GUIDELINES FOR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION LEADERSHIP TOWARD EXCELLENCE IN BASIC EDUCATION
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Abstract
Leadership toward excellence is a key mechanism for improving school quality, based on the Office of the Basic Education Commission Quality Award (OBECQA) framework. This study aimed to (1) assess priority needs, (2) examine best practices, and (3) develop and validate guidelines for school leadership towards excellence. A three-step research design was employed. Step 1 involved studying priority needs for developing school leaders towards excellence from 232 school administrators, using a questionnaire from which data were analyzed by mean, standard deviation, and the modified Priority Needs Index (PNImodified). Step 2 explored best practices from nine administrators through semi-structured interviews, of which data were analyzed by content analysis. Step 3 focused on the development and validation of guidelines by five experts, with data analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The findings revealed that the current conditions were at a high level, while the desired conditions were at the highest level. The most critical need was measurement, analysis, and knowledge management (PNImodified = 0.345), followed by workforce and strategy. Best practices consisted of three key components: leadership processes across three categories, success factors, and recommendations. The developed guidelines comprised five components and were rated at the highest level in terms of appropriateness and feasibility. These findings suggested that evaluating information systems for decision-making, enhancing workforce engagement, and promoting agile strategic management were essential for driving basic education institutions towards sustainable excellence.
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