The power of student assessment in the promotion of an inclusive environment in the school

<p>Student assessment is usually viewed as a tool for teachers to grade their students by the end of a period or school year. It is often used as a single moment where the students’ achievements are evaluated as a final mark. Furthermore, assessment is often done in a standardized way and focused on the amount of knowledge students were able to retain and with a limited view on a few skills they may have developed. Student assessment has existed for decades and has served many purposes. However, as society is evolving and schools are becoming more aware of the importance of diversity, inclusion and innovative educational methods, the standardized method of assessment is becoming obsolete.</p> <p>In a survey done to over 150 teachers in Spain, Portugal, Greece and a few other countries, many teachers have reported that they understand the need to innovate in assessment, they want to focus on students’ skills, more than on the knowledge retained and that they lack the tools, skills, and know-how to do it. It has become evident that assessment needs to embrace student diversity and must be used as a tool for development. It must be seen as a fluid evaluation where student find endless opportunities to evolve and grow, not only academically but also socially and emotionally.</p> <p>Considering this, the ASSESS project was born, through a partnership between four partners from Portugal, Greece, and Spain and with the doors open to all interested teachers that want to revolutionize student assessment. The project team believes that a standardized student assessment can never reach the depths of human diversity and talents and thus, needs to be reinvented and updated.</p> <p>The project will work with teachers to create an innovative assessment methodology as well as a kit of digital and analogue tools that teachers and students can use for assessment. Furthermore, the project will offer an on-line course for all teachers interested in learning how to use but also how to create their own innovative assessment tools.</p> <p>The project has already launched a campaign during the EU Diversity Month (May 2021) where over 100 teachers and students from over 8 countries have created sentences about assessment, which were shared in the projects’ Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/AssessProject). ASSESS is now recruiting teachers that want to participate and collaborate in the creation of an innovative assessment paradigm. More info can be found on the projects’ website: https://assess.nuclio.org . During this talk, the project idea is going to be presented as well a summary of the results obtained so far.</p>

The Role of Principal in Improvement of School Performance: A Qualitative Study in Community School of Nepal

This study aims to explore the role of the principal’s leadership in the improvement of school performance in community schools and to identify the major challenges faced by principals of community schools while improving school performance. A qualitative approach and phenomenology research design was used in this study. Interview and Focus Group Discussions schedule were used to collect data from the field, 5 principals were the respondents for interview and 20 principals of different community schools were involved in focused group. The data were analyzed using qualitative data management software Atlas ti. The determination and taking self-initiative is a crucial role for community school principals to maintain school enrollments, education quality, and collecting funds for school performance. Principals have adopted several noticeable strategies to increase education quality. Some of the ways and means adopted by the successful schools are maintaining constant discipline in school encouraging students and teachers by rewards and appreciation, consistent observing and supervision of class conduction, student attendance and teacher’s consistency, coaching classes for feeble and interested students, parent-teacher communication, contests and competitions between the cluster and individual. Every principal faces some of the biggest frustrations to control student behavior, recruiting teachers and cooperation between staff, promote personalized learning, improve the teaching and learning environment, student retention, and parents’ support in the improvement of the school. The study further recommended that principals and teachers should be given sufficient training to improve the school’s performance.

THE INTEGRATED ISLAMIC SCHOOL’S CHARACTERISTICS AND STRATEGIES FOR HUMAN RESOURCE SUPERVISION

The Integrated Islamic School (Sekolah Islam Terpadu) is known for its rapid development trend in the last decade. The development of the integrated Islamic School runs with the growth of interest to a pure Islamic Education. Appearing as an Islamic institution integrating both religious and secular knowledge, the Integrated Islamic School is able to master the market among the Muslim population. This article aims to scrutinize the characteristics and strategies of the school to expand amid the competitive Indonesian education market through human resource supervision. This research uses a qualitative approach. Data collection techniques were observation, interviews, and documentation. The results showed that the characteristics and strategies of the integrated Islamic School-based human resource supervision encompass political stability, strong Islamic symbols, Islamic personal development programs, inclusive scholarships, and incorporating Islamic populism. These characteristics and strategies attribute the integrated Islamic school as modern, advanced yet religious. In addition, the schools are exclusive in recruiting teachers, pragmatic in using Islamic symbols, and idealistic in the curriculum. Interestingly, this research evokes the integrated Islamic school’s two faces. Internally, it affiliates with an exclusive organization and ideology (Muslim Brotherhood), but simultaneously the school publicly shows inclusive nuances to the society.

PERENCANAAN PENDIDIKAN DALAM UPAYA PENINGKATAN MUTU PENDIDIKAN DI SMP SWASTA GRAHA KIRANA MEDAN

Abstrak: Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengungkap bagaimana peran Perencanaan Pendidikan dalam upaya Peningkatan Mutu Pendidikan. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini yaitu dengan pendekatan penelitian kualitatif. Pengabsahan data penelitian dilakukan dengan teknik triangulasi melalui observasi, wawancara dan studi dokumen. Hasil penelitian ini mengungkapkan tiga temuan yaitu: (1) Perencanaan Pendidikan yang ada belum berorientasi pada tujuan pendidikan secara menyeluruh. (2) Mutu pendidikan sudah mengalami peningkatan, kepala sekolah terus berupaya meningkatkan mutu pendidikan di sekolah tersebut. (3) Perencanaan pendidikan mengalami beberapa hambatan, kepala sekolah telah berupaya menjalankan fungsi-fungsi manajerialnya salah satunya membuat perencanaan dengan semaksimal mungkin, namun yang menjadi kendala adalah kurangnya tenaga administrasi yang ahli dalam membuat perencanaan pendidikan. Kesimpulan penelitian ini yaitu: Secara teori pihak sekolah telah memahami pentingnya perencanaan pendidikan sebagai upaya meningkatkan mutu pendidikan, ada beberapa langkah yang dilakukan yaitu: berkaitan dengan peningkatan mutu guru dengan merekrut guru-guru yang sesuai dengan kompetensi lulusannya, berkaitan dengan mutu siswa sekolah meningkatkan mutu pembelajarandengan memberikan pelatihan-pelatihan kepada guru-guru, sedangkan berkaitan dengan mutu sarana dan prasarana sekolah berusaha melakukan pengadaan secara berkala. Abstract: This study aims to reveal the role of educational planning in improving the quality of education. The method used in this research is a qualitative research approach. The research data validation was done by using triangulation technique through observation, interview and document study. The results of this study reveal three findings, namely: (1) The existing educational planning has not been oriented towards overall educational goals. (2) The quality of education has improved, the principal continues to strive to improve the quality of education in these schools. (3) Educational planning has experienced several obstacles, the principal has tried to carry out its managerial functions, one of which is to make planning as much as possible, but the problem is the lack of administrative personnel who are skilled in making educational planning. The conclusion of this study is: In theory, the school has understood the importance of educational planning as an effort to improve the quality of education, there are several steps taken, namely: relating to improving the quality of teachers by recruiting teachers according to the competence of their graduates, related to the quality of school students to improve quality learning by providing trainings to teachers, while related to the quality of school facilities and infrastructure, they try to carry out regular procurement. References: Arikunto, S. (2006). Prosedur Penelitian suatu Pendekatan Praktis. Jakarta: Rineka Cipta. Dunn, W. N. (2000). Pengantar Analisis Kebijakan Publik. Yogyakarta: Gajah Mada University Press. Ennoch, J. (1992). Dasar-Dasar Perencanaan Pendidikan. Jakarta: Bumi Aksara. Hasibuan, M. S. P. (2007) Manajemen, Dasar, Pengertian dan Masalah. Jakarta: Bumi Aksara. Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. California: Sage. Mesiono. (2010). Manajemen dan Organisasi. Bandung: Citapustaka Media Perintis. Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Analisis Data Kualitatif. Jakarta: UI Press. Salim, S., & Syahrum, S. (2007) Metodologi Penelitian Kualitatif. Bandung: Citapustaka Media. Sarwono, J. (2006). Metode Penelitian Kualitatif dan Kuantitatif. Yogyakarta: Graha Ilmu. Sitepu, A. (1985). Dasar-Dasar Perencanaan Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan. Jakarta: Paramadina. Susmaini, M. R. (2007). Teori Manajemen Menuju Efektivitas Pengelolaan Organisasi, Bandung: Citapustaka Media. Syafaruddin. (2002). Manajemen Mutu Terpadu dalam Pendidikan. Jakarta: Grasindo. Syafaruddin. (2005). Manajemen Lembaga Pendidikan Islam. Jakarta: Ciputat Press. Tilaar, H. A. R. (2002). Manajemen Berbasis Sekolah, Konsep Strategi dan Implementasi. Bandung: Remaja Rosdakarya. Tilaar, H. A. R. (2004). Standar Nasional Pendidikan: Suatu Tinjauan Kritis. Bandung: Rineka Cipta.

“Taking Care of Your Own”: Parochialism, Pride of Place, and the Drive to Diversify Teaching

As the student population in U.S. public schools becomes increasingly ethnoracially diverse, many school districts and hiring personnel have taken proactive approaches to recruiting teachers of color. The drive to diversify the teaching force is supported by a range of academic and nonacademic outcomes for students of color. Yet, many districts struggle with the recruitment and retention of teachers of color. One explanation for the slow pace of change, especially in districts with increasing diversity in its study body, is the presence of durable and parochial social networks in schools and districts that privilege the hiring of largely White alumni. Drawing on semistructured interviews with 65 participants in a small urban district and applying the analytic lens of bonding social capital, we examined these entrenched patterns of parochialism, and the extent to which parochial attitudes and behaviors intersect with race, to explain the incremental pace of change diversifying the teacher workforce.

Personalities of teachers of professional training schools and courses for penitentiary personnel in Russia in 1899 - 1916

The article considers the problem of preservation and upgrading of historical and pedagogical legacy of teachers of the earliest professional training schools and courses for penitentiary personnel in Russia. The author considers the quality characteristics (the staffing level and competence of teachers, the participation of practitioners and scientists, etc.) of personalities of teachers of the earliest educational institutions (schools and courses) involved in professional training of penitentiary personnel. The author notes that the personalities of particular teachers are well-known in the scientific world, some are known only among domain experts (particularly those specialized in jurisprudence), some were known only to their contemporaries, while about others there’s no available scientifically important information at all. The author raises the question about the necessity to admit the role of personalities in professional training of penitentiary personnel in Russia. This research is one of the first attempts to introduce the personalities of the earliest professional training schools and courses for penitentiary personnel to the scientific world. The research is based on the archive materials. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the systematization of tendencies of recruiting teachers of the earliest professional training schools and courses for penitentiary personnel: firstly, the absence of permanent teachers even in schools opened upon the adoption of the Law of 1913; secondly, highly positioned civil servants and qualified practitioners were involved in teaching; thirdly, starting with temporary readings, highly competent and well-known specialists had been involved in the educational process, many of them current or would-be leading scientists and acknowledged scholars. The admission of the role of personalities makes it possible to conduct historical research using biographical methods and personalistics.   

Strategies for Recruitment and Retention of Secondary Teachers in Central U.S. Rural Schools

This study sought to identify differences in strategies used for teacher recruitment and retention by successful and non-successful rural high schools. According to data from the 2003-2004 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), small towns and rural areas in the central U.S. states did have relatively more difficuly in recruiting teachers than did larger communities. However, when the successful and unsuccessful school districts were compared on the strategies and benefits included in the SASS, the only difference was with signing bonuses, which were offered significantly more often in the unsuccessful group than the successful group. The researchers also interviewed seven principals identified as successful by their state agencies. Their responses revealed minimal reliance on the strategies addressed in the SASS. however, there was some alignment between many of the strategies they did use and the three approaches investigated in previous research: grow-your-own, using federal funding opportunities, and using targeted incentives.