A Proposed Unified Conceptual Framework for Quality of Education in Schools

Elizabeth Garira

doi:10.1177/2158244019899445

Abstract

Quality of education in schools requires accurate descriptions of all its components to judge its realization and plan for its improvement. However, it can be difficult to obtain such descriptions in an effective manner. This article aims to propose a unified conceptual framework for quality of education in schools to facilitate an understanding of the quality of education. The conceptual framework proposed here is multi-dimensional in nature and based on operational experience by the authors with studying education systems’ performance in general, and particularly, quality of education in schools. The unified conceptual framework proposed here is informed by systems theory and acknowledges the interdependence among the components of quality of education and levels of the education system. In conclusion, we reiterate the importance of a conceptual framework for quality of education that explicates the relationships among the numerous education components (inputs, processes, and outputs) among the various education levels of the education system (national, tertiary, school, and pre-school) as a primary science for understanding the quality of education in schools as an essential step toward providing a scientific base for the study of education quality in schools.

Highlights

Introduction and BackgroundDuring the past years, there has been a renewed focus on the quality of education in schools worldwide after the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2004) declared that quality of education in schools was generally declining in many countries
Our proposed conceptual framework for quality of education in this article is based on an input, process, output approach, where these should be specified at every level of the education system namely, the national, preschool, tertiary, and school levels
Processes, and outputs formed the basis of the conceptual framework, where it was highlighted that these should be specified at every level of the education system

Summary

Introduction and Background

There has been a renewed focus on the quality of education in schools worldwide after the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2004) declared that quality of education in schools was generally declining in many countries. The movement toward the provision of quality of education in schools to all students has been accompanied by various research studies aimed at finding the quality of various education systems for improvement purposes (Benavot, 2011; Garira et al, 2019; Giannini, 2015; Meera, 2015; Mohammad, 2017). This is essential for high quality of education, which is considered essential to provide young people with adequate knowledge and skills as well as sustaining countries’ social and economic development (European Commission/EACEA/ Eurydice, 2015). The idea is to understand the conceptual framework for quality of education in schools from a theoretical and practical perspective as a way toward improving the quality of education in schools

Literature Review

Limitations

Conclusion