This book provides a comprehensive account how school leaders conceptualize the notion of school improvement and school effectiveness in a South African school context. The various authors have critically examined crucial themes, accentuating school improvement and school effectiveness and encapsulating the pertinent perspectives of curriculum leadership, resource management, professional development, school administration, school development planning, inclusion and equity, student management and the role of school management teams. This book is targeted at aspiring and practicing school leaders, school administrators, policy-makers and scholars of school leadership and management across different levels who intend positively changing the education landscape of not only South Africa, but also other developing and underdeveloped countries.

This book provides a comprehensive account how school leaders conceptualize the notion of school improvement and school effectiveness in a South African school context. The various authors have critically examined crucial themes, accentuating school improvement and school effectiveness and encapsulating the pertinent perspectives of curriculum leadership, resource management, professional development, school administration, school development planning, inclusion and equity, student management and the role of school management teams. This book is targeted at aspiring and practicing school leaders, school administrators, policy-makers and scholars of school leadership and management across different levels who intend positively changing the education landscape of not only South Africa, but also other developing and underdeveloped countries.

Inclusive education presupposes an all-inclusive approach where all learners are taught in regular classrooms, regardless of background, disability or social context. While there has been much debate, indications are that inclusive education has been gaining momentum. The book is divided into six coherent sections that address the how of inclusive education both inside and outside of the classroom.

Maringe ought to be commended for putting together an invaluable contribution to our understanding of research into a complex education system in South Africa. This volume provides a useful foundation to the current state of education quality in South Africa including the impact of interventions. It also brings to the fore challenges still facing education transformation. The evidence presented which, taken together, lays out a coherent view of how improvements could be made. Albert Chanee Head of Planning, Gauteng Department of Education For too long the weight of educational scholarship produced in South Africa has been limited to that simple and standard form called the literature review. Now, for the first time, education researchers are provided with an African-based text on the concepts and methods of conducting systematic reviews. In this exceptional work of editorship, Felix Maringe brings together some of the leading researchers on South African education to model and demonstrate how to review a significant body of research on a chosen topic which is adjudicated strictly on the basis of the quality and efficacy of the evidence in hand. I have no doubt that this remarkable book will become a standard reference for educational researchers in and beyond the African continent. It will also lift the quality of educational inquiry by equipping a new generation of scholars with the capacity for doing evidence-based research that compels the attention of policymakers, planners and practitioners alike. Prof Jonathan Jansen Stellenbosch University

School Leadership for Democratic Education in South Africa explores the democratization and modernization of education in South Africa, analyzing the state of school leadership in South African schools from the time of the new democratic education dispensation in 1994 to the present day. The book maps out what the future of education in South Africa could look like and explores the most conducive educational environments for change in South African schools. It adopts a critical approach to analyzing leadership and management in the context of school governance, school effectiveness, teacher development, multiculturalism and equity in education. Contributions explore the democratization and modernization of education in South Africa through examining different perspectives, achievements and challenges, and also consider issues around access to technology, language policy and the curriculum along with new literature on selected aspects of leadership. This book will be of great interest for researchers, scholars, and students in the fields of educational leadership, sociology of education, and teacher education.

Looking at two smaller-scale systemic school improvement projects implemented in selected district circuits in the North West and Eastern Cape by partnerships between government, JET Education Services, and private sector organisations, this book captures and reflects on the experiences of the practitioners involved. The Systemic School Improvement Model developed by JET to address an identified range of interconnected challenges at district, school, classroom and household level, is made up of seven components. In reflecting on what worked and what did not in the implementation of these different components, the different chapters set out some of the practical lessons learnt, which could be used to improve the design and implementation of similar education improvement projects. Many of the lessons in this field that remain under-recorded to date relate to the step-by-step processes followed, the relationship dynamics encountered at different levels of the education system, and the local realities confronting schools and districts in South Africa’s rural areas. Drawing on field data that is often not available to researchers, the book endeavours to address this gap and record these lessons. It is not intended to provide an academic review of the systemic school improvement projects. It is presented rather to offer other development practitioners working to improve the quality of education in South African schools, an understanding of some of the real practical and logistical challenges that arise and how these may be resolved to take further school improvement projects forward at a wider district, provincial and national scale.

This book reviews of the development, implementation and practice of the disciplines of school effectiveness and school improvement. Seven main topics are addressed: History of the school effectiveness movement over the last 25 years; Changes in accountability and standards; Leadership in school effectiveness; Changes in teacher education; Impact of Diverse Populations; Education Funding and its Impact; and Best Practice Case Studies. The contributors are active in school effectiveness research worldwide.