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Feedback for the organization: Results and constructs for improving educational systems (forces) from within
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to compile a set of school improvement indicators and to evaluate these indicators. Indicators were assessed using existing evidence, data, and non-technical literature, relative to two factors: customer satisfaction and the school improvement process in an urban school district. Education and plans for the improvement of schools should be based on an evaluation of any available and relevant evidence. Documentation in this study included the school improvement plan for each high school and 1998 graduate customer satisfaction data. The review and analysis of these data served to look at the alignment of school improvement indicators with the school improvement process, and the level of customer satisfaction in this district. Today's schools have been overwhelmed with school reform initiatives that are often overlapping, uncoordinated, and sometimes contradictory. This study involves a process for assisting with the clarification of school improvement plans, by describing systems theory and quality philosophy. Quality was grounded in basics like continuous improvement, shared responsibility, learning from failure and placing a priority on customer satisfaction. What once were industrial quality improvement principles are now being applied as the backbone of school improvement. This urban school district, through the use of these quality principles has created a framework for school improvement that reflects some of the trends from business and industry. Continuous improvement is dependent on feedback and results generated from data. Data-driven decision making is an essential element to the school improvement process and the foundation for this study. An extensive review of literature did not generate the framework or methodology that fit the concept that was emerging for this study. As a result, this researcher developed a model that was grounded in practices associated with the reflective practitioner and action research. The model developed for this study was labeled as Feedback for the Organization: Results and Constructs for improving Educational Systems (FORCES) from Within. Another unique focus of this study was in the development of the 2EQ Indicator Score. This score was the basis for aligning the mission and aims of the district, the school improvement goals of the high schools and the customer satisfaction data with the indicators of school improvement identified in the literature on school improvement and school reform.
Subject Area
School administration|Vocational education|Secondary education
Recommended Citation
Wise, Rachel Susan, "Feedback for the organization: Results and constructs for improving educational systems (forces) from within" (1999). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9936778.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9936778