School Capacity Building Research Articles

Local Quality Management for Developing Schools’ Capacity Building. A Multiyear Study

In recent decades, there has been a growing body of research that highlights local education authorities (LEA) as potential contributors to support school capacity building and result development. Despite this, there are few empirical studies that have explored what effects different strategies and policy actions from the LEAs actual have over time. Based on results from a five-year research project in a major Swedish municipality, the aim with this multiyear and multi-level study is to explore the effects of a LEA’s quality management processes of six schools’ capacity building. The results from the study show a clear strengthening of the schools’ improvement agenda, improvement organization and improvement leadership of the six schools. Two LEA strategies can be distinguished as especially important to explain the school improvements: i) systematic and long-term data-based school improvement routines and processes; ii) quality dialogues for monitoring and support. Two conclusions can be drawn: i) the importance for the LEA to be responsive so its improvement strategies are integrated into the schools’ local school improvement system; ii) the importance that the LEA work with multifaceted strategies containing aspects of control and accountability and learning and support.

Enhancing educational excellence: An analysis of teacher capacity building and its impact on instructional delivery in public secondary Schools in Kenya

This study investigates the relationship between teacher capacity building, instructional delivery, and effectiveness in public secondary schools. Utilizing the descriptive survey methodology, data were collected from 400 teachers in Embu and Tharaka-Nithi Counties, Kenya. A survey questionnaire was used for data collection, whereby the efficacy of instructional delivery was assessed through a Likert-scale survey consisting of 17 items. Demographic information highlighted the diverse composition of the teaching workforce, with varying age groups, educational qualifications, and work experience. The study explored teachers' participation in professional development programs, revealing substantial engagement in subject-specific training among other capacity building programs. Findings indicated high agreement among teachers on statements related to syllabus completion, assignment design aligned with objectives, and regular collaboration with colleagues. Some areas for potential improvement were identified, including the incorporation of student questions to guide lessons, ensuring adequate instructional materials, and integrating higher-order thinking strategies. Capacity building was found to have a significant influence on the effectiveness of teachers in instructional delivery, whereby teachers who had attended more courses obtained higher means scores in instructional delivery than those who had attended fewer or no courses. The study contributes to the understanding of teacher capacity development's impact on instructional practices and effectiveness. The findings underscore the importance of ongoing professional development tailored to teachers' needs, emphasizing collaborative strategies and resource provision. Policymakers, educational administrators, and teachers can leverage these insights to inform targeted interventions that enhance the overall quality of instruction in Kenyan public secondary schools.

Enhancing Learning Environments through Teacher Capacity Building in Public Secondary Schools: Evidence from Kenya

Enhancing Learning Environments through Teacher Capacity Building in Public Secondary Schools: Evidence from Kenya

Distributed Leadership Promotes Teacher Self-Efficacy in Multicultural Classrooms Through School Capacity Building: A Multilevel SEM Approach Using U.S. Teaching and Learning International Survey

Purpose : This study examines the direct and indirect effects of distributed leadership on teacher self-efficacy in multicultural classrooms (TSMC) through school capacity building, specifically teacher team innovativeness and a feedback network. Research Design : Using data from the Teaching and Learning International Survey 2018, this study employs a 2-2-1 multilevel structural equation modeling to account for the nested data structure (teachers nested within schools). Latent variables are constructed, and their validity is tested, followed by an analysis of the relationships among distributed leadership, teacher team innovativeness, a feedback network, and TSMC. Findings: This study finds that distributed leadership has an indirect-only mediation effect on TSMC via a feedback network but not via teacher team innovativeness. The effect of distributed leadership on TSMC is fully mediated by a feedback network. In addition, the study shows that distributed leadership is positively associated with a feedback network and teacher team innovativeness. Conclusions : This study contributes to our understanding of the role of distributed leadership in fostering school capacity building and promoting TSMC. Given the increasing diversity in schools, it is crucial for school leaders to prepare teachers to teach students in multicultural classrooms. The findings suggest that school leaders can enhance teachers’ efficacy in teaching students from diverse backgrounds by facilitating their participation in school improvement processes and establishing a collective feedback network where teachers receive feedback from various sources. These results emphasize the importance of distributed leadership in equipping teachers for culturally responsive teaching in multicultural classrooms.

Capacity Building of Candipuro State Senior High School in Mitigation of Mountain Semeru Eruption, Lumajang District

Lumajang Regency has many educational units located in the Semeru eruption disaster risk area. Candipuro High School is a school located in the area of ​​disaster risk III for the eruption of Mount Semeru. Candipuro District does not yet have a disaster-safe education unit. Disaster education in educational units is important to do to improve the capabilities of educational units. This study aims to analyze the implementation of disaster safety education and capacity building at Candipuro High School in mitigating the Mount Semeru eruption disaster. This research method uses quasi-qualitative. Data collection is done by way of interviews, observation and documentation. The results of the study showed that: (1) The implementation of disaster-safe education at Candipuro High School has fulfilled the existing pillars such as safe school facilities, school disaster management, disaster prevention and risk reduction education, but there are still some deficiencies in school disaster management, (2 ) School capacity building is carried out through several programs such as the implementation of disaster-safe education units and participation in disaster response student organizations. The conclusion of this study is that the implementation of disaster-safe education is embodied in disaster safe education unit. In its implementation there are still some shortcomings such as school disaster management that is not good. For capacity building of the five stages, only four stages have been properly fulfilled. In the fifth stage, the evaluation is not yet running. Several dimensions of capacity have emerged such as human resource management, fair participation, program sustainability, partnerships, learning organizations. If the five stages of capacity building and all capacity dimensions appear, then the capacity building at Candipuro High School can run well.

‘It’s All About Context’: Building School Capacity to Implement a Whole-School Approach to Bullying

Student bullying behaviours are a significant social issue in schools worldwide. Whilst school staff have access to quality bullying prevention interventions, schools can face significant challenges implementing the whole-school approach required to address the complexity of these behaviours. This study aimed to understand how schools’ capacity to implement whole-school bullying prevention interventions could be strengthened to promote sustainability and improve student outcomes. Qualitative methods were used to observe schools over time to gain insight into their implementation capacity to improve student social and emotional wellbeing and prevent and ameliorate harm from bullying. A four-year longitudinal, multi-site case study intensively followed eight schools’ implementation of Friendly Schools, an Australian evidenced-based whole-school bullying prevention intervention. Regular in-depth interviews with school leaders and implementation teams over four years led to the refinement of a staged-implementation process and capacity building tools and revealed four common drivers of implementation quality: (1) strong, committed leadership; (2) organisational structures, processes and resources; (3) staff competencies and commitment; and (4) translating evidence into local school policy and practice. This paper considers the strengths of qualitative data in understanding how and why bullying prevention interventions work as well as actions schools can take to enhance their implementation and sustainability of complex social interventions.

Doubting leadership: principals shaping a school doubting process within a national curriculum reform

ABSTRACT Success of curriculum reforms calls for both collaborative learning and unlearning processes. Focusing on the latter, school doubting process, an innovative term, is used in this paper as an active framework for organisational unlearning through which educators question their existing mind-sets and unfreeze old approaches to teaching and learning. This qualitative study explores how high school principals shape a school doubting process during the implementation of a national curriculum reform. The study analyses qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 22 Israeli high school principals who have implemented a national curriculum reform from all school districts. The findings indicate two major themes and sub-themes: (1) Nurturing a collective unlearning culture: (a) restructuring school thinking; and (b) creating safe time and space for school doubting; (2) Building school capacity: (a) creating collective opportunities for knowledge and skill development; and (b) encouraging shared responsibility for innovation.

Inclusive Leadership in Times of COVID-19 Crisis: The Role of District and School Leaders in Fostering School Sense-Making Processes within a National Inclusion and Integration Reform

ABSTRACT COVID-19 requires educational leaders to collectively make sense of their inclusive practices. This qualitative study explores how COVID-19 crisis shaped Israeli superintendents’ and principals’ role in fostering school sense-making processes during a reform based on Amendment No. 11 to the Special Education Law. Data were collected with 22 Jewish and Arab district and school leaders via Zoom interviews. Data analysis yielded three major themes: (1) Developing a shared vision and direction; (2) Building school capacity for inclusion: (a) nurturing a culture of collective responsibility (b) maintaining mental-resilience skills and well-being; and (3) Fostering school collaboration and trust with stakeholders.

Influence of Smart Classrooms Services on ICT Capacity Building in Secondary Schools in Rwanda: A Case of Gatsibo District

This paper sought to investigate influences of smart classrooms services on ICT capacity buildings in Rwanda secondary schools. Most of the secondary schools in Rwanda have smart classrooms for enhancing ICT integration in teaching and learning. Mixed methods approach research design was adopted and targeted all 45 public Gatsibo secondary schools with smart classrooms and 31 schools were sampled using random sampling method. Stratified sampling technique was applied. Using purposive sampling method, 93 respondents were selected. Questionnaires were used for teachers and interview template was used for head teachers. The researcher found that there was a significant influence of smart classrooms services on ICT capacity building in secondary schools. Though, the study recommended the ministry of education, school administrators, and teachers. Keywords: Smart classrooms, Services, ICT Capacity building, Secondary school.

Influence of Instructional Leadership on Teacher's Capacity Building

This papper aims to examine the relationship between instructional leadership practices for professional capacity building in secondary schools. The study uses a quantitative approach. Data were collected through questionnaires from 924 participants (principals and teachers) of secondary schools among high achieving schools, average and below-average schools. The principal instructional leadership roles can be characterized into ten elements, and teachers capacity building have four elements. The instructional leadership questionnaire had reliability of 0.951, while the professional capacity building questionnaire was 0.829. This finding shows that instructional leadership by school leaders is essential for long-term school success; all of the strategies are important for professional capacity building.

Sekolah Unggulan: Pendekatan Pengembangan Kapasitas Sekolah

One of the major themes in educational effectiveness research is school capacity building. This study investigates the implementation of the International Standard School (SBI) policy in Indonesia which can be seen as an effort of school capacity building improvement in the particular country. Using the program coherence dimension from the capacity-building framework, a qualitative study was conducted in a secondary school located in a small city in West Java, Indonesia, that involved in the program. It is found that the interpretation of the SBI policy was changing, which established international standard classrooms is the salient aspect of the implementation of the policy. It is discovered that becoming an SBI school has positive consequences with regard to the acknowledgment of its quality by the central government, besides the school can collect extra funds from parents with an amount nearly ten times that received from the central government. Document analysis reveals the school's difficulties to reach international requirements with particular to master in English by its teachers.

Failure is not final: principals’ perspectives on creating inclusive schools for students with disabilities

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to describe and analyze how three principals attempting to establish effective inclusive schools for students with disabilities identified and learned from failure, with a specific focus on how failure was used to drive school improvement efforts.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative study involved interviews and observations during one school year in an urban school district in the southwestern United States. Participants varied in their levels of experience and their perceptions about establishing inclusion in their schools. In addition, each school ranged in the length of time working toward implementing inclusion and the relative success of their reform efforts.FindingsThis study presents insights into several types of failures with a range of causation, from what we term “unnecessary failures,” to “complex coordination failures” and “trial failures.” In response to these failures, the principals in this study attempted to foster a culture of professionalism and trust by creating avenues for relationship-building that would allow teachers and staff to buy into the inclusive mission of the school. Principals also attempted to build school capacity by working to strengthen teams and pre-existing structures and to cultivate teacher-leaders that could improve communication, motivate others and effectively lead meetings that would encourage authentic collaboration.Originality/valueAnalyzing and learning from instances of failure is an important practice, especially for failures that are unexpected, yet much of the literature on leading from failure exists in business management scholarship, with very limited examples in the area of special education and special education school leadership.

Capacity Building of Kader Dakwah Sehat as Stunting Prevention in Islamic Boarding School

Stunting is a disease that is a top priority in public health in the world, especially in developing countries. Indonesia has remained a lot of stunting disease due to various factors. Indonesia is a country with multiple religions and predominantly Islam. Therefore, efforts to prevent stunting are undertaken in various ways, such as conducting capacity building in Islamic boarding schools. This study aims to make Kader Dakwah Sehat as an effort to prevent stunting through capacity building. This study employed a quasi-experimental method, where the intervention provided was in the form of capacity building of respondents and indicators of success using a pre-posttest with the aim of seeing whether there are differences and the effectiveness of these activities. This study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of the capacity building of Kader Dakwah Sehat as an effort to prevent stunting in Islamic boarding schools. The analysis used was paired t test. Respondents in this study were 100 Kader Dakwah Sehat. The result of this research was that the capacity building activity was running well as evidenced by the results of the discussion and activity processes during each stage. There was a difference between the pre and posttest, with p = 0.000

Building School Capacity to Support Students with Complex Needs Through the Wellness, Resiliency, and Partnerships (WRaP) Project

Schools across the province of Alberta are increasingly diverse in terms of student backgrounds, circumstances, and needs (Alberta Education, 2017). In order to respond to the needs of a diverse student population, many schools are providing supports targeted to children and youth identified as being at risk for poor outcomes. The Wellness, Resiliency, and Partnerships (WRaP) project, initiated in 2009, was born out of recognition for the need to provide individualized, strength-based supports to students with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). For eight years, WRaP success coaches aimed to provide innovative, collaborative, strength-based services and supports to promote the success of students with FASD in Alberta schools. The project initially targeted junior and senior high school students with FASD. Over the project’s most recent two years, the project expanded to serve elementary schools, as well as students with complex needs in addition to those that arise due to FASD. The aims of the project were to maximize school engagement, increase academic success, and enhance social, emotional, and physical well-being. In addition, coaches worked to enhance school and family capacity to support students with complex needs, and to build partnerships for youth to access supports at home, at school, and in their communities. Overall, the WRaP project demonstrated significant growth and positive outcomes in terms of building school capacity to support students with complex needs including FASD. We will draw on data from four years of annual interviews and focus groups conducted with WRaP success coaches and school personnel to describe the key processes, successes, and challenges involved in building school capacity through the WRaP project in Alberta schools. Key words: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder; community-based participatory research; school capacity building; mentorship; students with complex needs Partout en Alberta, les ecoles servent une population d’eleves dont les antecedents, les circonstances et les besoins sont de plus en plus diversifies (Alberta Education, 2017). Afin de repondre aux besoins d’une population d’eleves diversifiee, plusieurs ecoles fournissent des appuis visant les enfants et les jeunes identifies comme etant a risque de connaitre de mauvais resultats scolaires. Le projet WRaP (Wellness, Resiliency, and Partnerships; c.-a-d., bien-etre, resilience et partenariats), initie en 2009, est ne de la reconnaissance du besoin d’offrir des appuis individualises et axes sur les besoins des eleves atteints du syndrome de l'alcoolisation fœtale (SAF). Pendant huit ans, les entraineurs motivateurs de WRaP ont œuvre pour fournir des services et des appuis innovateurs et collaboratifs qui visaient les besoins des eleves albertains atteints du SAF. Initialement, le projet visait les eleves albertains de la 7e a la 12e annee atteints du SAF, mais au cours des deux dernieres annees, le projet a ete etendu pour inclure les ecoles elementaires ainsi que les eleves ayant des besoins complexes au-dela de ceux qui decoulent du SAF. Les objectifs du projet etaient de maximiser la participation a l’ecole, augmenter la reussite academique et rehausser le bien-etre social, emotionnel et physique. Les entraineurs ont egalement travaille au renforcement de la capacite des ecoles et des familles pour soutenir les eleves ayant des besoins complexes et a la creation de partenariats permettant aux jeunes d’acceder aux appuis a la maison, a l’ecole et dans leurs communautes. Globalement, le projet WRaP a demontre des progres significatifs et des resultats positifs quant au renforcement de la capacite des ecoles pour soutenir les eleves ayant des besoins complexes, y compris le SAF. Puisant dans des donnees provenant de quatre series d’entrevues annuelles et de groupes de discussion formes d’entraineurs motivateurs et de personnel scolaire, nous decrivons les processus cles, les reussites et les defis lies au renforcement de la capacite scolaire par le biais du projet WRaP dans les ecoles en Alberta. Mots cles : syndrome de l'alcoolisation fœtale; recherche participative basee sur la communaute; renforcement de la capacite scolaire; mentorat; eleves ayant des besoins complexes

Building School Capacity to Support Students with Complex Needs Through the Wellness, Resiliency, and Partnerships (WRaP) Project

Schools across the province of Alberta are increasingly diverse in terms of student backgrounds, circumstances, and needs (Alberta Education, 2017). In order to respond to the needs of a diverse student population, many schools are providing supports targeted to children and youth identified as being at risk for poor outcomes. The Wellness, Resiliency, and Partnerships (WRaP) project, initiated in 2009, was born out of recognition for the need to provide individualized, strength-based supports to students with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). For eight years, WRaP success coaches aimed to provide innovative, collaborative, strength-based services and supports to promote the success of students with FASD in Alberta schools. The project initially targeted junior and senior high school students with FASD. Over the project’s most recent two years, the project expanded to serve elementary schools, as well as students with complex needs in addition to those that arise due to FASD. The aims of the project were to maximize school engagement, increase academic success, and enhance social, emotional, and physical well-being. In addition, coaches worked to enhance school and family capacity to support students with complex needs, and to build partnerships for youth to access supports at home, at school, and in their communities. Overall, the WRaP project demonstrated significant growth and positive outcomes in terms of building school capacity to support students with complex needs including FASD. We will draw on data from four years of annual interviews and focus groups conducted with WRaP success coaches and school personnel to describe the key processes, successes, and challenges involved in building school capacity through the WRaP project in Alberta schools. Key words: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder; community-based participatory research; school capacity building; mentorship; students with complex needs Partout en Alberta, les écoles servent une population d’élèves dont les antécédents, les circonstances et les besoins sont de plus en plus diversifiés (Alberta Education, 2017). Afin de répondre aux besoins d’une population d’élèves diversifiée, plusieurs écoles fournissent des appuis visant les enfants et les jeunes identifiés comme étant à risque de connaitre de mauvais résultats scolaires. Le projet WRaP (Wellness, Resiliency, and Partnerships; c.-à-d., bien-être, résilience et partenariats), initié en 2009, est né de la reconnaissance du besoin d’offrir des appuis individualisés et axés sur les besoins des élèves atteints du syndrome de l'alcoolisation fœtale (SAF). Pendant huit ans, les entraineurs motivateurs de WRaP ont œuvré pour fournir des services et des appuis innovateurs et collaboratifs qui visaient les besoins des élèves albertains atteints du SAF. Initialement, le projet visait les élèves albertains de la 7e à la 12e année atteints du SAF, mais au cours des deux dernières années, le projet a été étendu pour inclure les écoles élémentaires ainsi que les élèves ayant des besoins complexes au-delà de ceux qui découlent du SAF. Les objectifs du projet étaient de maximiser la participation à l’école, augmenter la réussite académique et rehausser le bien-être social, émotionnel et physique. Les entraineurs ont également travaillé au renforcement de la capacité des écoles et des familles pour soutenir les élèves ayant des besoins complexes et à la création de partenariats permettant aux jeunes d’accéder aux appuis à la maison, à l’école et dans leurs communautés. Globalement, le projet WRaP a démontré des progrès significatifs et des résultats positifs quant au renforcement de la capacité des écoles pour soutenir les élèves ayant des besoins complexes, y compris le SAF. Puisant dans des données provenant de quatre séries d’entrevues annuelles et de groupes de discussion formés d’entraineurs motivateurs et de personnel scolaire, nous décrivons les processus clés, les réussites et les défis liés au renforcement de la capacité scolaire par le biais du projet WRaP dans les écoles en Alberta. Mots clés : syndrome de l'alcoolisation fœtale; recherche participative basée sur la communauté; renforcement de la capacité scolaire; mentorat; élèves ayant des besoins complexes

Role of Global Leadership and Capacity Building in Increasing Teacher’s Profession Commitment

The purpose of this study is to describe efforts to increase the commitment of the teaching profession through the role of global leadership and capacity building in State Senior High Schools (SMA) in Bogor Regency. This study employs a descriptive qualitative approach and collected data via: interviews; observation; and documentation study. Data analysis in this study uses data reduction, data presentation and verification or conclusions. The results showed that increasing the professional commitment of teachers can be done through teacher training (capacity building) and the role of global leadership as the development of people and motivation of people.
 Keywords: teacher’s professional commitment, global leadership, capacity building

Building School Capacity to Facilitate Participation of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A Multitier Approach

Abstract Date Presented 03/27/20 Schools need support to facilitate the participation of children with ASD in all school-related activities. A descriptive, qualitative study aimed to identify how OTs could help build school capacity to facilitate the participation of these children through a multitier approach. Focus groups were carried out with OTs and school staff. Concerns about children’s participation and recommendations to develop school capacity will be shared. Primary Author and Speaker: Marie Grandisson Contributing Authors: Emilie Rajotte, Julie Godin, Myriam Chrétien-Vincent, Elise Milot

Building School Capacity for Inclusive Education in the Sultanate of Oman: A Construct Validation of the Inclusive School Climate Scale

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the Inclusive School Climate Scale (ISCS) in order to assess how schools in Oman are building capacity for inclusive education successful practices. The 23-item ISCS was developed and administered to 287 teachers from schools in Oman. The results showed three main factors that reflected the ability of schools to build capacity for inclusive practices and create an inclusive climate for students. Reliability and validity analysis of the ISCS suggested that the scale provides a reliable measure. Implications for cross-cultural examination of the ISCS are discussed.

Building school capacity for teacher learning in China

ABSTRACT Building school capacity for teacher learning is the competitive advantage that leads to schools’ sustained improvement. Literature has highlighted the importance of school capacity building. However, scant research has explored how schools in the specific contexts practically build their capacity for teacher learning. Using qualitative data collected from six schools in Shanghai, this study developed six strategies being used to build school capacity both at the organisational level (i.e. exercising leadership for teacher learning, nurturing a role-model-setting culture, and facilitating supportive structures) and at the teacher level (i.e. holding student-oriented teaching belief, enhancing personal competence for learning, and engaging in collaborative learning). The study revealed that the effective strategies for promoting the case schools’ capacity for teaching learning were contingent on Chinese cultural and institutional contexts. The practical implications for building school capacity for teacher learning are discussed.

Promoting a Collective Voice from Parents, Educators and Allied Health Professionals on the Educational Needs of Students on the Autism Spectrum.

Providing support for the educational needs of students on the autism spectrum continues to be challenging. Findings from this survey of parents, teachers and specialist staff highlight the need for collaboration between stakeholders who support the education of these students. The main themes to emerge were for school staff to be equipped with the knowledge and expertise to support each student in their learning, and for support with social/emotional needs. Findings highlighted the need for a transparent process for building school capacity to translate research and knowledge into practice by all stakeholders. This collective voice is important to ensure the needs of these students are identified and that appropriate support is implemented to maximise the educational success of these students.