The purpose of this paper is to analyze the district effectiveness literature. It begins by summarizing the school effectiveness research, the correlates of effective schools, and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the district effectiveness literature. It begins by summarizing the school effectiveness research, the correlates of effective schools, and the conceptual and methodological characteristics of this field. It then describes the findings from a review of 50 studies of district effectiveness, the most frequently identified correlates of effective districts, and the conceptual and methodological features of this research. From there, it compares and contrasts the two fields, paying attention to the ways in which they frame notions of success, purposes of education, the contextualized nature of school performance, and theoretical explanations for student success.
Design/methodology/approach
Data sources for this literature review included 50 primary documents on district effectiveness. The studies were bound to those that presented the original results from investigations of the relationship between district‐level policies, routines, behaviors, or other characteristics and classroom‐level outcomes.
Findings
Several themes run through the literature on district effectiveness. These include findings that standards‐aligned curricula, coherent organizational structures, strong instructional leadership, frequent monitoring and evaluation, and focused professional learning lead to higher test scores. Most of these investigations are framed from technical perspectives that explore the relationship between organizational regulations and improved test performance. Less common are inquiries about the socio‐political and normative forces that shape districts’ improvement experiences. One consequence of this technical focus is that the field of district effectiveness has come to share several of the conceptual and methodological properties that characterized the former school‐level research.
Research limitations/implications
The article concludes by discussing the implications for the growing volume of district‐level research on educational leadership, district improvement, and educational equity.
Originality/value
This article details the ways in which a sharp focus on questions of what works in the district effectiveness literature has deepened researchers’ and practitioners’ knowledge of the specific mechanisms that may produce more desirable results in test performance, yet these questions alone, decoupled from corresponding inquiries about the complex, highly contextualized character of higher or lower scoring districts, leave researchers and practitioners vulnerable to the same scholarly and practical pitfalls of their predecessors.
Details
Keywords
There has been ample research on the antecedents and consequences of workplace sexual harassment (WSH), a volatile issue in contemporary labor markets. There is, however, a…
Abstract
Purpose
There has been ample research on the antecedents and consequences of workplace sexual harassment (WSH), a volatile issue in contemporary labor markets. There is, however, a lingering gap in the scholarly literature regarding the organizational practices involved in contending with WSH incidents following their occurrence. By exploring the practices and challenges of sexual harassment commissioners, a mandatory role performed by Israeli human resource practitioners, this study aims to unpack the embedded power dynamics, which construct how WSH is both deciphered and handled within organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 45 sexual harassment commissioners (SHCs) in various business organizations in Israel to explore practitioners' conceptions of the challenges underlying their role. A grounded theory approach was utilized.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that, while SHCs seemingly are empowered by their exclusive authority to inquire into an intricate organizational matter, counter practices have emerged to undermine their authority and influence. This negatively affects their ability to reduce the prevalence of WSH. SHCs' attempts to approach WSH utilizing a power discourse are eroded by systematic barriers that channel them toward adoption of the default legal discourse. The latter frames WSH in terms of individual misconduct rather than as a phenomenon stemming from and expressive of organizational and societal gender inequalities.
Research limitations/implications
This study does not represent the voices of WSH complainants or of top executives. The data focused on SHCs' descriptions of their role challenges.
Practical implications
Implications are suggested regarding the academic education and training of SHCs.
Originality/value
This study sheds light on covert and unspoken barriers to gender equality in the labor market.