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Leadership in Qatar’s Educational Reform

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School Leadership in the Context of Standards-Based Reform

Part of the book series: Studies in Educational Leadership ((SIEL,volume 16))

Abstract

The State of Qatar is a small, rich, developing country in the Arabian Gulf which introduced an extensive U.S.-inspired educational reform in 2004. A prominent part of the reform is a performance-based accountability system that includes national and international assessments. On the surface, the Qatari model shares a number of characteristics with Western systems. However, the local capacity issues prove to challenge the promise of the standards-based reforms. School leaders are struggling to satisfy the new demands that are being measured annually by addressing pedagogical, professional, and sociolinguistic issues on the ground. In their struggle to negotiate between the demands of the new reforms and local realities, school leaders are experiencing their own steep learning curve.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

  2. 2.

    Clean fuel is any natural fuel used as a substitute for fossil fuels. They produce less pollution than the alternatives.

  3. 3.

    Mathematics and Science tests are in English with Arabic translations. Students may respond in the language of choice.

  4. 4.

    Approximate numbers are reported publically.

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  1. EduEval Educational Services, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Sonia Ben Jaafar

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  1. Sonia Ben Jaafar
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Correspondence to Sonia Ben Jaafar .

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  1. , Faculty of Education, Brock University, King Street East 1842, Hamilton, L8K 1V7, Canada

    Louis Volante

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Jaafar, S.B. (2012). Leadership in Qatar’s Educational Reform. In: Volante, L. (eds) School Leadership in the Context of Standards-Based Reform. Studies in Educational Leadership, vol 16. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4095-2_10

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