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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 333 236 CE 058 331 AUTHOR Wardlow, Geo.ge; Swanson, Gordon TITLE Institutional-Level Factors and Excellence in Vocational Education: A Review of the Literature. INSTITUTION National Center for Research in VocationalEducation, Berkeley, CA. SPONS AGENCY Office of Vocational and Adult Education(ED), Washington, DC. PUB DATE Jun 91 CONTRACT V051A80004-89A NOTE 88p. AVAILABLE FROMNational Canter for Research in Vocational Education Materials Distribution Service, Horrabin Hall 46, Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL 61455(order no. 1tDS-10W: $4.50). PUB TYPE Information Analyses (070) EDRS PRICE NF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS *Educe4tiona1 Change; *Excellence in Education;High Schools; *Institutional Characteristics; *Institutional Role; Literature Reviews; Organizational Development; Outcomes of Education; Public Education; School Business Relationship; *School Effectiveness; School Personnel; Transitional Schools; *Vocational Education ABSTRACT A review of the literature is presented on the excellence movement in education and vbcational education.The review focuses on the contribut,.: of the educationalinstitution to excellence and describes institutional-level factorsassociated with excellence. Several questions guide the review: What elements characterize exemplary institutions? What are the commonelements? Can these attributes be developed? How do theelements compare to those found in other settings? What implications do thefindings have for further study? Several issues are identified:(1) the "unattended" issue (how vocational education was ignoredin national reform reports); (2) a model for excellence;(3) outcome factors; (4) institutional variables; (5) organizational structure of the system; (6) personnel qualifications; (7) curriculum development; and(8) program access. In the study of excellence inpublic education, several topics are identified: (1) structural variables;(2) schools in transition; (3) changes occurring in education; and(4) themes of excellence. Five research concerns and 13 questions for research are listed. Fifty-six references and a 178-itembibliography are included. (NLA) *****************************w***************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original doCument. * *********************************************************************** 1 "PERMISSION TOREPRODUCE THIS U.S. IMPARMENT Of EDUCATION MATERIAL INMICROFICHE ONLY Office of Educebonal Refasten ling improvment HAS SEEN GRANTEDSY alE UCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) . This docuin- Itnefibeen reproduced as received from the prson or organization originating it C Minor chenges nay* ben made toimprove reproductiOn gullets TO THE EDUCATIONAL -. RESOURCES Points of li* of opinions slatd ifi !hie docu- INFORMATION ment do notnecessarily represent official CENTER (ERIC)." OERI positiOn Of POliCy 1 INSTITUTIONAL-LEVEL FACTORS AND EXCELLENCE IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE BEST COPY AVAILABLE George Wardlow 1 University of Minnesota Gordon Swanson University of California at Berkeley National Center for Research in Vocational Education University of California at Berkeley 1995 University Avenue, Suite 375 Berkeley, CA 94704 Sui.ported by The Office of Vocational and Adult Education, It U.S. Department of Education June, 1991 MDS-106 18 FUNDING INFORMATION Project Title: National Center for Research in Vocational Education Grant Number V051A80004-89A Act under which Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act Funds Administered: P. L. 98-524 Source of Grant: Office of Vocational and Adult Education U.S. Department of Education Washington, D.C. 20202 Grantee: The Regents of the University of California National Center for Research in Vocational Education 1995 University Avenue, Suite 375 Berkeley, CA 94704 Director: Charles S. Benson Percent of Total Grant Financed by Federal Money100% Dollar Amount of Federal Funds for Grant $5,744,000 Disclaimer This publication was prepared pursuant to a grant with the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education. Grantees undertaking such projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their judgement in professional and technical matters.Points of view of opinions do not, therefore, necessarily, represent official U.S. Department of Education position or policy. Discrimination: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states: "No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participAtion in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving fedm.al financial assistanc:." Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 states: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education provam or activity receiving federal financial assistance."Therefore, the National Center for Research in Vocational Education project, like every program or activity receiving financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education, must be operated in compliance with these laws. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 What is Excellence in Education? 2 Vocational Education and a Search for Excellence 4 The "Unattended Issue" 6 What is "Excellence" in Vocational Education? 8 Learner-Level and Institutional-Level Variables 11 Institutional-Level Variables 13 Vocational Education and the Education System 19 Excellence in Public Education 20 Insights from the Reform Movement Literature 20 Factors Contributing to School Effectiveness 38 Summary of Excellence in Public Education 40 Organizational Development: Implications for Education 40 New Directions in the Excellence Literature 50 Summary and Conclusions 55 Can Elements be Created or Developed? 55 Research Concerns for Excellence in Vocational Education 55 Questions for Research 58 Closing Thoughts 60 References 61 Bibliography 67 INTRODUCTION This report representsa review of the literature related to the excellencemovement in education and vocational education.As a review, it presentsa discussion of representative scholarly works towardthe development of a theoretical frameworkfor inquiry in excellence in vocationaleducation. Specifically, this review seeksto focus on the contribution of the educationalinstitution to excellence in vocationaleducation and, thus, it describes institutional-level factorsassociated with excellence. The review was conductedas part of a larger study which sought to providea better understanding of exemplary vocationaleducation institutions. Toward this end,the following questions were usedto guide the review: 1. Do certain essential elementsor attributes characterize institutions identifiedas exemplary and, if so, what are they? 2. If common elementsare found among institutions identified as exemplary, howare these elements reflected in different settings? 3. To what extent are these attributes (iffound) amenable to creation and/or development; or, do they appear to result from conditionsoutside human design? 4. How do the elements (if found)compare to those identified in studies of organizational excellence in other settings? Howcan one inform the other? 5. What implications do the findings have forprogram planning and evaluation, for leadership development and support, and for furtherstudy? A focus on the school or institutional levelmay provide better conceptions of high quality instnictional and learning environments,a more sound foundation from which to predict and support significant change andimprovement, and an avenue of improvementby linking research in vocational education withother efforts to understand and improve institutional development. The literature review focused primarilyon the fields of vocational-technical education and school ieform relatedto educational excellence and, secondarily,on organizational development The primary questionsinitially addressed dealt with thenature of institutional excellence in vocationaleducation and the processes which produceand support such institutional excellence. Themost useful outcomes of the literature review 1 may be more fniitful questions to guide further inquiry and a framework within which that inquiry can proceed.It should be noted that by comparison with the school reform literature, relatively little research exists specifically relatedto vocational education and excellence. Thus, as a review of the literature, few referencesare made specifically to vocational education. Thc attempt is to provide a theoretical framework for institutional excellence in which vocational education exists. WHAT IS EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION? Any discussion of excellence in education should include an effort at achieving some common understanding of the major construct under study. What is excellence? While the construct seems to be one to which many institutions aspire, including educational systems, there is little agreement on what it is.The American Heritage Dictionary includes in its definition of excellence the terms, "superiority; pre-eminence.... Something in which a person or thing excels."It further defines excel as, "To be better than; surpass; outdo....To surpass others; to be better than othcrs" (Morris, 1)70, p. 456).It is interesting to note that each of these definitions is based ona model of comparison in that one achieves excellence in comparison to others.If everyone in a particular