Effectiveness of the integrated school project and implications for the reform of the Moroccan education system: An approach based on managerial levers

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Type of the article: Research Article

Educational reform in Morocco continues to face persistent challenges related to learning outcomes, territorial disparities, and the limited effectiveness of centralized policy instruments. In this context, participatory governance at the school level has emerged as a potential lever for improving school effectiveness. This study examines how the internal participatory mechanisms embedded in the Integrated School Project influence teachers’ perceptions of effectiveness in pilot schools. The analysis is based on data collected through a self-administered questionnaire distributed to teachers involved in the project in the Marrakech-Safi region between early June and late July 2025. Out of 420 questionnaires administered, 357 were retained after quality control. Measurement constructs were validated using confirmatory factor analysis, and the empirical relationships were estimated using median quantile regression with robust standard errors to address non-normality and heterogeneous perceptions. The results show that perceived effectiveness increases significantly when school action is structured around collective prioritization of objectives, inclusive working groups, clear assignment of responsibilities, and strong methodological rigor. Institutionalized decision-making spaces and teachers’ involvement in concrete pedagogical choices also exert a positive effect. In contrast, collaborative project co-design and the formal documentation of collective decisions do not significantly influence effectiveness, while shared diagnosis has a more moderate impact. Overall, the findings indicate that participatory governance improves school effectiveness only when it is operationalized through structured and stable mechanisms rather than symbolic participation, with important implications for strengthening guided school autonomy in Morocco.

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    • Figure 1. Jarque-Bera normality test for OLS residuals
    • Figure 2. Jarque-Bera normality test for quantile regression residuals
    • Figure 3. Values of studentized residuals (RStudent) for detecting influential observations
    • Table 1. Indicators of convergent validity, composite reliability, and average variance extracted (AVE) from CFA
    • Table 2. Discriminant validity matrix from CFA
    • Table 3. Questionnaire response rate
    • Table 4. Descriptive statistics for study variables
    • Table 5. Breusch-Pagan-Godfrey heteroscedasticity test on OLS residuals
    • Table 6. Ramsey RESET specification test applied (quantile regression)
    • Table 7. Variance inflation factors (VIF) in the quantile regression model
    • Table 8. Breusch-Pagan-Godfrey heteroscedasticity test applied to the quantile regression model
    • Table 9. Estimation of the quantile regression model
    • Data curation
      Hamid Zahir, Mohammed Bougroum, Abdelilah Sadqaoui
    • Conceptualization
      Hamid Zahir, Mohammed Bougroum, Abdelilah Sadqaoui
    • Formal Analysis
      Hamid Zahir, Mohammed Bougroum, Abdelilah Sadqaoui
    • Funding acquisition
      Hamid Zahir, Mohammed Bougroum, Abdelilah Sadqaoui
    • Investigation
      Hamid Zahir, Mohammed Bougroum, Abdelilah Sadqaoui
    • Methodology
      Hamid Zahir, Mohammed Bougroum, Abdelilah Sadqaoui
    • Project administration
      Hamid Zahir, Mohammed Bougroum, Abdelilah Sadqaoui
    • Resources
      Hamid Zahir, Mohammed Bougroum, Abdelilah Sadqaoui
    • Supervision
      Hamid Zahir, Mohammed Bougroum, Abdelilah Sadqaoui
    • Software
      Hamid Zahir, Mohammed Bougroum, Abdelilah Sadqaoui
    • Validation
      Hamid Zahir, Mohammed Bougroum, Abdelilah Sadqaoui
    • Visualization
      Hamid Zahir, Mohammed Bougroum, Abdelilah Sadqaoui
    • Writing – original draft
      Hamid Zahir, Mohammed Bougroum, Abdelilah Sadqaoui
    • Writing – review & editing
      Hamid Zahir, Mohammed Bougroum, Abdelilah Sadqaoui