) and the second largest regression coefficients (reading β = .224, mathematics β = .202). They individually accounted for the largest percentage of total criterion variance (reading = 33.0%, mathematics = 22.6%). For this study, these results clearly suggested that the dominant positive predictor of testing success for students receiving special education services was the percentage of students receiving special education services tested. Conversely, socioeconomic status was the dominant negative predictor.

I designed an explanatory sequential mixed-method study to explore the relationship between leadership practices, collective teacher efficacy (CTE), and educational outcomes of low SES students in an open school system. Four data sources were analyzed: K-5 student Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) results of 1,170 students, Collective Teacher Belief Scale (CTBS) survey to measure CTE perceptions of 48 teachers, focus group interviews composed of a stratified sample of 11 K-5 teachers, and two one-on-one principal interviews. The study took place in two elementary schools in north Texas during the 2020-2021 school year. A Spearman's rank-order correlation analysis indicated that the relationship between CTBS scores and student reading scores was mixed. While one school showed a positive association between CTE and the reading data of low SES students, the other school showed a weak correlation between the variables. The quantitative data indicated that CTBS scores did not independently explain reading achievements at both campuses. The data also showed that while teachers had a large effect size on the reading performance of low SES students, as measured through a Cohen's d for paired sample t-test, achievement gaps continued to widen. Two themes emerged through a grounded theory approach when principals described their sensemaking and framing process: many variables and teamwork. In a complex open system, school principals must consider the many needs of teachers and students before enacting reform efforts. To achieve ambitious goals, school principals promote teamwork and help develop supportive structures to assist teachers and students. Furthermore, the theme of support emerged when teachers described their CTE perceptions concerning their principal's leadership actions. The overall data suggest that leadership practices directly impact CTE levels and indirectly impact student performance. When teachers felt supported, CTE levels increased, but when teachers felt overwhelmed or failed to see how school and district mandates support teaching and learning efforts, CTE levels dropped.

One purpose of this study was to compare outcomes of students who were part of a 9th grade academy during their freshman year with outcomes of students who were not part of a 9th grade academy during their freshman year. Student outcomes are defined for this study to include attendance, promotion rate to 10th grade on time, in-school suspension assignments, Algebra I End-of-Course exam scores, and English I End-of-Course exam scores. The second purpose of this study was to compare outcomes of 10th grade students who were part of a 9th grade academy during their freshman year with outcomes of 10th grade students who were not part of a 9th grade academy during their freshman year. 10th grade student outcomes are defined for this study to include attendance, promotion rate to 11th grade on time, and in-school suspension assignments. Data were collected from a high school located in Western North Carolina over a period of 4 years (2007 - 2011). Independent samples t-tests and one-way Chi Square analyses were used to make comparisons for each outcome of the study. Based on the findings of this study, the promotion rate of 9th grade students to 10th grade on time increased after the implementation of the 9th grade academy. In-school suspension assignments for 10th grade students who were part of a 9th grade academy during their freshman year were also less when compared to those of 10th grade students who were not part of a 9th grade academy. Ninth and 10th grade students who were part of a 9th grade academy tended to have more absences than 9th and 10th grade students who were not part of a 9th grade academy. Little difference was found in the other outcomes of the study.

The purpose of this study is to describe the difference in the academic achievement of urban Hispanic high school students based on the small learning community theme. The study used a quantitative method of ex post facto research to examine how the academic achievement of Hispanic high school students differs across the themes of small learning communities. One way, non directional analysis of variances were calculated comparing each of the five themes, which are: Arts, Music & Entertainment, Business & Information Technology, Health, Human & Public Services, and Engineering & Industrial Technology, and Algebra I and English Language Arts tests of the California Standards Tests to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in the academic achievement of Hispanic high school students and enrollment in a specific Small Learning Community theme. Passing rates on the California High School Exit Exam were examined, analyzed, and compared, by grade level, for each of the small learning community themes. In addition, graduation and dropout rates were considered. Even though there was evidence to suggest that there was a difference in some of the data analyzed, none of the actual numbers showed much variation. Although smaller number of student groupings in high schools supports the success of Hispanic students, distinct themes do not seem to be a contributing factor.

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