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Internationally and locally, there is growing emphasis on the importance of effective school management and leadership in contributing to good student achievement outcomes. 'Instructional leadership' has become a key concept in the research literature, reflecting an attempt to better understand the relationship between school leadership, curriculum and instructional matters, and student achievement. Managing to Learn is the first study of its kind in South Africa, considering these issues. The research reported in this monograph provides an extensive review of the literature around the management of curriculum and instruction, a framework and methodology for the research, and the empirical findings from the study. Through a series of regression analyses, the study presents those management factors identified across a wide range of schools as most crucial to improved performance of students. It brings greater clarity to the somewhat undifferentiated view of school management currently, and a sharper focus on its importance in relation to how students learn.

In February, I announced the Western Cape Education Department's Infrastructure plan which aims to address the backlogs in school infrastructure in the Province. The R1.9 billion infrastructure plan, amongst other things, includes the building of 25 new schools over the current MTEF, the replacement of 20 schools that were built with inappropriate materials, the building of additional relief classrooms and the installation of mobile classrooms at schools where there is severe overcrowding.

"A National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) report on norms and standards for school infrastructure has been agreed on, and stipulates, among other things, that all schools have to be fitted with a fixed telephone line, Internet access and must have a cellphone for emergency use, and that all newly built schools must have solar panels."

'Keeping data secure, safe and legal' is an introductory document that aims to distil the key messages outlined in Data Handling Procedures in Government so they are applicable to schools and is intended for school leaders, senior leadership teams, network managers and other members of staff who have responsibility for handling and securing data.

Open Source Schools is here to share information about open source software in schools. Our aim is to help you decide whether open source software might offer benefits for learning, teaching, engaging pupils and parents, managing information and resources, or school administration.

SA SAMS is a robust computer application specifically designed to meet the management, administrative and governance needs of public schools in Southern Africa. The programme has a strong EMIS focus to assist schools in the completion of the Annual School Survey.

"South Africa is significantly underperforming in education, particularly mathematics teaching and learning. Fundamental reforms are needed in the public sector. Business leaders need to incorporate an understanding of private education and other market experiments and schooling innovations in their overall perspective and priorities for intervention and reform.   Read more in a new CDE Insight, MATHEMATICS OUTCOMES IN SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS: What are the facts? What should be done? "

From 2009 every Grade 9 pupil will be writing a national certificate whether they are leaving school or not. This was one of five major policy changes announced by Minister of Education Naledi Pandor on Monday. Other changes include proposals to: Lower teacher pupil ratios; Rearrange districts into smaller more manageable areas; Get Internet into every school in the country by 2013; and, Expand Further Education and Training Colleges

The international experience on schooling reform provides a compelling set of ideas about how to get South Africa's struggling schooling system moving in the right direction

This is a collaborative project to generate Social Media Guidelines for school districts. The goal of this guideline is to provide instructional employees, staff, students, administrators, parents and the school district community direction when using social media applications both inside and outside the classroom.

"Sweet Search is a search engine that searches only the sites that have been reviewed and approved by a team of librarians, teachers, and research experts. In all there are 35,000 websites that have been reviewed and approved by Sweet Search. In addition to the general search engine, Sweet Search offers five niche search engines. The niche search engines are for Social Studies, Biographies, SweetSites (organized by grade and subject area), School Librarians, and Sweet Search 4 Me (for elementary school students)."

Acceptable use kits for schools | Primary and Secondary School Internet and Mobile Acceptable Use Kit | Consent for publication forms | Student images, privacy and copyright | Website currency and quality assurance checklist | Parent/Guardian consent for using a student's work | Copyright frequently asked questions |

Reading Companion is available for free to elementary public schools and nonprofit organizations that offer adult literacy assistance. Individuals who wish to participate must be affiliated with a Reading Companion grant site. Click here for Participating Organizations. IBM is now accepting proposals for consideration. Please send us your full contact information by completing the form below and IBM will send your school/nonprofit organization a proposal request.

The following UK self study units are adapted from the Guide for professional development for primary school teachers: Using ICT to support mathematics in primary schools.

Teachers spend slightly less time on their activities overall, but much less time on teaching than policy requires. There is a serious erosion of instructional time in the majority of schools, but it is worst in rural and semi-rural African schools.

Great great article with resoruce links about educational blogging

The team had found underlying dysfunctionality at rural and township schools, and teachers were spending less time in the classroom and more time on administration. The culture of teaching and learning had disappeared in most rural and township schools.

Can we reach our pupils with technology in a way that doesn't wreck our budgets? Is Social Media a teaching tool or a hindrance? Should we ban cellphones in our schools when almost all our pupils use them for communication and learning outside the classroom? Can a research project mean more than a quick Google search? How can we teach digital literacy in ways which are cost-effective, meaningful and budget-friendly? Is a computer lab needed in a 21st century school? What are the pitfalls of using technology in the classroom? Need answers? Join us at EdTechConference 2011!

More abt our #cofimvaba school tablet project http://t.co/tny0Sbaa59

"School tech initiatives show growth potential"