International Standard School Project: Its Influences in Shaping the Educational Landscape in Indonesia

Primary Source of the Research:

The Regulation of the National Education Minister of the Republic of Indonesia, 78 on the Implementation of ISS in Primary and High Schools, Year 2009.

Key Words:

International Standard School (ISS), Social discrimination, Education commercialism, Critical discourse analysis

I. Introduction

The Indonesian government’s support of the adoption of International standard schools (ISS) or Sekolah Berstandar Internasional in its primary and high schools was firstly realized through passing the Act on national education system number 20, in 2003 that states “the government and local government organize at least a unit of education at all levels of education, to be developed further as a unit having international standards of education” (pp. 26-27). This policy gives access and legalization for the schools, both public and private, to adopt and develop international curricula and examinations in their schools such as International Baccalaureate (IB), International General Certification of Secondary Education (IGCSE), Global Assessment Certification (GAC), International Primary Curriculum (IPC) and so on as well as cooperating with a number of educational institutions from OECD or other developed countries.

The government, as stated in its national education strategic plan for 2005-2009, asserts that by allowing its educational institutions to go global, access for better education becomes more widely available. In so doing, the government speculates that Indonesian education quality can be extensively enhanced. Internationalised national education is also expected to increase the government’s prestige in the international community, especially among countries under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). However, these brilliant ideas in theory are not being implemented as perfectly as the government’s expectations because of the limited conditions in Indonesia. The indications of these problems can be recognized when most schools involved in ISS project are still unable to improve their education quality. Instead, they are engaged in education exclusivity and commercialism (Dharma, 2007, Winarti, 2008a, Wirnadianhar, 2008; the Jakarta Post, 2011).

Although the issue of ISS project has become a public debate in the country, there is only a limited number of research on this issue. Moreover, at the moment most of the available research on this ISS project has been more focused on how the policy is being implemented in both primary and high schools (Suraiya, 2008; Kustulasari, 2009) rather than on the implication of this policy in creating social issues particularly in the education sphere. By using critical discourse analysis (CDA) this project will attempt to show how the policy statement has been shaping the landscape of education in Indonesia. In specific, the research seeks to answer the following questions: 1) how does the policy documents represent education discrimination in Indonesia? 2) how does the policy document construct education commercialism in Indonesia? Through this documentary investigation, it is hoped that the policy or decision makers will be more wary and mindful of the potential issues represented in and originated from the policy statement. Moreover, this analysis will enrich discussion on the ISS issue particularly from the social issue perspective that is still rarely carried out.

The policy document researched in this analysis is the regulation of the National Education Minister of the Republic of Indonesia, 78 on the implementation of ISS in both primary and high schools, year 2009. This policy was released by the Indonesia national education minister in 2009 and is used as the current implementation guideline or framework that should be adhered by any schools involved in ISS project. By referring to the Act number 20, year 2003 on National Education, this policy outlines and details the implementation procedures, from pre condition that should be met by the schools to the evaluation procedures. As the ISS project framework, the policy plays critical role in providing a legal support for the ISS operation and practices. Considering its critical role, this policy document is selected and used to be the primary sources for this analysis. This policy consists of twelve chapters with 35 articles that are written in Indonesian language. For the sake of this analysis, some parts of the discourses or statements of the policy that are related to the issues being investigated will be translated into English.

II. Critical Discourse Analysis

Discourse analysis is a qualitative method that has been adopted and developed by social constructionist. As a part of discourse analysis, critical discourse analysis “focuses on how language as a cultural tool mediates relationship of power and privilege in social interaction, institutions and bodies of knowledge” (Rogers et al., 2005, p. 367). Critical discourse analysis scrutinizes the way social power abuse, dominance, and inequality are constructed, reproduced, and resisted by texts and talks in the social and political context. It is intended to understand, expose, and ultimately resist social inequality (van Dijk, 2001). Bloor and Bloor (2007) indicated that “critical discourse analysis is concerned in the way in which language and discourse are used to achieve social goals and in the part this use plays in social maintenance and change” (p. 2). Critical discourse analysis is one of the most prominent approaches to discourse analysis of social policy including the education policy (Rogers, et al., 2005; Jacobs, 2010) that emphasises the importance of ideology and discursive strategy used by the actors to shape political outcomes. As such, critical discourse analysis is concerned with “language as social practice” (Fairclough & Wodak, 1997, Rogers, et al., 2005) and sees the context of language use to be critical (Wodak, 2000).

As the media of discourse, policy documents are written and produced through a complex administrative process and are influenced and constructed under certain social, political and economic conditions and agenda (Simon, 2006). In a policy analysis, critical discourse analysis challenges researchers to question policy making processes, how dialogue takes place, and how power relations produce dominant discourses and marginalises others (Thomas, 2005). It requires a deeply reflexive approach to recognise the rules of formation and to understand the patterns of power relations, through “self-conscious analytical scrutiny” (England 1994, p.82). Jenkins (1993) and Hewit (2009) informed that the common feature in policy analysis is that policy brings to mind the actions of the agent or organisation and involves many elements.

In conducting the discourse analysis, Fairclough (as cited in Rogers et al., 2005; Thomas, 2005 and Jacobs, 2010) suggested an analysis framework that constitutes three levels of analysis; the text, discursive practices, and the socio-cultural practices. The analysis of the text involves the study of language structures produced in a discursive event such as vocabulary, grammar cohesion and structure within the text. The analysis of discursive practices examines the production and interpretation of texts by examining the strategic devices used by the author or agent to reinforce arguments. The analysis of social and cultural practices includes an exploration of what is happening in a particular socio-cultural context where texts are situated.

III. International Standard School (ISS) Project in Indonesia: Social and Political Perspective

The survey on international educational performance conducted by the OECD in 2003 and UNESCO has ranked the Indonesia education performance in a gloomy position compared to other OECD and partner countries. This condition has driven the Indonesia government to initiate a legal framework for reforming the national education resulting in the increase of national budget spending on education reaching 20 percent of total national expenditure. In 2003, the government also introduced new regulation on national education system promoting access and quality of education for all (nine year school program), decentralisation of education management and education standardisation including internationalisation of national education including primary and secondary schools.

Since firstly introduced in 2003, internationalisation of primary and secondary schools in the country has gained both supports and criticisms represented by the intense public debate on this issue. From the social perspective, opponents of the ISS project argue that the implementation of ISS project in Indonesian primary and secondary schools has potential for creating social discrimination and educational commercialism. Dharma (2007) asserted that the government regulation that requires the students attending ISS to have outstanding ability, distinctive achievements, and high intelligence has inevitably created discrimination and social stratification among students. He further added that such a requirement has clearly neglected students with average ability and achievement that according to the national constitution have the same right as those considered brilliant. The assumption that considers intelligence ability as the main indicator of success in ISS is also apparently to be overly emphasised that overlook other success indicators possibly possessed by students with average intelligence such as creativity, critical thinking, persistence and so forth.

Another issue that rises up discrimination is regarding the financial matter and quality education. Winarti (2008) and Gower (2009) indicated that studying at ISS is more expensive than regular schools. As such, there is a common conception in the country that the students attending ISS are economically better than those attending regular schools. Moreover, the emergent view that ISS always provides better quality education than the regular schools may also create education divide where quality education is only for those attending ISS. In other words, quality education is only devoted for those with outstanding intelligence, distinctive achievements and those who are rich that clearly reflects unequal education opportunity for all students in the country.

Dealing with educational commercialism, the government asserts that all public ISS will be awarded Block Grants of around 100-300 million rupiah per year (around AUD 11.000-33.000) which is expected to be adequate to fulfil the needs of the ISS operation. However, a study undertaken by Suraiya (2008) concludes that over three years of implementation, the financial support from the government is inadequate to cover the basic needs of the ISS such as internet access, printed sources, teaching media, teachers’ development programs and so forth. This has forced the schools to seek financial assistance from the private sector including students’ parents. The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) recently reported that in 2009, the percentage of additional registration fees of the ISS is the highest, reaching 20 million rupiah per student. An even more dramatic situation is occurring in private ISS. Wirnadianhar (2008) points out “most schools require the parents to pay around 70 million rupiah for installment plan and approximately 80 million rupiah per year for tuition fees, excluding the fees of extracurricular programs.” By selling the international label, schools can gain credibility for increasing their tuition fees, which definitely leads to education commercialism.

IV. Descriptions and Analysis

a. Education Discrimination

In terms of education discrimination, the writer found that the policy document both explicitly and implicitly constructs and symbolizes discrimination either for students or teachers. The first instance of this is presented in the following excerpt:

The main objective of implementing ISS project is to produce qualified and competent individuals that meet both the national competency standard and competency standard of at least one accredited school either from OECD or other developed countries (Chapter I, Article 2, Point a).

The inclusion of student competency standard from OECD or other developed countries in the above passage clearly indicates that upon the completion of the study the students of ISS will possess better competency than those in the regular schools. Even though there is not an explicit explanation of what competency standard gained by ISS students, the label ‘OECD and developed countries’ is expected to direct the audience to have an imagery view frequently attributed to the OECD and developed countries such as better prosperity, well educated and skilful people that are likely difficult to achieve by regular schools.

In terms of the teaching and learning process, the policy document unambiguously states that the teaching and learning approaches used in ISS must incorporate those applied in OECD and developed countries as outlined below:

ISS meets both the national teaching and learning process standard and standard of those from OECD or other developed countries (Chapter II, Section 3, Article 5, Point 1).

As in the preceding case, the inclusion of OECD and developed countries in this policy statement indicates that the teaching and learning process in ISS is much better than in the regular schools. While discrimination in competency standard is directly imposed to the regular school students, the discrimination message in the above excerpt is more specifically directed to the regular school teachers as the teaching and learning agents and the regular school performances at large.

Another form of inequality constructed by the investigated policy document is dealing with English usage as the medium of instruction as presented in the following passages:

ISS may use English or other internationally recognised foreign languages as the medium of instruction for particular subjects (Chapter II, Section 3, Article 5, Point 3).

The teaching and learning process for the following subjects; Indonesian, religions, Citizenship, History and locally-based subjects must be delivered in Indonesian (Chapter II, Section 3, Article 5, Point 4).

In the above discourses, the policy document explicitly indicates that English is highly promoted to be the language instruction in ISS, except for the following subjects Indonesian, Religions, Citizenship studies, History and other local based-subjects. The exclusion of the above subjects has an implication that these subjects are viewed to be less critical that also directly impacts on the images of teachers teaching those subjects. Moreover, this exception seems quite contradictive with the spirit and mission of the ISS project itself. Teachers of ISS, in policy statement, seem to be categorised into two large groups; teachers teaching subjects that are relevant to global issues and challenges and teachers teaching subjects that are not relevant to those issues. Different with the previous policy that discriminates between teachers of ISS and regular school, the discrimination reflected in the above statement occur among the ISS teachers.

Dealing with the students enrolment, it is evident that that the policy document constructs injustice and neglects the notion of education for all that are widely promoted by all nations. The first instance of this case is described in the following quotation:

One of the enrolment requirement for ISS is that the candidate must pass the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) test and or academic aptitude test with the test results above the national average (Chapter III, Article 16, Point 1, Subpoint 2, for Primary School, Subpoint 3 for Secondary School and Senior High School).

The enrolment of ISS requires the candidates to have intelligence ability or academic aptitude beyond the national average. Although it is not mentioned in the above excerpt, it is quite obvious that intelligence or academic aptitude is seen to be the key determinant factor for students’ success in ISS. Accordingly, the policy document has effectively construct audience’s understanding that ISS is only allowed and devoted to highly intelligent students. In other words, students with low intelligence ability do not have the same opportunities for quality education as those with high intelligence.

b. Education Commercialism

At the outset, the education commercialism represented in the investigated policy document can be recognised by analysing the following passages:

ISS is allowed to ask for any additional tuition fees in order to cover any additional tuition cost that exceeds the budget allocation as determined by the school operation and budgeting plan (Chapter II, Section7, Article 13, Point 3).

The policy statement explicitly states that ISS are given privilege to seek financial assistance from private sectors particularly from parents. This statement inevitably gives access and legal support for the ISS to set high tuition and enrolment fees that undoubtedly lead to education commercialism.

Another policy statement indicating similar issue is reflected in the following excerpt:

According to their roles and responsibilities, the central, province and district government as well as the society must financially support the implementation of ISS project (Chapter II, Section7, Article 13, Point 2).

In the above passage, the policy apparently does not put the private sectors as the main sources of school’s income indicated by the last order of the word ‘society’, however, the modal ‘must’ gives a strong impression of the legal consequences when the private sectors particularly parents are unable to financially contribute to the ISS operation. Two above statements indirectly give an impression that quality education is always expensive and therefore it requires financial support including from the parents. In other words, the above statements have constructed a paradigm of education commercialism among schools in Indonesia.

V. Conclusion

The investigation of the policy document on ISS project has revealed that some of policy statements both explicitly and implicitly have symbolised and constructed education discrimination and commercialism in Indonesia. The discrimination is clearly reflected on the inequality students’ competency standard and enrolment requirement between international standard and regular schools. For the teachers, the inequality is manifested in the different teaching and learning strategies and standard between international standard schools and regular schools as well as the exclusion of several subjects in using English or other foreign languages as the medium of instruction. Meanwhile, the education commercialism is represented in the government legal support for gaining financial assistance from the parents and the use of ambiguous expression in the policy that is frequently abused by the ISS particularly for gaining financial advantage from private sectors including students’ parents.

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Performance Management: A Theory and Practice at Al-Izzah Islamic Boarding School

I. Introduction

The rapid and discontinuous changes within and around organisations today has created a more complex and unpredictable workplace situation than ever. As such, the need for effective performance management system becomes inevitable for every organisation in order to ensure that the organisation’s activities and policies are effectively directed to the achievement of organisational goals. Although the discussion around the effectiveness of performance management is still inconclusive (Rheem, 1996; Glendinning, 2002), most of the credible research on this issue has confidently suggested that any organisation with an effective performance management system will have more opportunities to succeed in the business and is more likely to outperform those organisations that do not apply the system (Amstrong, 2000; Mollemen and Timmerman, 2003; Verbeeten, 2007; Biron et al., 2011). This paper will highlight this particular issue by firstly drawing our attention to the key aspects of effective performance management system and then observing the current performance management system practiced in education sector, in this case at Al-Izzah Islamic School where the writer of this paper works for. From this observation, the paper will, then, evaluate the school’s practice by linking and contrasting the information from the literature and the way the performance management practices operate in this particular school.

II. Performance Management: A Theoretical Framework

a. A Conceptual Definition

The constant pressure and challenges facing by organisations today as well as the growing understanding of the importance of human capital as an organisation asset to performance improvement have triggered managers both in public and private sectors to be more mindful and strategic in developing performance management system in their organisations (Nankervis et al., 2008). As many organisations put a greater attention on the importance of performance management, the term performance management is often overly generalized as a performance measurement, rating or appraisal that frequently leads to a narrow perspective and understanding of what performance management is. According to Radnor and McGuire (2004) performance measurement, rating or appraisal is the process of measuring the performance and only one of aspects in performance management; on the one hand, performance management is more holistic that uses performance measurement, rating or appraisal as one of tools to collect information about the goal achievement and other related issues as the basis for managing and improving the performances.

With respect to its objectives and process, performance management can be viewed as an integrated human resource system designed to enable employees to perform their work in a high-quality and efficient manner, to improve their skills and abilities, and to work in a direct support of the organisation’s strategic goals and values (Poteet, 2003; Aguinis, 2007; DeNisi as cited in Biron et al., 2011). It is a continuous process of improvement, not annual, and requires supporting leadership that can demonstrate good performance, objectively observe others’ performances, appraise it and provide on going feedback (Nankervis et al., 2008). In a more specific, the performance management cycle generally involves; planning work and setting expectations; continually monitoring performance; developing the capacity to perform; periodically rating performance in a summary fashion; and rewarding good performance (the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2001; Poteet, 2003).

b. An Effective Performance Management System

Although a number of studies have yielded a compelling result of the positive impacts of performance management, many managers and principals apparently still get difficulties of how to effectively conduct and apply a performance management in their organizations (Glendinning, 2002; Hazard, 2004). In addressing this issue, it is critical accordingly for the manager or principal of any organisation to understand both the critical factors that support an effective practice of performance management system and those that distract the effective application of this program.

One of good research on this issue was conducted by Antonioni (1994) who indicated that an effective performance management system might be affected by four critical conditions. First, the managers or principals should be mindful that the employees are the internal customers of the performance management system. Accordingly, they should be involved in the development process of the system. Moreover, the feedback given for their performances should also come from multi sources, not only from the managers or principals but also from other internal customer members and external sources stakeholders such as students, parents, clients and so on. In this respect, Nankervis et al, (2008) also indicated that employees are more likely to accept and be satisfied with the performance management system when they have the chance to participate in the designing and development process, particularly in developing the rating or appraisal system.

Second, an effective performance management system should ensure that the system and structure within the organisation are supportive and appreciative to any positive achievement performed by the teachers or staff by providing clear measurement standard, expectations and fair reward scheme or system. In line with this, Verbeeten (2008) working in a public sector revealed that the definition of clear and measurable goals is positively related to both quantity and quality of staff’s performances. Moreover, Biron, et al. (2011) also concluded that the staff and teachers will be much motivated in performing their duties that they perceive clearly measured and fairly rewarded..

The third caveat in developing an effective performance management system is that by restructuring the traditional relationship; superiors-subordinate, between managers and staff or between principals and teachers. An effective performance management system views managers and staff relationship as collegial partnership which is based on mutual respect and trust. The fourth suggestion for developing an effective performance management system is that by involving the teachers and staff to take an active role and involvement both in designing the system in general and in developing their individual expectation and needs that supports the achievement of the organisation goals. In this respect, Poteet (2003) also maintained that making employees to be more responsible for managing their own performances and improving their own skills will improve the employees' accountability for performing their duties.

The latest empirical research on effective employment of performance management system was carried out by Biron et al. (2011). By using the signalling theory or the strategies used by the organisation to influence perception and behaviours of the employees, they concluded that successful application of performance management should be contingent upon four critical factors; how well both the strategic and tactical goals of performance management are embedded and integrated in daily operation and reward system; the active involvement of the senior managers in the performance management system; effective communication during the implementation and effective use and selection of rating procedures using multi rating sources as suggested by Antonioni (1994) and 360 evaluation or feedback instead of the formal trainings of the raters.

III. Linking Theories to Practices: Performance Management Practice at Al-Izzah Islamic Boarding School

a. School Background

Al-Izzah Islamic School is a fast growing and privately-funded school located in East Java, Indonesia. It was officially established in 2006 and is committed to provide an alternative education at the secondary and high school level. The school’s mission is to create a learning community providing a holistic education and it maintains a strong vision to become a leading and world-class institution (Lpmi Al-Izzah, 2011). Presently the school has 350 students and more than 50 full-time teachers and supporting staff who are dominated by young learning professionals. As a brand new institution, it has gained a good reputation particularly for its initiatives in learning and educational management in the region. With respect to the school leadership and culture, at the moment the school is led by a visionary leader with strong commitment for developing world class Islamic school. In addition, as the school maintains holistic education, the school’s principle values including sincerity, honesty, respect, professional and collaboration are reflected in workplace situation (Lpmi Al-Izzah, 2011).

b. Performance Management Practice in the School

As a newly established institution, Al-Izzah Islamic school seems to be ambitious and distinctive in pursuing its mission and objectives indicated by its commitment to infuse the performance management system in the school in 2008. Generally, the performance management process in the school can be grouped into four time strands every year.

In the first term from July to September, the performance management is initiated by setting the goals of the teachers and staff and discussion session with the human resource team. To do so, human resource manager distributes the goal setting form to every teachers and staff and invites them to complete the forms a few days before they discuss it with the principal and human resource manager in the scheduled time. To complete the goal setting form, the teachers and staff are required to formulate their individual professional goals for the next one year; identify the strategies and efforts they will use to achieve those goals; and identify their potential strengths and weaknesses that might affect the achievement of the designated goals.

In the second term, the human resource manager conducts a progress check or evaluation-1. In this phase, the teachers and staff are invited to explain their goals achievement so far; the emergent challenges that they face as well as actions to solve them; the supports or trainings they need and other related issues. In the third cycle, the school or deputy principal conducts a direct observation and interview (evaluation-2) for the teachers and staff and provides feedback based on the observation check list.

In the last term, the human resource management distributes a performance appraisal form or rubric to the teachers and staff. During this term, the human resource manager also collects information both from the curriculum coordinator and peer teachers or teaching coordinator. The result of this information will be consulted during the above meeting. Based on this multi source data, the reward and sanction is given. The summary of the four cycles discussed in this section is presented in the following table.

Table: Summary of Performance Management Cycle at Al-Izzah Islamic Boarding School

Terms	Activities	People Involved
Term 1 (July, Augt, Sept)	Goal setting	HRM team
Term 2 (Oct, Nov. Dec)	Evaluation -1 (interview): Goals achievement so far? What are the emergent challenges (constraints)? What actions to solve them? What supports (trainings/mentoring/coaching) required?	HRM team
Term 3 (Jan, Feb, March)	Evaluation-2 (observation and interview): Classroom visits and feedback interview	School /deputy Principal
Term 4 (April, May, June)	Performance measurement: completion of appraisal form and interview Information gathering from multi rater sources Reward and consequences	· HRM team · School Principal · Deputy Principal · Curriculum Coordinator · Teaching Coordinator or peer teachers and staff

c. Evaluation of the Performance Management Practice in the School

During the three years of application, although the above four cycles are not always performed and conducted as exactly as expected, the performance management system in the school has given a valuable contribution to the school development. Several positive strengths possessed by the current performance management application in the school include:

1. Clear performance management cycle as described in the earlier section.

2. The individual goal setting performed by teachers and staff.

3. Involvement of multi rater sources or the key people involved in the performance management process including the human resource team, school or deputy principals, curriculum coordinator, teaching coordinator or peer teachers and staff.

4. Availability of the performance management instruments required during the process including; the goal setting form, observation check list and appraisal rubric.

5. A supporting schools condition including adequate number of teachers and staff with relevant qualifications, school’s infrastructure and resources.

In addition the above positive conditions, a critical evaluation of the current performance management practice in the school also reveals several critical issues that should be considered in order to improve the current performance management practice in the school. The identified issues are:

1. The individual goal setting is not directly linked to the schools’ mission and strategies.

The current performance management practice particularly in the goal setting process seems to be less focus on the school’s mission, goals and strategies. The indication of this occurrence can be recognized when most of the goals set by teachers and staff much focus on the individual expectations and goals without a clear link to the school’s mission and strategies whereas Amstrong (2000) and Aguinis (2007) indicated that in addition to decision making purposes, an effective performance management system should be designed to achieve its organisational strategic objectives by linking the individual goals of the teachers or staff with the those determined in the strategic plan. Moreover, Biron et al., (2011) also asserted that the successful application of performance management system is largely determined by the successful alignment of the individual interests and organisation’s strategies leading to the improved organisational performances. Nankervis et al., (2008), further, maintained that performance management as a part of strategic human resource management should be congruent with the organisational strategic objectives and mission without which the organisational objectives will be difficult to achieve.

In tackling this issue, it is critical that prior to the individual goal setting, the teachers and staff should given an opportunity to analyze and understand the mission and vision of the school and more importantly to understand the designated organisational objectives and strategies outlined in the strategic plan. In this way, it is expected that the teachers will be able to link their individual goals to the organisational objectives thus enhancing the improvement of both individual and organisational performances.

2. The expectation and standard of measurement are neither clear nor well communicated to the teachers and staff.

As noted in the preceding section that an effective communication particularly between the managers and teachers or staff is a critical element for effective utilisation of performance management system (Biron et al., 2011), however, the current practice in the school indicates that the expectation and standard of measurement set by the school are not clearly understood by teachers and staff. This happens as they are not adequately informed and recognised what are the successful indicators from their performances as well as the current situation of the organisation. Accordingly, it is likely to occur that at a particular point, teachers and staff will feel frustrated and less motivated in accomplishing their duties. In this regards, Antonioni (1994); Verbeeten (2008); and Biron et al. (2011) informed that a clear expectation and measurement standard is clearly related to improved staff’s motivation and commitment leading to both improved individual and organisational performances. Teachers and staff who know what they are aiming for will be more motivated and persistent and exert more efforts in accomplishing their duties that results in improved performance, and vice versa.

In dealing with this issue, it is suggested that there should be more active teachers and staff’s involvement in the development of measurement standard. Poteet (2003) has suggested that an effective performance management development is a collaborative effort between the manager or principal and employees or teachers. Furthermore, getting employees involved in the performance development process will help them understand the goals of the organisation, what needs to be done, why it needs to be done, and how well it should be done (the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2001). Other strategies to communicate expectation and standard of measurement are by effectively (1) using the supervisory feedback to communicate the desired organisational objectives and expectation; (2) using scheduled programs to inform current organisation situation and upgrade teachers and staff’s skills and capability; (3) using available communication tools such as school website, intranet newsletters, and notice boards to convey information about the school current agenda, programs, priorities and targets, and other useful information (Biron et al., 2011, p. 1304).

3. The performance management system focuses more on the tactical goals rather than strategic goals.

Another more critical issue of the current performance management system practiced by the school is the main focus or objective of the performance management system itself. At the outset, it is obvious that the current system is directed more to achieve the tactical goals that is to provide information useful for making human resource related decision makings such as payment scheme, rewards and recognition, and termination rather than to achieve the strategic organisational objectives whereas a recent study carried out by Biron et al. (2011) revealed an opposite direction that is the goals of performance management system employed by most successful organizations are more focused on the strategic goals rather than the tactical ones. As the result of this misleading direction, the current performance management system in the school seems to be overly emphasized on the performance appraisal or rating and neglect other important aspects of performance management such as monitoring of the process, ongoing feedback, and sustained professional development of the teachers and staff; while, Biron et al. (2011) maintained that an effective performance management system should be more directed to competence development than merely performance checking or rewards and punishment.

To tackling the issue it is suggested that the school sets a clearer objective of the current performance management system. The information outlined above does not indicate that the tactical goals are no longer relevant. Instead, it informs us that in addition to tactical goals there is still another critical goal; strategic goals, which is more powerful and valuable in assisting the school to achieve its mission and objectives and; therefore, it should be more emphasized rather than the tactical goals.

IV.Conclusion

Performance management is a holistic system aimed at improving organizational performances. The successful application of performance management is still relatively different among organisations and is highly reliant upon particular conditions and strategies where the performance management employed. Several studies have suggested that successful application of performance management can be enhanced through involving employees in the development process, using multi rating sources, promoting collegial relationship, and setting clear expectation and measurement standard. In the meantime, a more recent study emphasized on the importance of strategic and tactical goals, communication, and role of senior managers in supporting the system. At Al-Izzah Islamic school, the application of performance management system has given a valuable contribution to its development. Despite its strengths, a critical evaluation has revealed three areas of development; the link between individual and organizational goals, the clearer expectation and measurement standard, and the objectives of the performance management system. Finally, since the effectiveness of performance management remains inconclusive and relative to particular conditions, there is still a need to conduct further research on this issue particularly in the education sector.

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Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Integration: An Innovative Strategy to Improve Educational Administration and Management Effectiveness

A. Background of the School

1. Organisational Structure, Leadership and Culture

Al-Izzah Islamic School is a fast growing and privately-funded school located in East Java, Indonesia. It was officially established in 2006 and is committed to provide an alternative education at the secondary and high school level. The school’s mission is to create a learning community providing a holistic education and it maintains a strong vision to become a leading and world-class standard institution (Lpmi Al-Izzah, 2011). Presently, the school has 350 students and more than 50 full-time teachers and supporting staff who are dominated by young learning professionals. Although hierarchical structure still exists in the school, in the last two years the foundation body or so-called yayasan, seems be less authoritative indicated by giving more autonomy for the school administrators to develop teaching and learning as well as the school’s administration and management related policies. With respect to the school leadership and culture, at the moment the school is led by a visionary leader with strong commitment to develop a world class Islamic school. Moreover, as the school maintains holistic education, the school’s principle values including openness to Islamic values, respect, professional and collaboration are tried to be embedded in workplace and teaching and learning situation. As a newly established institution, Al-Izzah has gained a good reputation particularly for its initiatives in teaching and learning programs as well as the students’ academic achievement in the district (Lpmi Al-Izzah, 2011).

2. SWOT analysis of the School

In this section the summary of the SWOT analysis of the school is presented in order to get holistic information of the current school situation. To achieve this, firstly the degree of power and influences of the school stakeholders is identified. Later, both the internal and external environment scanning is carried out. Bryson (2004) asserted that both stakeholder and environmental scanning will provides accurate information of the current school’s situation, what should be accomplished and the viable course of actions of how to achieve it. The internal organisation analysis will focus on the school structure, leadership, culture, core competency, rigidity and ICT use. Meanwhile, the external environment scanning will be carried by using the PESTG framework including political, economical, social, technological and geographical situation. The summary of the SWOT analysis is presented in the appendix.

3. Effective school administration and management: An emergent challenge in the school

Along with the government policy on education decentralisation or so called School Based Management System (Act of National Education System, 2003) and the growing competition in providing quality education, during the past five years, Al-Izzah Islamic School has developed and grown very rapidly. In terms of teaching and learning process, Al-Izzah has been moving from a traditional model of learning to a more students’ centred and effective practices through the integration of a variety of teaching and learning approaches and utilisation of available technology and resources. With respect to the stakeholders involved, the school has also successfully attracted more educated and middle income parents from different parts of the country to send their children to Al-Izzah. Moreover, in pursuing the global education standard, the school has also been developing its education services through students and teachers’ exchange with overseas recognised institutions as well as international certification for its students. This significant school development has inevitably created a more complexity particularly in managing the school administration and management that should be more innovative and accountable in delivering quality education through an effective and efficient management system while at the same time dealing with the existing competitors.

The current condition, nevertheless, indicates the administration and management system at Al-Izzah Islamic School has not been effectively managed (see the SWOT analysis summary at the appendix). This can be recognised when the school administrators are unable to effectively monitor the students’ progress, performances of the teachers and staff and the school operations at large. In administrative activities, the current management system is also still unable to effectively control and manage the students and teachers’ records, payroll system, timetabling or scheduling and other related tasks. The current management system also does not work effectively and accurately for academic administration purposes such as absentee data, evaluation format and report, student and classroom distribution, and other related documentations. More importantly, the current management system also does not support timely-effective and costly-efficient communication both among the school members and external stakeholders particularly students’ parents, community, the district superintendants, policy makers, and the school partners. These indicators indicate that as the school rapidly keeps moving there should be more attention should be given to the current administration and management system without which Al-Izzah will be unable to effectively achieve its desired objectives as well as coping with the existing competitors.

B. ICT Integration in the School Administration and Management: An Improvement Strategy

Numerous studies on ICT in education have yielded a compelling positive result, the utilisation of information and communication technology (ICT) in education sector particularly in supporting a more effective and efficient management functions (Haddad, 2001). In this regards, Ruud (2000); Visscher, et al., (2001); Newhouse (2002) and Brook-Young (2006) have confidently asserted that an effective utilisation of ICT in the school administration and management may result in a number of advantages either for the teachers, schools or for the education system level at large.

For the teachers, the infusion of ICT in school management can assist them in accomplishing the administrative tasks such as planning, testing, marking and recording. In so doing, ICT improves teachers’ productivity and work quality by saving their time and ease of work (Newhouse, 2002; Brook-Young (2006). For the school, the integration of ICT in the school management through particular customisable-management softwares such RM Maze software used in Australia or Paket Aplikasi Sekolah (PAS) and Sistem Manajemen Aplikasi Sekolah (SMASH) software developed in Indonesia or other commercially available softwares may enable the school to manage its administration and school operation in a more effective and efficient way including maintaining student records; managing curriculum content; supporting pedagogy; maintaining timetables and classes; financial management; facilitating communication among the school members and stakeholders and supporting school library (Newhouse, 2002; Maki 2008; Noni, undated; Moses, 2001; Morrone, 2001). In the system level, the use of ICT such as Educational Management and Information System (EMIS) may be employed to enable efficient information and communication networks and sharing among schools or the policy makers within a particular district or to conduct an analysis for policy planning (Moses, 2001; Newhouse, 2002).

Although the above studies have informed the possibility of ICT use for improving the school management functions and effectiveness, the infusion of ICT in the administration and management system at Al-Izzah is still very limited (see the SWOT analysis summary at the appendix). At the moment, most of the ICT application in the school is only directed to assist the teachers in delivering their instructions; while, in supporting administration and management system the school still does not have a clear policy and direction of the ICT employment. Accordingly, most of the administration and management related duties are managed ineffectively and conventionally. By largely considering the current contextual condition of the school which is more complex and requires more effective management system, integrating ICT in the current school administration and management system seems to be an effective strategy in order to improve effectiveness and efficiency of the administration and management functions at Al-Izzah Islamic School.

C. ICT Inclusion in the School Administration and Management: Scope and Focus

As previously outlined, the potential advantages of ICT infusion in the school administration and management may be aimed at improving effectiveness and productivity either for teachers, the school or system education level at large. For more effective application and achievable results, the scope of the ICT integration at Al-Izzah Islamic school may focus on the following areas:

1. Student administration

The first focus of the ICT integration is directed to manage and organise the student administration related matter from time of enrolment to students becoming alumni. It is a more students’ centric database that is used to record the following issues:

1. The student information detail

2. The student attendance record

3. Award, behaviours and suspension

4. The student enrolment and time table

5. Extracurricular activities

6. Alumni information detail and programs

7. Financial registration and scholarships

2. Human resource management

The ICT focus on human resource management is intended to manage the school structure, teachers and staff more effectively. This is used to maintain the human resource details and other human resource related issues with an accurate detail and up to date information. The human resource issues covered in this area of focus include:

1. The school personnel information detail

2. Personnel attendance record

3. Role and responsibilities (position) and job descriptions

4. Qualifications and professional development record

5. Performance management record: monitoring record, goal achievement, appraisal rubric, and portfolio

6. Promotion, achievement and rewards

7. Current school programs and important notices

8. Payroll system

3. Academic and curriculum administration

The ICT focus in this area may be the most complex and requires strong commitment and participation of the whole school personnel particularly teachers and staff. This is aimed at maintaining an accurate and up to date academic and curriculum information and database which is useful for and directly impacts on the effectiveness of daily school operation. The focus of ICT integration in this area involves:

1. The curriculum and standard detail

2. Topic or subject information

3. School and teaching time table

4. Teaching space and room allocation

5. Class list or students’ distribution

6. Lesson plan and curriculum development format

7. Linked and integrated grade entry system

8. Student’s achievement report, ranking and statistic

9. Student’s attendance and counselling record

10. Annual academic evaluation record

D. An Incremental Plan of ICT Integration at Al-Izzah Islamic School

The following incremental plan is developed from an ICT integration framework suggested by Crouch et al. (2001) and Australian Department of Education.

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E. Risk Management

Integrating ICT into the school administration and management system is a breakthrough step that requires adequate planning both prior and during implementation including planning regarding the viable impacts following the process or risk management. At the outset it should be noted that ICT infusion in the school administration and management system inevitably creates extra work, increases accountability and transparency and also possibly results in unfavourable outcomes and changes that altogether threatens current school practices and rewards. As such, any forms of resistance or constrains during the implementation process is more likely to occur. Crouch et al. (2001) indicated that as the result of ICT integration the school stakeholders’ attitude and perception particularly the teachers and staff’ in general may be grouped into two; passive responses indicated by reluctance to use the ICT and putting more attention on other priorities; and active responses represented in the complaints of the hardware and software quality and updates, performance measurement, reward system and competing visions of what ICT in the management system should look like. Bissaso et at. (2008), moreover, maintained that in most developing countries, the greatest challenge of infusing ICT into the management system may be cultural indicated by resistance to change or apparent inertia when change is implemented.

In response to the above situation, Barsh and Capozzi (2008) indicated that an effective innovation should be initiated from the top and integrate the innovation into the senior leadership agenda. In this way, the ICT development team and the school members at large will be more confident, optimistic and motivated since the decision making, implementation and reward system is well supported by the system. Crouch et al. (2001) further suggested that as ICT integration is considered as a demanding innovative agenda in the school there should be a strategic schema to maintain its sustainability by lowering initial expectations and being realistic from the outset about the duration of implementation, making the implementation process appealing by increasing the degree of school members’ interaction, and balancing reward system. Moreover, providing ongoing professional development of the ICT skills and functions in school management system may also be an effective strategy to strengthen individual capability (Holt, 2007) valuable for maintaining teachers and staff positive perception and attitude toward ICT integration.

Another critical issue to consider is the school commitment to the financial investment. It should be noted that in addition to its huge advantages ICT integration in the school requires a lot of financial support both at the initial time implementation and recurrent cost for technological maintenance, technical supports, and ongoing professional development. Technology develops very rapidly over time. More advanced hardware and software are introduced and as the result of this new skills are also required through professional development programs. All of these dynamic situations are inevitable that requires financial supports from the school. In addressing this issue, Barsh and Capozzi (2008) maintained that linking and integrating the innovation strategy particularly when it is financially demanding into the organisations strategic and budgeting plan is critical. In so doing, the school will be more aware of the school budgeting situation and financial ability to support the ICT integration. Moreover, linking the innovation to the school strategy and budgeting plan may enable the school to determine the level of priority of the ICT integration which directly impacts on the financial commitment of the school. Another way to reduce financial issue is by strategically and effectively using the internal school capabilities to the greatest degree possible. Crouch et al. (2001) suggested that in order to maintain an effective cost of ICT use, the school should be strategic in allocating the available budget by taking the full advantages of the school potential and capabilities before hiring the external resources or supports.

References

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Barsh, J., & Capozzi, M.M. (2008). Managing innovation risk. Strategic Finance. 82, 10, 13-16.

Bisaso, R., Kereteletswe, O., Selwood, I., & Visscher, A. (2008). The use of information technology for educational management in Uganda and Botswana. Intenational Journal of Educational Development, 28, 565-668.

Brooks-Young, S. (2006). Critical technology: Issues for school leader. USA: Corwin Press.

Bryson, J. M. (2004). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organisations: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organisational achievement. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco.

Crouch, L., Enache, M., Supanc, P. (2001). Education management information system (EMIS): Guidelines for design and implementation. Techknowlogia: International Journal of Technology for the Advancement of Knowledge and Learning, 3, 1, 46-49.

Haddad, D.W. (2001). The education enterprise: Is it manageable? Techknowlogia: International Journal of Technology for the Advancement of Knowledge and Learning, 3, 1, 5-6.

Holt, R (2007). Risk management in International Encyclopaedia of Organization Studies. SAGE Publications. Retrieved 10 Nov. 2011 from .

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Maki, C. (2008). Information and communication technology for administration and management for secondary schools in Cyprus. Retrieved November 5, 2011 from http://www.pliroforiki.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_docman&Itemid=57.

Morrone, J.M. (2001). Technology for successful management and accountability in US K-12 schools. Techknowlogia: International Journal of Technology for the Advancement of Knowledge and Learning, 3, 1, 39-40.

Moses, D. K. (2001). Education management information system: What is it and why do we not have more of it? Techknowlogia: International Journal of Technology for the Advancement of Knowledge and Learning, 3, 1, 8-12.

Newhouse, P.C. (2002). Literature review: the impact of ICT on Learning and teaching. A paper presented to the Western Australia Department of Education, December.

Noni, N (Undated). Modul 1: Penerapan teknologi informasi dan komunikasi (TIK) dalam pendidikan (Module 1: Applying ICT in education). A paper presented at workshop for vocational and senior high school principal candidate, Makassar State University.

Ruud, P. (2000). School improvement through ICT: Limitations and Possibilities. European Conference on Educational Research (ECER), University of Edinburgh, 22nd September.

Visscher, A.J., Wild, P. & Fung, A. (2001). Information Technology in Educational Management; synthesis of experience, research and future perspectives on computer-assisted school information systems. London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Appendix:

The Summary of SWOT Analysis at Al-Izzah Islamic School

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