Date

6-2017

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Jessica Talada

Keywords

Academic Achievement, Environment, Impact, Perceptions, School Climate

Disciplines

Education | Educational Administration and Supervision | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration | Other Education | Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education

Abstract

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 five aforementioned subscales. The results obtained from the 150 surveys were analyzed using a multiple independent samples t tests to identify if there was a statistical difference between group means on the Revised SLEQ. This study is significant because it provide individuals in the field of education with evidence that their perceptions might be impacted by the academic achievement in their schools. The study was also intended to provide evidence that perceptions play a very important role in the overall effectiveness of an educational institution. The study revealed that there was a significant difference between the two populations with regards to overall school climate, student relations, school resources, instructional innovation while there was not a significant difference with regards to decision making and collaboration. Future research is recommended to investigate teachers’ perceptions of school climate with the incorporation of a larger population and the incorporation of more recent data.

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