Achievement Gains and Staff Perception of School Climate. Research Brief PDF Download

Author: Don Morris
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 7

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Book Description
The importance of the beliefs and attitudes of teachers and building-level administrators in achieving school reform has come to be widely acknowledged. As University of Wisconsin professor Kent Peterson put it: "You can implement a good-quality improvement plan and knowledgeable, data-driven decision making, but if the [staff] doesn't believe that things can be improved, it's not going to implement [changes] with the same depth or energy or commitment" (Stover, 2005, p. 31). The most common way of tapping into those beliefs and attitudes has traditionally been the school climate survey. The Miami-Dade County Public School District (M-DCPS) has conducted school climate surveys of staff, parents, and students since the early 1990s. In recent years, elements of these surveys have come into extensive use by the district's schools as a factor in their school improvement plans. The use of the survey results for purposes of school improvement has motivated this inquiry into discussing the relationship between M-DCPS staff survey results and student achievement, as measured by the percent of students, by school, making learning gains in reading on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). (Contains 2 tables and 2 notes.).

Author: H. Jerome Freiberg
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135714517
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
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.

Author: Sameer Hinduja
Publisher: Corwin Press
ISBN: 1412997836
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
Bullying is not new, but its venues have expanded to include social media and mobile phones. When students receive hurtful, threatening, or sexually explicit electronic messages, it affects their ability to concentrate on schoolwork. Renowned cyberbullying experts Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin connect the off-campus high-tech behaviors of teens to the school environment and provide educators with a road map for developing a positive school climate that counteracts cyberbullying and sexting. School Climate 2.0 differentiates cyberbullying from traditional bullying and offers specific strategies for improving school climate.

Author: John Shindler
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470565500
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
Transformative Classroom Management The natural condition of any classroom is harmonious, satisfying, and productive, so why do so many teachers struggle with problems of apathy, hostility, anxiety, inefficiency, and resistance? In this groundbreaking book, education expert John Shindler presents a powerful model, Transformative Classroom Management (TCM), that can be implemented by any teacher to restore the natural positive feelings in his or her classroom—the love of learning, collaboration, inspiration, and giving—and create a productive learning environment in which all students can achieve. Unlike other classroom management systems that view problems as something to be “handled,” TCM offers suggestions for creating optimal conditions for learning, performance, motivation, and growth. This practical book shows teachers how to abandon ineffective short-term gimmicks, bribes, and punishments and adopt the proven management practices and new habits of mind that will transform their classrooms. Praise for Transformative Classroom Management “Transformative Classroom Management is a practical resource that explains the how and why of classroom management for novice and veteran teachers. Dr. Shindler recognizes the importance of preserving the teacher’s sanity while ensuring the student’s development of a personal sense of responsibility and a positive self-esteem.” —Eileen Matus, principal, South Toms River Elementary School, New Jersey “I have read many other management books by other authors, but Transformative Classroom Management has been the best so far at demystifying the invisible forces in the classroom.” —WILL McELROY, 4th grade teacher, Los Angeles United School District “This book was an invaluable tool for me during my student teaching. It served as a reference book that I found myself continually drawn to while struggling to find ways to effectively manage 29 first graders. The ideas, concepts and suggestions in the book were so innovative and helpful that even my Master Teacher found herself implementing some of the ideas! A must have for all student teachers!” —Carol Gillon, student teacher, Seattle University “Insightful and thoroughly researched, Transformative Classroom Management is an invaluable tool to help teachers, newbies and veterans alike, develop fully functional and engaged learning communities.” —LISA GAMACHE RODRIGUEZ, teacher, Los Angeles Unified School District

Author: Pamela Cantor
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 100039977X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
This essential text unpacks major transformations in the study of learning and human development and provides evidence for how science can inform innovation in the design of settings, policies, practice, and research to enhance the life path, opportunity and prosperity of every child. The ideas presented provide researchers and educators with a rationale for focusing on the specific pathways and developmental patterns that may lead a specific child, with a specific family, school, and community, to prosper in school and in life. Expanding key published articles and expert commentary, the book explores a profound evolution in thinking that integrates findings from psychology with biology through sociology, education, law, and history with an emphasis on institutionalized inequities and disparate outcomes and how to address them. It points toward possible solutions through an understanding of and addressing the dynamic relations between a child and the contexts within which he or she lives, offering all researchers of human development and education a new way to understand and promote healthy development and learning for diverse, specific youth regardless of race, socioeconomic status, or history of adversity, challenge, or trauma. The book brings together scholars and practitioners from the biological/medical sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, educational science, and fields of law and social and educational policy. It provides an invaluable and unique resource for understanding the bases and status of the new science, and presents a roadmap for progress that will frame progress for at least the next decade and perhaps beyond.

Author: Keri Brown Hampton
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : School environment
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
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.

Author: Garry Wade McGiboney
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443896683
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
Many people have become impatient with school reform and school improvement efforts that fail to include school climate. The importance of a positive school climate is emerging in current research, not only as an essential component of school reform and school improvement, but also as a necessary framework for maintaining excellent schools and providing healthy and safe schools for all students. Research strongly suggests that educators and policy makers have a lot to learn about the importance of school climate for school safety and academic success. With the growing body of research regarding school climate, it is important to study the research and understand how the psychology of school climate and how the elements of school climate can be viewed from a population-based perspective, as well as understanding the impact of school climate on individual students. This review of school climate research includes hundreds of articles and research papers of different perspectives from around the world in numerous cultures. School climate is becoming a science of education and psychology that must be studied further in order to understand the dynamic nature of learning environments, to identify elements that support or threaten the learning environment, and to learn how to improve the conditions for learning in all schools.

Author: Joseph Kosciw
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781934092330
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Author: Amrit Thapa
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 21

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Book Description
Over the past three decades, researchers and educators have increasingly recognized the importance of K-12 school climate. This summary report builds on previous school climate reviews and details how school climate is associated with and/or promotes safety, healthy relationships, engaged learning and teaching and school improvement efforts. In America and around the world, there is growing interest in school climate reform and appreciation that this is a viable, data driven school improvement strategy that promotes safer, more supportive and civil K-12 schools. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2009) recommends school climate reform as a data driven strategy that promotes healthy relationships, school connectedness, and dropout prevention. The Institute for Educational Sciences includes school climate as a sound strategy for dropout prevention. The U. S Department of Education (2007) has invested in the Safe and Supportive Schools (S3) grant program to support state-wide school climate measurement and the study of school climate improvement efforts. A growing number of State Departments of Education are focusing on school climate reform as an essential component of school improvement and/or bully prevention. And, a growing number of educational ministries from around the world (e.g. China, France, Israel, Peru, Singapore, Spain) (Cohen, 2012), and the UN Children's Fund are invested in supporting school climate reform efforts. While early educational reformers such as Perry (1908), Dewey (1916), and Durkheim (1961) recognized that the distinctive culture of a school affects the life and learning of its students, the rise of systematic, empirical study of school climate grew out of industrial/organizational research coupled with the observation that school-specific processes accounted for a great deal of variation in student achievement. Ever since, the research in school climate has been growing systematically, and in recent years many countries are showing a keen interest in this area. Literature in this field suggests that there are empirical evidences being documented on various aspects of school climate in several languages. In this review, the authors address five essential areas of focus: (1) Safety (e.g. rules and norms; physical safety; social-emotional safety); (2) Relationships (e.g. respect for diversity; school connectedness/engagement; social support; leadership); (3) Teaching and Learning (e.g. social, emotional, ethical and civic learning; support for academic learning; support for professional relationships); (4) Institutional Environment (e.g. physical surrounding); and (5) School climate, the Processes of School Improvement. Although there is not yet a consensus about which dimensions are essential to measuring school climate validly, the authors believe that empirical reviews such as these may help to refine and focus understanding of the aspects of school climate that can and need to be assessed.

Author: Garry W. McGiboney
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527592561
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
As educators, psychologists, child advocates, researchers, and others that support education for all students will find, a positive school climate is the central element for students feeling connected and engaged at school, which are necessary for positive student outcomes. The Psychology of School Climate (2nd Edition) is an essential compendium of school climate research from around the world. With over 600 references, the book is the most comprehensive study of school climate in print. The book is based on a review, description, and application of research that focuses on identifying basic problems and the effects social determinants have on the lives and outcomes of students and school staff members. At the end of each chapter, there are summaries that highlight important points for discussion and additional research. Most importantly, the book offers the gateway to understanding the nexus of students and school climate and the importance of that bond.