Education Commons^™

Exploring The Pre- And Post-Pandemic Connection Between The Plus School Climate Survey And Student Outcomes: A Comparative Analysis And Predictive Study, Sarah V. Neely

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The return to in-person schooling post-COVID-19 pandemic has brought increased pressure on educators to ensure academic success for students. This study examines the school climate of 40 elementary and middle schools in California's Central Valley and its impact on academic performance and attendance, comparing pre-pandemic (2018-2019) with post-pandemic (2021-2022 and 2022-2023) data. Additionally, the study explores the influence of positive student-teacher relationships on academic outcomes and chronic absenteeism. Utilizing the PLUS School Climate Survey, this research sought to identify significant differences in survey scores pre- and post-pandemic, as well as examining the predictive power of student-teacher connectedness on academic performance …

Teacher Perceptions Of School Climate: A New Instrument And Validity Study, Rui Jin

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The United States government has growingly emphasized school climate, as it has been involved as an accountability indicator in the Every Student Succeeds Act. However, there remains considerable debate on both conceptualizing and measuring school climate. Moreover, teachers, a critical informant of school climate, have been ignored because most previous studies have paid attention to the students.

To better inform the research and practice related to the teacher perceptions of school climate and its measurement, this dissertation first identified the related instruments in the literature. The results showed only one survey measured three domains of school climate (academic climate, community, …

Perceptual Differences Between Lighthouse Team Members And Non-Lighthouse Team Members Regarding School Attendance, Classroom Discipline, And School Climate In Leader In Me Schools, Nina J. Henson

Dissertations

The Leader in Me is a school approach with a focus on socioemotional education adopted by over 3,000 schools across the globe (Soutter, 2018, p.8). As culture continues to change with technology and new social aspects, character education programs must continue to adapt as well to support student needs within schools (Rocco, 2018). This quantitative study was designed to identify differences in perceptions of Lighthouse Team members and Non-Lighthouse Team members about how the Leader in Me impacts student attendance, classroom discipline, and school culture. Surveys were sent to educators in 22 schools in southern Missouri who had implemented the …

The Effects Of Character Education Programs On School Climate And Student Discipline In Grades 6-8 Through The Eyes Of Substitute Teachers, Javier Lozano

Dissertations

This research study used surveys and one on one interviews conducted with substitute teachers to investigate whether character education programs in a middle school setting can be observed having a noticeable impact on school culture and climate. The study observed findings through the lens and perspectives of substitute teachers to see if guest teachers reported a significant difference in their experience between schools of character versus schools that did not practice character initiatives. The study investigated this Research Question through exploring four topics: 1) how substitute teachers described schools that are actively involved in character education versus those schools that …

Evidence-Based Social-Emotional Learning And Its Influence On Teachers’ Perception Of Student Behavior: An Analysis Of Ruler And The Anchors Of Emotional Intelligence, Brent B. Harrington

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to assess the extent by which an evidence-based Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) program influenced teachers’ perception of students’ behavior in a small and diverse PK – 8 school district in Westchester County, NY. Specifically, the researcher evaluated the Anchors of Emotional Intelligence and the RULER framework to determine its impact on school climate as viewed from the perspective of staff in the district. Prior to commencing the study, the researcher recognized the negative staff narrative around student behavior in the district as a significant problem of practice that was observable, actionable and high leverage.

This mixed-methods study …

A Study To Investigate The Relationship Between Teacher Self-Efficacy, School Climate, And Student Behavior, Gegimara Fluelen-Ra-El

Dissertations

This quantitative study examined the relationship between teacher self-efficacy, student behavior, and school climate at a high school in Southern Illinois. The teaching staff, which consisted of 59 teachers, were invited to participate. The researcher utilized a teacher self-efficacy survey, school climate survey, and student behavior survey to collect data on a sample population of teachers. Participants completed the surveys in intervals. The surveys allowed the researcher to collect attitudinal data from participants for dissemination and analysis to develop statistical inferences and generalizations about the sample related to the hypotheses statements and based on the results. The Pearson Product-Moment Correlation …

A Quantitative Case Study On School Climate, Student Behavior, Student Achievement, And Classroom Facility Factors In An Urban Midwest High School, Shamonda Owens

Dissertations

This research was a quantitative case study on the possible relationship between school climate, student behavior, student achievement, and classroom facility factors in an urban Midwest high school. Specific variables included lighting, wall color, classroom temperature, school climate, student behavior, and student academic achievement. The researcher collected the following data: student behavior, number of out of school suspensions (OSS) students received in 2014 through 2017, End of Course data, 2014-2017, in the areas of Biology, American Government, English I, and English II. To measure school climate, the researcher used the district’s annual climate survey. School climate survey data measured student …

Comparing Student Achievement And School Climate In Four-Day And Five-Day Secondary Schools In Missouri, William Gordon Daleske

Dissertations

This quantitative study was conducted to determine whether a significant difference existed between secondary schools that observed the four-day school calendar and the five-day school calendar when comparing secondary schools’ Annual Progress Report (APR) scores of academic achievement levels and attendance levels, as well as the secondary school teachers’ perception of school climate. Five of the participating schools observed the four-day school week and five schools observed the five-day school week. The first portion of the study consisted of taking the average APR scores for attendance from both the four-day and the five-day schools and comparing them in an independent …

The Impact Of The Success For All Classroom Model On School Climate And Teacher Satisfaction, Amy Lynn Chesnut

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Providing quality education for students in disadvantaged communities has been at the forefront of educational research for decades. These schools struggle each year with budgets that fail to meet the needs of the school, low teacher and student morale, and low teacher retention. Success for All has been identified as an effective program to increase literacy skills and standardized test scores for disadvantaged children. The purpose of this quasi-experimental static-group comparison study was to investigate the impact of Success for All on teacher satisfaction and school climate in low performing schools. Teacher satisfaction and school climate have an instrumental, positive …

Improving Teacher Retention By Addressing Teachers' Compassion Fatigue, Jacquelyn Ollison

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

California is experiencing a massive teacher shortage, and urban schools are disproportionately affected by it negatively. Retention efforts to date have not included strategies to address Compassion Fatigue (burnout and secondary trauma) teachers experience when working with traumatized students at urban schools. This dissertation explores whether Compassion Fatigue is an unaddressed reason for teacher attrition at urban schools. A mixed method practical action research approach using the Professional Quality of Life Scale Version Five (ProQOL 5) and qualitative interviews, portions of which were turned into illustrative vignettes drove the exploration. Approximately 114 teachers completed the ProQOL 5. Statistical analysis of …

Validation Of A School Climate Instrument Using A Rasch Rating Scale Model, Audrey Conway Roberts

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

A new ESSA indicator of school quality and student success provides flexibility to broaden a states’ definition of school and student success. Educational research has found school success is in part determined by a school’s climate and should be considered in improvement/reform strategies (Cohen et al., 2009; Thapa et al., 2013). Yet, school climate research is often difficult and time consuming, and employs a variety of conflicting definitions and dimensions, instruments, and empirical approaches to determining school climate. Given these significant limitations with current measures, the purpose of this study was to validate an instrument measuring school climate based on …

School Climate In The School Choice Era: A Comparative Analysis Of District-Run Public Schools And Charter Schools, Christopher Damian Duszka

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Comparative analyses of district-run public schools and charter schools are limited to performance outcomes. There is a dearth of research on how the school-types vary on factors consequential to performance such as school climate. Public-private distinctions, such as in organizational autonomy, value orientations, funding structures, and management practices, could result in school climate dissimilarities between district-run public schools and charter schools.

The aim of this dissertation is to assess the influence organizational factors have on school climate and determine if school-type affects school climate. Student and staff school climate survey data from the Miami-Dade school district were utilized for this …

School Climate: A Comparison Of Teachers, Students, And Parents, James A. Jacobs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to examine the benefits of positive school climate and to measure the perceptions of school climate for intermediate grades in a Northeast Tennessee School district. An online school climate survey was used to collect responses from participants in intermediate grades and focused on the 3 major components of school climate: school engagement, school environment, and school safety. Data were collected for 2 consecutive years in 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. Response totals included 1,955 student responses, 116 teacher responses, and 210 parent responses that were analyzed and used for this study. Of the student totals, some students that …

A Phenomenological Study Of Educators' Perspectives Of School Climate In Secondary Schools Implementing Positive Behavior Intervention And Support, Tory Lawrence

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) is a school-wide initiative implemented in many schools across the United States as an approach for addressing discipline concerns and promoting a positive school climate. This study used a phenomenological design to examine the school climate perceptions of 13 staff member from three secondary schools from two school districts in the southeastern region of North Carolina that were implementing PBIS with fidelity. The transformative learning theory, which explains how knowledge may be obtained from lived experiences of individuals, guided the research study in examining three research questions: (a) How do select secondary school staff …

Students' Perceptions Of School Connectedness At A Freshman Academy, La'keisha Newsome

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand how school leadership, teacher–student relationships, and school climate impact students’ perceptions of school connectedness at a freshman academy located on a middle school campus in southeast Alabama. The research questions focused on school leadership, teacher–student relationships, and school climate. Hirschi’s social bonding theory provided a framework to understand the association between socialization and social learning by focusing on an individual’s bond to social institutions. Social bond has an impact on perception, emotional well-being, and academic achievement. Data collection included student interviews, a school connectedness survey, and focus group interviews of …

Predicting Teacher Value-Added Results In Non-Tested Subjects Based On Confounding Variables: A Multinomial Logistic Regression, Nathan Street

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Teacher value-added measures (VAM) are designed to provide information regarding teachers’ causal impact on the academic growth of students while controlling for exogenous variables. While some researchers contend VAMs successfully and authentically measure teacher causality on learning, others suggest VAMs cannot adequately control for exogenous influences on the classroom. Furthermore, because VAMs are primarily connected to student performance on standardized, high-stakes exams and those exams are resoundingly considered to be inadequate measures of true student learning, educators and educational leaders assert VAM results are moot. The purpose of this study was to consider the potential for student background, teacher preparation, …

Teachers' Perceptions Of School Climate In High Performing Schools And Low Performing Schools, Briget Ethier

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, causal comparative research study was to determine if there was a significant difference in teachers’ perceptions of school climate between high performing schools and low performing schools. The study investigated teachers’ perceptions of overall school climate, collaboration, decision-making, instructional innovation, student relations, and school resources. Data was collected from 75 teachers in three high performing schools and 75 teachers in three low performing schools from one school district. The Revised School Level Environment Questionnaire (Revised SLEQ) was the instrument utilized in the study to measure teachers’ perceptions of overall school climate in addition to the …

A Causal Comparative Study On The Effect Of Proficiency-Based Education On School Climate, Kay York

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

his quantitative, causal comparative study sought to determine if proficiency-based education has an effect on school climate. With sweeping school reform across the United States, educators are seeking ways to improve student achievement and maintain a positive school climate. This study consisted of 87 teachers in proficiency-based high schools and 125 teachers in non-proficiency-based high schools in New England who were emailed the Secondary School Climate Assessment Instrument (SCAI-S-G). Data analysis consisted of descriptive statistics computed for each teacher group through SPSS. SPSS was also used to conduct separate t tests for each of the eight domains of the SCAI-S-G …

The Predictive Relationship Of Teacher Leadership Dimensions On Elementary School Climate, Ashley Watson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Leaders exist at many levels. Within the educational arena, studies have shown the correlation of leadership styles among principals and the school culture (Pepper & Thomas, 2002; Perspective, 2012; Williams, 2009). This study attempted to extend Bass’s Transformational Leadership Theory (1985) and Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory (1976) through examining leadership dimensions among teacher team leaders - and their influence on school climate. Using a predictive correlational research design, the current study sought to investigate relationships between leadership dimensions of teacher leaders and elementary school climates. Two different groups of teachers from a school district in the northern metro …

A Causal Comparative Study Of Teacher And Administrator Perceptions Of School Climate Within Elementary Schools In A School District, Clyde Alston

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A school’s climate either positively or negatively affects teaching and learning within the school. School administrators have the responsibility to ensure the school climate supports both. This responsibility can only be met when school leaders have an accurate understanding of climate in the schools they serve. This causal-comparative study examines administrators’ and teachers’ perceptions of school climate among the academic, social, affective, and physical domains of school climate, as measured by the revised School Level Environment Questionnaire (r-SLEQ). Data were examined using an independent samples t-test to determine whether statistically significant differences in school climate perceptions exist between administrators and …

The Relationships Between School Climate, Teacher Self-Efficacy, And Teacher Beliefs, Paige Lacks

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative study examined the relationship between school climate, teacher self-efficacy, and teacher beliefs. Teachers at two middle schools in rural southern Virginia participated in the study. Middle school teachers were surveyed using the School Climate Index to collect information about teacher-perceived views on their school’s climate and the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale to gather information about teacher self-efficacy. Pearson Product-Moment Correlations were used to measure the relationship between school climate and teacher self-efficacy as well as teacher self-efficacy and four teacher-perceived climate factors, including collegial leadership, teacher professionalism, academic press, and community engagement. Data analysis did not provide …

Disparate Use Of Exclusionary Discipline: Evidence On Inequities In School Discipline From A U.S. State, Kaitlin Anderson, Gary W. Ritter

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

There is much discussion in the United States about exclusionary discipline (suspensions and expulsions) in schools. According to a 2014 report from the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, Black students represent 15% of students, but 44% of students suspended more than once, and 36% of expelled students. This analysis uses seven years of individual infraction-level data from public schools in Arkansas. We examine whether disproportionalities exist within schools, or are instead, a function of the type of school attended. We find that marginalized students are more likely to receive exclusionary discipline, even after controlling for the nature …

High School Educators’ Perceptions Of Their Schools’ Conduciveness To English Language Learners’ Success, Jill Winiger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of administrators, guidance counselors, and classroom teachers in the high schools of Northeast Tennessee regarding their schools’ academics, climate, culture, parent engagement, and their English Language Learners’ school experiences. The researcher sought to ascertain if significant differences exist between the perceptions of different groups of educational professionals in the school, with those groups to include school administrators, guidance counselors, and classroom teachers. Data were analyzed from 50 survey questions with 42 of those questions measured on a 5-point Likert scale, 5 questions as multiple choice, and 3 questions as open-ended. …

A Relationship Between The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test 2.0 Mathematics Scores And Racial And Ethnic Concentrations When Considering Socio-Economic Status, Esol Student Population, Marilys Galindo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From the moment children are born, they begin a lifetime journey of learning about themselves and their surroundings. With the establishment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, it mandates that all children receive a high-quality education in a positive school climate. Regardless of the school the child attends or the neighborhood in which the child lives, proper and quality education and resources must be provided and made available in order for the child to be academically successful.

The purpose of this ex post facto study was to investigate the relationship between the FCAT 2.0 mathematics scores of …

Goal-Setting, Self-Monitoring, And Teacher-Student Conferences And The Relationship With Overall School Climate And Student Academic Achievement, Paul Thomas Godwin

Dissertations

Programs and reforms have come and gone in the educational arena with little impact on student performance. The problem at the school of study was the students’ perception of their sense of belonging and the sense of the school as a community and the students’ academic performance did not show adequate growth. The study took place in a mid-western suburban elementary school serving 440 students kindergarten through fifth grade. The significance of the study was to examine the impact of a Goal-Setting Worksheet, along with regular teacher-student conferences, as a strategy to improve the overall school climate and academic achievement …

The Development And Validation Of The Elementary School Ethical Climate Index, Kay Anne Keiser, Laura E. Schulte

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The purposes of this study were to develop and validate an instrument that measures the ethical climate of elementary schools. To create the Elementary School Ethical Climate Index (ESECI), we adapted the ethical climate index for middle and high schools. The ESECI assesses student and teacher interactions and relationships through the application of five ethical principles: respect for autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, and fidelity (Kitchener, 1984, 1985). To provide evidence of the ESECI’s reliability and validity we distributed the ESECI to the students and teachers/staff at one urban elementary school in a Midwestern city. There was a significant difference in …

The Bully-Free School Zone Character Education Program: A Study Of Impact On Five Western North Carolina Middle Schools., Richard Alan Spurling

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In today's schools bullies have the power to be more tenacious, more vicious, and meaner than ever. We are all beginning to understand that victims of bullying are at a greater risk for depression, suicide, and hurting others through violent acts. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate common threads of effective Bully-Free School Zone character education programs as perceived by administrators, teachers, and parents in five middle schools in Western North Carolina. Through this strategic inquiry, I attempted to determine if the views of administrators, teachers, and parents were consistent with published research on anti-bullying programs.

Specifically, …

The Development And Validation Of The Ethical Climate Index For Middle And High Schools, Laura E. Schulte, Franklin Titus Thompson, Jeanie Talbott, Ann Luther, Michelle Garcia, Shirley Blanchard, Laraine Conway, Melanie Mueller

Counseling Faculty Publications

One school characteristic that needs to be considered as important in keeping schools safe is school climate. The purposes of this study were to develop and validate an instrument that measures the ethical climate of middle and high schools. To create the School Ethical Climate Index (SECI), we adapted the Ethical Climate Index for graduate and professional school programs to apply to middle and high schools. The SECI measures a school’s sense of community by assessing student and teacher interactions and relationships through the application of five ethical principles: respect for autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, and fidelity. To provide evidence …