Practice and Challenges of Balanced Scorecard Oriented School Improvement Planning in Selected Government Secondary Schools of Tigrai

Abstract

Balanced Scorecard (BSC) oriented school improvement planning (SIP) was introduced in secondary schools of Tigrai Regional State since 2012. This study was undertaken to investigate the practice and challenges of BSC oriented SIP in selected government secondary schools of Tigrai.  In this study, descriptive survey research design was employed. Both primary and secondary data were collected using questionnaire, semi structured interview and document analysis. Forty-nine school principals, 71 vice principals, 121 teachers, five supervisors and Parent Teachers Associations (PTA) members were selected as a sample using purposive and simple random sampling techniques. Data were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques. The study revealed that majority of school principals lack the competencies required for leadership position. In addition, though the school community has better understanding of SIP, majority of the school principals, teachers and parents were observed implementing BSC without having good understanding of what BSC is and how it is integrated with SIP. Besides, parents did not clearly understand what roles they are expected to play as members of the School Improvement (SI) committee. Moreover, principals’ leadership ability and skills in BSC/SI planning are not up to the expected level. Although strategies that support schools in their BSC/SIP planning processes were introduced and practiced, the level of their implementation was found to be very low. Interviews conducted also proved that strategies used to support schools in their planning process were very rare. It was implied that providing further intensive training for school leaders, SI committee members and parents in areas such as the concepts of BSC/SIP, how they are aligned and measured are critical.