Measuring School Effectiveness
The main subject of the dissertation I wrote for my doctorate was “school effectiveness.” Choosing this subject was driven by a personal belief that the school contributes the most in the development of an individual. It is in school where an individual acquires and develops formally most of the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values they need and they ought to have.
I put emphasis on the word formally in the preceding paragraph for anyone could argue that the home (family) and the church contribute also to the formation of an individual. Of course they do… but not all parents (unless they are teachers by profession) are trained educators. Teachers (presumably) are. And not all families are functional. The dysfunctional ones would certainly not help in the proper development of an individual. A school (presumably also) is always functional. This is not saying that the home does not contribute to the development of an individual. It does, but not as comprehensively as the school could.
What about the Church?
An individual can not be forced to embrace religion. A lot of people do not have religion. And even those who profess to have religion can not be obliged to go to church and attend masses (or church services) during days of spiritual obligations. Thus, religious institutions may not help (or may contribute just a little) in the development of an individual. On the other hand, a young person can not avoid going to school. No parents in their right mind would not want their children to get an education. For as long as the budget would allow, children will be forced to attend school from basic to tertiary education. And even if a family may not have enough financial resources to access expensive private education, schools run (or subsidized) by the government may serve as alternative.
The school carries on its broad shoulders that task of ensuring that the students entrusted to them should acquire and develop the necessary knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that they ought to posses. The school, which is already acknowledged as the extension of the home, should even be ready to become a vehicle of the church in spreading the gospel… except of course in societies where religion is not part of their culture.
Thus, the school cannot afford to be mediocre. The schools, as expected, should always be a paragon of excellence.
But how do we measure excellence in schools?
Excellence is an abstract concept but can be empirically tested. Excellence of schools can be quantified through existing measures of school effectiveness.
Existing literatures suggest that to measure school effectiveness the performance or achievement of students should be taken into consideration. Scheerens1 refers to school effectiveness as “the performance of the organizational unit called school. The performance of the school can be expressed as the output of the school, which in turn is measured in terms of the average achievement of the pupil at the end of the period of formal schooling.”
Student achievement in the basic skills is undoubtedly the most popular criterion for defining an effective school. Sergiovani2 explains that an effective school is one whose students achieve well in the basic skills as measured by standard tests. Thus, schools take pride whenever their students top government exams – proficiency in certain subject areas for basic education students and board exams for college graduates.
But are the students’ grades or scores in standard tests and government examination a valid measurement of school effectiveness?
Sergiovanni’s model (and similar approaches in quantifying school effectiveness) is being criticized as unidimensional and insufficient. Critics are saying that focusing exclusively on academic achievement ignores the relationship between achieving effectiveness in academic outcomes and achieving effectiveness among other dimensions like citizenship training and development of self-esteem, independence training, and the development of self discipline.
Focusing too much on academic outcomes have made society too obsessed about grades.
Schools are believed to have purposes and goals other than teaching basic skills. Schools effectiveness, therefore, should not be measured only in terms of whether the graduates could read, write and compute and could get good grades and perform well in government examinations.
The effectiveness of schools should be measured in other dimensions as well. Measuring school effectiveness through Sergiovani’s model is taking a myopic view of the purposes of education. It takes into consideration only the intellectual purpose of schooling, which, according to McNergney and Herbert3, include the teaching of basic cognitive skills, such as reading, writing, and mathematics and the transmission of specific knowledge. There are other purposes of education which they (McNergney and Herbert) identified – political, social and economic.
A comprehensive measurement of school effectiveness should attempt to quantify the performance of schools in all the areas aforementioned.
It is hard to refute that schools play a very important role in the development of the individual and in nation-building. Thus they cannot afford to disregard their political and social purposes.
Measuring effectiveness of school should not stop after their students graduate. How their students perform in the workplace and in society as they grow older should also be considered.
The school is the vehicle in the delivery of education and the quality of education the citizenry and their leaders receive through the educational system determines whether a nation is destined for greatness or remain in socio-economic stagnation.
It is believed that a nation is as good as its citizens. One measure then that could be used to establish the effectiveness of schools is to determine what kind of citizens (and members of society) do they produce.
Whatever the status of a country is at the moment, whether it is progressive and peaceful or not is what its citizens made it to be and how the citizens made a nation to be reflects the kind of education they received from the schools.
Measuring school effectiveness in this way, admittedly, is difficult. But even the simplest of minds can easily answer the following questions:
Which school is more effective? Is it the school that produced graduates who topped board examinations or the school that produced responsible, productive and conscientious citizens and leaders?
Which schools are effective? Those that produced topnotchers in standardized and board examinations or those that produced citizens and leaders who are contributing positively to the betterment of society, nation, and the world?
References:
- Scheerens, Jaap, Effective Schooling: Research, Theory and Practice.
- Sergiovanni, Thomas, The Principalship: A Reflective Practice Perspective.
- McNergney, Robert & Herbert, Joanne Foundations of Education: The Challenge of Professional Practice.
Larawan
Lumang larawan sa sahig ay nahulog
Nang ang mga gamit ay aking inayos
Dali-dali ito na aking pinulot
Pinagpag ang kumapit na alikabok.
Larawan mo ito… muling pinagmasdan
Kinuhanan ka sa isang kabukiran
May mga puno sa banda mong kanan
Ginintuang palay ang nasa likuran
May mga bulaklak sa iyong paanan,
Isang rosas nga’y muntik mong matapakan.
Sa kaliwa mo aking nabanaagan,
Tutubi’t paro-paro’y nagliliparan.
Dapit-hapon noon nang ika’y kinunan
Sa langit ay may kaunting kaaulapan
Palubog na araw sana ay napagmasdan
Kung ang mukha mo ay hindi nakaharang.
Larawan mo ay hindi na iniligpit
Sa taguan kasi baka makagipit
Marahan ko itong pinagpunit-punit
Isinama sa mga itinapong gamit.
The Substitute Teacher
When our teacher in Character Formation took a leave of absence, Ms. Dimaculangan was hired as substitute. Actually, she is good. She has mastery of the subject, fun to be with, very energetic, and never boring. She could have been a great teacher…. except for one thing…
“Good morning class! Let’s begin right away. What do we have for today? Hhhmmm! Aha… you have an assignment. I told you to find some quotations related to INTEGRITY. You will be called one by one in front. You will recite the quotation, recognize the author… then after that… what do you do… EXXPPLAINN. Is that clear? Hhhmmm…. What? Are you asking why you need to acknowledge the author? To avoid PLAGIARISM (mispronounced)….”
Then I told her… “Ma’am it’s PLAGIARISM.”
“Ahh… PLAGIARISM… Okay… sorry… I’m only human.”
“Now … let’s have first…. KULLLAASA… Stand up Kulasa. Begin! Acknowledge the author first… to avoid PLAGIARISM…
“Ma’am… My quotation was from… from…”
“From who Kulasa? Why can’t you say it?”
“From Fran… Francois (mispronounced)?”
“What Francois (mispronounced)? Spell it.”
“Ah… F-R-A-N-C-O-I-S.”
“Ha, ha, ha… That’s Francois (mispronounced also)… my Gosh…”
I smiled again and had to tell Ma’am that it’s Francois. Ahh, that’s my role in her class. To watch out for her pronunciation and grammar. Glad that she would never take offense whenever I correct her.
“Hhhmmm! Kulasssaa! According to the expert, that’s Francois.”
“Okay Ma’am, you really are very good.”
“Don’t say that anymore Kulasa… I know that already… But thanks anyway.”
“My quotation is from Francois Demetry. It reads… “Prosperity achieved by losing integrity is shameful.” Ah Ma’am… Did I read properly all the words? You are my idol in pronunciation and grammar. I mean… you know.”
“Kulasa, are you insinuation something.”
“Then I said.. Ahh, Ma’am shouldn’t that be insinuating?”
“Yeah… yeah… I know…. I mean, are you insinuating something”
“No Ma’am. I’m only telling the truth. You really are my idol! Ma’am… do I still need to explain the…”
“Not anymore… it’s self-explanation.”
The class had a good laugh again.
Then Kulasa blurted… “Correction Mam, that’s not “self-explanation…” but “self-explanatory.”
In the midst of the laughter of my classmates I saw how delighted was Ms. Dimaculangan. I started to suspect something. It seemed that she was committing all those boo-boos in pronunciation and grammar on purpose.
Then that night I chanced upon a public service show on TV. I could not be mistaken, one of the resource persons was Ms. Dimaculangan. I almost fell off my seat when I heard our substitute teacher dished out perfect English in a distinct British accent, with impeccable grammar, pronunciation and enunciation. I could not believe what I heard and saw. It was a totally different Ms. Dimaculangan.
I was right with my observation, she intentionally committed those grammatical slips and mispronunciations. Probably, to elicit laughter and get our attention. Her ploy was effective. We enjoyed her. Despite her “intentional” bad grammar and pronunciation , we learned a lot from her. I remember that at times when I was not in the mood to check her pronunciation, she herself would do it. I decided not to tell my classmates about my discovery.
After her last meeting with us I approached Ms. Dimaculangan. “Ma’am I saw you on TV one night.
My gosh… Abelgas… you saw me in the boobtube (mispronounced).
Ma’am, it’s “boobtube.”
She just smiled and gave me a wink.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–
(NOTE: This declamation piece was used by the Bulacan Private Schools Association [BULPRISA] for their 2014 declamation contest – Elementary Level 2)
PWEDE PO BANG MAGTANONG?
Sa paligid ay igala ang paningin
Mayroon bang nagbago sa bayan natin,
Asam na pag-unlad atin na bang narating,
Kapayapaang hangad atin bang angkin?
Tigilan na ang pagbulag-bulagan
Mata mo’y imulat sa katotohanan
Bayan nati’y lugmok sa kahirapan
‘Di makamit asam na kapayapaan
Ang tanong, “Sino ang dapat na sisihin?”
Sino ba ang hindi tumupad sa tungkulin?
Mga pinuno bang iniluklok natin,
O imaheng katitigan mo sa salamin?
Pinunong halal lang ba ang may tungkulin
Na paglingkuran ang inang-bayan natin?
Kung doon sa hapag mo’y walang pagkain
Sila nga lang ba ang dapat na sisihin?
Kaninong pinuno ka ba nasiyahan?
‘Di ba’t silang lahat ay iyong pinintasan?
Palaging may mali, palaging may kulang,
Kay hirap sundin ng iyong pamantayan.
Subalit kung ika’y aking tatanungin
May nagawa ka ba para sa bayan natin?
Sobra-sobra kung pinuno’y batikusin
Eh ikaw, “Ano ba ang kaya mong gawin?”
Para kasing kay talino mo’t kay galing
Eh ‘di sige mungkahi ko iyong sundin
Maging pinuno iyo kayang subukin
At problema ng bayan iyong lutasin
Kung hindi kaya aba’y manahimik ka!
H’wag ka nang makisawsaw sa pulitika!
Ang gawin mo sana’y maghanap-buhay ka
Ang itaguyod… sarili mo’t ang pamilya
Sa halip na pulitika ang atupagin
Buhay mo muna ang dapat na ayusin
Dahil kapag tagumpay… iyong narating
Maging ang bayan mo’y makikinabang din.
Pain’s But A Myth
Tricked by Eros, I was brokenhearted
In anguish and torment my soul screamed
“Journey to my dreamland,” Hypnos muttered
“Drown misery in the lake of dreams.”
Dionysus countered, “Visit my vines
Then feast upon my sweet magical grapes
Submerge your anguish in the lake of wine
Let the spirits engulf all of your cares.”
Aphrodite said, “I will bring Helen
She can kiss your anxieties away,
Frolic with her in Dionysus’ haven
While I’m holding Menelaus at bay.”
And when Thanatos arrived, he whispered
“Down there anxieties have no domain
Now, hold tight my hands, waiting is Hades
Let death vanquish all your distress and pain.”
Rhea came last, took my hand and smiled
Oh her turret crown beamed comfort and ease.
On her laps I just cuddled like a child
Then she whispered, “Know that pain’s but a myth.”
Mukhang “Poet”
Mukhang “poet” lang ako. Hindi talaga masasabing bihasa ako sa pagsulat ng tula. Masigasig lang ako kung taludtura’y nilalakbay at pilit na mga pantig ay tinutugma’t pinapantay. Mahilig lang akong gumamit ng mga talinghagang batid kong ang babasa’y kaya namang talusin at pilit na sila sa kariktan ng tula’y sa lugod lunurin.
Natuto lang ako ng kaunti kung papaanong ang mga saknong sa tayutay ay habiin. Kahit naman papano ang pagwawangis ay kaya kong gawin. Natutuhan ko rin naman kahit kaunti kung papaano pagapanging ang damdamin sa bawat taludtod at hayaang laman ng puso ko’y sa pantig tumibok.
Marunong lang akong sumulat kahit naman papaano at pinipilit kong aralin ang mga dapat kong matutuhan sa larangang ito upang maging karapat-dapat akong matawag na makata. Hindi pa ako tapos sa aking pag-aaral.
Ang nasa kong matuto’y hindi magmamaliw hangga’t puso ko’t isipa’y kayang sabay na umindak sa kumpas ng aliw-iw.
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Karahimihan sa mga tula ko’y “lalabindalawahin” at ang mga saknong ay apat na linya. Gumagamit din ako ng malayang taludturan, walang sukat pero sinisikap kong lagyan ng tugma sa dulo.
Pinagsama-sama ko ang aking mga tula ayon sa mga kategoryang pinili ko. Ang mga tula kong may temang pag-ibig ay aking inipon sa pahinang may pangalang TIBOK habang ang mga tulang tumatalakay sa bayan, pagkamamamayan at mga isyu patungkol sa pulitika ay sa BAYAN MUNA.
Ang mga paboritong kong love songs sa English eh ginagawan ko rin ng tula at mababasa ang mga ito sa TINULANG KANTA.
Sumulat din ano ng mga tula ukol sa kung ano-anong bagay at mga isyu o mga paksa na hindi tumatalakay sa pag-ibig at sa bayan. Pinagsama-sama ko ang mga ito sa SAMU’T-SARING TULA.
May mga sinulat rin akong satirikong tula na bumabatikos sa mga sa palagay ko’y ugaling ‘di maganda ng mga taong nakapaligid sa akin at ng mga taong nakakasama ko sa trabaho. Ang mga tulang ito ay parunggit ngunit hindi ako nagmamalinis dahil maaaring angkin ko rin ang mga ugaling hindi ko nagugustuhan sa iba kaya’t kapag nababasa ko ang mga tulang ito’y nagbubulay-bulay din ako. Pinagsama-sama ko ang mga tulang ito sa pahinang pinangalanan kong SA PILING NG MGA HAYOP. Bahala na ang babasa kung ano sa tingin nila ang kahulugan ng salitang HAYOP sa pangalan ng pahinang ito.
Lumikha rin ako ng pahina para sa mga tula kong sinulat habang ako’y nakasakay sa jeep o insipired ng mga experiences ko sa pagsakay sa jeep. Matatagpuan ang mga tulang ito sa pahinang binansagan kong HETO NA ANG JEEP.
May mga sinulat rin akong APATANG TALUDTOD (Quatrains). Nag-eksperimento rin ako sa isang uri ng tula na tinawag kong PAKWELANG TALUDTURAN na sa unang tatlong taludtod ay parang seryoso ang tinatalakay subalit sa pang-apat (clincher) ay ang sundot na patawa.
May mga tula rin akong nagpapahayag ng pagkilala sa ating Dakilang Lumikha. Pinangalang kong PAGNINILAY ang sulok na ito ng aking website.
Source: Tula (Mukhang “Poet”)
On Positive Thinking
How should positive thinking be classified – a science or a philosophy (or both)? Calling it a science would be contentious since critics believe that positive thinking has no scientific credibility. What about philosophy? It could be if we consider the meaning of philosophy in casual speech. We usually use the term to refer to any set of beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of a person or a particular group of people.
Positive thinking is unquestionably an attitude. It is a mental attitude that leads a person to expect good results. It is a system of belief that makes people set positive expectations in all their undertakings in life. It makes them hopeful for the future. The term is synonymous with optimism, hope, and cheerfulness. The Collins dictionary focused more on optimism in its definition of positive thinking.
Let’s just say that positive thinking is an idea. Ideas can either be embraced or dismissed. Thus, it is understandable why some quarters are negative about positive thinking.
Positive thinking, with many journalists and academicians ridiculing it, may not be accepted to mainstream philosophy. At best, it can remain attached to the field of psychology. It is not that this system of beliefs was not advocated by any of the great philosophers. Buddha’s philosophy is anchored on the idea that “changing one’s thoughts can change one’s reality.”. Perhaps nothing beats the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in advancing positive thinking. The Bible is replete with verses that foster hope and optimism through faith. Christ Himself said, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20.)
Again, those who consider themselves thinkers, especially if you connect the dots of positive thinking to faith in God, might ask for empirical evidence, a scientific basis, to accept it as valid and true.
William James, himself a famous philosopher who experimented in mental healing, defends the right to violate the principle of evidentialism to justify hypothesis venturing. Such allows anyone to assume belief in God [or anything] and prove its existence by what the belief brings to one’s life. How credible is William James? His work has influenced intellectuals such as Émile Durkheim and W. E. B. Du Bois, Edmund Husserl, Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Hilary Putnam, and Richard Rorty.
Questions surrounding positive thinking are philosophical, not scientific. Being so, they are said to be foundational and abstract in nature, thus treated primarily through reflection and not relying on experiments. Of course, academicians would not settle for anything less than the product of scientific inquiry.
The strongest argument against this idea is that no proof can be provided that it works. The question is, “Can the critics themselves provide solid evidence that it doesn’t work?” We could go on and say that the burden of proof should be on the side of those who say that positive thinking is not true.
The usual criticism of books written about positive thinking is that they are full of anecdotes that are difficult to substantiate. On the contrary, not all evidence provided by advocates of this belief system is anecdotal. Studies were conducted to help build a scientific foundation for positive thinking. Mark Guidi, for instance, identified five (5) scientific studies that prove the power of positive thinking. In his article “How the Power of Positive Thinking Won Scientific Credibility”, Hans Villanueva, explained that in 2011, “hundreds of academic papers were published studying the health effects of good things to happen, which researchers call “dispositional optimism.”
However, despite all the efforts to establish academic credibility for positive thinking, this idea will be difficult to accept. It is not easy to convince people to embrace this belief system especially with critics vigorously disputing it. Some even resort to “name calling” the advocates of positive thinking.
Others are seemingly even cashing in on their disagreement. They published books discrediting positive thinking. This system of belief may not have been embraced by many, but it has become a good read, and many authors have earned (have earned) a lot from their publications. So, by writing something against it, some authors are hoping to get attention.
One author presented what he called the seven (7) biggest myths about positive thinking. Among other things, he said that positive thinkers ignore the world’s suffering.
Positive thinkers do not ignore suffering, deny the existence of problems and conflicts in society, or disregard the daily struggles people face. They just want to approach them differently, to look at them from a different perspective. What is wrong with that?
Positive thinking simply promotes a new way of approaching all difficulties and challenges in life. It presents an alternative viewpoint. There’s no harm in trying it. It’s not inimical to anyone’s well-being. There’s nothing to lose but everything to gain.
Positive thinking wants people to realize that any phenomena, natural or otherwise… or life issues can be viewed from many angles. There’s a negative or a positive angle… which means things could either be good or bad. Positive thinking does not ignore the bad but instead offers hope that things will be better if proper actions are taken.
Does that sound harmful? Is it bad to take into consideration what Helen Keller said – “I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet”?
This system of belief is not passive. Positive thinkers know that they have to take action and the best part of it is that positive thinking requires people to inquire into the nature of their problems using multiple perspectives before deciding on what should be done.
One of the things Rene Descartes explained in “Passions of the Soul” was that “the key task of a philosopher is to help people understand and control their passions—that is to become a little less anxious, status-driven, and scared.” Isn’t this one of the principles that positive thinking advocates?
There are some questions that critics of positive thinking need to answer.
What system of belief can you offer as an alternative to positive thinking?
With the system of belief you have, are you happy and successful?
If not, try positive thinking. It might work for you.
M.A.D. LIGAYA
M.A.D. L I G A Y A 