English abstract
The research aimed to develop a proposed framework for the
development of school administration practices in community partnership
using information and communications technology in light of Epstein model.
To achieve this aim, the reality of the practices was first diagnosed. Then,
best practices were identified, as well as challenges facing school
administrations in their implementation, and finally, proposals for
development were identified.
The research followed the descriptive method and combined quantitative and qualitative tools, using the mixed research approach with an explanatory sequential design. The research was divided into two sequential stages of data collection. In the first stage, quantitative data were collected using a questionnaire developed by the researcher in the light of the Epstein scale of community partnership and was adapted to the school community in
the Sultanate of Oman. It consisted of 41 statements distributed over six
dimensions: parenting, communication, volunteering in school activities,
learning at home, decision-making, and cooperation with the local
community. The study population consisted of all members of the
instructional staff and parents of students in government schools for the
academic year 2019/2020. The population was divided into four categories:
school administrators, technicians, teachers, and parents of students. The
sample was selected using a stratified random sample proportional to the size
of each stratum. The actual sample size included 1341 individuals.
In the second stage, the qualitative data were collected using the semi structured interview that was applied to a purposive sample consisted of 24
participants from the instructional staff, parents and students. The qualitative
data were analyzed utilizing thematic analysis. Finally, the quantitative and
qualitative results were given a mixed interpretation to answer the research
questions.
Among the main findings of the research were:
1. The total mean score of the reality of the school administration
use of information and communications technology from the
point of view of the study sample for all six dimensions of the
community partnership came with an average grade. The
dimension of communication ranked first, while the dimension
of decision-making ranked sixth. The results also revealed that
social media got the largest percentage of use.
2. There are statistically significant differences at the level of (0.05
≥ (p) for the effect of the gender variable in favor of females,
the effect of the variable of possessing skill in the use of
technology for all dimensions of the community partnership except the dimension of communication, the effect of the educational governorate variable on the dimension s of communication and volunteering, the effect of the school cycle
variable on the dimension of learning at home and decision-making, and the effect of the participant category variable on all
dimensions of the community partnership.
3. Best school administration practices in community partnership
using information and communications technology from the
point of view of the participants came to be 23 practices, with
the most frequent practices came in the dimension of
communication while the least frequent practices came in the
dimension of parenting.
4. The challenges facing the school administration in the use of
information and communications technology in community
partnership from the point of view of the participants were
administrative, financial, technical, and human challenges.
5. The most important proposals for developing practices of school
administration in the community partnership using information
and communications technology from the participants' point of
view were to enable a technological environment supportive of
community partnership, sustainability in e-partnership, training
and technical support, and activating digital media to support
community partnership.
In light of the theoretical literature and the research results, a proposed
framework was built to develop school administration practices in
community partnership using information and communications technology
and a number of research recommendations were presented.
