Evaluating administrative service quality of elementary schools: A case study of a remote rural area in Taiwan

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to use the importance-performance analysis (IPA) approach to empirically evaluate the administrative service quality (ASQ) of elementary schools based upon the teachers’ perspective at a remote rural area in Taiwan. At first, the fifty preliminary ASQs of elementary schools are summarized to design a questionnaire. Then, the IPA approach in conjunction with this questionnaire survey is performed to assist with the main issue. Study results show that eleven ASQs are classified as ‘concentrate here’ in Quadrant 2; whereas the top five ASQs are highly suggested to be improved, including ‘there are not plentiful and clean toilets;’ ‘there are not plentiful books in a library;’ ‘there are not complete sport and play facilities;’ ‘there is no convenient and sanitation facilities of drinking water;’ and ‘the lunch is not delicious and nutritious,’ respectively. Furthermore, the results show that the elementary schools should listen attentively to the voice of customer to focus on improving these ASQs of customer requirements. It is suggested that more attentions should be paid to exploit these customer requirements effectively and then develop the profiles of solutions, which should continuously strengthen the perspective of teachers. Key words: Importance-performance analysis (IPA) approach, administrative service quality, elementary schools.