Adrie J. Visscher

Subject departments as professional communities

A growing body of literature suggests that when schools become professional communities there are expected benefits in terms of teacher learning, school improvement and student achievement. In this article the concept of professional communities is examined for certain subject departments in Dutch secondary schools. The authors report on research into the extent to which mathematics departments operate as professional communities. At the same time, it was investigated whether the level at which departments operate as professional communities is related to student achievement. The results indicate that departments are cohesive bodies regulating teacher behaviour in several respects. However, as professional communities they do not focus on improving the quality of their teachers and instruction. Some characteristics of professional communities prove to be beneficial for student achievement, while others are not. The authors offer recommendations on how departments can develop into more professionally organised communities.

The effects of the use of a school self-evaluation instrument

School quality care has become important in many Western countries. A number of self-evaluation instruments have been developed in response. The goal of these instruments is improving the quality of education. One such system, ZEBO, was developed for performing quality assessment in Dutch primary schools. The use of this self-evaluation instrument was studied in 79 primary schools in The Netherlands over a period of 5 years. The results of the multilevel analyses with repeated measures show that the use of the self-evaluation results had no effect on pupil achievement scores (so far). However, it did have other effects, for example, an impact on the professional development of teachers.

School Administrative Computing: A Framework for Analysis

This article presents a framework for examining school administrative computing and will serve as a point of reference for subsequent articles in this special issue of the Journal of Research on Computing in Education. Initially, four phases in the development of computer assisted school administration are presented. Next, possible school administrative applications are delineated. Finally, the variables that play an important role in the design, use, and effects of school administrative computing are presented by means of a model that depicts their interrelationship.

Lessons to be learned

The evaluative and reflective papers in this special issue of Education and Information Technologies show some interesting types of assistance information technology (IT) can provide to those who manage classrooms and educational organizations. Most of the papers are based on longitudinal research confirming the value of the applications of the IT presented. The papers strongly support the influence of the variable groups included in Fig. 1 in the introductory paper, and further comparison with the analysis framework can draw out inferences on what factors are of particular importance for successful implementation. We can conclude that, although the original framework was designed for more institutional level IT management implementations, it can additionally provide a guiding framework for evaluating the impact of IT on the wide variety of managing roles within the classroom, and should even provide a guiding and evaluative tool for a more virtual environment of the future

Computer Assisted School Administration and Management: The State of the Art in Seven Nations

In this last article in this special issue of the Journal of Research on Computing in Education, the state of the art of computer assisted school administration (CASA) is synthesized, based on the preceding articles about administrative computing in Australia, England, Hong Kong, Israel, Mexico, The Netherlands, and the United States. First, the findings of the “country-specific” articles are summarized with respect to the framework presented in the first article of this issue. Next, the elements of the framework are reviewed, and some general conclusions are subsequently presented concerning the current status of CASA worldwide.

Evaluation of the Use of Computer-Assisted Management Information Systems in Dutch Schools

AbstractEmpirical data on the implementation and effects of computer-assisted school information systems (SISs) is scarce. In the Netherlands SISs have been developed and used since the 1970s. In this research project the extent of SIS use, factors promoting successful SIS implementation, and the effects of SIS use have been studied in Dutch secondary schools. The research findings indicate that SIS use is not of the same intensity for all SIS modules and is not equally distributed across all types of respondents. Although many users in general are satisfied with most aspects of the quality of the SISs, a considerable number complain about their management-supporting capacity. Training and user support has been limited, making it difficult to sort out SIS problems. According to users, SIS use has led to both positive and negative effects. Variance analysis of direct SIS users and nonusers pointed to interesting differences between both groups concerning the perceived SIS quality, features of the implement...

Information technology in educational management as an emerging discipline

This chapter introduces the application of computerized management information systems in schools and presents a brief history of the dynamic area of Information Technology in Educational Management (ITEM). Subsequently, the background of this special issue and a framework for its contents are portrayed. Finally, an overview is presented of the contents of the special issue.

Information Technology in Educational Management for the Schools of the Future

Key note speech. Tomorrow schools. Computer-assisted decision-making. Organisational culture. Evaluation and implementation. Systems development. Learning process management. Panels and discussion - summaries.

Assessing the Effects of a School-Wide Data-Based Decision-Making Intervention on Student Achievement Growth in Primary Schools

Despite growing international interest in the use of data to improve education, few studies examining the effects on student achievement are yet available. In the present study, the effects of a two-year data-based decision-making intervention on student achievement growth were investigated. Fifty-three primary schools participated in the project, and student achievement data were collected over the two years before and two years during the intervention. Linear mixed models were used to analyze the differential effect of data use on student achievement. A positive mean intervention effect was estimated, with an average effect of approximately one extra month of schooling. Furthermore, the results suggest that the intervention especially significantly improved the performances of students in low socioeconomic status schools.

Formative Evaluation in Educational Computing Research and Development

AbstractFormative evaluation is a very powerful technique for developing high-quality educational software. The goal of this article is to explain the function of formative evaluation and the evaluation techniques that can be used in the various stages of educational computing research and development. It is our hope that it will help developers (1) create better and more effective educational software and (2) use resources in the development process more productively.