Factors influencing organisational effectiveness of poor and wealthy primary schools in South Africa
Date
2015
Authors
Varma, Denira
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
This study was aimed at better understanding what factors are associated with organisational effectiveness in “poor” and “wealthy” primary schools within South Africa using the PIRLS 2011 dataset. A measure of socio-economic status was created using household possessions and this was used to create the “poor” and wealthy” subsets of data. In this study literacy was used as a proxy for organisational effectiveness. Correlations between school level factors and organisational effectiveness are provided and a stepwise regression was run for student level variables for both the “poor” and “wealthy” subsets. This study illustrated that organisational effectiveness varied across socio-economic lines, with “wealthy” schools achieving a higher degree of organisational effectiveness in comparison to “poor” schools. Factors that were found to be significant for the “poor” school subset included general resource shortages, a school’s involvement with parents, a student’s confidence in reading as well as bullying in school. For the “wealthy” subset, factors that were found to be significant include teacher satisfaction, a student’s confidence in reading, bullying in school and the parent’s attitude toward reading. At a school management level, it is recommended that improvements in resource management, teacher autonomy and a school’s involvement with parents could be used to improve the organisational effectiveness of a school. Furthermore it is recommended that school programmes aimed at reducing the prevalence of bullying employ strategies that involve parents as well.
Description
MBA 2015
Keywords
School management and organization -- South Africa,Organizational change ,Elementary schools