The Effects of School Climate on Student Achievement in Lower and Higher Performing Public and Charter Elementary Schools in Tennessee PDF Download

Author: Aszure Emond Brown
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Academic achievement
Languages : en
Pages : 105

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Author: Myrna Gail Sumner
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Academic achievement
Languages : en
Pages : 137

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The purpose of this study was to extend previous research by investigating the relationship between school climate and student performance (value-added gains) in selected middle schools. In order to confirm previous research with the selected instrument, school climate and student achievement were also compared. This study used a correlation analysis design. Forty middle schools from across Tennessee were used as a population sample. The data sources were the School Climate Inventory (SCI), and the State of Tennessee Report Card, 2005. Criterion referenced data and value-added gain data were collected from the Report Card. Aggregate achievement scores and aggregate performance (value-added) scores in language arts, math, science, and social studies were compared with school climate scores using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. There is a relationship between overall school climate and at least one aspect of student performance, that of language arts. Language arts performance scores correlated significantly with 5 of the 7 climate subscales. Significant correlations of science performance scores with the climate subscale of expectation, as well as the social studies performance scores with the climate subscale of order were also found. This study also affirmed previous research that showed a relationship between the academic emphasis of climate and student achievement.

Author: Genee A. Varlack
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Dissertations, Academic
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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The purpose of this research study was to examine the comparative differences that exist in Title I and non-Title I schools as it pertains to student achievement levels and school climate perceptions. The study sought to examine the differences in achievement levels, as measured by students' MSA scores and school climate measures in Title I and non-Title I schools. Survey research methodology was used to identify school climate. The school environment survey was administered to students in the 20 elementary schools in grades three and five. The survey measured 5 dimensions of climate: welcoming environment; physical environment; discipline; nurturing learning environment; and diversity and commonality. In a setting where the median household income is above {dollar}90,000, where resources are abundant in the schools, and where 90% of the students who graduate continue with their education, the findings of this research showed support for the following conclusions. Despite the affluence in this school system: (1) There is a difference in the academic achievement of students, as measured by the state criterion-referenced reading and/or math sections of the MSA test in Title I elementary schools in comparison to non-Title I elementary schools, (2) There is a difference in the academic achievement of students, as measured by a state criterion-referenced reading and/or math sections of the MSA test based on gender, (3) There is a difference in the academic achievement of students, as measured by a state criterion-referenced reading and/or math sections of the MSA test based on ethnicity, (4) There are differences in the perceptions of school climate among students in Title I elementary schools versus non-Title elementary schools, (5) There are differences in the perceptions of school climate among students based on gender, and (6) There are differences in the perceptions of school climate among students based on ethnicity. -- Abstract.

Author: H. Jerome Freiberg
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135714509
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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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.

Author: Kevin A. Molin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Educational evaluation
Languages : en
Pages : 118

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This study examined principal and teacher school climate perceptions to determine if relationships existed between the perceived school climate and the school's performance on the School Performance Profile score (SPP). Principals and teachers from four south central Pennsylvania high schools were questioned using an online survey consisting of both Likert-scale statements and open-ended questions. Participants were also provided the opportunity to participate in an interview to provide more in-depth responses. Data instruments were used to access the school climate perceptions of principals and teachers to identify specific school climate characteristics that affect the SPP score. Principals and teachers identified instruction and assessment, the physical appearance of the building, and leadership and decision-making as significant school climate characteristics. Principals and teachers perceived that a positive school climate does have an impact on student achievement, however results of this survey were unable to identify a relationship between school climate and a school's SPP score. Results found evidence to support previous school climate research supporting the establishment of a positive school climate, including maintaining a safe learning environment, a focus on academics, positive student-teacher relations, and effective leadership abilities can positively impact student achievement. Study data showed school climate to be an important multidimensional concept and that study participants were leveraging school climate characteristics to affect student achievement outcomes.

Author: Linda Diana Ruiz
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Academic achievement
Languages : en
Pages : 53

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In recent years the quality of education available to children has become increasingly dependent on the social and economic demographics of neighborhoods in which the children live. This study assesses the role of community violence in explaining the relation between SES and academic outcomes and the potential of positive school climate to promote academic achievement. With a sample of 297 Chicago public elementary schools, we test the hypotheses that violent crime mediates the relation between SES and academic achievement, and school climate has a direct effect on achievement and moderates the relation between SES and academic achievement. Results support the hypothesized mediation such that lower SES was associated with lower academic achievement and violent crime partially mediated this relation. School climate was positively associated with academic achievement but did not significantly moderate the relation between SES and academic achievement. Implications for theory, research, and interventions are discussed.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Academic achievement
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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High academic achievement by students in high-poverty schools is unusual throughout the United States. East Tennessee is no exception. However, there are some schools with high percentages of low socioeconomic student populations, which do excel in helping students reach high academic performance. This study looks at four high-performing, high-poverty elementary schools in East Tennessee to determine how they have overcome the tendency to accept low student achievement as inevitable. By studying the high-achieving, high-poverty schools that exist in East Tennessee to find not only the characteristics that are associated with these effective schools, but also, more importantly, the practices used by educators in these schools, we can begin to provide some answers that will help all schools improve the academic performance of economically disadvantaged students. This mixed-method, multi-site case study involved four elementary schools in East Tennessee that were selected because of high test scores and value-added scores on the Annual Report Card issued by the state of Tennessee. Using quantitative data (The More Effective Schools Staff Survey) and qualitative data (interviews with the principal and at least two teachers at each school along with observations), this study sought to answer the following two research questions: (1) Which of the characteristics of Effective Schools do high-performing, high- poverty schools in East Tennessee have in common? (a) How do these characteristics correspond to those identified in the Effective Schools Research? (b) How do the characteristics differ from those identified in the Effective Schools Research? (2) What underlying conditions (i.e., values, beliefs, and culture of the school) or distinctive practices must be present for the Effective Schools practices to exist? A clear school mission, high expectations for success, instructional leadership, frequent monitoring of student progress, opportunities to learn and student time on task, a safe and orderly environment, and a positive home-school relationship -- the seven correlates of the Effective Schools Research -- were all found to be present in the four schools studied. The underlying conditions or distinct practices included strong commitment of teachers and staff members at each school; teachers were held accountable for teaching and students for learning; a positive, caring atmosphere existed where staff relationships were strong and a deep understanding of the local community was evident; and staff development and training were provided to support and consistently improve a wide variety of programs.

Author: Alexis Marie McGloin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 103

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This research sought to explore the link between mandatory school uniforms and a positive school climate. Beginning in the late 1980's public schools implemented mandatory school uniforms policies in urban school districts. The trend gained momentum when President Clinton included school uniforms in his 1996 State of the Union Address. Directly following the speech was a publication by the United States Department of Education on school uniforms that was distributed to all school districts in the country. Often the primary reason for implementing school uniforms was gang violence. Other reason included increased school safety and decreases in violence. Further, proponents believed uniforms would increase academic achievement and improve school climate. Research on the effects of school uniforms is limited and conflicting. Most studies available to date were conducted in urban settings. However, school uniforms have infiltrated rural and suburban schools districts as well. Two school districts in suburban Eastern Pennsylvania participated in this study. One school district had a mandatory school uniform policy. The other did not. Using a school climate survey and school uniform questionnaire, students in grades 4-6 and elementary school teachers rated the school climate in their respective schools. School climate was rated on seven subscales on the student school climate survey and 10 subscales on the faculty school climate survey. A t-test was performed on the data set to determine the difference between sample means and a factor analysis was conducted on the student school climate survey. Further, three themes emerged from the short answer questions on the student uniform questionnaire. The results of the research found that there was not a statistically significant relationship between a mandatory school uniform policy and elementary school students' perceptions of school climate. Of the seven subscales, students who wore school uniforms rated their peer relationships higher than students without school uniforms. Additionally, they rated the required rigor higher. Students that did not wear school uniforms rated the teacher-student relationship higher. When responding to the open ended questions, three themes emerged. They were expression, atmosphere and family. In essence, students were not in favor of wearing uniforms and believed uniforms suppressed their freedom of expression. Teachers responded similarly. The results showed no statistically significant relationship between a mandatory school uniform policy and teacher perceptions of school climate. Only two subscales showed any significant difference between the two groups of teachers. They were teacher-administrator relationship and student achievement. In both respects, teachers in the district without uniforms responded more positively. The results of this study should be used when reviewing current policy or considering new policy on school uniforms.

Author: Steven M. Ross
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 44

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This report presents student-level achievement results for two groups of schools in Tennessee: (a) four charter schools that began operation in 2003-2004; and (b) three new charter schools that were established in 2004-2005. These two cohorts were therefore completing their second and first academic years, respectively, at the time the achievement tests were administered in spring 2005. To conduct a rigorous and valid analysis of student achievement outcomes, a matched program-control design was employed at the student level in six of these seven schools. In this design, each charter school student was paired to a comparable "control" student who attended the same or a similar district school in the year prior to the former's charter school enrollment. In the sixth school, which comprised primary elementary grades only, pretest scores were unavailable for the majority of charter school students and potential matched pairs: a comparison group was established by randomly selecting students who were identical in race and poverty status to the charter students and who attended comparable neighborhood schools. This report supplements an earlier report on the implementation progress made by the charter schools, encompassing school climate, classroom teaching methods, and perceptions by teachers, principals, parents, and students. The Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program: Achievement Test (TCAP/AT) scores were used to assess academic achievement of students who were in grades 2 to 8 during the 2004-2005 school year. For students in grades 9 to 12 during the 2004-2005 school year, the Tennessee Gateway Assessments were used as outcome assessments. Overall, the analyses of achievement found mostly positive effects for the second-year charter schools but equivocal outcomes for the first-year schools. As indicated in the first-year report, readers are encouraged to interpret the results cautiously given that because of student choice and other constraints, authors were unable to conduct a randomized experimental study that eliminated family interest or involvement as an influential factor, and some grade-level matched-pair sample sizes were small and thus subject to sampling error. (Contains 3 footnotes and 5 tables.) [For the Year 1 report, see ED491148.].

Author: Meghan P. McCormick
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 18

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Given established links between social-emotional skills and academic achievement, there is growing support for implementing universal social/behavioral interventions in early schooling (Jones & Bouffard, 2012). Advocates have been particularly interested in implementing such programming in low income urban schools where students are likely to start school with lower levels of social-emotional and academic skills than their more affluent peers (Jones & Bouffard, 2012; Raver, 2002). There is inconsistent evidence, however, that such programs improve students' academic achievement over and above typical educational practice (SRCDC, 2010). One possible constraint to understanding mixed evidence about intervention efficacy is the limited information on how program effects differ across school settings. It could be that universal social/behavioral programs are highly effective in some types of schools and less so in others, thus confounding overall understanding of intervention efficacy. Moreover, although some work has considered how demographic characteristics--like school poverty--differentiate social/behavioral program impacts on student outcomes, fewer studies have examined the moderating role of the school-level social processes (e.g., social norms, relationships) within which interventions are typically embedded. A prevention research perspective suggests that schools with the poorest climates have the most to gain from school-based interventions that explicitly target social interactions (e.g., Cicchetti & Aber, 1998; Van Lier et al., 2004). Contrasting work argues that social/behavioral programs will be most effective for improving student outcomes in settings where extant norms already support positive academic and social-behavioral development (Aber et al., 1998; Hughes et al., 2005). The current study is one of the first to consider the role of school climate in understanding moderated impacts of social/behavioral interventions on student achievement, attention, and behaviors. The major lesson from this work is that context matters. Across student outcomes, program impacts on achievement were generally larger, and sometimes driven by, schools that had less leadership, accountability and safety/respect prior to implementation of the intervention. Perhaps the biggest lesson from this study is for policymakers, who are currently engaged in distributing funding to expand and implement social/behavioral interventions in a variety of settings across the country. The following are appended: (1) References; and (2) Tables and Figures.