Aims: This study examines the principles and practices in term of functional analysis for managing records at secondary schools in Hong Kong as recommended by the ISO9001 requirement. Set up by the Geneva-based International Organisation for Standardisation, the ISO9001 addresses the requirements that schools, or any other form of organisation intending to meet the standard, must fulfil. Schools in Hong Kong are required to adhere to the education quality assurance (QA) policy, which emphasises a school’s accountability to the wider community and the development of school education in Hong Kong. The policy requires schools to collect data that can be used to report on the effectiveness of school education and to provide documents for scrutiny by government officials. In response to this (QA) policy, schools in Hong Kong have to manage their records effectively. Record management, as one of the administrative principles in schools, ensures that accurate information of all school activities is kept and can facilitate an effective and evidence-based, decision-making process. Identifying taxonomy and management practices for effective documentation in schools can support planning; assist with organising the continuity of improvement plans; and increase reporting and accountability to the public. Methodology: This study examines the records management model using a case study that focuses on the experience of implementing records management and knowledge management at school. The case study is a secondary school in Hong Kong which has adopted the ISO standard and is implementing knowledge management. The researcher conducted a series of qualitative interviews at a secondary school, where the ISO 9001 certification had been introduced. The study explores how the records were managed and classified. Findings: The results show that the case school adopted a hybrid top-down and bottom-up approach to record management, to facilitate decision making and managing knowledge

This paper aims to examine the relationship between school management practices and teacher leadership. The exercise of teacher leadership within school organization is proven to be contributed to the improvement of school effectiveness (Leithwood et. al. 2000). How to encourage teachers to exercise their leadership for school improvement become an important management issue to be explored. However, only few attempts have so far been made at identify the management practices that affect teacher leadership. If the relationships between them are explored, school administrators can fine tune their management practices for enhancing the exercise of teacher leadership contributes to school improvement. This study intends to identify the roles of teacher leadership that would provide school administrators practical steps to involve teachers in exercising their leadership effectively. The theoretical framework of this study was theoretically constructed and empirically validated. Weick's (1976) Organization theory of loose-tight coupling in school management and Katzenmeyer and Moller"s (2001) three-dimensional teacher leadership model were adopted for constructing the theoretical framework. 360 teachers from 20 aided secondary schools in Hong Kong took part in the questionnaire survey of this study. A three-dimensional teacher leadership model includes instructional coaching, instructional leadership and administrative leadership and a model of loose-tight management practices includes bureaucratic control and professional autonomy was theoretically and empirically identified by structural equation modelling. Results showed that there are positive predictive effects of professional autonomy and bureaucratic control in instructional coaching, instructional leadership and administrative leadership. This study contributes theoretically to our knowledge of the relationship between management practices and the roles of teacher leadership, and proposes practically a model for school

This paper will report on the mediation effects of the key artifacts upon teacher participation in two school-based leadership development projects in schools in 2005 and 2006 respectively. This structural approach to taking up more curriculum responsibilities by the schools in Hong Kong was recommended by the Government in 2001, and yet there is little empirical evidence about its implementation and effectiveness. The projects will collaborate with two active schools, setting up two curriculum development teams in each to bring about planned innovations in pedagogy. The teams will conduct a cycle of curriculum activities in the first and second semesters, reviewing the current curriculum, planning an innovation, and designing and implementing it in classroom settings. Afterwards, each team will conduct reflection for further improvement. All participating teachers will be interviewed 4 times during participation. All meetings and tryout lessons will be video-taped. The interview data will be analyzed by identifying and classifying key emerging themes which will illuminate our understanding of the participating teachers' experiences in the curriculum process. The meeting data will be analyzed using activity theory to identify the key factors that facilitate or constrain the effectiveness of the teacher participation. The findings will deepen our understanding of the effectiveness of teacher participation in school-based curriculum development.