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Excellence in Schools-An EQFI Study on Quality
Research Report 2008
Executive Summary
Introduction
Education Quality Foundation of India (EQFI) is a not-for-profit organization that
aims at creating and promoting awareness on the concept of “quality in education”
in India. The Foundation has reached out to several schools in different parts of
the country including government, government aided and private schools/public schools.
An important land mark of the work of EQFI is development of the Self-Assessment
Quality Assurance document.
Keeping in line with the vision and mission, a research survey was conducted
by Education Quality Foundation of India, in January 2008 to assess how schools
view the quality parameters identified for this research.
The way in which a school organizes learning for students, fosters leadership and
engages its staff has a tremendous impact on teaching and learning. The professional
culture of the school must be characterized by reflective, thoughtful and constructive
practices and decision making which supports student learning.
The EQFI criteria focuses on key areas of the entire school process, namely Leadership,
Strategic Planning, Student and Parent focus, Knowledge Management and Resources.
Systems approach was the major strategy used in the analysis of the data.
Organization of the Report
Section I of the report contains an overview of the EQFI criteria,
along with the research design, objectives of the survey, sample and profile of
the respondents and development and administration of the tool.
Section II describes the findings on each criterion and also applies
the systems perspective in inferring from the data. The new teaching – learning
practices introduced in schools and effective practices identified by the respondents
have also been included in this section.
Section III provides observations and recommendations based on
all the feedback received.
Design and Objectives
This study was conducted in 6 cities of India covering different regions. Three
metropolitan cities were identified – Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata and three emerging
cities – Pune, Hyderabad and Chandigarh. The sample included both Government and
Privately managed schools with 60% government schools and 40%
private schools.
The objectives of this survey were to assess how schools across
the country view and respond to the following quality parameters – Leadership in
terms of governance, responsibility and ethics, strategic planning process, stakeholder
focus (needs), Knowledge management, Workforce engagement, Process management and
Resource utilization. Further the survey also aimed to gather information regarding
the strengths of the sample schools and effective teaching practices adopted by
them.
Based on these quality parameters the questionnaire was developed for Heads of schools.
The questionnaire consisted of open ended questions, multiple response questions
and single response questions. The questionnaire was completed by Heads / Principals
of the sample schools and this data was collated, analyzed and inferences drawn.
Findings
Senior Leadership addressed vision governance, responsibility and
ethics. On the question of who sets the vision of the school, 69%
responded that the management had a philosophy on which the vision is based and
78% of the schools said that they involve their school faculty in developing the
vision. But it emerges that though schools / Heads of the school have identified
their vision, there is a need to have channels to communicate this to all stakeholders.
70% of the respondents share their vision only through parent – teacher meetings
(which are far spaced) and 20% do it through circulars and internet / intranet.
In response to the question on evaluation of the performance of
senior leaders it was found that it is primarily received by the
management (64% of the respondents) whereas feedback from stakeholders, staff or
review by an external advisory board was found to be negligible. There is a need
felt that appraisal systems in schools need to be reviewed and strengthened and
systems for keeping motivational levels high among the work force also need to be
addressed.
In the questions relating to internal and external inspections
it was found that 47% responded by saying that it is not done regularly. External
and internal inspections are processes which help the organization to identify their
strengths and weaknesses and plan for the future.
Strategic Planning addresses how the organization develops strategic
objectives and action plans. Strategic planning according to 50%
of the respondents is directly addressed by the management, whereas
30% identified the senior leaders. It was found
that the role of the staff, faculty and stakeholders was negligible and reflected
a top – down approach in the majority of the respondent schools. Further in respect
to staff development – it was commendable to find that 95%
of the respondents provide opportunities through workshops and
exchange programs for their staff, but it also emerged that these training programs
are conducted in an adhoc manner and not through systematic annual planning.
Mechanisms for addressing grievances need to be strengthened in the
majority of the respondent schools.
In the context of parents’ involvement in attaining strategic objectives
of the school, though 43% of the respondents have parent representation
on their managing board, only 16% have parents actively involved
in shouldering responsibilities. There is a definite need to build
on school – parent partnership in the interest of the learners.
Student and Stakeholder Focus - Majority of the schools identified
“good academic performance” as the main reason for parents choosing the school
for their children.
But the mechanisms for getting feedback from the parents / stakeholders
were found to be weak on the whole in the sample schools. Feedback helps to ensure
the continuing relevance of educational programs, to develop new opportunities and
to create an overall climate conducive to learning for students. Schools in the
sample have methods of collecting complaints from various stakeholders, but this
is primarily through direct contact and meetings.
It was very encouraging to observe that 88% of the respondents
said that they organize add – value programs like personality development
and communication skills program.
Data Collection, Analysis and Knowledge Management - Collecting
and organizing data is an important process in schools as it helps in decision making
and efficiency. Though the systems of data collection were found
to be in place in the majority of the schools, but only 42% of
the respondent schools have competency in converting data into information.
Usage and reliability of the collected data is not given sufficient
emphasis. It also emerges that performance reviews are not necessarily used to modify
action plans.
Workforce (Staff) Focus - The key areas of work force dissatisfaction
are ‘workload – workforce ratio not maintained’ and ‘inadequate compensation’. In
the context of work force capability and capacity the indicators reflect that the
organization is able to meet the demands of varying stakeholders and capable of
keeping a sustained relationship with them, but innovation in terms of developing
and introducing new technology and adaptation to the same has been a continued challenge
for them. Though the majority of the schools said that they delegate appropriate
responsibility to their staff, it is not through the processes of identifying core
competencies or feedback regarding the workforce. In the process of transfer
of knowledge from retiring faculty and staff it was found that 35 %
of the government institutions utilized them as visiting faculty whereas only 8%
of the private schools have this process in place.
Process Management - In identifying the ways in which the core
competencies of the institution are determined, 80% of the schools
responded that they do this through feedback from students whereas only 43% do this
through analyzing their data.
Responding to the key performance measures and indicators for improvement
of the system, 84% of the institutions share successful strategies with the staff,
whereas 58% review the activities. These are positive approaches by schools for
identifying and improving their systems.
Observations and Implications of this Study
The results from this survey indicate that
- There is a need for addressing the vision to the stakeholders through regular communication,
and feedback from the stakeholders to be taken for the professional development
in the senior leadership.
- There is a strong need to have systematic and annual planning for professional development
programs. For effective functioning of an institution, addressing grievances in
an amicable way needs to be worked out and practiced. Parents’ involvement cannot
be ignored in strategic planning and due weightage needs to be given to senior leaders,
staff and other stakeholders for the optimum utilization of their potential.
- Capacity and capability indicators of the workforce should be identified and assignments
allocated accordingly.Adequate compensation may add to the efficiency of the workforce
in most of the cases and may even lead to quality improvement. Delegation of responsibility
without proper capability should be avoided as far as possible. Motivation, recognition
and rewards are some of the areas that require focus for the workforce.
- Focus on the need of analysis, knowledge management and optimum utilization of the
data that emerges in performance reviews needs to be strengthened and modification
of action plan accordingly. Data converted into knowledge plays a crucial role in
making informed decisions.
Today there is a need to look at the changing dimensions of school education and
quality in all spheres should become a focus for the school management. Quality
needs to be looked from inside and also there is a need to listen to all stakeholders.
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