Evaluation of school improvement approaches and implementation processes

The aim of this study is to systematically examine, evaluate and analyze the theoretical development process of school improvement approaches and practices. In line with this general purpose, what is school improvement? What are the components of school improvement? Why should schools be developed? and how should the school improvement process be? answers to the questions were sought. In the research, the historical development of school development was examined in periods and it was aimed to reveal 'what was effective' in school development approaches and practices carried out in these periods. The research was designed according to the document analysis method, which is one of the qualitative research methods. For this purpose, a comprehensive document review of the school improvement literature was carried out by the researcher. The document review scope of the research consisted of books, book chapters, doctoral dissertations, journal articles, papers and reports written in English and Turkish languages and in print and digital media in the field of school development. The documents were searched in databases and academic publication digital environments such as google scholar, ERIC, ProQuest, EBSCO, Dergipark, YÖK Thesis Search. Among these, the printed documents were obtained by the researcher. In the research, a total of 328 documents, including 25 single-authored books, 48 editorial book chapters, 56 doctoral dissertations, 171 articles and 28 reports, were examined. Data analysis was done on the basis of each research problem. Content analysis and descriptive analysis were made on the documents. Themes were named according to sub-problems by the researcher and similar codes were gathered under categories named by the researcher. In the research, 9 themes and 14 categories were obtained. It was seen that school leadership was most emphasized in the school improvement. As a result, it has been seen that the approaches and practices that are accepted and thought to be effective in school development are respectively as follows: (1) developing a positive and supportive school culture and climate at school (2) defining the leadership roles of the school principal, (3) improving the professional knowledge and skills of teachers, (4 ) improving teaching practices and student learning outcomes, (5) promoting cooperation and cooperation among teachers, (6) including school self-evaluation and data-based decision making practices, (7) ensuring school accountability, (8) providing external expert support to the school, ( 9) change of the curriculum, (10) adopting a planned school development approach, (11) receiving family and community support, and (12) ensuring sustainability in practices.