In what are often described as modern Western school systems, the supervision of elementary schools generally shifted from the hands of clerical administrators to genuine state officials during the nineteenth century. The Prussian state, like other predominantly Protestant states, relied on clerical personnel and church supervision structures to…

Prepared for a CERI (Centre for Educational Research and Innovation) Strategic Education Governance Learning Seminar, this working paper analyses an ongoing reform in Austria to change the traditional sector-specific "supervision" of different school types to a system of quality management of all schools in the region and to introduce a…

The job of an effective school supervisor has multiple faces. They are supposed to be mentors, strategists and managers as well as the representatives of the up-to-date regulations. Top-down changes or mandated changes originate at government or bureaucratic level. Bottom-up changes are the ones initiated by opponents of an organization. It is…

This article discusses insights from an ethnographic study of local governance practices in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland, under changing policy conditions. Recent reforms introduced and strengthened the position of head teachers, enhanced the responsibility of the municipalities and introduced new quality management procedures in local…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how principals and school supervisory authorities understand and use feedback from mandatory proficiency tests (VERA) in the low-stakes context of Germany. For the analysis, the authors refer to a theoretical model of schools that differentiates between Autonomous and Managed Professional…

An Indianapolis-based nonprofit organization has crafted a sweeping plan for reworking the 33,000-student Indianapolis school system that would place the district under the control of the city's mayor, pare down the money spent in central administration, and give principals broad authority to hire and fire teachers. The reform plan created by the…

In this study, it was aimed to determine to what extent the problems detected at the guidance and supervision reports could be solved and in this context, to what degree these visits were functional. So, with a qualitative research approach, data were obtained at two stages and analyzed through NVivo 7 software. At the first stage, the guidance…

Rural and remote Papua and West Papua are among the most important regions for Indonesia to achieve the second MDG on primary education with equity. Both provinces have gross, net enrolment and literacy rates which barely touch the national averages. Given the distinct political, socio-cultural, and geographical aspects of Papua and West Papua…

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss recent developments in school developmental supervisory evaluation in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai in the Chinese Mainland. Design/methodology/approach: The main research approach is qualitative, using documentary analysis and interviews of an inspector, principals and teachers from two…

Reports on a study designed to assess the perceptions of principals, teachers, superintendents, science supervisors, and science education leaders (N=628) about the role of the science education expert. Findings indicate that the role of the science supervisor has emerged as a key element in the discussion of secondary science education. Lists…

Advocates a managerial mode for English supervisors that values informal, decentralized, creative, and intuitive ways of getting understanding and change. (HOD)

This article provides 4 selected strategies that were drawn from 135 schools that engaged in a research and development project to reform their teaching/learning from teacher-centered to learner-centered through a whole-school approach. The 4 strategies are provision for continuous internal supervision, exchanges of ideas and experiences,…

This paper reports on the final phase of a three-part study on the status of instructional supervision within several New York City public schools. In the first parts of the study the researchers found, through extensive use of surveys (questionnaires and interviews), that centralized educational reform had serious consequences for instructional…

Argues from personal experience that a fundamental revision of school authority structures is necessary. Describes most school power organizations as "pyramids," with an all-competent principal at top. Suggests that principals "think small" and deal with problems realistically, maintaining their integrity by treating each teacher fairly and by…

This article discusses walk-throughs as a valuable source of instructional data for teachers and administrators. Data gathering and analysis can be a dynamic and exciting process when walk-throughs are incorporated into a school's improvement plan as an instructional snapshot. At Norris High School in Firth, Nebraska, the principal uses…