Can mission predict school performance? The case of basic education in Oman

This article reports on a study that examined the relationship between the mission statements and performance of Basic Education Schools in Oman. The process of mission statement framing was also investigated. A sample of 161 school mission statements was randomly collected from the Ministry of Education school mission portal database representing 19% of the total population. A sequential mixed method of analysis was chosen. The mission statements being classified with respect to 12 themes of which the most frequently of them appearing Academic Achievement (74.5%) and the least frequent Scientific Research Methods (26.1%). Results show that Learning Outcomes Excellence significantly correlated with a theme around Reconstructing School Environment (r = 0.243). Also, Islamic Values and Ethics significantly correlated with Scientific Research Methods (r = 0.221). It was also appeared that school principals spent great efforts on designing school mission statements that directed schools towards achieving their purpose and improving their performance.