{"id":{"repo_id":"greenwich","oai_identifier":"oai:gala.gre.ac.uk:8142"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/greenwich/oai:gala.gre.ac.uk:8142","repository":{"repo_id":"greenwich","name":"University of Greenwich","base_url":"https://gala.gre.ac.uk/cgi/oai2"},"display":{"title":"Transforming an especially challenging urban school against the odds: a multivariate statistical analysis of student perceptions","abstract":"The aim of this four year longitudinal study was to identify the contributory factors that brought about rapid improvement in an especially challenging urban school. A two-phase sequential mixed-method strategy was used to identify underlying statistically derived factors within a post-positivist paradigm In phase I, Principle Components Analysis was used to reduce an initial 90-item questionnaire, administered to 302 students, to identify a three factor multilevel school improvement model that comprised 17 sub-factors. The derived factors were: i. leadership at the whole school level; ii. teaching and learning in the classroom and iii. the development of students and teachers as part of a unified learning community. During phase II, Principle Axis Factoring, Multiple Regression and MANOVA were used to test the hypothesis that 22 school improvement variables, derived from a review of the 3 factors and 17 sub-factors from phase I, did in fact comprise a single coherent school improvement model with 3 levels. A detailed analysis of the perceptions of 104 students, gathered via a 22-item questionnaire, yielded a coherent model based on 4 factors (levels) that were interpreted as: context; leadership; learning & teaching and ethos & relationships. In addition, 22 sub-factors were identified within the model. The statistical findings were triangulated with the literature, external documentary evidence about the school and focus group interviews with a stratified random sample of students, parents and teachers. This thesis proposes a new dynamic multilevel rapid school improvement model together with a new paradigm for schools operating in challenging urban contexts.","abstract_html":"The aim of this four year longitudinal study was to identify the contributory factors that brought about rapid improvement in an especially challenging urban school. A two-phase sequential mixed-method strategy was used to identify underlying statistically derived factors within a post-positivist paradigm In phase I, Principle Components Analysis was used to reduce an initial 90-item questionnaire, administered to 302 students, to identify a three factor multilevel school improvement model that comprised 17 sub-factors. The derived factors were: i. leadership at the whole school level; ii. teaching and learning in the classroom and iii. the development of students and teachers as part of a unified learning community. During phase II, Principle Axis Factoring, Multiple Regression and MANOVA were used to test the hypothesis that 22 school improvement variables, derived from a review of the 3 factors and 17 sub-factors from phase I, did in fact comprise a single coherent school improvement model with 3 levels. A detailed analysis of the perceptions of 104 students, gathered via a 22-item questionnaire, yielded a coherent model based on 4 factors (levels) that were interpreted as: context; leadership; learning & teaching and ethos & relationships. In addition, 22 sub-factors were identified within the model. The statistical findings were triangulated with the literature, external documentary evidence about the school and focus group interviews with a stratified random sample of students, parents and teachers. This thesis proposes a new dynamic multilevel rapid school improvement model together with a new paradigm for schools operating in challenging urban contexts.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Cross, Philip"],"institution":"University of Greenwich","degree_name":null,"degree_level":"edd","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Kinchington, Francia","Hall, Neil"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-06","date_published":"2009-06","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:25:42Z","subjects":["LB Theory and practice of education"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":null,"outbound_label":null,"outbound_source":null},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Kinchington, Francia","Hall, Neil"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Cross, Philip"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2009-06"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2009-06"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["School of Education"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Greenwich"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby","values":["https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/8142/"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["edd"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["LB Theory and practice of education"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/8142/3/Philip%20Cross%202009%20-%20redacted.pdf"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The aim of this four year longitudinal study was to identify the contributory factors that brought about rapid improvement in an especially challenging urban school. A two-phase sequential mixed-method strategy was used to identify underlying statistically derived factors within a post-positivist paradigm In phase I, Principle Components Analysis was used to reduce an initial 90-item questionnaire, administered to 302 students, to identify a three factor multilevel school improvement model that comprised 17 sub-factors. The derived factors were: i. leadership at the whole school level; ii. teaching and learning in the classroom and iii. the development of students and teachers as part of a unified learning community. During phase II, Principle Axis Factoring, Multiple Regression and MANOVA were used to test the hypothesis that 22 school improvement variables, derived from a review of the 3 factors and 17 sub-factors from phase I, did in fact comprise a single coherent school improvement model with 3 levels. A detailed analysis of the perceptions of 104 students, gathered via a 22-item questionnaire, yielded a coherent model based on 4 factors (levels) that were interpreted as: context; leadership; learning & teaching and ethos & relationships. In addition, 22 sub-factors were identified within the model. The statistical findings were triangulated with the literature, external documentary evidence about the school and focus group interviews with a stratified random sample of students, parents and teachers. This thesis proposes a new dynamic multilevel rapid school improvement model together with a new paradigm for schools operating in challenging urban contexts."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Transforming an especially challenging urban school against the odds: a multivariate statistical analysis of student perceptions"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Kinchington, Francia","Hall, Neil"],"dc:creator":["Cross, Philip"],"dc:date":["2009-06"],"dc:date.issued":["2009-06"],"dc:description.abstract":["The aim of this four year longitudinal study was to identify the contributory factors that brought about rapid improvement in an especially challenging urban school. A two-phase sequential mixed-method strategy was used to identify underlying statistically derived factors within a post-positivist paradigm In phase I, Principle Components Analysis was used to reduce an initial 90-item questionnaire, administered to 302 students, to identify a three factor multilevel school improvement model that comprised 17 sub-factors. The derived factors were: i. leadership at the whole school level; ii. teaching and learning in the classroom and iii. the development of students and teachers as part of a unified learning community. During phase II, Principle Axis Factoring, Multiple Regression and MANOVA were used to test the hypothesis that 22 school improvement variables, derived from a review of the 3 factors and 17 sub-factors from phase I, did in fact comprise a single coherent school improvement model with 3 levels. 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