Quality indicators of vocational schools: Partial least squares-SEM for small sample

This study aims to examine the relationship among the components of school management-governance, teacher quality, learning process, and learning outcome in vocational schools and evaluate the performance indicators in the accreditation instrument. Data were gathered from accreditation results of 32 vocational high schools with 44 measurement indicators from the National School Accreditation Board in Indonesia and analyzed through a Structural Equation Model using Partial Least Squares without normality assumptions. Results show that School Management-Governance significantly influences Teacher Quality (β = 0.714) and the Learning Process (β = 0.450), but not Learning Outcome. Teacher Quality affects the Learning Process (β = 0.479) but not Learning Outcome. The Learning Process has the strongest impact on Learning Outcome (β = 0.885), mediating other factors. A total of 8 measurement indicators are found insignificant, suggesting refinement of the accreditation instrument is needed. Insights drawn from this study will help other researchers and policy-makers, particularly those interested in educational quality measurement. Some highlights of the proposed method are: SEM-PLS is applied effectively to small-sample accreditation data without normality assumptions. Learning Process is the strongest predictor of Learning Outcome, mediating other factors. Only 36 of 44 accreditation indicators are significant, suggesting refinement is needed.