Antecedents of Teachers’ Perceived Effectiveness of School-Based-Managing Schools

Abstract

The difficulty in education to determine causality between means and ends brings various issues and variables to the discussion about the antecedents of school effectiveness. Although teachers' level of professional development is clearly among the factors influencing student outcomes, little is known about the extent to which teachers connect administrative encouragement in their professional development with school effectiveness in school-based-managing (SBM) schools in which improved effectiveness is an expectation. Therefore, the following study attempts to assess to what extent teachers connect their professional development to school effectiveness and what is the relative importance of teacher proficiency in explaining perceived school effectiveness relative to other organizational features characterizing the inner school context and teacher-principal relations. Theoretical Background The assumed connection between SBM and the improvement of school outcomes is considered a major driving force behind some of the recent decentralization initiatives employed in educational systems around the world. An underlying assumption of SBM is the belief that increasing school control over managerial and educational issues will generate better-quality teaching and learning and, therefore, improved school effectiveness (D.