EDUC43270 School Effectiveness

Academic Year 2021/2022

The module, school effectiveness: implications for policy and practice in Irish schools and classrooms, primarily focuses on the evidentiary warrants that quantitative and mixed methods empirical studies provide for the improvement of teaching, learning and leading in Irish primary and post-primary schools. The module selects significant studies from international literature that cumulatively over time have identified pivotal considerations that feed into the significance of instructional leadership. Apart from critically interrogating the evidence and the manner in which such studies have been designed, data analysed and conclusions or implications drawn, throughout the module repeatedly asks: what are the implications, if any, of such evidence for Irish schools and classrooms in their particular contexts and at this particular policy juncture, for national and local priorities. This approach adopts a 'glocalisation' perspective on the evidence and its interpretation, seeking throughout to tailor intentions and actions in a manner that puts learners at the centre while being sensitive to context. In the first instance, the module is offered as a general, generic offering to all MEd (general), MA Education, PDE (general) students so as to be knowledgeable about current research on school effectiveness but with a definite orientation towards practice and its improvement in a critical and selective manner.

Learning Outcomes:

Having completed this module, students will be enabled to:
- be articulate about the school effectiveness movement and what it has contributed to the field of school improvement, while being able to locate such implications in a 'glocal' context
-be familiar with and highly critical of research a variety or research designs, data analysis and interpretation of evidence with a view to being a critical consumer of published research, while being better informed as to the strengths and limitations of such offerings, particularly when weighed against school context
- be able to advise colleagues at the level of the school and beyond as to the strengths and limitations of various approaches to school effectiveness and improvement
- be able to undertake a selected literature review on a particular aspect of school effectiveness literature and to provide a critical analysis of the manner in which evidence has been presented, analysed and the extent to which conclusions are warranted by that evidence, while indicating also the implications of such evidence for classroom and school realities
- be more articulate about the role of research in terms of its potential to influence the policy making process
- position oneself within the field of school effectiveness and to find an accommodation between evidence and decision-making at the level of the school
- provide a constructive critique of the nexus between school effectiveness and school improvement, and its possible futures.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

Learning Outcomes:

Having completed this module, students will be enabled to:
- be articulate about the school effectiveness movement and what it has contributed to the field of school improvement, while being able to locate such implications in a 'glocal' context
-be familiar with and highly critical of research a variety or research designs, data analysis and interpretation of evidence with a view to being a critical consumer of published research, while being better informed as to the strengths and limitations of such offerings, particularly when weighed against school context
- be able to advise colleagues at the level of the school and beyond as to the strengths and limitations of various approaches to school effectiveness and improvement
- be able to undertake a selected literature review on a particular aspect of school effectiveness literature and to provide a critical analysis of the manner in which evidence has been presented, analysed and the extent to which conclusions are warranted by that evidence, while indicating also the implications of such evidence for classroom and school realities
- be more articulate about the role of research in terms of its potential to influence the policy making process
- position oneself within the field of school effectiveness and to find an accommodation between evidence and decision-making at the level of the school
- provide a constructive critique of the nexus between school effectiveness and school improvement, and its possible futures.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

12

Autonomous Student Learning

173

Online Learning

15

Total

200

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Online: Sessions readings are assigned in advance on a weekly basis and released through Brightspace with accompanying ‘talking heads’, thereby promoting active student learning.
 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Assignment: End of module assignment, 3,500 words in length End of trimester MCQ n/a Graded Yes

70

Group Project: Group Presentation: Online presentation embracing critique of a selected article and its implications for school leadership. Varies over the trimester Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

30


Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Written feedback is provided to individual students aligned with the learning outcomes provided to students at the commencement of the module and assessment criteria communicated when the details of assignment tasks are issued.