Factors affecting the performance of public schools in Lebanon

By sampling extreme cases (five high-performing schools and five low-performing ones), the researcher revealed the differences in the teachers’ motivation (Mattar, 2010) as well as the extent to which Principals adopted the instructional leadership style (Mattar, 2012) in the two sets of schools. Here, she looked for additional issues, within the same sample, that make a school a high-achieving one or a low-performing one. Factors affecting school performance are: students’ SES and their quality, teachers’ quality (their ability and the quality of work life) and the way they are motivated, the Principal's leadership style, and the schools’ physical working conditions.

► Students’ quality and SES do count in assessing school performance. ► Teachers’ quality is an important factor affecting the school performance level. ► The quality of work life is found to be better in the high-achieving schools. ► Principals in the high-performing schools are adopting a stronger instructional leadership style.