Proper school organization and advantages of accelerated schools

 

Abstract

The school is an organization, which is an institution that brings together human and physical resources to achieve its objectives through defined policies and programs. It may be defined as “a place where organizational learning is built in order that collaboration, knowledge, creativity and teamwork processes have a collective meaning and valued” Layton (1991). Additionally, schools may be defined as organizations where individual abilities are constantly grown to produce results, Peter.S (1990). Hanover looks at school improvement ‘as a systematic way of planning school improvement and tracking it over time’ Ontario Ministry of Education (2000). Going by this definition, a  school improvement  plan may thus be looked at “as a roadmap setting out the changes a school needs to make in order to improve on the students’ achievement, showing how and when these changes will be made” North Carolina Department of public instruction,( 2013). Looking into this critically may mean “quality improvement” defined as “the disciplined use of quantitative and qualitative methods to improve the effectiveness, equity, timeliness and efficiency of service delivery process and systems” Parks et al (2013). Therefore, as schools embrace improvement and planning processes, the concept of quality improvement should be embedded into the everyday activities. As such, it can be seen from the above definitions that schools continuous improvement are distinct processes that may be aimed at bridging the gap between the school's current level performance and it's actual potential North Carolina Department of Instruction (2013). Thus, school improvement should involve the integration of quality improvement in the daily work of people in the school system Parks et al (2013).

Key words: Organization, improvement, Accelerated schools, quality, renewal, outcomes, efficiency, effectiveness, planning.

                                                                                            Introduction

 Organizations may be classified as formal or informal which is determined by availability or lack of rules, regulations, systems and procedures. Chester .B (1948) defines formal organizations as “a system of consciously coordinated activities or forces of two or more persons, a definite measure of authority, responsibility and accountability.” Informal organizations are without any authority, as they arise from personal and social relations of people..They lack laid down procedures, regulations or organizational structure. Organization is the arrangement of resources, both human and physical to achieve the desired outcomes of an organization. Sheldon puts it this way, “organization is the formation of an effective machine through which management and administration achieve their goals”. School organization involves several parts that steer towards the achieving of a ‘whole institution’. The parts include efficiency, coordination, sound planning, clarification of functions, giving direction and systematic execution. Not too long in the past, the school has had to assume new roles, set new goals, highlight new methods of action to counter or deal with challenges coming from problems facing the society. As such, it is important to develop a school that endeavors and purposes through the development of all internal professional resources, to pursue its objectives with the maximum efficiency and effectiveness (Early, Maxwell et al., 2007). The improvement of quality, in this context, is presented as the requisite condition for intended renewal.

          Impact of Proper Organization and Improvement in educational institutions

Quality issues have affected all sectors of service delivery and the education has not been left behind. However, as much as this trend is catching up in every other sector, it is risky to carry out it out mechanically in the education sector, without careful of evaluation systems putting into consideration every specific. Nevertheless, how can proper organization lead to improvement in a school? There may not be a ‘good’ answer to the above question as each school may need a specific study and the findings may vary depending on the possible interventions needed and the priorities that are in place already. It is therefore, worth noting that, there is a risk of planning for improvement through the imitation of "success" experiences borrowed directly from another. This is because what works in one school may not fit another one on one; but may be a starting point of  self-introspection for another. After all, the improvement indicators by one school are presented as a condition for implementing the school improvement process for another in a graduated mode, according to European Union indications (Westerheijden, Stensaker, & Rosa, 2007).

Concerning proper organization in a school, this implies promoting novel ways of teaching, by enhancing all professional resources, with the highest level of efficiency and effectiveness as well as its objectives. This is through the development of solid actionable plans that translate into results that are clearly identifiable and measurable (Van Maele & Van Houtte, 2011).

It seems significant to look at proper organization towards school improvement as a plan that requires resources, and collaboration of all stakeholders of the school. This would allow for setting own priorities and goals with learners’ needs at heart and allow for progressive initiative towards improvement interventions. This in turn will translate into improved learning outcomes for the students; thus better prospects at higher levels of education as well as career pathways (Pedder & Opfer, 2013). This improvement from schools could then translate to benefits for economies by supporting the youth in building skills and knowledge. This course calls for proper organization of all factors in school, for the learners to acquire more skills and knowledge necessary for the world of work or higher levels of learning (Hongboontri & Keawkhong, 2014).

   Six essential conditions for improvement on a school internal level

 1. The strategy employed is solid enough to achieve the objectives or set goal.

 2. The link line between the school administration office and leadership to what students will experience in the classroom is clearly outlined.

3. The educators in roles in relation to this strategy have expectations clearly drawn out for them.

4. The learning that is required in order for the educators to do what they are being asked to essentially is professional learning plans for all stakeholders involved in the plan.

5. Evidence of progress for each objective is specified which often entails creating instruments and or programs that do not exist yet.

Organization as a function of management leads to planning which in turn leads to success. In general, two-year period is necessary for proper implementation of set goals as well as meet the requirements of why the goals were set. After this period new plans may be set, thus the school is released from the current organizational plan requirements. Effectiveness of each planning cycle will be measured via internal and external outcomes.

     Performance indicators in relation to proper organization.

&Performance indicators are important tools that assist schools in reviewing their development priorities and effectiveness of major tasks in relation to proper organization. This is important in order for proper refinement of school development to enhance desired learning outcomes. That said, there is need to look at the following areas within an organizational plan, which has performance indicators to measure improvement.

Area                                                                                                                                     performance indicators

 

1. School management:                                                                                                 2. Professional leadership :                                                                                          3.Curriculum and assessment:                                                                                      4.Student learning and teaching:                                                             5. Partnership: 6.Attitude and behavior: 7.Participation and achievement academic

1.planning, implementation and evaluation 2. Leadership and monitoring collaboration and support professional development 3.Curriculum organization, implementation, performance assessment and evaluation  4.Support for students development school climate  5.Home or school corporation, links with external organizations  6. Affective development and attitude social development  7.performance and non academic performance   Acknowledgement:  (Hughes & Bartlett, 2000).

 

    Accelerated schools

Many elementary schools provide children with an education that forms a basis of their later access to higher levels of education and career pathways. All learners are put together in this traditional learning style and their pathways are differentiated using their grades in assessment tests. Accelerated schools on the other hand provide a complex series of changes in schools to ‘design accelerated learning’, the learning of at-risk children (TAS 2020). Dr Henry with his colleagues developed accelerated schools concept which aims to:

1. Create new and supportive school culture that assists children and set high expectation for teachers and students.

2.Institute new governance structure process that takes into account schools’ weaknesses and strengths, work groups devoted to school issues of concern and school meetings in which important decisions are made through consensus.

3 .Use of powerful learning and teaching strategies that are interactive, challenging and project based as opposed to traditional pedagogical methods.

4. Receive technical assistance in implementing the reforms from other collaborators in the education sector.

          Impact of accelerated schools on student performance

 I.Academic excellence and achievement.

ii .Guiding our students through nurturing within the school environment.

iii. Setting high expectations for the learner in collaboration with the parents and communities.

iv. Preparing learners with knowledge, tools and skills to help them become citizens who are productive, engaged and lifelong learners by instilling the importance of good academic performance and the strong character right from my young age.

 v. Enrich life of students and families through a blended approach that looks into academics, cultural and community forecast programs.

                    Conclusion

The accelerated schools believe that they produce learners who are all rounded and highly prepared for success at higher levels of education as well as in the different career pathways; for they are well-informed and productive citizenry (The Accelerated Schools, 2020). As for the school, they must organize every factor aimed at improvement with their "customers" in mind. The students are the foremost users of their services, followed by their families, then the world of work. However, organization for improvement cannot be termed as project with deadlines, as it is an ongoing process that continues to review its services to establish logic of continuous improvement (Lieto, 2002).The objective is to properly organize all factors within the institution, thus develop ability to efficiently  improve on the outcomes.