Coherent school improvement: Integrating outcomes-based assessment and trauma-informed practice

This literature review tests a framework for coherent implementation of school improvement initiatives. Often in education, initiatives are introduced as disparate, isolated approaches towards improved student learning. As a result, teachers, school-based administration and school districts frequently change their focus, contributing to fragmentation, stagnation and initiative fatigue. Robinson et al. offer ‘five domains of organizational activity’ as key areas of focus for coherent school improvement. We investigate application of Robinson et al.’s five domains to two seemingly disparate school improvement initiatives: outcomes-based assessment (OBA) and trauma-informed practice (TIP) as both represent significant areas of focus in our context. We construct our literature review around the central question: Can two divergent aspects of school improvement: outcomes-based assessment and trauma-informed practice, be aligned through Robinson et al.’s five domains, to coherently support their integration in schools? We found that Robinson et al.’s five domains were a useful tool for alignment of these diverse initiatives and were able to extrapolate beyond application to OBA and TIP, to other school improvement initiatives. Coherence benefits administration, teachers, and most importantly, promotes student achievement. When all elements of school improvement are part of a cohesive whole, all members the school community are better able to understand their role in driving student achievement.

Middle Level Education in Rural Communities

Middle level teachers and administrators working in small or rural schools often face unique obstacles in implementing recommended middle level practices. From sharing staff and schedules with other school sites, to inappropriate instructional techniques, to a general lack of understanding of the middle level philosophy, these obstacles can be a source of frustration for school leaders and hinder school improvement initiatives. A better understanding of these issues and the discussion of potential solutions will benefit teachers, administrators, and policy makers in improving middle level education in rural communities. By building on the positive characteristics found in rural and smaller schools, as well as identifying and addressing the obstacles encountered at smaller schools, middle level leaders can create and maintain distinctive and effective programs for their students.

Improving Low-Achieving Schools

Improving low-achieving schools is a critical challenge facing urban education. Recent national policy shifts have pressed states to take an expanded role in school improvement efforts. In 2009, a federal grant competition called Race to the Top (RttT) compelled states to improve their capacity to implement ambitious education reform agendas. Drawing on the theory of organizational capacity, the study sampled five RttT winning states’ plans to support improving low-achieving schools. Findings indicate that states sought to build capacity to productively enact an expanded role and focus resources and expertise toward school improvement initiatives.

Performativity in School Management and Leadership in Botswana

The thesis of this article is that the uncritical adoption of Western models of education management and leadership policies results in poor performance in schools in disadvantaged communities in developing countries. The argument shows that this has led to the institutionalization of generic education policies that are not contingent to the circumstances of the small, dispersed, rural and remote schools. In my analysis, I agree with the growing concern in educational development debates over the uncritical transportation or the uncritical international transfer of school effectiveness assumptions and models to African contexts. I use Botswana as a case study to show the continuing mismatch between educational management models adopted from Western countries and the application in the Botswana context, and the related failure of school improvement initiatives proposed by aid agencies. When a school fails the head is charged with the underperformance.

Four Views of the Professional School Counselor-Principal Relationship: A Q-Methodology Study

This study in this article investigated how school counselors and principals perceive their professional relationship. Q methodology was used to develop 45 opinion statements about the relationship between school counselors and principals, and 39 professional school counselors and principals then sorted the statements. Four factors emerged representing different viewpoints of this relationship. Each contained constructive attributes of the school counselor–principal relationship, but one factor exhibited an appreciation of the context of interpersonal collaboration along with the content of school improvement initiatives.