Impact of quality management systems on teaching-learning processes

Abstract

Purpose Quality management systems are being used more frequently in educational institutions, although their application has generated a certain amount of disagreement among education experts, who have at times questioned their suitability and usefulness for improving schools. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this discussion by providing additional knowledge on the effects in educational institutions of implementing quality management systems. Specifically, this study investigates teachers’ and managers’ perception of the impact that quality management systems have on one essential dimension of schools, the teaching–learning processes, with impact being understood as sustained medium- and long-term organisational change. Design/methodology/approach The responses were analysed and classified into a set of sub-dimensions linked to quality management processes in a total of 29 Spanish primary and secondary education schools that have used such systems for at least three years. Findings The results showed that, according to the respondents, the following sub-dimensions were improving as a result of implementing quality management plans: teaching and learning processes, the analysis of student results, tutoring, consideration of attitudes and values and assessment processes. Conversely, quality management systems did not seem to have a clear impact on the teaching methodologies used by teachers or on family involvement in student learning. In fact, the perceived impact in these sub-dimensions varied among teachers of public and private schools as well as when comparing different regional autonomous communities. Originality/value As the main objective of a school is to guarantee student learning, one of the essential purposes of school quality assurance systems is to perform all the activities aimed at ensuring high levels of student performance.

Assessing the impact of ISO: 9001 implementation on school teaching and learning processes

“…The results obtained in the present study and in earlier research on different QMS such as the EFQM (Fernández-Cruz et al , 2016) indicate the need for further research that compares the results obtained with different QMS to determine which yields the best impact on school processes.…”

“…Along the same lines, but considering the number of teachers at the school , the present study shows that this affected the impact of ISO:9001 implementation on teaching–learning processes, whereby members of small learning communities (fewer than 29 teachers) obtained better results, in agreement with other studies (Pustjens et al , 2008). In further support of these findings, several studies have shown that school size and number of teachers influence school organization and quality management and have concluded that the larger the school, the greater the organizational complexity and thus the difficulty entailed in creating a friendly learning environment with a sense of community (Fernández-Cruz et al , 2016; Muñoz-Repiso et al , 1995).…”

“…Previous studies have not found incontestable evidence of the usefulness of QMS in education (Beerkens, 2017; Stensaker et al , 2011). Some studies have reported that QMS implementation in schools has yielded benefits in multiple dimensions (Fernández-Cruz et al , 2016; Villa et al , 2015; Chen et al , 2004; Stensaker, 2007), whereas others have found no effect in educational institutions; instead, they have highlighted the problems entailed in implementation, especially in higher education (Harvey and Williams, 2010).…”

“…In light of the above, the aim of the present study is to examine ISO:9001 implementation as a school QMS to determine whether this yields a sustained impact on teaching–learning processes. Although the impact of ISO standards has been studied in the fields of business (Casalino et al , 2012) and university education (Goetsch and Davis, 2014; Kasperavičiūtė-Černiauskienė and Serafinas, 2016; Too and Chumba, 2016), there are few references in the literature to studies on the impact of QMS models in schools (Fernández-Cruz et al , 2016).…”

Comparative analysis between management team and teachers on the impact of ISO 9001 standards in educational centres

“…While some studies have criticised and challenged the efficacy of implementing QMS, stating that their effects are irrelevant or even detrimental, especially in education (López Alfaro, 2010; Hernández et al , 2013; Lasida et al , 2016), this criticism has gradually diminished over time following the positive experiences in educational institutions. Other studies do appear to show considerable improvements in schools (Chen et al , 2004; Stensaker, 2007; Cantón Mayo and Arias Gago, 2009; Ramírez García and Lorenzo, 2009; Fernández-Cruz et al , 2015; Espiñeira-Bellón et al , 2016; Fernández-Díaz et al , 2016; Fernández-Cruz et al , 2016).…”