Characteristics Of Effective Schools

7 Pages 1834 Words

Introduction:

Everyone agrees that successful schools are desirable. In an effective school, students will probably achieve the highest standards of knowledge and education that will make them effective members of their society. Effective taught students would help progress and build an effective and producing society.

The effectiveness of any school is built on many factors. An effective schools has many characteristics such as; effective leaders, effective teachers and an effective environment. Each and every one of these factors has its own features and ideas. In the following pages, we will have a brief look at each characteristic and explain it. We will try to identify the main features of the effective school and which factors are the main ones in improving our schools.

School effectiveness:

School effectiveness needs a definition. It was defined by Georgopoulos & Tannenbaum (1957: p.534) as ‘the extent to which any (educational) organization as a social system, given certain resources and means, fulfils its objectives without incapacitating its means and resources and without placing undue strain upon its members’. While Mortimore (1991:p.9), also defines effective schools as ‘ones in which pupils progress further than might be expected from consideration of its intake’.

There is little doubt in our minds that effective schools are those that successfully progress the learning and development of all their students. Also the main focus of any school is the student achievement; they are built and work to produce well educated people. ‘The good school is a community of learning. It produces well-educated people’ Ungoed-Thomas (1997:p.3). The classroom is the crucial site in the school where school effectiveness is achieved or not.

There is no definite definition to school effectiveness. However, we can identify some characteristics that contribute to school effectiveness. Brighouse and woods (1999:...