Eleven Factors for Effective Schools
- Professional Leadership
This is a key factor in bringing about change. Leaders, who tend to be proactive, participate and share leadership, and have real knowledge of what goes on in the classroom.
- Shared Vision and Goals
Effective schools build consensus on the aims and values of the school, and develop a sense of community. This provides a unity of purpose, a consistency of practice, and ownership through Collegiality and collaboration.
- A learning Environment
The shared vision and values determine the ethos of the school. Effective schools have an orderly environment and an attractive working environment, including the display of children's work.
- Concentration on Teaching and Learning
Effectiveness is clearly dependent on effective classroom teaching. It is vital that schools focus on quality as well as the quantity of teaching and learning. Such schools make maximum use of learning time and place an emphasis on mastery of basic skills and the development of an achievement orientation.
- Purposeful Teaching
Quality teaching is at the heart of effective schooling. Such teaching is based on efficient organisation with teachers clear about their objectives. Students are aware of the purposes. Structured lessons with teachers making use of a range of explicit teaching strategies. Teacher who use adaptive practice to modify and adapt curriculum material to suit student individual differences.
- High Expectations
Positive high expectations are one of the most important factors. Teachers set high standards to challenges and monitor progress. High expectations also apply to teachers. Teachers convey and reinforce high expectations. Students are encouraged t use their creative imagination and powers of problem solving.
- Positive Reinforcement
This was the most important element of all. This occurs where there is clear and fair discipline where students feel they belong and are able to participate. Direct and positive feedback has a positive effect with student behaviour and praise needs to be specific, spontaneous and varied.
- Monitoring Progress
Well-established mechanisms for monitoring the progress of pupils, classes, the school as a whole, and improvement programmes are important features. Monitoring by itself has little effect but is an important ingredient in an effective school to determine school wide progress. Some schools misdirect teaching through too frequent monitoring procedures. The key is appropriate monitoring. Evaluating school progress is particularly important.
- Pupils Rights and Responsibilities
Research indicates that there are considerable gains to be made when pupil self esteem is raised and when they have an active role and have responsibility for their own learning.
- Home School Partnership
Supportive relations and cooperation between home and school have positive effects. Effective schools not only involve parents but also make demands on them. The relationship between the individual teacher and the parent(s) is critical.
- A Learning Organisation
Effective schools are learning organisations where all aspects of the school are interrelated. To be effective development needs to be school based and tailored to the specific needs of the school. There is value in embedding staff development within collegial and collaborative planning and ensuring ideas are shared.
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