A Causal Comparative Study of Teacher and Administrator Perceptions of School Climate within Elementary Schools in a School District

Author(s)

Clyde AlstonFollow

Date

3-2017

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Kenneth Gossett

Keywords

Administrator Perceptions, Revised SLEQ, School Climate, Teacher Perceptions

Disciplines

Curriculum and Instruction | Education | Educational Administration and Supervision | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Educational Methods | Educational Psychology | Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration | Other Educational Administration and Supervision

Recommended Citation

Alston, Clyde, "A Causal Comparative Study of Teacher and Administrator Perceptions of School Climate within Elementary Schools in a School District" (2017). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 1360.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/1360

Abstract

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 teachers on school climate overall and also uses an independent samples t-test to determine if differences exist on individual climate domains. Independent samples t-tests indicated significant differences (p<.05) in perceptions of school climate between administrators and teachers in the academic, social, and affective domains. This study is important because it helps bridge the gap between previous school climate research and school leadership practice by examining why this gap exists, by exploring differences in school climate perceptions between teachers and administrators. Findings are presented and discussed with potential implications for school administrator training and development programs, and further research. The setting for this study is twenty-three elementary schools in a Virginia school district, each served by a principal/assistant principal administrative leadership team, and 25 – 40 classroom teachers per school.