Quality learning outcomes have always been in the interest of educational administration worldwide. Depending on different cultures and countries, there have been different paradigms behind the efforts to achieve them.

Since the 1980s with the emergence of neo-liberalistic economic, political and educational doctrines and New Public Management, there has emerged a widespread emphasis on the issues of competitiveness, evaluation, standardized tests and effectiveness as markers of quality. Consequently, intense school and student learning improvement efforts have been launched worldwide. Research, however, shows there is no evidence indicating that the paradigm of competition is improving student learning outcomes.

In some countries, like in Finland which is the highest scoring country in the three rounds of PISA, little attention is paid to competition, but the school development paradigm is based on other elements, on the quality and equality across all elements in education.

This course examines how to lead schools and education policy within the framework of quality, accountability, and effectiveness, and how quality is enhanced through the commitment to Education for All, effective guidance and counselling and support systems. The students will familiarize themselves with different aspects of school effectiveness research and different approaches to understanding and evaluating school quality.