EDN8034

The effective school

Associate Professor A C Townsend

12 points - 3 hours per week - Second semester - Clayton

Objectives Upon successful completion of this subject, students should have developed knowledge and understanding of the international research in the areas of school effectiveness and improvement; the relationships between school effectiveness and school improvement; strategies for involving parents in educational decision making; the theoretical basis for self-managing schools and local involvement in school decision making; the role of staff appraisal and staff development in the process of school development. Students should have developed skills which will enable them to build a school vision and establish school goals; develop school environment and culture; implement resource allocation; support teamwork building and communication. Students should have developed values or attitudes that should enable them to recognise the value of school effectiveness and school improvement literature; to work positively and constructively with other members of the school community to implement the lessons learned from this literature.

Synopsis This subject is designed to use the international research on school effectiveness to introduce students to issues related to developing more effective schools and, through this, to better understand the background to the current moves by the Victorian government to encourage the self-management of schools. It will provide students with a broad understanding of the international research into school effectiveness and its relationship to school improvement and school management, how schools can be judged to be effective and what elements of school operations help to make them that way. It will introduce current debates on school effectiveness, school quality and school self-management and decision making. Topics to be addressed include how the school effectiveness research has contributed to creating more effective schools; enhancing school environment and culture; school-community partnerships; marketing the school; building school support; staff appraisal and staff development; resource allocation; vision building and goal setting; decision making; parental involvement; teamwork building; and communication in the school.

Assessment Essay (5000 words): 70% - Examination (2 hours): 30%

Recommended texts

Caldwell B Decentralising the management of Australia's schools National Industry Education Foundation, 1993
Townsend T Effective schooling for the community: The core-plus school Routledge, 1994
Townsend T Restructuring and quality: Issues for tomorrow's schools Routledge, 1997

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