Evaluation of educational administration: A decade review of research (2001–2010)

This sequential mixed methods study analyzed how program evaluation was used to assess educational administration and examined thematic trends in educational evaluation published over 10 years (2001–2010). First, qualitative content analysis examined the articles in eight peer-reviewed evaluation journals. This analysis revealed that numerous studies have examined educational topics; however, very few of these studies (5 in total) solely focused on evaluating educational administration. Second, quantitative comparison of articles in three select journals (N = 671) showed that in these educational journals, major foci of the published studies were on teaching and learning (20%) and assessment and achievement (13.9%). In comparison, educational administration and leadership was among the least examined (2.3%), being second only to homeschooling (1.6%).

► This study offers the decade review of thematic trends in educational evaluation. ► Sequential mixed methods approach was used to examine the journal articles. ► The findings show the lack of evaluation of educational administration. ► There is a need for further research and development in this area.