Thesis (Ph.D.)--Liberty University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) around the world and in the developing countries in particular e.g. Libyan HEIs are facing challenges that increase the pressure on them. Some of these challenges are related to the remarkable changes in population growth and fast changes in the development of knowledge and technology. Also, providing adequate resources, maintaining quality, raising funding and strengthening the curriculum are other challenges that need to be faced by those institutions. This research is aimed to investigate issues enabling and affecting the quality of services provided by Libyan public universities using principles of Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophy as a framework: Al-Fateh University (AFU) as a case study. The research is qualitative in nature, employing a case study approach and using indepth semi-structured interviews (from different levels including senior leaders, faculty members, support staff, students, and main employers) as the main data collection tool within the two selected embedded case studies. Those embedded cases are Electric and Electronic Department (EED)-Faculty of Engineering-AFU and Social Service Department (SSD)-Literature Faculty-AFU. Documents are used in addition to interviews in order to fully understand issues enabling and affecting the quality of services provided by the two embedded case studies. Contribution to knowledge is evident by the study, which represents the first attempt to empirically investigate issues enabling and affecting the quality of services provided by Libyan public universities: AFU as a case study through two selected embedded cases EED and SSD. This research provides specific original findings which include the use of Arabic and English language in the same lecture, the concept of students' administration and its consequences, the speciality of leaders biases the understanding of the needs of subordinate staff, suspension of the students' performance regulations affected the quality of education programmes, and a unique situation was found to be the senior and junior staff programme that attempted to improve teaching through knowledge transfer. This research has reduced the gap in knowledge in Libyan HE context in specific and in Arabic HE context in general. Other implications for HEIs are also provided by this research.

The problem in this research lies in the lack of appropriate guidelines for managing the Quality Management System (QMS) in schools. The research endeavours to reveal the most effective and efficient guidelines for managing the QMS. The main purpose of the study was to investigate and reveal the most appropriate and effective ways of managing the QMS as a strategy and as an ongoing process of evaluating and managing both the performance and outcomes in schools. This research adopted a qualitative research approach. Phenomenological and ethnographic research methods were employed. The purpose of adopting the qualitative research for this study was to gather non-numerical data to help explain and develop a theory about managing the QMS. The researcher collected data using multiple means of data collection, namely, interviews, survey and observation. Interpretations of data led to the research recommendations and the conclusion. The sample comprised of three District officials, the school Principal from each sample school, two Departmental Heads, two teachers and their classes, two School Governing Body (SGB) members, one member of the Staff Development Team (SDT) and four former members of the Quality Management (QM) team. The findings of the study described the informants’ perceptions and experiences of the QMS as a process for school improvement. The perceptions and the experiences of the teachers and the principals suggest that the participants had a limited understanding, knowledge and skills in managing the QMS. Thus guidelines managing the QMS were provided. In addition, guidelines for the educational psychologist that would facilitate the successful management of the QMS were developed. / Prof. J.R. Debeila

D.Ed. / The re-admission of the Republic of South Africa to the global arena does not only imply that the education system be effectively managed and governed but also that the potential of all stakeholders in education be optimized. The rationale for performance is linked to investment in people to yield high returns in education in the form of qualified and skilled personnel, a productive and competitive workforce and an effective and efficient educational community. In the light of the preceding, the quest for quality education is interlinked with an integrated quality management system. The basic premise here is that through performance management the education system would ensure optimization of potential in order to unfold individual potential and release their latent energy and to promote economic growth and improve the quality of life for the South African citizen at large. Similarly, the optimization of the potential of educators and learners alike is seen as a necessity for ensuring provision of quality education in a high and productive education system. In chapter two, one of the most important aspects discussed is providing a broader knowledge on how human potential should be optimized and performance be managed in education institution. In the light of optimization of potential, various activities that make up human resource management and development process were discussed sequentially in this chapter. The components were interrelated and integrated So that they should not be seen as fragmented unrelated elements. For example, the beehive model of organizational development present seven workplace practices as a strategy in educational institutions to develop educators and managers to their institutional competitiveness. in addition, it was indicated that educational managers should incorporate new ways of working into every facet of their operation in order to excel in the implementation of planning and processes, and continuously evaluate resistance to change and awareness of the consequences of non- delivery, through these workplace strategies, educational managers may be in the position to synchronise all the resources for maximum work performance.

The study focused on the evaluation of the integrated management system (IQMS) at selected schools within the Queenstown Education District. A quantitative research method was used for the study and questionnaires were used as a research tool to collect data. The respondents were members of the school management teams (SMT) which comprised the principals, deputy principals, heads of departments, senior educators and educators. These are key role-players in the management and implementation of IQMS. The rationale was to obtain pertinent information which would address the research questions and objectives of the study. The primary objective of the study as outlined above was to evaluate the impact of IQMS implementation in the Queenstown district with specific reference to the Lukhanji Circuit, on the performance of the high schools selected. It was envisaged that the results of the study would contribute towards developing measures to ensure that IQMS implementation achieves the desired objectives. The research questions were: To what extent can IQMS implementation be used as a tool to measure and improve teaching and learning? What measures have been put in place by the district to support and build capacity of the educators to perform? What factors hinder the effective IQMS implementation? The key findings of the study reveal that IQMS as a tool to improve teaching and learning had the overwhelming support of the majority of the respondents. However, a reasonable percentage of the respondents were of the view that IQMS constituted an administrative burden to educators. There are educators who displayed a negative attitude towards the implementation of IQMS. The respondents also felt that the district office needs to provide more support for IQMS implementation so that its objectives can be fully realised. The study makes clear recommendations such as the de-linking of IQMS from salaries and pay progression, provision of more support by the district, to make IQMS more user-friendly to educators and additional budget and teacher training to enhance educators’ professional development.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies at the University of Zululand, 2017 / This study focuses on the critical evaluation of how the Integrated Quality Management System as an appraisal tool is implemented in a few selected schools in the ILembe District. In recent times, the system of education in South Africa has required teachers who are highly skilled to impart knowledge of high quality to learners. The introduction of Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) was meant to enhance the quality of teaching and learning by addressing the matter of developmental appraisal in order to enhance teachers’ professional development. This approach has been facing serious challenges and attracted unjustified criticism for quite some time. Since teachers’ performance has been under the spotlight as measured by learners’ results, it is important to evaluate their performance using a highly reliable instrument which can produce learners who can compete globally. This research was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies that were based on a case study approach of 10 schools that were purposefully selected from rural, semi-rural, urban and semi-urban areas. Data from district officials, principals, deputy principals and Heads of Department were collected through interviews, and questionnaires were used to collect data from six teachers at each school. The findings indicate that most teachers are finding it difficult to implement the IQMS policy effectively. The major concern was that managers are reluctant to participate in the process, and do not comply with the requirement of the IQMS, namely the advocacy and training of teachers before they embark on the process of the IQMS. The researcher recommends the use of IQMS for effective teachers’ through professional development and keeping politics out of this process.

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)

D.Phil.

In 2004, the Saudi Higher Education Supreme Council (HESC) established the National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA). According to the Secretary General of the NCAAA, introducing this system at the national level was essential for economic and social development in Saudi Arabia. The emergence of the NCAAA represents the central focus of this thesis, specifically in relation to the NCAAA’s role in improving the educational process in Saudi higher education institutions (HEIs). The overarching objective was to explore and describe the present engagement within Saudi higher education with the recommendations made by the NCAAA directed towards the enhancement of the quality of student learning, with the intention of identifying whether the attributes of the Saudi higher education system were consistent with these recommendations. This overarching objective was further divided into the following three more specific objectives: a) To explore administrators’ (i.e. faculty deans’) perceptions of the extent to which the recommendations made by the NCAAA have been adopted in two public Saudi universities. b) To explore teachers’ perceptions of their practice, considering comparisons between the two institutions. c) To explore the students’ experiences, again considering comparisons between the two institutions. The above objectives drove the data collection process, and these data constituted the empirical base of the study. The research was conducted in two public universities located in two geographically distinct provinces of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from three groups of stakeholders, including senior administrators, teachers and students. This was done by means of individual interviews with 11 senior administrators and the collection of survey data from 78 teachers and 430 students, who were recruited from 11 faculties across the two institutions. Semi-structured interviews with senior administrators focused on their personal views and opinions of the educational process with respect to student learning, in order to identify the extent to which their faculty/unit was engaged with the NCAAA recommendations. The questions in the teacher and student surveys were derived from the recommendations published by the NCAAA with regard to the improvement of the educational process, and focused on their teaching practice and learning experiences respectively. The qualitative analysis of the administrators’ data suggested some differences in terms of how the two institutions engaged with the NCAAA’s recommendations and thus I adopted a comparative approach to the analysis of the teachers’ and students’ responses. A factor analysis was carried out to further clarify the themes present in the surveys from the perspectives of both teachers and students, and descriptive analyses were then used to explore the extent of resonance with the recommendations of the NCAAA. Inferential statistics were applied to investigate any differences between the two institutions against the outlined themes. The administrators’ responses at both institutions indicated that there was room for improvement in adopting the NCAAA’s recommendations. While the perceptions of teachers at both institutions seemed to suggest compliance with these recommendations, the statements of the students were more congruent with those of the administrators. The findings of the study indicate that there is yet some way to go towards the realisation of the aspirations of the NCAAA. They further suggest the desirability of a greater degree of student involvement in the evaluation of the quality of the educational process. Finally, the transformation of a series of recommendations for quality enhancement into a culture of quality within an individual institution is a process that can be expected to take some time. The study, while indicating a degree of commitment to, and espousal of, the recommendations of the NCAAA, suggests that there is some considerable way to go before this will be seen to impact directly and significantly on the student experience.

This study seeks to develop a better understanding of the nature and potential of quality management in primary schools and to determine possible professional development strategies for principals in relation to the introduction of quality management within their schools. A questionnaire was utilised to seek the insights, understandings and opinions of thirty-four primary school principals within the Western Sydney area in relation to quality management in their schools and the kinds of leadership support required to initiate and sustain this process. The policy orientation of the research is evident through suggested options for leadership development which emerge from the findings of the quesionnaire. Furthermore, the notion of schools as 'learning communities' is a vision for school education which requires the transformation of the cultural elements of schools to enable all school members to be active managers of their own learning. There is a need to develop systems and processes to allow this vision for schools to emerge, and this research accepts this challenge. This thesis, based on the outcomes of the questionnaire, includes a theoretical framework based on an overview of current models relating to quality management in primary schools and concludes with considerations for the further development of the process in primary schools in New South Wales. / Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)