| Abstract [eng] |
This master's thesis examines the impact of school rankings on the management of general education schools, focusing on the managerial aspect. The growing role of rankings in educational governance raises the need to evaluate their influence on both school competitiveness and the long-term assurance of educational quality. Rankings can encourage schools to strive for better academic results, but their use also highlights certain issues related to an overemphasis on easily measurable indicators, neglecting broader educational goals such as personality development, civic responsibility, and social well-being. In recent decades, school rankings have gained increasing attention in the field of education, becoming not only an informational tool for parents when selecting educational institutions but also a significant managerial element for schools themselves. The creation of rankings is based on academic achievement results, such as standardized test scores, national exam results, or student admission rates to higher education institutions. However, the question of whether these indicators truly reflect overall educational quality and how they affect school management remains a topic of debate. The main objective of the thesis is to assess how school rankings influence managerial decisions made by school leaders, strategies for improving educational quality, and social equity, particularly between urban and rural schools. The study applied both qualitative and quantitative methods: literature analysis, secondary data analysis, and content analysis to determine how rankings affect school management, academic achievements, and social equity. Rankings, often based on academic achievement indicators, have become an important tool for both parents selecting schools and schools aiming to increase their prestige and attract more students and funding. However, this thesis also critically evaluates whether these rankings accurately reflect educational quality and how they may distort long-term school strategies by focusing only on short-term results. The research findings showed that while a high ranking can increase a school’s prestige and attract more resources, the pursuit of rankings often leads to the prioritization of short-term results. This may manifest in improvements in academic achievements but also in the neglect of social and emotional development aspects. Moreover, the ranking system has certain limitations, as it often fails to consider important factors such as social and regional disparities, as well as long-term educational goals related to the holistic development of students. The study also found that rankings could contribute to increasing social inequality, as urban schools, which have more financial and human resources, often achieve higher rankings than rural schools, which face greater challenges. These issues become particularly evident when rankings fail to sufficiently address special educational needs or other social groups, whose progress cannot be measured solely by standard academic indicators. The final sections of the thesis present recommendations on how to balance the demands of rankings with long-term educational quality objectives to ensure sustainable and comprehensive educational quality. These recommendations include both strategic and practical advice for school management, aiming not only to improve academic results but also to create an educational system that meets contemporary educational and social needs. Keywords: school rankings, educational quality, social justice in education, ranking methodology. |
