THE NEEDS FOR DEVELOPING INTERNAL QUALITY ASSURANCE OPERATION OF SCHOOLS UNDER THE OFFICE OF PROVINCIAL LEARNING ENCOURAGEMENT, KHON KAEN PROVINCE

Abstract

This research aimed to: (1) examine the current and desirable conditions of internal quality assurance operation of schools under the Office of Provincial Learning Encouragement, Khon Kaen Province; and (2) assess the priority needs for developing internal quality assurance operations of these institutions. The sample consisted of 265 school administrators and teachers, selected using Yamane’s formula with a margin of error of 0.05 through stratified random sampling. The research instrument was a five-point rating scale questionnaire. The content validity index of the instrument was 1.00. The reliability coefficients were 0.972 for the current conditions and 0.946 for the desirable conditions. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and the priority needs index (PNI). The findings revealed that the overall current conditions of internal quality assurance operations were at a high level, while the desirable conditions were at the highest level. The priority needs for the development of internal quality assurance operations, ranked from highest to lowest importance, were as follows: (1) implementation in accordance with the educational management development plan of the institution; (2) monitoring and follow-up of operational outcomes to enhance institutional quality in compliance with educational standards; (3) formulation of an educational management development plan emphasizing quality aligned with educational standards; (4) improvement and development of educational quality based on self-assessment results; (5) evaluation and internal educational quality audit; (6) establishment of institutional educational standards; and (7) submission of self-assessment reports to the supervising agency.