Departmentalized instruction, in which teachers specialize in one or more core subjects and instruct multiple groups of students in a day, has become increasingly prominent in elementary schools. Using 8 years of data from Massachusetts and a difference-in-differences design, we estimate the effects of departmentalization on student achievement.…

There are myriads of research outputs regarding the nexus between leadership behaviors and organizational effectiveness. Nonetheless, there is a scarcity of empirical studies examining the indirect effect of leadership behaviors on academic performance in higher education settings via organizational learning. The present study examined the effects…

School district central offices regularly engage with external partners in improvement efforts, but these partnerships are not always productive. Indeed, little is known about under what conditions partnerships are likely to lead to organizational learning outcomes. We conducted a longitudinal comparative case study of two departments in one urban…

Many institutions are trying to better understand the factors that drive student success and failure in order to improve the efficiency of degree production. Traditional academic reporting systems are not adequate for this purpose, since they are designed to measure outcomes, not to uncover the factors that influence them. To address this problem,…

This chapter describes how professional and continuing higher education units can develop and sustain successful partnerships with academic departments in order to deliver educational programs effectively to students.

Secondary school teaching is organized in departments and effective departments functioning as collaborative teams have been associated with effective schools. Therefore, this study investigates the relationship of mathematics departments perceived as professional communities and student achievement in Dutch secondary schools. Cluster analysis and…

This article identifies concrete steps used at Argosy University/Orange County (Argosy or AUOC) to integrate assessment in daily institutional operations and utilize assessment data for educational and organizational improvements. Additionally, the article addresses the role of an institutional effectiveness committee in facilitating the…

Examines the head of department's role within school and departmental improvement, considering the dimensions of the leadership role, the impact of types of departments on leadership potential, differential strategies for departmental improvement, and the relationship between departmental and school development. Argues for organization-wide…

Examines transference issues in school effectiveness and improvement, including the relationship between within-school and across-school improvement. Describes how the head of a successful history department in an innercity high school changed the entire school from low achieving to high achieving after being appointed head teacher. (Contains 57…

Focuses on secondary school departments in England, arguing that current approaches to school improvement do not adequately reflect or incorporate the department level. Highlights the processes that contribute to improved departmental performance, and subsequently, to school and classroom improvement, drawing upon empirical evidence from two…

Department chairpersons should guide their departments to meet contemporary challenges by focusing on fostering student learning more effectively, stimulating faculty development, and engaging in curriculum development that responds to new academic syntheses and multidisciplinary approaches. (JB)

Summarizes a pilot study examining departmental effectiveness in a small sample of British secondary schools. The subject departments were chosen because a previous study showed they significantly enhanced pupils' learning. Effective departments boasted a climate for change; vision; collegiality; sound organization, resource management, and…

In Scotland, one "value added" (VA) indicator of secondary school effectiveness measures students' relative "progress" between Standard and Higher grade in particular subjects. When random nonschool factors affecting students' geography performance were computer-simulated to determine VA fluctuation over 25 years, the…

For most high school teachers, it appears that the work group they most closely identify with is the department (or the discipline). There are some common bonds: a common language, similar educational backgrounds, a common respect for the subject, and a shared world view shaped by the discipline itself which predisposes the members of the group to…

Summarizes a United Kingdom study investigating differential school effectiveness. Measures overall school effects versus departmental differences in effects on 16-year-old students' General Certificate in Secondary Education performance, the internal consistency of departmental effects across six subject outcomes, and the stability of school and…