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1 – 10 of over 67000This paper aims to investigate whether educational leadership in Greece implements the values of total quality management and contributes to the improvement of the educational…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate whether educational leadership in Greece implements the values of total quality management and contributes to the improvement of the educational process, and to offer proposals for a framework of total quality management that would contribute to an improvement in the overall quality of the education process.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on theoretical analysis and on the current legislative framework. Three different aspects of the Greek education system are critically reviewed and discussed.
Findings
This study recognises that, due mainly to the lack of a long‐term educational strategy, the absence of an educational leadership development programme and limited financial support, the Greek educational system needs to review its structure and procedures ‐ even those that are “taken for granted”.
Research limitations/implications
Given the differences between education and industry, and the fact that only three different aspects of the Greek education system are investigated here, more research and analysis would be required in this field.
Practical implications
The paper is useful to educational planners and policy makers. From the perspective of total quality management, there may be a substantial impact on the improvement mechanisms and outputs in education, contributing to a country's social and economic well‐being.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the better understanding of the value of total quality management in education, and offers recommendations that may be more widely adopted, and may contribute to an enhancement of overall educational quality.
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Quality has always been a central concern in education. Theexistent debate of educational quality has, however, shifted. Thecurrent discourse about educational quality is replete…
Abstract
Quality has always been a central concern in education. The existent debate of educational quality has, however, shifted. The current discourse about educational quality is replete with slogans like “standards”, “quality control”, “total quality management”, “consumer rights” and “appraisal”. Furthermore, the present debate about educational quality leaves many of the assumptions that underpin the utilization of the concept, quality, unexamined. In addition, recent discussions about educational quality presume, implicitly or explicitly, certain understandings of the practice of education. More importantly, the current discourse of educational quality is largely technicist. Argues that the current debate concerning educational quality is underpinned by technicist assumptions with respect to the practice of education. Moreover, further argues that the prevalent discourse of educational quality suppresses the argument regarding educational equality.
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Aneta Kucińska-Landwójtowicz, Izabela Dagmara Czabak-Górska, Marcin Lorenc, Pedro Domingues and Paulo Sampaio
The main purpose of this paper is twofold: to present a proposal for a model of educational quality management system within a process approach context for technical universities…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this paper is twofold: to present a proposal for a model of educational quality management system within a process approach context for technical universities, and a conceptual model of a performance measurement system (PMS) towards the assessment of the quality level of management, core and support processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper encompasses two main parts: a theoretical portion and a case study. Within the theoretical background, the authors discuss the issue of educational quality management supported on a process approach perspective as well as performance measurement system in high education (HE). The case study reports the development of the concept of performance measurement system for technical universities.
Findings
The proposed system of educational quality management supported on a process approach, together with a conceptual model of the performance measurement system, can be implemented in every technical university. The identification of processes in the education quality management system permitted the development of the PMS. The model covers 32 key performance indicators (KPIs) for management processes, 39 for core processes and 19 for supporting ones.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed performance measurement system is limited in its focus on educational processes and support of these processes. The evaluation of scientific and research activity and aspects related to financial resources is not pursued.
Originality/value
Elaboration of a conceptual model of a performance measurement system towards the assessment of the quality level of management, core and support processes is dedicated to technical universities.
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Yin Cheong Cheng and Wai Ming Tam
Suggests that there is a strong emphasis on the pursuit of education quality in ongoing educational reforms in both local and international contexts. Policies issued to implement…
Abstract
Suggests that there is a strong emphasis on the pursuit of education quality in ongoing educational reforms in both local and international contexts. Policies issued to implement educational changes for education quality often fail because of lack of comprehensive understanding of the complex nature of education quality in schools or higher education institutions. Introduces seven models of quality in education: the goals and specifications model; the resources input model; the process model; the satisfaction model; the legitimacy model; the absence of problems model; and the organizational learning model. Concludes that these models can form a comprehensive framework for understanding and conceptualizing quality in education from different perspectives and facilitating development of management strategies for achieving it. The framework can contribute to ongoing policy discussion, school practice, and research development on issues of quality in education institutions.
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Helen Dimou and Achilles Kameas
This paper aims to present a model for the quality assurance of digital educational material that is appropriate for adult education. The proposed model adopts the software…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a model for the quality assurance of digital educational material that is appropriate for adult education. The proposed model adopts the software quality standard ISO/IEC 9126 and takes into account adult learning theories, Bloom’s taxonomy of learning objectives and two instructional design models: Kolb’s model (the learning cycle) and Gagne, Briggs and Wager’s model.
Design/methodology/approach
The structure of this paper is as follows: in the second section, the theory of “the learning cycle of Kolb” is discussed. The third section discusses the model of Gagne, Biggs & Wager. The fourth section discusses and categorizes the characteristics and sub-characteristics of the quality of digital educational material. The fifth section discusses and categorizes the quality attributes of digital educational material. Moreover, the correlation of the sub-characteristics of the material with the model of Gagne and that of Kolb are examined.
Findings
The authors developed a quality model that adopts the structure of ISO/IEC 9126 standard, using basic notions of theories of adult education to define its characteristics and sub-characteristics. The model has been successfully applied in the quality evaluation of educational material distributed to distance learning adult students.
Originality/value
The innovative combination of an established quality model with sound educational theories yields a comprehensive model that allows both a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the appropriateness of digital educational material. The applicability of the model is demonstrated by applying it to specific digital materials specially developed for adult education.
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Vidyashankar Gourishankar and Prakash Sai Lokachari
In pursuit of achieving Education‐For‐All goals of universal primary education and improving quality of education, the Indian Government has been providing substantial resources…
Abstract
Purpose
In pursuit of achieving Education‐For‐All goals of universal primary education and improving quality of education, the Indian Government has been providing substantial resources to Indian states. The responsibility of providing access and quality remains the states' responsibility. Assessment of educational development will therefore become a focal point of the Center for Education Policy & Guidelines Formulation. While educational development indices help in ranking states, they do not help in capturing best practices and assessing the efficient utilization of resources. Assessment of the Educational Development Efficiency can augment educational development indices in vogue. The purpose of this paper is to develop an Educational Development Efficiency (EDE) model to benchmark the Indian states.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses an input‐process‐output conceptual framework to identify the dimensions of educational development. This paper employs Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to compare relative efficiency of 28 states and seven Union territories in India and benchmark them. In order to strengthen the discriminatory power of DEA, cross‐efficiency model was used. Factor analysis was performed to determine the inter‐relationships between variables. The efficiency impacting variables were identified using multiple regression analysis.
Findings
This paper benchmarked Indian states on educational development based on their performance. Gross enrolment ratio, students' academic performance and infrastructural investments were identified as the three key variables impacting states' EDE. This paper has shown that the educational administrators can use the EDE model to identify the best practices from efficient states. Insights into utilization of input resources to enhance educational development and consequent improvement of state efficiencies are presented. Four components have been identified to analyze the states' educational development progress – namely, financial adequacy, school resource strength, educational quality and educational access.
Practical implications
Contributions of this paper pertain to evolving a decision support model for national education policy planners, besides providing analytic support to the administrators of the states to benchmark and emulate the efficient educational programs.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the few published studies concerning the evaluation of educational development programs launched in the Indian schools and providing a cross‐comparison of the Indian states for the purposes of performance benchmarking as well as exploring the influencing factors.
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Jaime Rivera and Víctor Alarcón
This study aims to propose and test a model of educational quality in marketing-management by incorporating resource-capability variables that are linked to learning outcomes for…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to propose and test a model of educational quality in marketing-management by incorporating resource-capability variables that are linked to learning outcomes for students and the competitive positioning of universities.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the resource-dependence theory, this study develops a comprehensive model for measuring educational quality. A sample comprising Spanish university teachers has been used to test the hypothesised relationships by using a two-stage least squares regression analysis while controlling for the possible effect of the public/private nature of the university.
Findings
The results validate the model and show that educational capabilities are reliable variables for predicting the educational quality of marketing-management programmes at Spanish universities.
Research limitations/implications
Similar to all educational research studies, certain problems have been acknowledged with respect to the data and the theoretical constructs that are used in the study. Future studies can replicate this study’s model by using more direct objective measures of the theoretical constructs and extend the study to other countries with different educational contexts.
Practical implications
The results provide guidance to marketing teachers at a university in designing high-quality marketing-management educational programmes and in developing self-diagnostic tools that can determine a university’s likelihood of competitive success.
Originality/value
This study is one of the few studies to apply the resource-dependence theory to the analysis of the variables associated with the quality of marketing-management education. In doing so, the study presents original multiitem scales to improve the measurement of model constructs.
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Educational institutes must embrace the principles of total quality management (TQM) if they seek to remain competitive, and survive and succeed in the long run. An educational…
Abstract
Purpose
Educational institutes must embrace the principles of total quality management (TQM) if they seek to remain competitive, and survive and succeed in the long run. An educational institution must embrace the principles of quality management and incorporate them into all of their activities. Starting with a theoretical background, the paper outlines the results of a study conducted on both internal and external customers of the educational system, with select engineering and management institutes as foci of study. The study is an attempt toward developing an integrated customer-centric model of quality management in education, through the use of multiple methodologies so as to be able to evaluate service quality; prioritize improvement of service; and guide and develop educational services by incorporating the voice of the customer (VOC). The purpose of this paper is to establish the prioritization for improvement of service design of an educational system through incorporation of the VOC, be it internal or external customers, through the use of multiple methodologies, leading to generalization of results.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses multiple methodologies with various techniques for analysis through the application of the SERVQUAL; quality function deployment (QFD); interpretive structural modeling (ISM); and path analysis. The SERVQUAL was applied to identify the gap and determine the level of service quality. Following this, QFD, ISM and path analysis were used to identify the set of minimum design characteristics/quality components that would meet the requirements the various internal and external customers of the educational system. The QFD was used to identify the set of minimum design characteristics/quality components that meet the requirements of the various internal and external customers of the educational system. The ISM and path analysis were used to identify and prioritize the design characteristics/quality components that would meet the requirements the various internal and external customers of the educational system.
Findings
The findings from the various techniques were amalgamated, and proposed as an integrated model of TQM in higher education. The study helped identify with a customer perspective, the quality components which would help design TQM for higher education institutions in India.
Research limitations/implications
The paper could be useful to government bodies, funding agencies, policy makers and administrators in developing a system that could lead to satisfaction of both internal and external customers of the educational system.
Originality/value
The study includes within its scope the varied customers of the educational system, namely, internal and external customers of the educational system; the internal customers being the faculty and the administrative staff, and the external customers being the students and the industry (as the employer). This is yet to be seen in other research studies. Also, the integration of the multiple tools and their application to the field of higher education in India, has not yet been made available in the literature.
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Adam E. Nir and Bhojraj Sharma Kafle
The purpose of this paper is to provide a preliminary analysis to evaluate the implications of political stability for educational quality, evident in the survival rate measure.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a preliminary analysis to evaluate the implications of political stability for educational quality, evident in the survival rate measure.
Design/methodology/approach
Secondary analyses were conducted for data drawn from the Political Risk Service Report, the World Bank Report, the United Nations Report and the OECD Report, using a sample comprising 47 countries, 26 politically stable and 21 politically unstable during a ten‐year period of time (1998‐2008).
Findings
The study reveals that political stability plays a major role in explaining the survival rate in education when used as a single predictor or, when introduced in the analysis with the GDP per capita. Following previously reported findings suggesting causal relations between high economic growth and regime stability, the authors’ analyses show that as far as educational quality is concerned, political stability plays a far more significant role compared to countries’ economic circumstances evident in the GDP per capita.
Originality/value
These initial findings suggest that economic conditions create an essential infrastructure which in itself is not sufficient. Political stability which fosters continuity seems to be essential to enable professional considerations to dominate educational processes and allow educators to conduct pedagogical programs from start to finish.
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Maria Vincenza Ciasullo, Rosalba Manna and Rocco Palumbo
Educational institutions are facing a growing number of challenges, which impair their ability to provide high quality and effective educational services. The involvement of…
Abstract
Purpose
Educational institutions are facing a growing number of challenges, which impair their ability to provide high quality and effective educational services. The involvement of pupils in co-creating learning experiences is a fundamental ingredient of the recipe for increased educational quality. Inter alia, the implementation of citizen science initiatives at schools allows pupils to be active co-producers of educational services. The purpose of this paper to shed light on the attributes of citizen science projects targeted at pupils (aged between six and ten) attending primary schools, in order to identify their potential implications in terms of educational services’ quality improvement.
Design/methodology/approach
Secondary data were collected from the Scistarter® web platform. Projects addressed to primary schools and provided with specific classroom materials were taken into consideration (n=65). A qualitative, comparative and bird’s eye analysis was performed: first, looking at the role and the tasks assigned to pupils, the projects were grouped in four categories; second, the potential implications of citizen science on educational services’ quality were investigated.
Findings
Citizen science at school paves the way for pupils’ empowerment and for their direct involvement in the co-production of educational services. Moreover, it enhances the relationship between teachers and pupils, engaging them in a co-creating partnership intended at addressing real scientific issues at school. However, citizen science is still poorly integrated into conventional educational curricula in primary schools.
Practical implications
From a management point of view, citizen science is thought to contribute to the improvement of educational services’ quality, stimulating pupils to partner with their peers and with teachers for the purpose of knowledge co-production; in addition, it allows for the enrichment of educational activities in primary schools. From a policy perspective, citizen science at school harmonizes with the democratization of scientific knowledge.
Originality/value
This is one of the first research papers to demonstrate the potential implications of citizen science on educational services’ quality and effectiveness in primary schools.
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