On behalf of all the members participating in our project for establishing a knowledge-base for quality in education and testing a dynamic theory of educational effectiveness, I would like to welcome you to our project's webpage.

 

This three year study is sponsored by the Research Promotion Foundation and seven European countries participate. The project, aims to develop a theoretical framework that can be used to provide answers to current debates on the improvement of learning outcomes and on specific issues concerned with educational policies in the participating countries, such as the national policy on quality of teaching, policies on teacher initial training and professional development and policy on the establishment of the learning environment of the schools. In this project, suggestions will also be provided for policy development in order to improve the effectiveness of the educational system, based on an evidence-based and theory-driven approach. Specifically, the extent to which the dynamic model of educational effectiveness can be used as a starting point for establishing such approach is investigated. An essential difference of the dynamic model with other theoretical models of effectiveness is concerned with its attempt to reflect the complex nature of educational effectiveness by: a) pointing out the importance of factors operating at different levels (system, school, classroom, student), b) searching for grouping of factors within and between levels, c) using five dimensions to measure the functioning of each factor: frequency, stage, focus, quality and differentiation (in this way both quantitative and qualitative characteristics of each factor are taken into account) and d) incorporating results of research into differential effectiveness.

 

The general objectives of the project are: a) to investigate and explain the differences between European countries and schools within countries in the average and differential added value of primary education for different outcomes of schooling, taking into account diversity of student intake, b) to inform national and European policy makers about effective practices at system (country), school and classroom level, contributing to the improvement of educational quality in terms of higher average achievement and better educational opportunities for disadvantaged students, c)to develop further and test the validity of the dynamic model of educational effectiveness, especially in relation to diversity of student intake, processes and prospective outcomes, in order to improve the effectiveness of education, based on scientific validated model(s) and d) to elaborate on the system level factors of the dynamic model, explore their relationships with educational outcomes and with the school and classroom level factors and draw implications for educational policy and research.

 

Our webpage is systematically updated and anybody interested will have the opportunity to be validly and reliably informed about the activities and the results of the project at each phase.

 

I invite you to visit our website for a comprehensive review of our project's activities and to contact us for further information on the work we do.