School composition and resource shortages, according to lower secondary principals, 2018

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Principals ◽  
School Composition

Junior High School Composition Books

1922 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 194
Author(s):  
R. L. Sandwick ◽  
Mildred Buchanan Flagg ◽  
Thomas H. Briggs ◽  
Isabel McKinney ◽  
Florence H. Skeffington ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Junior High School ◽  
Junior High ◽  
School Composition ◽  
High School Composition

School Composition and Contextual Effects on Student Outcomes

2010 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 1008-1037 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Douglas Willms
Keyword(s):  
Student Outcomes ◽  
School Context ◽  
The United States ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Classroom Context ◽  
School Composition ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Socioeconomic Gradient ◽  
Vertical Segregation ◽  
The Relationship

Background Findings from several international studies have shown that there is a significant relationship between literacy skills and socioeconomic status (SES). Research has also shown that schools differ considerably in their student outcomes, even after taking account of students’ ability and family background. The context or learning environment of a school or classroom is an important determinant of the rate at which children learn. The literature has traditionally used school composition, particularly the mean SES of the school, as a proxy for context. Focus of Study This study examines the relationships among school composition, several aspects of school and classroom context, and students’ literacy skills in science. Population The study uses data from the 2006 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) for 57 countries. PISA assesses the knowledge and life skills of 15-year-old youth as they approach the end of their compulsory period of schooling. Research Design Secondary analyses of the data describe the socioeconomic gradient (the relationship between a student outcome and SES) and the school profile (the relationship between average school performance and school composition) using data for the United States as an example. The analyses demonstrate two important relationships between school composition and the socioeconomic gradient and distinguish between two types of segregation, referred to as horizontal and vertical segregation. The analyses discern the extent to which school composition and classroom and school context separately and jointly account for variation in student achievement. Findings The results show that school composition is correlated with several aspects of school and classroom context and that these factors are associated with students’ science literacy. Literacy performance is associated with the extent to which school systems are segregated “horizontally,” based on the distribution among schools of students from differing SES backgrounds, and “vertically,” due mainly to mechanisms that select students into different types of schools. Conclusions An understanding of socioeconomic gradients and school profiles for a school system is critical to discerning whether reform efforts should be directed mainly at improving the performance of particular schools or at striving to alter policies and practices within all schools. Both horizontal and vertical segregation are associated with lower student outcomes; therefore, we require a better understanding of the mechanisms through which students are allocated to schools. When the correlation of school composition with a particular contextual variable is strong, it calls for policies aimed at increasing inclusion or differentially allocating school and classroom resources among schools serving students of differing status.

Intersecting Leadership Knowledge from the Field: Diverse Women Secondary Principals

2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Whitney H. Sherman ◽  
Barbara Rivers Wrushen
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Principals

Problems of Practice: From the Principal's Perspective

1993 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen F. Osterman
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
Secondary Principals ◽  
The United States ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Urban School Districts ◽  
Organizational Policies ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Problems Of Practice ◽  
The Way

This article explores the way that principals understand the nature of the problems that deter schools from better accomplishing their missions. The views presented are those of approximately 40 elementary and secondary principals in two urban school districts in the Mid-Atlantic and Southwest regions of the United States. From the perspective of these principals, schools as organizational workplaces for administrators, teachers, and students are plagued by stress, frustration, and alienation. Although a multi-faceted and complex problem in itself, this organizational malaise is viewed as an outgrowth of an even more complex problem—a growing gap between the culture of the schools and the society of which they are a part. These observations emphasize the importance of examining the way in which organizational policies and procedures of schools and school districts impact upon the motivational needs of administrators, teachers, and students.

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