The impact of ISO quality management systems on primary and secondary schools in Spain
| Published date | 05 February 2018 |
| Pages | 2-24 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-06-2016-0028 |
| Date | 05 February 2018 |
| Author | Jorge Antonio Arribas Díaz,Catalina Martínez-Mediano |
| Subject Matter | Education,Curriculum, instruction & assessment,Educational evaluation/assessment |
The impact of ISO quality
management systems on primary
and secondary schools in Spain
Jorge Antonio Arribas Díaz
Fundaci
on Escuelas Profesionales de la Sagrada Familia, Écija, Spain, and
Catalina Martínez-Mediano
Universidad Nacional de Educaci
on a Distancia, Madrid, Spain
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this study is to evaluatethe application of quality management systems (QMS)
based on international standards of quality in education(ISO 9001:2008) and ascertain the influence of this
qualitymodel on primary and secondary schools in Spain.
Design/methodology/approach –The study was conducted in 26 publicly funded, private schools in
Spain. The research design was a three-phase,mixed-methods evaluation. In all, 809 teachers answered the
main survey questionnaire in Phase 3, whichwas validated through expert reviews and exploratory factor
analysis against two theoretically derived dimensions of quality. The total scores of the two dimensions
demonstratedCronbach’s alpha reliability estimate >0.95. A discriminantfunction analysis was applied next
to compare three groups of schoolsbased on teachers’QMS ratings, using students’achievement and other
school qualityindicators as predictors.
Findings –The QMS model was perceived to have contributed to improvements in documentation and
management through evaluation, continuous improvement processes, the schools’external image,
management of resources and user satisfaction levels. Some of the improvements lasted over time. The
schools ratedas “high”by teachers on QMS implementation levels had better educationaloutcomes, as well as
user perception and satisfactionlevels, as compared to schools rated as “low”.Drawbacks of the QMS model
were perceivedas high bureaucratic workloads and a top–down management culture.
Practical implications –The findings suggest that ISO standards of QMS can be adopted in primary
and secondary education institutions successfully, and that they are suitable for improving schools and
educationalsystems overall.
Originality/value –The study’s originality lies in the demonstrated outcomes of the QMS approach,
originallycreated for industrial environments, in a large Spanishprimary and secondary education institution
using a three-phase,mixed-methods design.
Keywords Total quality management, ISO 9001, Mixed methods research, Education, Quality systems,
School improvement
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
In recent years, there has been an increasein the amount of attention given to the concepts of
quality assurance systems and of improving quality of educational organizations. The
notion of quality assurance was originally developed in the manufacturing industry, where
competition stimulates innovation. The quality movement in business reflects the valuesof
the market, focusing on economic benefitsfor shareholders and customer satisfaction levels
(Balvers et al., 2016).
Quality assurance systems assumethat there are measurement metrics, set of standards
and best practices for continuous improvement of goods and services. The needs and
QAE
26,1
2
Received14 June 2016
Revised6 December 2016
26July 2017
Accepted30 November 2017
QualityAssurance in Education
Vol.26 No. 1, 2018
pp. 2-24
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0968-4883
DOI 10.1108/QAE-06-2016-0028
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0968-4883.htm
expectations of the customer are viewed as the ultimate arbiter of meaning and success in
this model (ENQA, 2009,p. 13).
Recently, the quality movement has been applied in education (Doherty, 2008), where
organizational and managerial models aim to achieve several objectives. Among the
priorities are to improve competitiveness of schools through monitoring of their
effectiveness and efficiency; to identify and meet the needs and expectations of customers
and other stakeholders; and to maintainand improve the functions and service operations of
the organizations toward increasing students’educational performance and stakeholder
satisfaction levels.
The latest international standards for improving and managing the quality operations,
goods and services were published in 2015 as the ISO 9001:2015(2015).ISO 9001 (2015) is an
international standard that outlines requirements for institutions to design and apply a
quality management system (QMS). ISO9001 is part of a family of standards published by
the International Organizationfor Standardization (ISO) and often referred to collectively as
the “ISO 9000 series”or “ISO 9000 family”. ISO 9001 establishes minimum requirements to
guide organizations in the designof a QMS, and defines criteria to implement the QMS so as
to provide confidence in the conformity of a good or service with previously established
requirements. The determination of customer/user needs, the development of processes to
meet these and other needs, providing a service previously designed and analysis of their
compliance, together withcustomer/user satisfaction and action to improve satisfaction,are
the basis of ISO QMS. ISO involves changes in organizational processes to improve and
assure quality ofoutcomes and results valued by its customers.
In education, the successful adoption of ISO requires that schools meet several criteria.
Among these are that the institutionshave (Van den Berghe, 1988,p.8):
a good organizational structure;
adefined set of governing rules and policies;
stability of activities and staff/leaders/stakeholders;
well-understood quality processes by all members;
standardized documentation methods to guide ongoing quality processes;
sound finances;
qualified people leading the implementation of the ISO standards; and
a clear definition of “users”of services, among others.
In ISO 9001, the term “stakeholders”includes internal and external customers. In
educational contexts, the key customers are the “users”or “beneficiaries”, namely, the
students and their families. Although there are also other stakeholders, such as the school
staff, leaders, institutions with all other internal and external constituencies served by
school organizations,the ISO 9001 prioritizes customers first (Pérez Juste, 2005).
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to analyze and evaluate an application of the quality
management systems (QMS) model based on ISO 9001 standards, as adopted in education,
and ascertain the influence of this quality model on outcomes of selected primary and
secondary school organizations in Spain. The research presented shows how this quality
model was applied, what user perceptions were about the benefits that the model and the
relationship of high versus low implementation levels of the quality model (as perceivedby
teachers) with outcomevariables.
Impact of ISO
quality
management
systems
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