English abstract
This study aimed at identify the effectiveness of planning practices for educational leaders in the General Directorates of Education, in the Ministry of Education, the Sultanate of Oman. It also examined differences of educational leaders in practicing educational plans according to their gender, job title and years of
experience.
The population of this study consisted of general managers, deputy managers, department managers, deputy directors, and heads of departments from six General Directorates of Education (Muscat, South Eastern, South Batinah, North Batinah, Buraimi, Addakhileya). From the population of 283, only 155 individuals returned the completed questionnaires.
A questionnaire that contained 44 items in four components was used to collect data. The reliability coefficients of the questionnaire ranged from 0.88 to 0.93 Cronbach alpha. The main results of this study show that generally the degree of effectiveness in planning practices is at the moderate level (average). Educational leaders showed that their degree of adherence to the implementation of education plans is good; educational leaders are committed to the time schedule of the plan and they ensure its success, and prepare necessary reports to higher levels of the Ministry. The results also show that there are no courses in planning offered for educational leaders as educators. The educational leaders indicated that plans often do not come from districts in the regions and provinces that they represent or work, but the plans normally come from senior management, the Ministry of
Education.
Finally, the results show that educational leaders did not show statistically significant differences in practicing educational plans based on their gender and years of experience. However, the results show that there are significant differences between educational leaders in practicing educational plans based on their job title.
