Work-related stress among headteachers in Wales: Prevalence, sources, and solutions

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence, sources, and underlying causes of work-related stress among headteachers in Wales and to identify possible solutions. An online questionnaire was sent to all 1588 headteachers across Wales. The questionnaire included demographic questions, Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Management Standards Tool, a list of known stressors, and open questions exploring the underlying causes and possible solutions. A total of 359 (22.6%) headteachers completed the survey. Two-thirds of participants reported experiencing levels of stress that were rated as ‘high’. Pressures of managing greater demands and increasing workload with fewer financial resources and a lack of support from local authorities were the main sources of stress. Solutions focused on improved funding to enhance staffing and resources at a school level, reduced accountability, and improved support. The findings indicated that a multi-faceted, multi-level, intervention approach, extending beyond improving personal resilience and individual school improvements, into regional and national opportunities for change, is likely to be most effective in reducing work-related stress within the profession.

Advancing the Agency of Adolescent Girls

More than 98 million adolescent girls are not in school. Can girls inuence their schooling without changes in their family's economic environment? In Rajasthan, India, we examine the impact of a school-based life skills program that seeks to address low aspirations, narrow societal roles for girls and women, restricted networks of social support, and limited decision-making power. We find the intervention causes a 25 percent decline in school dropout that persists from seventh grade through the transition to high school. Improvements in socioemotional support among girls exposed to the intervention seem especially important in their decision to stay in school.

La dirección escolar: Liderazgo pedagógico y mejora escolar

Este estudio se centra, en conocer desde el punto de vista de los directivos, el desarrollo del liderazgo pedagógico y la mejora escolar. Para ello se ha contado con la participación de 47 directores y directoras que ejercen en centros públicos y concertados. En el proceso metodológico de corte cualitativo, se ha utilizado la técnica de la entrevista, con la finalidad de conocer cómo se asumen los cambios normativos en cuanto a procesos metodológicos y de evaluación para establecer propuestas de mejora. En la recogida de datos se han manejado las categorías correspondientes a los indicadores aportados por las entrevistas, y para su análisis se ha utilizado el programa estadístico Atlas.Ti versión 6.2. Entre los principales resultados destacamos que gran parte de los directivos mantienen que la metodología más utilizada tras aplicarse la nueva normativa es el trabajo por Proyectos. Mientras que en la categoría evaluación el cambio más valorado ha sido la introducción de una evaluación más cualitativa a través de Rúbricas. Con respecto a los posibles mejoras escolares los directivos plantean la necesidad de llevar a cabo en cada centro un proyecto de acción colectivo al servicio de una educación para todos. En términos generales, los resultados del estudio confirman que la opinión de los directivos sobre el liderazgo pedagógico y mejora escolar viene determinada por la normativa, limitando su estructura de trabajo. The aim of this study was to determine, from the managerial perspective, the development of pedagogical leadership and school improvement, with the participation of 47 principals from public and charter schools. The qualitative methodology was based on interviews, which were designed to reveal how the changes in regulations were assumed in terms of methodological and evaluation processes, in order to establish suggestions for improvement. To gather the data, we used the categories that corresponded to the indicators provided by the interviews, and the statistical software Atlas v.6.2 was used for the data analysis. Among the main results, a large part of the participants stated that the most used methodology after implementing the new regulations was “project assignment”; on the other hand, in the evaluation category, the most valued change was the introduction of a more qualitative evaluation through the use of rubrics. With respect to possible school improvements, the participants highlighted the need to carry out in each centre a community action project for an education for everyone. In general terms, the results of the study confirm that the opinion of the participants about pedagogical leadership and school improvement is determined by the regulations, which limit their work structure.

Democracy learning as failing template for establishing student participation for school improvement: A participatory case study within a secondary school

Participation of students is defined as a conditional factor for the acquisition of democracy learning and is increasingly taken into account in Austrian schools. Nevertheless, in contrast to other countries, little research has been conducted in Austria about if or how democracy learning provides a template for the social practice of student participation within school improvements. The current qualitative case study sought to investigate, explanatively from the perspective of school actors, how a secondary school tries to implement a self-imposed demand for more student participation in school improvement by using aspects of democracy learning as template. Qualitative guideline-based interviews using a participative research method were conducted and the data were analysed by means of content-structuring qualitative content analysis. A total of 33 school actors (students, teachers, parents) participated. The two central findings emerged due to marginal rights and a limited understanding of student participation based on democracy learning. First, despite the demand for greater participation in school improvement, students remain dependent on individual actors and can only assert their interests within school objectives and not against the interests of the teachers or the school management. Second, participation within the framework of school development promotes not so much the strengthening of pupils as subjects as the strengthening of the identity of the school’s organization. The individual case study is thus a hypothesis-generating example of how the depoliticized participation rhetoric of imparting democratic competencies leaves the claim to equal consideration of students’ perspectives unfulfilled and ultimately prevents the redistribution of rights of disposal.

Developing principals’ data-driven decision-making capacity: Lessons from one urban district

Under both No Child Left Behind and the Every Student Succeeds Act, school leaders have been mandated to employ data-driven decision-making (DDDM) to diagnose student needs, implement targeted supports, and design school improvements. However, district administrators tasked with developing principals’ DDDM capacity face a tough road. The authors present four lessons for doing so based on lessons learned from one urban district’s year-long data dashboard intervention for their 200+ principals.

Leadership for “The All of It”: Formalizing Teacher-Leader Networks

Background/Context Research underscores that school improvement relies on leadership that stretches beyond a principal, but significant developments to the design of school level leadership lags. This paper shares data and interpretations of school leadership organized as a network of formalized teacher-leader roles that are ranked, titled, and differently paid. Purpose/Research Question The study examined the functions, tasks, and boundaries of different teacher-leader roles as well as teachers’ perceptions of their legitimacy and value. It also explored whether formal roles generated negative side effects on school climate or teacher relations. Focus of Study Ongoing skepticism of role formalization and ranking within teaching directed the study's attention to an extensive empirical case of formalization. Setting Data were collected from eight secondary schools in England, where formalized teacher-leader roles are long established and associated with school performance. Research Design The study was designed as a descriptive investigation of a leader system. It was conceptually framed by perspectives on schools as organizations and literatures on role formalization, leadership, and school improvements. Data Collection and Analysis Observation, artifact, and interview data were collected. Description and analysis focused on the design of leader roles, the activities and conditions they generated, and school member perceptions of their legitimacy and value. Findings/Results Formal roles that blend teaching with instructional and managerial leadership gain legitimacy and pass tests of goodness and value for teachers when they directly contribute to teachers’ day-to-day work and success, as when they elevate working conditions, bring disciplinary knowledge and local understandings to learning and problem solving, and contribute to individual and collective efficacy. Conclusions/Recommendations Networks of formal teacher-leader roles can bring more substantial and reliable resources to the conditions of teaching and school organizations than informal leadership or targeted coaching roles. Fears of negative social and professional consequences do not emerge when roles remain rooted in teaching, when leaders’ tasks flow across logistical, instructional, and social dimensions of teachers’ work, and when norms emphasize help and reciprocity.