The Relationship Between Elementary School Climate and Teacher Perceptions about Evaluation

The Relationship Between Elementary School Climate and Teacher Perceptions about Evaluation
Author: Ellen DeeAnn Powell
Publisher:
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2011
Genre: Education, Elementary
ISBN:

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Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, the demand for accountability in schools across America has put a spotlight on teacher quality. As part of the focus on school improvement, one area that is sometimes overlooked is teacher evaluation (Varlas, 2009). Within the research, studies can be found that show a relationship between school climate and the effectiveness of teacher evaluation systems (King, 2003: Stronge, 2006; Wilson & Natriello, 1987). It has also been found that effective teacher evaluation can improve school climate (Colby, Bradshaw, & Joyner, 2002). Learning how the overall climate of a school relates to the evaluation process could be beneficial to school administrators and teachers alike. The purpose of this study was to investigate elementary school teachers' perceptions of their school climate and determine if a relationship existed between those perceptions and the perceptions they have of their formative and summative evaluations. This quantitative study was conducted in 35 public elementary schools within a southeast urban area of Houston, Texas. The Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire for Elementary Schools (Hoy, Tarter, & Kottkamp, 1991) was administered to the schools' teaching staff to determine teacher perceptions of their school climate. Additionally, the Teacher Evaluation Profile (Stiggins & Duke, 1988) was given to determine the perceptions of teachers related to their most recent evaluation experiences. Data from the 746 participating teachers was analyzed using a Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient and Partial Least Squares (PLS) Modeling to assess the relationship between school climate and the teachers perceptions of evaluation effectiveness. The findings indicated that correlations of scores for the various subtests on the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire Elementary version (OCDQ-RE) with the scores for the various subtests on the Teacher Evaluation Profile (TEP) existed in the direction that supports the stated hypotheses. The six PLS path models defined in this study have practical and/or theoretical significance to predict the relationships between elementary school climate and teacher perceptions regarding evaluation. By understanding the relationship between school climate and teacher evaluation, principals will be better equipped to improve their schools and meet the challenges of NCLB.

School Climate

School Climate
Author: H. Jerome Freiberg
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2005-08-02
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1135714517

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Like a strong foundation in a house, the climate of a school is the foundation that supports the structures of teaching and learning. This book provides a framework for educators to look at school and classroom climates using both informal and formal measures. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of climate and details techniques which may be used by heads or classroom teachers to judge the health of their learning environment. The book sets out to enhance understanding of the components of a healthy learning environment and the tools needed to improve that environment. It also looks at ways to assess the impact of change activities in improving and sustaining educational excellence. The international team of contributors bring perspectives from the school systems in America, UK, Australia and Holland.

A Study of the Comparison Between Teacher Perceptions of School Climate and the Existence of Professional Learning Community Dimensions

A Study of the Comparison Between Teacher Perceptions of School Climate and the Existence of Professional Learning Community Dimensions
Author: Kathryn E. Kelton
Publisher:
Total Pages: 150
Release: 2010
Genre: Middle school teachers
ISBN:

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This research study was conducted to determine whether teachers' perceptions of climate within a school had a significant influence on the dimensions that support a community of professional learners. Teachers from ten middle schools in one central Florida school district completed a combined survey design which included questions pertaining to both climate characteristics and Professional Learning Community (PLC) dimensions. Foundational theories regarding both learning organizations and organizational climate were explored. Recent research on the development of professional learning communities and school climate was also examined. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed to investigate each research question; these statistics included Spearman rho correlations, multiple regressions, and chi-square analyses. Findings demonstrated that the null hypotheses were rejected or partially rejected for each research question. Significant relationships were found between teachers' perceptions of school climate and the dimensions of a PLC. Of the demographic variables, only years of teaching experience was found to be not significantly related to the school climate dimensions. The implications of these results validate the importance of building a climate of supportive principal behavior and committed and collegial teacher behaviors, as demonstrated by the significant relationship of these characteristics to schools exhibiting higher degrees of the dimensions that constitute a PLC. Educational stakeholders wishing to develop schools into job-embedded communities of learners with evidence of the five dimensions (shared leadership, shared vision, collective creativity, peer review and supportive conditions) must attend to developing the climate behaviors necessary for that to occur. As demonstrated by the research results, establishing an appropriate school climate that promotes professional interaction, support, and teacher commitment to students is a strong place to begin.

Relationship Between School Climate and Student Achievement

Relationship Between School Climate and Student Achievement
Author: Keri Brown Hampton
Publisher:
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2008
Genre: School environment
ISBN:

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This quantitative research study was designed to investigate the relationship between school climate and student achievement. Using survey methods, data were collected using the Organizational Climate Descriptive Questionnaire Revised for Elementary Schools (OCDQ-RE) from 599 teachers in 33 schools located within the Region VII Education Service Center area. Quantitative data were analyzed using the Pearson r correlational analysis method and descriptive statistics to determine the relationship between teachers' perceptions of school climate and student achievement. Findings revealed a moderate relationship between teachers' perceptions of teacher openness when compared to standardized test scores and a small association among teachers' perceptions of principal openness and standardized test scores. By examining the overall campus climate evidence was found that campuses having an open or engaged climate typically had a higher percent of students meeting the TAKS standard when compared to campuses with a closed or disengaged climate.

The Direct and Moderating Role of School Interpersonal Climate on Children's Academic Outcomes in the Context of Whole-School, Social-Emotional Learning Programs

The Direct and Moderating Role of School Interpersonal Climate on Children's Academic Outcomes in the Context of Whole-School, Social-Emotional Learning Programs
Author: Juliette K. Berg
Publisher:
Total Pages: 11
Release: 2015
Genre:
ISBN:

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A positive school climate is characterized by a supportive, orderly, and fair interpersonal climate. Children's perceptions of interpersonal climate and school safety are associated with several academic and behavioral adjustment outcomes. The current study has two goals: (1) to better understand the contribution of school interpersonal climate to children's school success; and (2) to examine whether the impact of the whole-school implementation of social and character development (SACD) programs are moderated by interpersonal climate. The study asks: (1) Is there a direct relationship between school interpersonal climate at the start of 3rd grade as perceived by children and teachers and modeled at the individual and school levels and children's school engagement and academic competence/motivation at the end of 5th grade?; (2) Do school-aggregated child and teacher perceptions of interpersonal climate moderate the relationship between children's individual perceptions of climate and the outcomes?; (3) Is there an impact of SACD programs on engagement and academic competence?; and (4) Do school-aggregated child and teacher perceptions of interpersonal climate moderate the impact of SACD programs on school engagement and academic competence? This study used data from a three-year, multi-site, school-randomized evaluation of Social and Character Development (SACD) Programs in 83 elementary schools in 7 sites and 6 states funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and Centers for Disease Control. The child sample consisted of 4,245 children in 320 classrooms at baseline. In each site, a research team randomized 10 to 18 schools to the business-as-usual approach to implement the SACD program. The randomization employed a matched pair design with stratified sampling. As part of the evaluation, a common set of student outcomes including social and emotional competence, behavior, academics, and perceptions of school climate were collected across sites. Data included survey data from students, primary caregivers, teachers, and interview responses from principals. In addition, each site collected its own set of site-specific data. Three-level hierarchical linear modeling with fixed effects in which children were nested in teachers and schools was used to account for the multilevel nature of the data. Findings reveal that: (1) children who experienced a lack of community were less engaged and had more difficulty academically; (2) teachers' perceptions of support and safety in school were also related to academic outcomes; (3) cross-level interaction pointed to the importance of considering the fit between the child and the school environment--children who had a good fit (i.e., perceived a more negative climate in the context of a school with a more negative climate) actually reported being more engaged, compared to children who had a poor fit (i.e., perceived a negative climate in the context of a less negative climate); and (4) SACD programs did not directly improve academic outcomes. Limitations of this study include low intraclass correlations and reliabilities at the school levels for the study outcomes, suggesting low power to detect group-level effects. Tables and figures are appended. [For the IES NCER report on SACD Programs that provided data for this study, see ED512329.].