Hubungan Antara Amalan Pengurusan Kualiti Menyeluruh(TQM) Dengan Iklim Sekolah Dalam Kalangan Sekolah-Sekolah Menengah Berprestasi Tinggi, Sederhana dan Rendah di Negeri Kelantan

The purpose of this study is to determine whether TQM practice is a predictor of school climate. This research also aims to identify the level of TQM practice in three different categories of schools namely high, average and low performance. In addition, this research attempts to identify the level of climate at these schools and the factors which support or hinder the implementation of TQM in schools. Data collected from the survey of 691 teachers were analyzed by inferential and descriptive statistics using SPSS. Based on a stratified sampling, twelve teachers including top management officers were interviewed. The results showed that there were significant differences between the levels of TQM practice in the three different categories of schools; high performance schools showed a higher level of TQM practice, followed by average performance schools and low performance schools. Findings on the level of school climate indicated that high performance schools had the highest, followed by average performance schools and low performance schools. Furthermore, this study also found that there was a significant positive relationship between the variables of the level of TQM practice and school climate. Inferential statistics also showed that TQM is a predictor of school climate with a contribution of 40% variance towards school climate. As for the dimension of TQM practice, the dimension of staff involvement, the commitment of the top management and continuous improvement were the main contributors to school climate with a total of 46.6%. Data collected from the interview to verify the assumption of the theory were analyzed by using a traditional qualitative analysis. The results showed that the top management’s commitment, staff involvement as well as continuous improvement were the main factors for the success of TQM implementation while misunderstanding of the TQM concept, time constraints, communication and negative attitudes were the main obstacles and barriers to the successful implementation of TQM in schools. Finally, the results of this study provide some implications to knowledge, theoretical and practical areas. A model of creating excellent schools could also be produced as a guide for all teachers and top management officers in schools in order to ensure excellence in today’s education is a reality.