Educational Planning and Management

Technical Vocational Education and Training Service Quality As Perceived By Students: The Case of Public Polytechnic Colleges in the Regional State of Amara

Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Technical Vocational Education and Training Service Quality As Perceived By Students: The Case of Public Polytechnic Colleges in the Regional State of Amara Kassaye, Seid This study examined the quality of technical and vocational education and training service delivery practices at polytechnic colleges in the Amhara Regional State, as perceived by students. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design (QUAN→qual) was employed. Quantitatively, 896 randomly selected students completed a modified SERVPERF survey measuring the five SQ dimensions: tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Qualitatively, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 purposively selected key informants and analyzed thematically. Descriptive statistics, one-sample t-tests, and one-way ANOVA were applied for quantitative analysis. Results revealed that the overall mean SQ score (M = 2.84, SD = 0.65) was significantly below the acceptable threshold (t (895) = -7.31, p < .001, d = 0.23), with tangibility recording the lowest mean score (M = 2.76, SD = 0.77, t (895) = -9.25, p < .001, d = 0.29). A significant gender difference emerged in responsiveness, with female students reporting higher perceptions (M = 3.03) than their male counterparts (M = 2.80, t (894) = -4.25, p < .05, d = 0.28). Perceived SQ also varied significantly across occupational fields, with ICT and garment students reporting more favorable perceptions, and across colleges (F = 6.97, p < .05, η² = 0.03), with students from Debre Markos, Burie, and Debre Birhan colleges reporting relatively higher perceptions. Qualitative findings corroborated these results, revealing critical inadequacies in physical facilities, tools, and equipment that hindered practical training. The study concludes that the quality of TVET service delivery practices is insufficient and varies considerably across fields and institutions. These findings urge policymakers and providers to prioritize investments in modern machinery, tools, and equipment, and planned maintenance to improve practical training infrastructure and overall service delivery

School Improvement Program in Secondary Schools of The Amhara Region: an Assessment of Preparation, Practice, Implementation, Challenges, and Opportunities

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

School Improvement Program in Secondary Schools of The Amhara Region: an Assessment of Preparation, Practice, Implementation, Challenges, and Opportunities Desalegn, Ejigu The School Improvement Program (SIP) is central to Ethiopia’s strategy for educational quality, yet regional adoption remains inconsistent. This study investigated SIP preparation, practices, challenges, and opportunities in Amhara Region secondary schools using a pragmatist stance and an Explanatory Sequential Mixed-Methods design (QUAN → QUAL).In the quantitative phase, data were gathered from 1,152 teachers, 84 students, and 84 School Improvement Committee (SIC) members via 5-point Likert scale questionnaires. Analysis included one-sample t-tests to measure implementation against the expected mean (3.0) and One-Way ANOVA to identify perception gaps. The qualitative phase involved semi-structured interviews with 10 principals and documentary reviews. Thematic analysis explained statistical trends, while content analysis evaluated the alignment between SIP documents and school realities.The findings revealed significant readiness challenges, with mean scores (M = 2.175, p < .001, d = - 2.51) falling well below expectations, indicating under-preparedness. Reported practices reflected symbolic compliance rather than substantive reform; schools prioritized administrative checklists over pedagogical improvement. A critical 65% funding deficit forced leaders to divert academic resources toward urgent infrastructure repairs, reducing principals to clerical managers rather than instructional mentors. Furthermore, contextual mismatches existed, as SIP frameworks ignored local linguistic realities and agricultural cycles.Despite these hurdles, community resilience offered key opportunities. Informal support systems, such as Iddir associations and alumni networks, sustained schools by offsetting budget shortfalls. Ultimately, SIP implementation was found to be compliance-oriented, producing structural changes without deep pedagogical impact.To address these gaps, the study proposes a Phased Implementation Model requiring a minimum infrastructure baseline before evaluating advanced teaching practices, decentralization of SIP toolkits to reflect local language and culture, and the hiring of school office assistants to reduce administrative burdens, thereby enabling principals to prioritize instructional leadership

The Influence of Teachers’ Full-Range Leadership on Student Engagement in Public Universities of the State Of Amhara: The Mediating Role of Student Trust in Teachers

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Influence of Teachers’ Full-Range Leadership on Student Engagement in Public Universities of the State Of Amhara: The Mediating Role of Student Trust in Teachers Yalalem, Assefa In recent years, the study of various forms of teachers’ leadership, student trust and engagement has gained increasing attention because these constructs are critical for understanding student success. However, investigation of how these constructs interact to shape students’ learning, particularly in the Ethiopian higher education contexts, remains underexplored. Addressing this gap, this study investigates how teachers’ full-range leadership influence student engagement in public universities of the regional state of Amhara, Ethiopia, with an emphasis on the mediating role of student trust in teachers in this relationship. Employing a mixed-methods research approach with a sequential explanatory design, the study involved 734 participants, including 719 undergraduate students (for quantitative data) selected through multistage stratified sampling and 9 undergraduate students and 6 university teachers (for qualitative data) selected through purposive sampling. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using self-reported questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. While the quantitative data were analysed through descriptive statistics, one-sample t-test, and structural equation modelling, the qualitative data were analysed through thematic analysis. The study findings reveal that a moderate level of student engagement is often characterised by compliance with academic and institutional requirements. Regarding teachers’ full-range leadership, transformational leadership behaviours were strongly evident, which developed through ethical conduct, inspiration, and intellectual stimulation of students. Whereas transactional and passive/avoidant leadership behaviours received moderate and modest level ratings, mainly characterised by encouraged students’ conditional engagement and little support, respectively. Relatively, a higher level of student trust in teachers was evident, which developed through teachers’ competence, emotional support, and consistent treatment. The structural model findings further revealed that transformational teacher leadership behaviours show a significant, moderate and strong positive influence on student engagement and student trust in teachers, respectively, suggesting the effectiveness of transformational leadership behaviours for student engagement and trust in teachers. Conversely, transactional teacher leadership behaviours show a non-significant negative influence on student engagement and a significant, modest positive influence on student trust in teachers, suggesting a lesser contribution of teachers exhibiting transactional leadership behaviours for student engagement and trust in teachers. Passive/avoidant teacher leadership behaviours, on the other hand, show a non-significant positive influence on student engagement and a negative influence on student trust in teachers, reflecting a negligible contribution to both student engagement and trust in teachers. Additionally, student trust in teachers shows a significantly large and positive influence on student engagement, reflecting a very strong relationship. It also plays a partial mediating role in facilitating the influences of transformational teacher leadership behaviours on student engagement. Nevertheless, no mediating roles do student trust in teachers play in transforming the influence of transactional and passive/avoidant teacher leadership behaviours on student engagement. In conclusion, these findings underscore the importance of nurturing trust-based student-teacher relationships as a pathway for translating effective teachers’ leadership practices, particularly the transformational and, to a lesser extent, the transactional ones, into meaningful student engagement.

The Influence of Leadership and Organizational Culture on Teachers’ Organizational Citizenship Behavior among Public Universities in the Amhara Regional State: The Mediating Role of Learning Organization

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT

The Influence of Leadership and Organizational Culture on Teachers’ Organizational Citizenship Behavior among Public Universities in the Amhara Regional State: The Mediating Role of Learning Organization Berhan, Kefyalew The purpose of this study was to investigate how leadership and organizational culture influence teachers’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in the public universities in the Amhara Regional State, with learning organization practices serving as a mediating variable. A quantitative research approach was employed, using a descriptive and correlational cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected from 647 teachers and analyzed through one-sample t-tests, correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling using AMOS software. Results showed that teachers generally demonstrated high levels of OCB, with courtesy emerging as the strongest dimension. Among leadership styles, only transformational leadership significantly and positively predicted OCB, while transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership together explained 11% of its variance. Within organizational culture, mission had a stronger positive effect than the negative impact of adaptability, and together the traits explained 22% of OCB variance, indicating a large effect. Learning organization dimensions explained 34% of the variance, with personal mastery identified as the strongest predictor. Transformational leadership demonstrated the most positive but largely indirect influence on OCB, transactional leadership contributed modestly, and laissez-faire leadership negatively affected OCB. Both leadership and organizational culture affected OCB primarily through the mediating role of learning organization, with systemic team learning offering a contextual adaptation of Senge’s framework. Demographic analysis revealed significant differences in OCB across university generations, particularly between first, second, and third-generation universities, Overall, the findings highlight that fostering teachers’ discretionary behaviors requires an integrated approach aligning leadership, organizational culture, and institutional learning systems. The study advances theory by underscoring learning organization as the central mechanism linking leadership and culture to OCB, while recommending that universities strengthen learning cultures and reform bureaucratic structures. Future research should employ longitudinal and mixed-methods designs to establish causality and enhance generalizability across diverse higher education contexts.