School Knowledge

School Management - Practice Indicator

Essence

The aim of this indicator is to measure the extent to which principals have sufficient knowledge about their own schools to be effective managers.

Indicator

A score from 1 to 5 capturing the extent to which the principal is familiar with certain key aspects of the day-to-day workings of the school (in schools that have principals). The indicator is disaggregated by rural/urban location and by the gender of the principal.

Background

Principals are in a unique position to fulfill the operational and instructional leadership functions, but to do so effectively, they need to have sufficient knowledge about their own schools. Operationally, being aware of any problems with inputs and infrastructure in the school is necessary for creating and implementing an action plan to acquire them and maintain them. Similarly, to be able to act as instructional leaders and provide the necessary pedagogical support, principals must be familiar with the performance of the teachers working in their school. A principal who is not aware of the performance of the teachers and students or the availability of key inputs and infrastructure will be unable to effectively act as a school leader.

School Survey

Instrument Used for Measurement

  • Survey of Public Officials
  • Existing Data Source
  • Policy Survey
  • School Survey

Measurement Approach

To measure this indicator, there are 7 questions in the School Management module of the School Survey inquiring about some key indicators that are being collected through the other modules of the school survey. The questionnaire will gauge principals’ basic knowledge of their own school. Some examples include:

Percentage of students who have their textbooks

Does class X have a functional blackboard?

Percentage of teachers who could solve a specific item from the teacher assessment

Principals’ knowledge will be scored based on how close each principal’s answer is to the actual figure for his or her school (as derived from the school survey data). 

Instrument Sources

Newly developed, but based on Service Delivery Indicators (SDI) Instrument