Do Teaching-Learning Processes Improve with Implementation of ISO 9001 STANDARDS in schools?

Author(s):

Francisco José Fernández Cruz(presenting / submitting)Jesús Miguel Rodríguez-Mantilla MJosé Fernández

Conference:

ECER 2017

Network:

11. Educational Improvement and Quality Assurance

Format:

Paper

Session Information

11 SES 04, Standardization Tests vs. Other Assessments

Paper Session

Time:

2017-08-23

09:00-10:30

Room:

W2.10

Chair:

Jana Poláchová Vaštatková

Contribution

There are many quality management models that have been adapted to educational institutions which originated in the world of business: Total Quality Management (TQM), Quality Function Deployment (QFD), Six Sigma, ISO 9001, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award or the Management Model of the European Foundation for Quality - EFQM (Ree, Park, & Yoo, 2014).

These models are based on a global concept of the organisation, they consider several dimensions that are closely connected, and are aimed at helping the organisation achieve its mission. If any of these dimensions is altered, either in a positive or a negative way, the impact on the system is significant (Fernández Díaz, 2013; López Alfaro, 2010).

In studies on quality management systems there is considerable agreement that what teachers do to facilitate student learning is a very important variable for institutional improvement (Langstrand, Cronemyr & Poksinska, 2015). Likewise, it has been known for a long time now that the characteristics, organisation and management processes in the classroom are decisive in determining quality and student academic performance (Elmore, 1995), although it is difficult to specify the relationship between the different variables. In this sense, there are studies which determined that traditional teaching processes do not improve student learning, which implies a paradigm shift towards effective teaching that focusses on student learning and their activities (Whetten, 2007).

Furthermore, there is plenty of research establishing the relationship between school variables and their impact on student academic performance, for example, good institutional leadership (Hallinger & Heck, 2010; Marzano, Walters & McNulty, 2005) or getting teachers to place greater emphasis on generating creative classroom environments (Mehra & Rhee, 2009).

Therefore, we consider that quality management systems must primarily influence teaching-learning processes (De Miguel and Apodaca, 2009), that is, they should be able to improve the school syllabus, the learning-teaching methods, the evaluation processes, the use of learning resources, etc., and the level of effectiveness of these changes and their impact must be determined.

Nonetheless, and despite the possible benefits provided by quality management systems for the schools, it is difficult to find studies that define the evident impact experienced by schools in the processes they carry out, such as teaching-learning (Fernández Díaz, 2013).

As a result of this reflection, and focusing on ISO 9001 STANDARDS as one of the most widely used quality management systems in schools, this study aimed at answering the following question: Is there evidence that establishes the sustainable impact on teaching-learning processes of implementing this quality management system? Although there are studies in literature stressing the impact of ISO STANDARDS in the world of business (Casalino, D'Atri & Braccini, 2012), or in higher education (Goetsch & Davis, 2014; Kasperavičiūtė-Černiauskienė & Serafinas, 2016; Too & Chumba, 2016), for non-university education few studies are available on the impact of the various models (Fernández-Cruz, Egido & Carballo, 2016).

Method

To achieve the objectives of the study (a non-experimental, exploratory and ex post facto study) we designed a questionnaire with 124 items and a Likert-type scale from 1 to 5. The questionnaire, which satisfactorily complied with validity and reliability psychometric requirements (Cronbach's alpha = 0.976), was composed of 7 dimensions, including Teaching-Learning Processes (21 items), divided into 6 subdimensions: Plans of Action based on learning outcomes, Family Involvement, Teaching Methods, Education Evaluation, Tutoring and General Assessment of the Impact of Teaching-Learning Processes. Field work was carried out in Spanish schools belonging to the Autonomous Communities of Madrid (20.7%), Andalusia (56.2%), Valencia (13.3%) and Castilla y León (9.8%), of which 81.7% were private schools with state subsidies, 9.2% private and 9.1% public. The schools could participate if they had ISO 9001 STANDARDS which had been implemented for a minimum of 3 years. The size of the schools participating in the study was distributed quite evenly, with 39.5% having fewer than 500 students, 37% between 500 and 1,000 students and 23.5% over 1,000 students. In total, we collected 2,185 questionnaires (37.5% male and 62.5% female), of which 1,884 were teachers and 301 members of the management team. In order for the sample to be able to assess the impact of implementing ISO 9001 STANDARDS, the teachers were required to have 3 years seniority at the school (21.9% with 5 years or less, 24.7% between 6 and 10 years and 53.4% with over 11 years). Once the results were compiled from the teacher and management team questionnaires, we conducted the relevant statistical analyses with the software package SPSS. First, we carried out descriptive analyses of the dimension Teaching-Learning Process and then, differential tests (t-test for independent samples, ANOVA and Scheffé, with a significance level of .01) according to the category variables established: Autonomous Communities, School Ownership, Type of Aid received, Number of Teachers and Students, Years of Implementation of ISO 9001 STANDARDS, Position, Sex, Seniority at the school and Age.

Expected Outcomes

The descriptive studies indicated that implementing the ISO 9001 STANDARDS had a higher than average impact on Teaching-Learning Processes (X=3.34), with the subdimensions Tutoring (X=3.67), Evaluation (X=3.56) and Teaching Methods (X=3.27) attaining the highest scores. The differential analyses of the impact of ISO 9001 STANDARDS on Teaching-Learning Processes by the category variables established, presented the following results: • When we analysed the mean differences by Type of School, significant differences were found (F=77.069; Sig.=.000), with state subsidised private schools having better values than private or public schools. Family Involvement (e.g. item 69 - Evaluation of Family Participation - F= 108.422; Sig. =.000) was the subdimension with the highest values. • By Autonomous Community (F=75.733; Sig.=.000) there were significant mean differences, with the Communities of Valencia and Andalusia showing the highest results. Also notable were the data for the subdimension Tutoring (e.g. item 81 - Evaluation of the Tutoring Plan - F = 105.480; Sig.=.000). • In relation to Years of Implementation of the ISO 9001 STANDARDS (F=10.184; Sig.=.000), there were significant differences, and the highest values were in schools with implementation of over 9 years. Teaching Methods was the most notable subdimension (e.g. item 72 - Organisation of flexible groups - F = 18.150; Sig.=.000). • According to the variable Type of Aid to implement ISO 9001 STANDARDS (F=9.549; Sig.=.000) significant values were obtained, where schools with internal financing plans showed the best means (e.g. item 65 - Plans of action for low performing students - F=18.619; Sig.=.000). • Finally, the variables Number of Teachers (F=6.996; Sig.=.000) and Position Held (F=5.090; Sig.=.000) also gave significant values, with the highest results in schools with fewer than 29 teachers and the Quality Manager positions.

References

Casalino, N., D’Atri, A., & Braccini, A. M. (2012). A quality management training system concerning ISO standards for sustainable organisational change in SMEs. International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 9(1), 25-45. De Miguel, M. y P. Apodaca (2009), "Aseguramiento versus garantía de calidad en el sistema universitario español", en Boletín de Psicología, núm. 97, pp. 35-54. Elmore, R. F. (1995). Teaching, Learning and School Organization: Principles of practice and the Regularities of Schooling. Educational Administration Quarterly, 31 (3), 355-374. Fernández-Cruz, F.J.; Egido, I. & Carballo, R. (2016) "Impact of quality management systems on teaching-learning processes", Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 24 Iss: 3, pp.394 – 415 Fernández-Díaz, M.J. (2013). Evaluación del impacto para un cambio sostenible en las organizaciones educativas. Revista Española de Pedagogía, 254, 45–65. Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. pearson. Hallinger, P. & Heckb, R. H. (2010). Collaborative leadership and school improvement: understanding the impact on school capacity and student learning. School Leadership and Management, 30 (2), 95-110. Kasperavičiūtė-Černiauskienė, R., & Serafinas, D. (2016). The adoption of ISO 9001 standard within higher education institutions in Lithuania: innovation diffusion approach. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 1-20. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2016.1164012 Langstrand, J., Cronemyr, P., & Poksinska, B. (2015). Practise what you preach: quality of education in education on quality. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 26(11-12), 1202-1212. López Alfaro, P. (2010). El componente liderazgo en la validación de un modelo de gestión escolar hacia la calidad. Educação e Pesquisa, 36(3), 779–794. Marzano, R. J., Waters, T.,& McNulty, B. A. (2005). School Leadership that Works: From Research to Results. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Mehra, S. & Rhee, M. (2009). On the application of quality management concepts in education: An example of a Korean classroom. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 26 (4), 312-324. Ree, S., Park, Y. H., & Yoo, H. (2014). A study on education quality using the Taguchi method. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 25(7-8), 935-943. Too, C., & Chumba, S. (2016). Use of Quality Management Systems to Improve Instructional Management Practices in Tertiary Educational Institutions in Kenya. Africa Journal of Technical and Vocational Education and Training, 1(1), 157-167. Whetten, D.A. (2007). Principles of effective course design: What I wish I had known about learning-centered teaching 30 years ago. Journal of Management Education, 31(3), 339–357.

Author Information

Francisco José Fernández Cruz (presenting / submitting)

University Francisco de Vitoria of Madrid

Education Faculty

Valdemoro

Jesús Miguel Rodríguez-Mantilla

Complutense University of Madrid

Facultad de Educación (MIDE)

Madrid

MJosé Fernández

University Complutense of Madrid

Faculty of Education