Can we Improve Performance in Conduct Disorders Schools?

• In Event: Financing Education in a Polycultural State: Challenges and Pitfalls

Proposal

Education is aimed, among other things, to contribute to student learning, and development. In the contemporary 21 century, national and international evaluations and comparisons have been focused on measurable student and school outcomes. Educators, teachers and principals are held accountable for school outcomes, which increase expectations of principals to work to enhance student learning and to improve outcomes.

The objective of this research is to analyse the relationships among principal's management style, school climate, and extent of improvement in students' academic performance in special education needs (SEN) schools who specialized with conduct disorders in Israel. The implications from this research might be interesting to other countries that are characterised with large diversity in general and in Special Education Needs (SEN( in particular.

This research examines the following three questions:
a) To what extent, if at all, are student background characteristics (e.g., gender, and SES), teacher profiles (e.g., seniority, and education), and school features (e.g., school level), related to the management style of the school principal and to the school climate?
b) To what extent, if at all, are the principal's management style and the school climate related to improvement in academic achievement among the examined population?
c) To what extent, if at all, are the principal's management style and the school climate related to improvement in academic achievement among the examined population, after statistically controlling for students' background characteristics, teachers’ profiles and school features?

This research uses path analysis. The following three regression models were executed. Model I explains improvement in the students' academic achievement using student background characteristics, teachers’ profiles and school features as explanatory variables. Model II explains the contribution of school climate and teachers’ perceptions of management style to the explained variance in academic improvement. Model III estimates the contribution of school climate and teachers’ perceptions of management to the explained variance in academic improvement, while statistically controlling for students’ background characteristics, teachers’ profiles and school features.
Model I indicate that the lower the SES of a student the higher the improvement gained in the academic achievement. In addition, the lower the teacher's seniority the higher the improvement gained in achievement. Finally, in secondary schools the improvement gained is higher compared with primary schools.
Model II indicate that when the school principal is characterized as a transformational leader, he leads the students to a higher extent of improvement in academic performances.
Model III indicate that the less caring the class climate, the greater the degree of improvement in achievement. In addition, the principal as a leader of change has a greater impact on the improvement gain in achievement.

The implications of this research can help policy makers pay attention and adopt other methods to improve the academic achievement of students in the special education population in general and among students with conduct disorders in particular.

 

Authors

• uri Even, Bar-Ilan University

• Iris BenDavid-Hadar, Bar-Ilan University