National attention remains fixed on educational reform. Since the late 1980s, an increasing number of state and local education agencies have adopted high-stakes testing initiatives and accountability programs focused on increasing student achievement. States, like the State of California, are requiring local districts to implement a variety of reform measures related to improved student achievement. California's 1999 Public Schools Accountability Act (PSAA), which established the Immediate Intervention of Underperforming Schools Program (II/USP) as a way to fix the lowest performing schools, was the state's remedy to address a history of declining student achievement on national and state performance assessments. California's legislators and policymakers continue to support II/USP as a way to reform its lowest performing schools despite sufficient research that clearly delineates the positive or negative effects of II/USP on participating schools. This exploratory study was composed of a primary study and an auxiliary study. The purpose of the primary study was to survey a group of principals from the most successful II/USP elementary schools and describe the reform measures they perceived to improve academic performance. The purpose of the auxiliary study was to survey a group of principals from the least successful II/USP elementary schools in order to compare and contrast the perceptions between the two groups of principals. Data gathered from the primary study and the auxiliary study was used to advance a theory highlighted by the Woods Targeted Reform Achievement Model (Woods T-RAM). The Woods T-RAM was an organizational tool used by the researcher to promote a theory that low performing schools must implement, at the very least, three fundamental strategies when attempting reform. The results of the study indicated that, at the very least, there is a specific set of strategies elementary principals perceived to have helped improve academic achievement at their schools. In particular, principals from the successful II/USP schools perceived that schools must have local board members, district administrators and site leaders who must set a positive tone for change, promote a specific vision for the change, and provide resources and training that promote student learning. Furthermore, these principals perceived that teachers must be provided with well-articulated curricula that optimizes instructional time and provides a standardized set of achievement goals that were sequentially developed from one grade level to the next. And finally, these principals perceived that student performance does improve when teachers and administrators design a system for analyzing individual student performance data and develop customized instructional programs that meet specific performance goals.

Thesis advisor: Rebecca Lowenhaupt / Thesis advisor: Lauri Johnson / This single case study examines how stakeholders of a local education agency (LEA) understand and implement state turnaround policy for its chronically underperforming schools. While there is ample research on how to improve chronically underperforming schools, a research gap exists specifically around addressing implementation of mandated turnaround policy. This qualitative study uses the theory frame of policy sense-making to identify how implementers come to understand turnaround policy and to explore how that sense-making impacts their implementation decisions. This study seeks to understand the role of central office in turnaround policy sense-making by collecting data on superintendent and central office administrator sense-making and its impact on policy implementation. While recent research on school improvement has focused on school improvement actions and responsibilities of principals and teachers, this study seeks to address the research gap of the essential role of school district offices in school turnaround. In seeking to understand how district leaders make sense of turnaround policy implementation to support school turnaround, the findings revealed that the superintendent and central office administrators identified strong superintendent leadership, monitoring and supporting schools, strategic distribution of resources, and management of human capital as key implementer actions and areas of influence. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

The Swedish compulsory education system is not seen as high quality according to the (OECD, 2015). Instead eyes are turning towards Finland and Singapore for best practice. Sweden's results are falling in international assessments such as PISA and TIMMS (Skolverket, 2016a/2016b), despite high expenditure per capita and several education reforms lately, such as a new curriculum and new teacher training education. The Swedish Schools Inspectorate scrutinizes schools with the objective to ensure a good education in a safe environment and to sustain nationwide equity. The authority therefore has a decisive role in judging the quality of schools in Sweden. The objective of this thesis is to study the criticism of Swedish Schools Inspectorate towards schools that have received a penalty for not abiding the law. The data consists of six school inspection reports seen as a case. Qualitative analysis is used building on discourse analysis theory. The findings of the research are that discipline and value-based issues are two of the areas discussed most in the criticism of the Swedish Schools Inspectorate. The inspectors also seem to look for discrepancies between documents and school staff. Different groups have the power to express themselves on various issues, such as special educators in student health. The pupils are also given a strong voice and space to define their school in the reports.

Fjärrvärme är en väletablerad teknik i Sverige, i dagsläget kommer 50% av uppvärmningen i Sverige från fjärrvärme. I Kiruna står Tekniska Verken som leverantör av fjärrvärme, där hela 90% av alla fastigheter är anslutna till nätet. LKAB:s gruvverksamhet i Kiruna har lett till världens största stadsflytt, till följd av sprickbildningar och rörelser i marken som uppkommer i samband med brytningen efter järnmalmen. Stadsflytten samt reparationer av befintliga ledningar som går sönder som konsekvens av rörelserna i marken, har gjort att identifieringen samt underhållet av fjärrvärmenätets undercentraler har hamnat i skymundan. En underpresterande undercentral har många negativa konsekvenser för fjärrvärmenätet. Syftet med arbetet är att underlätta för Tekniska Verken att hitta de underpresterande undercentralerna. För det så har en applikation tagits fram, som kommunicerar med deras befintliga system för att sedan presentera relevant information till handhavande personal. De undercentraler som applikationen presenterar fyller de förutbestämda kriterierna: Flöde på 1000 [l/h] eller högre och en returtemperatur på 60 ºC eller högre. Vidare så har beräkningar utförts med den data som den framtagna applikationen tog fram, där befintlig returtemperatur från undercentralerna ersattes med en ny önskad returtemperatur. Beräkningarna utfördes för varje kvartal. Dygnsdata hämtades från 5 dagar från varje månad under våren, sommaren, hösten och vintern. För att göra beräkningarna mer hanterbara valdes 5 dagar istället för månadens alla dagar. Varje månad identifierades ett antal undercentraler enligt kriterierna ovan. För dessa undercentraler antogs en ny returtemperatur på 47 ºC för att motsvara åtgärder. Beräkningarna som utfördes ledde till besparingar i form av en kostnadsreduktion för pumpen och en utsläppsminskning av CO2 –ekvivalenter. För hela året blev kostnadsreduktionen för pumpen 97758 kr och utsläppsminskningen 7,32 tCO2e. Fler fördelar via rökgaskondenseringen uppnås också till följd av den sänkta returtemperaturen. Ett fjärrvärmesystem är väldigt dynamiskt, när en variabel ändras (i detta fall returtemperaturen) så påverkas indirekt flertalet andra. Någon exakt data för pumpen erhölls ej, endast snittförbrukningen per månad. Gällande trycket gjordes en uppskattning efter diskussioner med Tekniska Verken. Därefter gjordes ett antal antaganden för att kunna fullfölja uppskattningen av det nya systemet efter åtgärder på de underpresterande undercentralerna. / District heating is a well-established technology in Sweden; currently, 50% of heating in Sweden comes from district heating. In Kiruna, Tekniska Verken stands as the supplier of district heating, with a staggering 90% of all properties connected to the network. LKAB's mining operations in Kiruna have led to the world's largest urban relocation, due to ground fractures and movements arising from the extraction of iron ore. The city relocation and repairs of existing pipelines damaged by ground movements have diverted attention from the identification and maintenance of the district heating network's substations. Underperforming substations have many negative consequences for the district heating network. The purpose of the work is to facilitate Tekniska Verken in identifying the underperforming substations. To achieve this, an application has been developed that communicates with their existing system to then present relevant information to operational staff. The substations presented by the application meet predetermined criteria: a flow rate of 1000 [l/h] or higher and a return temperature of 60 ºC or higher. Furthermore, calculations have been performed using the data generated by the application, where the existing return temperature from the substations was replaced with a new desired return temperature. The calculations were conducted for each quarter. Using daily data from five days each month in spring, summer, autumn, and winter as the basis. To make the calculations more manageable, 5 days were chosen instead of all the days of the month. Each month a number of substations were identified based on the aforementioned criteria. For these substations a new return temperature of 47 ºC was assumed to correspond to actions. The calculations that were performed resulted in savings in the form of a cost reduction on the pump and a decrease of CO2 eqvuivalent emissions. For a year the calculations resulted in a cost reduction of the pump of 97758 SEK and a decrease of emissions: 7,32 tCO2e. More benefits via flue gas condensation are also achieved as a result of the lowered return temperature. A district heating system is highly dynamic; when one variable changes (in this case, the return temperature), several others are indirectly affected. No exact data for the pump was obtained, only the average consumption per month. Regarding pressure, an estimate was made after discussions with Tekniska Verken. Subsequently, a number of assumptions were made to complete the estimation of the new system after actions on the underperforming substations.

The Influence of School Leadership Practices on Classroom Management, School Environment, and Academic Underperformance by Lorna Novlette Wilson Morgan MSc, Florida International University, 2006 BSc, University of Technology, 2000 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Walden University April 2015 School leadership requires the collaborative efforts of principals, teachers, parents, students, and other community members to achieve academic success. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the influence of school leadership practices on classroom management, school environment, and academic underperformance in Jamaica. The research was based upon distributive leadership theory. The School Leadership, Environment, Classroom Management Assessment Questionnaire (SLECMAQ) was developed for this study and was used to collect the data. Prior to data collection, a pilot study was conducted with 12 experts to evaluate the reliability and validity of the SLECMAQ. A total of 148 complete responses were collected from principals, vice principals, grade coordinators, classroom teachers, special education teachers, and others. Pearson's correlation coefficient and linear regressions were used to determine possible correlations between the influence of school leadership practices on classroom management, school environment, and academic underperformance. The results indicated significant, positive relationships between the independent variable perceived school leadership practices of principals and teachers and the dependent variables perceived classroom management and perceived academic performance. A significant, positive relationship was also found between perceived school leadership practices and perceived school environment. The findings will contribute to a positive social change by supporting policies to implement leadership frameworks at underperforming primary schools and thus improving the quality of education in Jamaica

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Includes bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: With the aim of promoting learner achievement, development is regarded as indispensable for the teaching and learning process. Many schools however, face the challenge of teachers who are not willing to participate in development activities. Motivation is viewed as a catalyst that may aid in teachers‟ participation in development activities, as motivation provides a reason to display certain behaviour. In the case of this research behaviour refers to the behaviour to participate in development activities. Participation in development activities refers to teachers‟ inclination to submit to self-development, engage in daily development activities of the school or engaging in formal development activities arranged by the school or Department of Education. This research addressed some of the factors that motivate staff in underperforming secondary schools to participate in staff development activities. Schools are categorised as underperforming if they do not obtain a pass rate of at least 60% in the National Senior Certificate examinations. Underperforming schools are mainly townships schools with peculiar contexts. This study focuses on the particular context of underperforming schools and the role of the principal in staff‟s motivation to participate in development activities as these are important aspects in the development of a school from an underperforming to a performing categorisation. The literature was reviewed on aspects of activities of staff development, the motivation theories and adult learning principles. Teachers are adults and therefore the factors that motivate adults to participate in development activities are important as they require a different approach than children‟s learning. Qualitative research was conducted with the principal and four teachers from each of two township schools located in the same education district, but two different circuits. Both schools were categorised as underperforming two years ago, but have developed to performing schools. The data were gathered through semi-structured interviews. The findings indicated that teachers in this study are intrinsically motivated to participate in development activities. Factors such as passion, empowerment, collaboration and the child‟s wellbeing are mentioned as factors that motivate these teachers to participate in development activities. Despite these intrinsic factors, teachers mentioned extrinsic factors that impact on their inclination to participate in development activities. These factors include contextual and organisational factors. The role of the principal is emphasised as the principal is accountable for the development of staff. Furthermore, the principal, having the highest authority at a school has an influence on the factors that motivate staff as well as those factors that may deter staff from participating in development activities. Recommendations for the motivation of staff and staff development activities are made, as well as recommendations for further studies. This research is significant as it indicates factors that motivate staff and factors which impact on their motivation to participate in development activities. These factors are important in the pursuit of development from an underperforming to a performing school. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ontwikkeling het ten doel om leerder prestasie te verhoog. Dus word ontwikkeling beskou as onontbeerlik vir die onderrig en leer proses. Baie skole staar egter die uitdaging van opvoeders wie onwillig is om deel te neem aan ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite in die gesig. Motivering kan beskou word as 'n katalisator wat assisteer in die deelname van opvoeders aan ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite, aangesien dit aan opvoeders 'n rede verskaf om sekere gedrag ten opsigte van ontwikkeling te openbaar. In hierdie navorsing verwys gedrag na die gedrag om deel te neem aan ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite. Deelname aan ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite verwys na die neiging van opvoeders om hulself te verryk deur selfontwikkeling, deelname aan die daaglikse aktiwiteite van die skool of aan formele aktiwiteite wat deur die skool of Departement van Onderwys gereël word. Hierdie navorsing addresseer sommige van die faktore wat personeel in onderpresterende sekondêre skole motiveer om deel te neem aan personeel ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite. Skole word gekategoriseer as onderpresterend indien hulle „n slaagpersentasie van minder as 60% verkry in die Nasionale Senior Sertifikaat eksamen. Onderpresterende skole is kenmerkend van die informele nedersettings met hul sonderlinge agtergrond. Hierdie studie fokus op die bepaalde agtergrond van onderpresterende skole en die rol van die prinsipaal in die motivering van personeel om aan ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite deel te neem. Hierdie word beskou as belangrike aspekte in die ontwikkeling van 'n skool vanaf onderpresterend na presterend. Die literatuur oorsig is gedoen op aspekte van aktiwiteite van personeelontwikkeling, motiveringsteorieë en volwasse leer beginsels. Opvoeders is volwassenes en daarom is die faktore wat volwassenes motiveer om aan ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite deel te neem belangrik, aangesien hulle 'n verskillende benadering as kinders se leer benodig. Kwalitatiewe navorsing was gedoen met die prinsipale en vier opvoeders van elk van twee skole wat informele nedersettings bedien. Die skole is geleë in dieselfde opvoedkundige distrik, maar uit twee verskillende kringe. Beide skole was twee jaar gelede as onderpresterend geklassifiseer, maar het in die tussentyd tot presterende skole ontwikkel. Data was deur middel van semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude ingesamel. Die bevindinge toon dat opvoeders in hierdie studie intrinsiek gemotiveer is om aan ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite deel te neem. Faktore soos passie, bemagtiging, samewerking en die kind se welstand word genoem as faktore wat die opvoeders motiveer om aan ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite deel te neem. Behalwe hierdie intrinsieke faktore het opvoeders ook ekstrinsieke faktore genoem wat 'n impak het op hul ingesteldheid om aan ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite deel te neem. Hierdie ekstrinsieke faktore sluit in kontekstuele en organisatoriese faktore. Die rol van die prinsipaal word beklemtoon aangesien die prinsipaal verantwoordbaar is vir die ontwikkeling van die personeel. Verder, aangesien die prinsipaal die hoogste gesagsfiguur is in die skool, het hy/sy 'n invloed op die faktore wat die personeel motiveer, sowel as daardie faktore wat personeel mag weerhou van deelname aan ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite. Aanbevelings rakende die motivering van personeel en personeel ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite word gemaak, sowel as aanbevelings vir verdere studie. Hierdie navorsing is noemenswaardig aangesien dit faktore aandui wat personeel kan motiveer, asook dit wat 'n invloed het op hul motivering om deel te neem aan ontwikkelingsaktiwiteite in die strewe na ontwikkeling vanaf 'n onderpresterende na 'n presterende skool.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Clinical nursing faculty members often work with students who underperform in the clinical area. Underperforming students are those who exhibit deficits in nursing knowledge, the application of nursing knowledge, psychomotor skills, motivation, and/or interpersonal skills. The outcomes of faculty work with underperforming students have implications for patient safety and the nursing workforce, yet little is known about how faculty work with underperforming students. The purpose of this project was to develop a theoretical framework that describes how clinical faculty work with underperforming students in the clinical area. Twenty-eight nursing faculty who had worked with underperforming nursing students during clinical rotations were interviewed and invited to tell stories about working with these students. Their narratives were analyzed using constant comparison analysis, and a theoretical framework was developed. The framework included three stages that unfolded as faculty worked with underperforming students over time. The first stage, Being Present, was the process by which faculty came to know students were underperforming. They did this by noticing red flags, taking extra time with students, working side-by-side with students, and connecting with students "where they were at." The second stage, Setting a New Course, was the process by which faculty attempted to provide remedial experiences to improve the performance of those students determined to be underperforming. The participants did this by beginning a new course of instruction for the students, bringing in new people to help the students, and creating new learning experiences for them. This process could result in students turning it [their performance] around, making it through [the clinical rotation], or not making it. The final stage, Being Objective, was the process by which participants made negative progression decisions. They did this by relying on objective indices, documenting problematic student behaviors, and obtaining validation for their decisions.

The challenge facing principals currently is to revisit their role to improve external examination results in the Republic of South Africa. Almost all schools in the Free State, in particular those in rural areas such as the Thabo Mofutsanyana Education District; the Xhariep Education District; part of the Motheo Education District (e.g. Botshabelo and Thaba-Nchu) and most urban areas, such as the Lejweleputswa Education District and the Fezile Dabi Education District, have schools which have had poor examination results for the past 20 years. To answer the challenges currently facing principals in the Free State, this research used a qualitative research framework and methodology to articulate research questions and arrive at constructive and instructive models to reveal and close the gaps between performing and underperforming secondary schools in the province. A particular group of principals was chosen, influenced by the performance and underperformance of their schools in the various education districts in the province. Research findings from unstructured interviews with doctoral candidates, and research on China, Finland and Singapore’s education systems with special reference to instructional leadership were conducted. The doctoral candidates’ ideas were confirmed by practical unstructured interviews with Sekgutlong and Beacon high school principals who visited Singapore with the MEC of the Free State Department of Education. In plenary and parallel encounters with principals of secondary schools in the Free State, it emerged that rote learning is prevalent in the Free State secondary schools. Therefore, was resolved by the majority of the principals that critical postmodern instructional leadership should be recommended as an instructional methodology to usher in critical thinking, innovation, creativity and self-reliance in Free State education. In addition, this will close the gap between performing and underperforming secondary schools. Finally, grounded postmodern instructional leadership as a leadership strategy will assist a contemporary secondary school learner’s generation to cope with the academic requirements of tertiary education. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

The challenge facing principals currently is to revisit their role to improve external examination results in the Republic of South Africa. Almost all schools in the Free State, in particular those in rural areas such as the Thabo Mofutsanyana Education District; the Xhariep Education District; part of the Motheo Education District (e.g. Botshabelo and Thaba-Nchu) and most urban areas, such as the Lejweleputswa Education District and the Fezile Dabi Education District, have schools which have had poor examination results for the past 20 years. To answer the challenges currently facing principals in the Free State, this research used a qualitative research framework and methodology to articulate research questions and arrive at constructive and instructive models to reveal and close the gaps between performing and underperforming secondary schools in the province. A particular group of principals was chosen, influenced by the performance and underperformance of their schools in the various education districts in the province. Research findings from unstructured interviews with doctoral candidates, and research on China, Finland and Singapore’s education systems with special reference to instructional leadership were conducted. The doctoral candidates’ ideas were confirmed by practical unstructured interviews with Sekgutlong and Beacon high school principals who visited Singapore with the MEC of the Free State Department of Education. In plenary and parallel encounters with principals of secondary schools in the Free State, it emerged that rote learning is prevalent in the Free State secondary schools. Therefore, was resolved by the majority of the principals that critical postmodern instructional leadership should be recommended as an instructional methodology to usher in critical thinking, innovation, creativity and self-reliance in Free State education. In addition, this will close the gap between performing and underperforming secondary schools. Finally, grounded postmodern instructional leadership as a leadership strategy will assist a contemporary secondary school learner’s generation to cope with the academic requirements of tertiary education. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)