Schulentwicklung — ein kritischer Blick auf ein aktuelles Phänomen

School developmement, a critical perspective Today, everything dealing with school becomes subsumed under the keyword school development. The demand for school development is raised by two sides: on the one hand by political and social groups, on the other by schools themselves. In this way, very different ideas and demands on school development arise. School as institution and schools as highly complex organizations can’t be reformed with programs derived from economy and management methods. The legal and social context as well as school theories, organizational culture, internal structures and the self concept of teachers constitute the frame, in wich school development takes place as a continual process and whose neglect causes frustration and failure.     

Worms: Identifying Impacts on Education and Health in the Presence of Treatment Externalities

Intestinal helminths—including hookworm, roundworm, whipworm, and schistosomiasis—infect more than one‐quarter of the world's population. Studies in which medical treatment is randomized at the individual level potentially doubly underestimate the benefits of treatment, missing externality benefits to the comparison group from reduced disease transmission, and therefore also underestimating benefits for the treatment group. We evaluate a Kenyan project in which school‐based mass treatment with deworming drugs was randomly phased into schools, rather than to individuals, allowing estimation of overall program effects. The program reduced school absenteeism in treatment schools by one‐quarter, and was far cheaper than alternative ways of boosting school participation. Deworming substantially improved health and school participation among untreated children in both treatment schools and neighboring schools, and these externalities are large enough to justify fully subsidizing treatment. Yet we do not find evidence that deworming improved academic test scores.     

The Elite Illusion: Achievement Effects at Boston and New York Exam Schools

Parents gauge school quality in part by the level of student achievement and a school's racial and socioeconomic mix. The importance of school characteristics in the housing market can be seen in the jump in house prices at school district boundaries where peer characteristics change. The question of whether schools with more attractive peers are really better in a value‐added sense remains open, however. This paper uses a fuzzy regression‐discontinuity design to evaluate the causal effects of peer characteristics. Our design exploits admissions cutoffs at Boston and New York City's heavily over‐subscribed exam schools. Successful applicants near admissions cutoffs for the least selective of these schools move from schools with scores near the bottom of the state SAT score distribution to schools with scores near the median. Successful applicants near admissions cutoffs for the most selective of these schools move from above‐average schools to schools with students whose scores fall in the extreme upper tail. Exam school students can also expect to study with fewer nonwhite classmates than unsuccessful applicants. Our estimates suggest that the marked changes in peer characteristics at exam school admissions cutoffs have little causal effect on test scores or college quality.     

Predictors of Parental Risk Perceptions: The Case of Child Pedestrian Injuries in School Context

The objective of this article is to explore the factors that influence parental risk perceptions of child pedestrian injuries in the elementary school context. Parents (n= 193) from six different schools responded to a questionnaire on road safety, including a measure of their risk perception. Results of bivariate analyses show that eight variables are significantly related to risk perception. Environmental variables, as we measure them, were not significant, contrary to our initial hypotheses. Only three variables, parent's gender, perceived primary source of danger, and sense of control remained significant in OLS regression analyses (adjusted R² of 0.16, F= 9.27; p= 0.00). Since parents’ perceptions of road risks are an important factor in their road safety practices and in their choice of transportation mode used for their child's journey to school, our analysis elucidates factors underlying these choices. Our results can help decisionmakers to design traffic injury prevention measures and to promote physical activity through the use of active modes of transport.     

Combined military training and academic instruction in Eritrea

ABSTRACT

The study explored public perceptions on the combined military training and academic instruction in Eritrea. The sample consisted of 100 school leavers, 10 parents, and 20 teachers. The research instruments were questionnaire and interview guide. The findings revealed that the combined military and academic instruction was perceived to be negative, since it is government imposed and puts more emphasis on military training and the harsh military environment in which academics is carried out. However, learning diverse skills, promoting national unity, and creating patriotic spirit were mentioned as some positive outcomes of the system. The study recommends that the government needs to carry out the military training and academic studies in separate locations, liberalize education, and enable parents to have a voice in school decisions.     

Coaching für die Schulentwicklung

Coaching in school development The author focusses on coaching as a method of school development. In most cases school development is designed as organizational change realized by external experts (change agents). In contrast to this procedure, the author favours a school development by internal persons, especially by the principals of schools. It is argued, that if they are carefully coached during the whole process they are much more likely to succeed in developing the whole system.     

Teachers,Schools, and Academic Achievement

This paper disentangles the impact of schools and teachers in influencing achievement with special attention given to the potential problems of omitted or mismeasured variables and of student and school selection. Unique matched panel data from the UTD Texas Schools Project permit the identification of teacher quality based on student performance along with the impact of specific, measured components of teachers and schools. Semiparametric lower bound estimates of the variance in teacher quality based entirely on within‐school heterogeneity indicate that teachers have powerful effects on reading and mathematics achievement, though little of the variation in teacher quality is explained by observable characteristics such as education or experience. The results suggest that the effects of a costly ten student reduction in class size are smaller than the benefit of moving one standard deviation up the teacher quality distribution, highlighting the importance of teacher effectiveness in the determination of school quality.     

RANKING THE SCHOOLS: HOW SCHOOL‐QUALITY INFORMATION AFFECTS SCHOOL CHOICE IN THE NETHERLANDS

This paper analyzes whether information about the quality of high schools published in a national newspaper affects school choice in the Netherlands. We find that negative (positive) school‐quality scores decrease (increase) the number of first‐year students who choose a school after the year of publication. These effects are only large for the college‐preparatory track, such that a school receiving the most positive score for its most academic track sees 16–18 more first‐year students enroll. We find that parents respond to the most recent and most prominently displayed information. The effects of information about school quality do not seem to be greater in regions with larger relevant newspaper circulation, suggesting that direct exposure to news about school quality does not explain the response to this information.     

Externe Organisationsberatung und Schulentwicklung

External organization counseling and school development Modernizing schools by internal school development is an important issue in Germany. This article discusses the conditions for successful processes in school development from the view of organization counseling. Which conditions for external counseling are necessary, how does a professional process steering function, and which tasks external counselors have to fulfil in the development process? Because of the very high demands on external counselors and coaches, an competence profile is presented and the necessary frame conditions for the setup of a counseling system are discussed.     

Illustrating Risk: Anaphylaxis Through the Eyes of the Food‐Allergic Child

The risk perception research is widely focused on children as targets of risk. To date, very few studies have consulted with the impacted group to assess the perceptions of risk associated with the exposures of interest. Much less research has investigated the experiences of children at risk for anaphylaxis, their concerns, and the psychosocial stresses associated with risk. The present study explores the perceptions and experiences of Ontario students with anaphylaxis, and their parents regarding school as a safe place in order to inform school policy around risk management and coping. A “child‐centered” analytical framework incorporating illustrative techniques within interpretative analysis is outlined. Five prominent themes: (a) social and environmental barriers to safety, (b) coping strategies, (c) emotional burden of responsibility, (d) balance of responsibility (transitions), and (e) redefining “normal” are discussed. Results found that “child‐centered” techniques empowered children in a process that is meaningful and relevant to their lives. A preliminary framework for understanding what risk means to children highlighted the differences in how they cope in the public sphere of school.     

Implementierung von Coaching für Schulleitung und Schulaufsicht

Implementation of coaching for principals and supervisory school authorityGerman schools will have to improve the quality of their work to be able to compete on an international level. School development is also personnel development. Establishing professionalism of school executives (among others by coaching) plays a major role in this matter. First of all the author describes the implementation process of internal coaching for principals and thereafter for officers of the supervisory school authority. In doing so, he also points out problems that can arise during such a project. The evaluations of surveys prove the acceptance and importance of coaching for this target group. Finally, possible future coaching offers for school executives are addressed.     

Mediation in der Schule Ein Praxisbericht aus hessischen Projektschulen

Mediation in school. A case report about Hessian project schoolsOn the basis of four examples from his practical experience, a Hessian school-mediator illustrates both the immediate profit of mediation for the conflicting parties and the influence of the training ground of mediation for personal development, as well as the importance for professional qualification. Mediation is presented both as an educational and a political model which needs for its development a systemic concept. Various building blocks for a concept of constructive conflict resolution are presented. The considerations lead to a long-term objective of a democratic school, with a high degree of participation from all members of the school community.     

中国商学院的趋同性分析:基于新制度理论的解释

运用新制度理论对中国商学院的趋同性进行分析后发现,中国商学院的趋同已从植入趋同、竞争趋同过渡到制度趋同,强制趋同、模仿趋同以及规范趋同作为制度趋同的3种形式并存于中国商学院趋同中,但模仿趋同是中国商学院目前趋同的主要类型。在未来一段时间内,强制趋同将进一步提高;模仿趋同则会逐渐下降;规范趋同将逐渐增加,并逐渐占主导。随着中国商学院的趋同性进一步提升,必然会到一个临界点,一旦突破这个临界点,各商学院会积极开始寻求自身的特色,营造差异化。     

Capacity for Stakeholder Participation in Recovery Planning

It is generally accepted that meaningful participation by a representative, well-informed public contributes to a better plan. We surveyed the lead official responsible for the development of recovery plans in a sample of US Atlantic and Gulf Coast counties to determine capacity for stakeholder participation. We report on a variety of engagement techniques that were positively associated with an increase in participation in recovery plan development. We also link increased participation with better plan quality scores in plan quality principles. Investing human and fiscal resources in participation can increase involvement in the planning process and improve recovery plan quality.     

Research Design Meets Market Design: Using Centralized Assignment for Impact Evaluation

A growing number of school districts use centralized assignment mechanisms to allocate school seats in a manner that reflects student preferences and school priorities. Many of these assignment schemes use lotteries to ration seats when schools are oversubscribed. The resulting random assignment opens the door to credible quasi‐experimental research designs for the evaluation of school effectiveness. Yet the question of how best to separate the lottery‐generated randomization integral to such designs from non‐random preferences and priorities remains open. This paper develops easily‐implemented empirical strategies that fully exploit the random assignment embedded in a wide class of mechanisms, while also revealing why seats are randomized at one school but not another. We use these methods to evaluate charter schools in Denver, one of a growing number of districts that combine charter and traditional public schools in a unified assignment system. The resulting estimates show large achievement gains from charter school attendance. Our approach generates efficiency gains over ad hoc methods, such as those that focus on schools ranked first, while also identifying a more representative average causal effect. We also show how to use centralized assignment mechanisms to identify causal effects in models with multiple school sectors.     

Assessing the performance of business colleges in Taiwan using data envelopment analysis and student based value-added performance indicators

The purpose of this study is to construct a student-based performance evaluation model for business schools in Taiwan. College graduates’ starting wage and their multiple abilities cultivated in school are used as performance indicators. The value-added forms of these indicators are employed to assess the pure impact of school on graduate's performance. To prevent impractical indicator weights, we incorporate job market recruiters’ weights from an AHP survey into the assurance region data envelopment analysis (AR-DEA) for empirical analysis. Empirical results show that the public schools on average outperform the private schools. However, there are still some private schools that perform better than the public ones. Besides, in regard to the discriminatory power and the distribution of output weights, the proposed AR-DEA is better than DEA in measuring the performance of the business colleges in Taiwan.     

基于自我决定理论的中学生互联网使用实证研究

基于自我决定理论,从自主需要、归属需要以及能力需要3个层面分析了影响青少年学生网民使用互联网内部动机(感知的乐趣和好奇心)的因素,以及内部动机所产生的结果。对襄阳市8所初高中相关数据的分析表明,培训支持和家长的支持对内部动机没有显著正面影响,老师的支持对好奇心有显著影响,而来自同伴的个体压力以及因特网自我效能均对内部动机有积极作用。感知的乐趣和好奇心能促进沉浸体验的产生,但对互联网使用过程中的探索性行为,只有好奇心和沉浸体验有显著正面影响,感知的乐趣对其存在负向的显著作用。分析性别在模型中的调节作用后发现,女生比男生更容易受到来自学校以及家庭的影响。     

A School Feeding Supply Chain Framework: Critical Factors for Sustainable Program Design

School feeding is an established development aid intervention with multiple objectives including education, nutrition, and value transfer. Traditionally run by international organizations in low‐income settings, school feeding programs have had a substantial impact in many less‐developed countries. However, recent rethinking by the World Bank and the World Food Programme has prompted a shift toward long‐term, sustainable solutions that rely more upon local resources, local capacity, and community participation. Supply chain management, which is critical to program delivery, is vital to developing a sustainable approach to school feeding. We propose a theoretical framework that identifies the internal and external factors that shape the supply chain and connects them to the objectives and performance measures of sustainable programs. Drawing upon supply chain management theory, current school feeding practices, and expert feedback, this article contributes to development aid logistics and program transitioning with a focus on sustainable program design. It aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to school feeding and relevant supply chain issues, a framework to identify sustainability problems in school feeding supply chains, and a starting point for further research on program design.     

The Role of Leader Influence Tactics and Safety Climate in Engaging Employees'' Safety Participation

This study examines the effect of leader influence tactics on employee safety participation in a U.K.-based manufacturing organization, examining the role of safety climate as a mediator. Structural equation modeling showed that leader influence tactics associated with a transformational leadership style had significant relationships with safety participation that were partially mediated by the safety climate (consultation) or fully mediated by the safety climate (inspirational appeals). In addition, leader influence tactics associated with a transactional leadership style had significant relationships with safety participation: rational persuasion (partially mediated by safety climate) and coalition tactics (direct effect). Thus, leaders may encourage safety participation using a combination of influence tactics, based on rational arguments, involvement in decision making, and generating enthusiasm for safety. The influence of building trust in managers is discussed as an underlying mechanism in this relationship. Practical implications are highlighted, including the design of leadership development programs, which may be particularly suited to high-reliability organizations.     

Anxiety, Politics and Critical Management Education

The focus of this paper is a discussion of anxiety and politics as they relate to business school pedagogy. Using ideas from critical management education (CME), the paper explores why and how to engage with the anxiety mobilized through attempts to learn. The aim is to discuss emotional and political dynamics that are generated, and too often avoided, in management education. Making these dynamics overt in the classroom can help managers to comprehend the political context within which management takes place. Examples informed by CME are presented, as well as reflections from the author on the anxiety and politics that emerge for the critical management educator in a business school context. The contribution in the paper is to show the way that anxieties and politics within the business school classroom offer opportunities to change how business schools approach the teaching of managers. CME adds value to management education because it challenges what and how individuals and groups expect to learn, and consequently it challenges assumptions about how learning takes place within business schools. Such challenges are seen as an important and integral part of 'making the business school more critical'.