In this article, several ways to adjust gross school effects are discussed to set the stage for estimating treatment effects in schooling. Although it is quite hazardous to hypothesize realistic benchmarks for results from meta-analyses, because of the dependency of effect sizes on subject matter area, grade level, and study characteristics, a…

This chapter describes how Inspectorates of Education operationalize different inspection goals (control, improvement, and liaison) in their inspection indicator frameworks. The chapter provides an overview and examples of the indicators used across a number of countries and how these are incorporated in inspection frameworks to evaluate and…

From an international review of 109 school effectiveness research studies, only 6 could be seen as theory driven. As the border between substantive conceptual models of educational effectiveness and theory-based models is not always very sharp, this number might be increased to 11 by including those studies that are based on models that make…

In this commentary, the 3 review papers by Reynolds et al. (this issue), Muijs et al. (this issue), and Hopkins, Stringfield, Harris, Stoll, and Mackay (this issue) on "educational effectiveness", "teaching effectiveness", and "school and system improvement" are discussed. In the text, the 3 papers are occasionally…

Following Snow's (1973) description of an "inductive" process of theory formation, this article addresses the organization of the knowledge base on school effectiveness. A multilevel presentation stimulated the conceptualization of educational effectiveness as an integration of system-level, school-level, and classroom-level…

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the means by which principals achieve an impact on student achievement. Research Design: Through the application of structural equation modeling, a mediated-effects model for school leadership was tested, using data from 97 secondary schools in the Netherlands. Findings: The results showed a small…

Examines empirical research on school in developing countries. Reports large between-school variance, strong influence of material and human-resource input factors, and limited impact of instructional conditions. Discusses contextual challenges to the school-effectiveness model. Explores the use of the school-effectiveness knowledge base for…

Concepts from organizational theory are used to interpret and review major findings of school effectiveness research to develop a broader perspective for understanding school effectiveness. Results of school-effectiveness research in the Netherlands are compared with those from research in the United States and England. A more-or-less established…

This article describes the process of theoretical reflection that preceded the development and empirical verification of a model of "effective school improvement". The focus is on basic mechanisms that could be seen as underlying "getting things in motion" and change in education systems. Four mechanisms are distinguished:…

Reviews models and theories on effective schooling. Discusses four rationality-based organization theories and a fifth perspective, chaos theory, as applied to organizational functioning. Discusses theory-embedded principles flowing from these theories: proactive structuring, fit, market mechanisms, cybernetics, and self-organization. The…

The Netherlands has a flourishing, quantitatively sophisticated effectiveness research base that seems relatively unused within practice and abused by the political sphere. Dutch studies evince context specificity (while failing to replicate some validated school-effectiveness factors), sophisticated theoretical formulation, multiple-level…

Process indicators (PIs) of school functioning and their place within the educational indicators systems are discussed. Literature is reviewed as a basis for selection of PIs for an integral model of school effectiveness. Although it is difficult to collect data on PIs, they provide valuable information on system functioning. (SLD)

This monograph reviews various strands of research on school effectiveness in developed and developing countries. It addresses a central theme of educational planning: how deliberate actions by policymakers, school administrators, teachers, and parents can help in the attainment of educational goals. Chapter 1, "Conceptualization: Perspectives on…