Does School Management Make a Difference?

This report examines the importance of school management with regard to implementation of the reform in teaching and with regard to the learning and well-being of pupils. The analyses in the report draw on several different types of data: questionnaire surveys of management, teachers and pupils at the schools, interviews and document analysis at selected schools, as well as register data from Statistics Denmark and the Danish Ministry of Education.

The report focuses on five management themes and their effect on different teaching practices. All practices are within the guidelines of the reform regarding changes in teaching in order to promote learning and well-being among pupils.

The five management themes are change management, competence development, pedagogical management of teaching organisation and methodology, external management as well as control and autonomy.

The selected teaching practices are variation in teaching (including exercise and movement as well as the open school), IT in teaching, the application of Forenklede Fælles Mål (simplified common goals) in teaching, goal-directed learning, differentiated teaching, as well as peace and quiet.

The survey discovered varying effects of the different themes on the teaching practices at the schools, but as of yet, no effect on the learning and well-being of pupils.

This report is part of an extensive assessment and monitoring-research programme launched by the Danish Ministry of Education, which aims to monitor the implementation of the reform and evaluate the effects of various aspects of the reform.