Concept and Design Developments in School Improvement Research: Longitudinal, Multilevel and Mixed Methods and Their Relevance for Educational ... (Accountability and Educational Improvement)

✍ Scribed by Arnoud Oude Groote Beverborg (editor), Tobias Feldhoff (editor), Katharina Maag Merki (editor), Falk Radisch (editor)

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2021
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 314
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This open access book discusses challenges in school improvement research and different methodological approaches that have the potential to foster school improvement research. Research on school improvement and accountability analysis places high demands on a study’s design and method. The potential of combining the depth of case studies with the breath of quantitative measures and analyses in a mixed-methods design seems very promising. Consequently, the focus of the book lies on innovative methodological approaches.

The book chapters address design, measurement, and analysis developments as well as theoretical and conceptual developments. The relevance of the research presented in the chapters for educational accountability is discussed in the book’s discussion chapter.

More specifically, authors present one specific innovative methodological approach and clarify that approach with a concrete example in the context of school improvement, based on empirical data when possible. In this way, this book helps researchers designing complex useful studies.

✦ Table of Contents

cover
Contents
About the Editors
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Overview of the Chapters
Chapter 2: Why Must Everything Be So Complicated? Demands and Challenges on Methods for Analyzing School Improvement Processes
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Theoretical Framework of the Complexity of School Improvement Processes
2.3 Conclusion and Outlook
2.3.1 Guiding Questions
References
Chapter 3: School Improvement Capacity – A Review and a Reconceptualization from the Perspectives of Educational Effectiveness and Educational Policy
3.1 Introduction
3.1.1 What Kind of School Improvement?
3.2 Contextually Variable School Improvement
3.2.1 The Role of Context in EE over the Last Decades
3.2.2 Meaningful Context Variables for SI
3.3 School Improvement and Classrooms/Teaching
3.3.1 Reasons for Improving Teaching to Foster SI
3.3.2 Lesson Study and Collaborative Enquiry to Foster SI
3.4 Building School Improvement Capacity
3.5 Studying the Interactions Between Schools, Homes, and Communities
3.6 Delivering School Improvement Is Difficult!
References
Chapter 4: The Relationship Between Teacher Professional Community and Participative Decision-Making in Schools in 22 European Countries
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Theoretical Section
4.2.1 Professional Community (PC)
4.2.2 Participative Decision-Making (PDM)
4.2.3 The Relationship Between Professional Community and Participative Decision-Making
4.2.4 The Specific National Educational Contexts
4.3 Method
4.3.1 Data and Variables
4.3.2 Analysis Method
4.4 Results
4.4.1 Professional Community and Participative Decision-Making
4.4.2 Sensitivity Checks
4.5 Conclusion and Discussion
4.5.1 Limitations and Future Research
References
Chapter 5: New Ways of Dealing with Lacking Measurement Invariance
5.1 Introduction
5.1.1 The Multi-Level Framework of the Education System
5.1.2 Context Matters: Comparing Educational Constructs in Different Contexts
5.1.3 Teaching Quality
5.1.4 Measurement Invariance Analyses
5.1.5 Research Objectives
5.2 Method
5.2.1 Study
5.2.2 Data Analyses
5.3 Results
5.3.1 Research Aim No. 1: How Neglecting MI Could Lead to False Interpretations of Results
5.3.2 Research Aim No. 2: Investigating the Stability of the Scale Used to Assess Disciplinary Climate Across Countries and Comparing Countries Even if MI Is Missing
5.3.3 Research Aim No. 3: Explaining Missing MI by Using Other Variables, Which Are Considered to Have the Same Meaning in Different Countries
5.4 Discussion
5.5 Conclusion
References
Chapter 6: Taking Composition and Similarity Effects into Account: Theoretical and Methodological Suggestions for Analyses of Nested School Data in School Improvement Research
6.1 Expanding the Concept of Group Level in School Research
6.2 Composition Effect as Diversity Typologies
6.3 Positioning Effect
6.4 Modelling Position Effects
6.5 Present Study: The Relation Between the Influence of Composition and Similarity Effects on Job Satisfaction
6.6 Methods
6.6.1 Sample
6.6.2 Measurement Instruments
6.6.3 Analysis Strategies
6.7 Results
6.7.1 Analysis of Variance
6.7.2 Main and Composition Effects
6.7.3 Main and Similarity Effects with GAPIM and Multilevel Analysis
6.7.3.1 Individual Teacher Self-Efficacy as Predictor
6.7.3.2 Collective Teacher Self-Efficacy as Predictor
6.8 Discussion
6.9 Limitations and Further Research
References
Chapter 7: Reframing Educational Leadership Research in the Twenty-First Century
7.1 Introduction
7.2 What Are the Dominant Methodologies Adopted in Educational Leadership Research?
7.2.1 Instructional, Transformational, and Distributed Leadership
7.2.2 Assessment of the Dominant Methodologies in Educational Leadership Research and Courses
7.3 Limitations of the Dominant Methodologies in Educational Leadership Research and Courses
7.3.1 Population, Sampling, and Normal Distributions
7.3.2 Linearity in a Predominantly Closed System
7.3.3 Explanatory, Explorative, and Descriptive Research
7.4 The Current Landscape of Schooling
7.4.1 Complexity of Schools: Systems and Structures
7.4.2 Shared and Distributed Leadership
7.5 What Are the Alternatives to Current Social Science Methodologies for Educational Leadership?
7.5.1 Brief Introduction to Complexity Science from an Educational Leadership Perspective
7.5.2 Emergence
7.5.3 Non-linearity
7.5.4 Self-Organization
7.6 Social Network Analysis as an Alternative to Normal Distribution and Linearity
7.6.1 How Does Social Network Analysis Contribute to Educational Leadership Research?
7.7 Conclusion
References
Chapter 8: The Structure of Leadership Language: Rhetorical and Linguistic Methods for Studying School Improvement
8.1 Introduction
8.2 School Leadership and School Improvement
8.3 Leadership Language as Action
8.4 Language in Organizations
8.5 Rhetorical Analyses
8.6 Rhetorical Form and Principal Talk: An Example
8.6.1 Methods
8.6.2 Findings
8.6.3 Limitations
8.7 Methodological Considerations
8.8 Implications for Practice
References
Chapter 9: Designing and Piloting a Leadership Daily Practice Log: Using Logs to Study the Practice of Leadership
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Situating the Work: Conceptual and Methodological Anchors
9.2.1 Conceptual Anchors
9.2.2 Methodological Anchors
9.3 Designing the LDP Log
9.3.1 ESM Log Design
9.3.2 LDP Log Design
9.4 Research Methodology
9.4.1 Sample
9.4.2 Data Collection
9.4.3 Data Analysis
9.5 Findings
9.5.1 Research Question 1
9.5.2 Research Question 2
9.5.3 Research Question 3
9.5.4 Research Question 4
9.6 Discussion: Redesigning the LDP Log
9.7 Conclusion
Appendices
Appendix A: Daily Practice Log
Appendix B: Document That Observer’s Used to Record/Input Data while Shadowing
Appendix C: Sample of the Cognitive Interview – Post-Logging Protocol
Appendix D: Inter-rater Reliability Across Observers
Appendix E: Examples of Matches in Logger/Shadow Interactions
Appendix F: Codes Used to Calculate Kappa Coefficients
Appendix G: Example of Calculating the Kappa Coefficient
References
Chapter 10: Learning in Collaboration: Exploring Processes and Outcomes
10.1 Introduction
10.1.1 PLC as a Context for Teacher Learning
10.1.2 The Study (Mixed Methods Design)
10.2 Quantitative Phase
10.2.1 Methods
10.2.2 Results
10.3 Qualitative Phase
10.3.1 Case Selection and Method
10.3.2 Results
10.3.2.1 Collaboration Between Teachers
10.3.2.2 Learning Outcomes from the Collaboration
Content of the Outcomes
Diversity of the Outcomes
10.4 Discussion and Conclusion
References
Chapter 11: Recurrence Quantification Analysis as a Methodological Innovation for School Improvement Research
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Theoretical and Methodological Framework
11.2.1 Information and Reflection in a Situated and Ongoing Learning Process
11.2.2 Logs
11.2.3 Recurrence Quantification Analysis
11.2.4 Present Study
11.3 Method
11.3.1 Sample
11.3.2 Measurement
11.3.3 Analysis Strategy
11.4 Results
11.5 Discussion
11.5.1 Limitations & Future Directions
Appendices
Appendix A
Daily Log 1(2)
Information
Daily Log 2(2)
Information
Appendix B
Monthly Log
Learning Experience
References
Chapter 12: Regulation Activities of Teachers in Secondary Schools: Development of a Theoretical Framework and Exploratory Analyses in Four Secondary Schools Based on Time Sampling Data
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Theoretical Framework on Regulation in the Context of School Improvement
12.2.1 Regulation in the Context of School Improvement: Theoretical Anchors
12.2.2 Definition of Regulation in the Context of School Improvement
12.3 Previous Research on Daily Regulation in Schools and Research Deficits
12.4 Research Questions and Hypotheses
12.5 Methods
12.5.1 Context of the Study and Sample
12.5.2 Data Collection and Data Base
12.5.2.1 Recording of Regulation Activities
12.5.2.2 Assessment of Interest
12.5.3 Data Analysis
12.6 Results
12.6.1 Set of Questions No. 1
12.6.1.1 What Daily Regulation Activities Occur in the Participating Schools, and What Is Their Frequency? (Question 1a)
12.6.1.2 To What Extent Do the Daily Regulation Activities During the Week (from Monday to Friday) Differ from Daily Regulation Activities on the Weekend? (Question 1b)
12.6.1.3 To What Extent Are There Differences Among the Schools in Selected Regulation Activities Specifically Relevant for School Development? (Question 1c)
12.6.1.4 To What Extent Are There Differences Among Teachers? (Question 1d)
12.6.2 Set of Questions No. 2
12.6.2.1 How Do Teachers Perceive the Benefits of the Daily Regulation Activities, and How Satisfied Are Teachers at the End of the Day? To What Extent Are There Differences Among the Schools? (Question 2a)
12.6.2.2 To What Extent Are Teachers’ Daily Regulation Activities Related to Teachers’ Daily Perceptions of Benefit and Teachers’ Daily Satisfaction Levels? (Question 2b)
12.6.2.3 To What Extent Is Teachers’ Perceived Daily Benefit Related to Their Daily Level of Satisfaction? To What Extent Do the Relations Between Daily Benefit and Satisfaction Differ Among the Schools? (Question 2c)
12.6.2.4 To What Extent Do Individual Factors Influence the Relation Between Teachers’ Perceived Daily Benefit and Teachers’ Daily Satisfaction Level? (Question 2d)
12.7 Discussion
12.8 Strengths and Weaknesses of the Applied Methodological Approach, and the Need for Further Research
References
Chapter 13: Concept and Design Developments in School Improvement Research: General Discussion and Outlook for Further Research
13.1 The Longitudinal Nature of the School Improvement Process
13.2 School Improvement as a Multilevel Phenomenon: The Meaning of Context for School Improvement
13.3 Indirect and Reciprocal Effects
13.4 Variety of Meaningful Factors
13.5 Concluding Remarks
References