A Comparative Study of School Climate in Select Elementary Schools From One School Division in Virginia With Varied Title I and Accreditation Statuses

The purpose of this study was to compare school climate in a sampling of four Title I and four Non-Title I elementary schools in one school division in Virginia with varied accreditation statuses. The Organizational Climate Descriptive Questionnaire-Revised Elementary (OCDQ-RE), created by Hoy (1990) was utilized to measure school climate. The OCDQ-RE questionnaire were handed out during a regularly scheduled faculty meeting at each of the eight schools selected for the study. Of the 255 surveys that were distributed collectively, 165 participant surveys were collected for a return rate of 65%. In measuring school climate, the mean and standard deviation were computed for each of the six subtests of school climate: Supportive Principal Behavior, Directive Principal Behavior, Restrictive Principal Behavior, Collegial Teacher Behavior, Intimate Teacher Behavior, and Disengaged Teacher Behavior. These subtests were combined to determine teacher openness, principal openness and overall school climate. Descriptive and inferential statistics did not reveal significant differences in principal openness, teacher openness or overall school climate in schools of varying Title I and accreditation status. However, descriptive and inferential statistics revealed differences in component subtests of the OCDQ-RE. Specifically, a comparison of the standardized mean scores for each subset based on Title I status and accreditation status revealed some variations. Using inferential statistics, significant differences were found among school climate in the areas of supportive principal behavior, restrictive principal behavior and intimate teacher behavior.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Department dc:contributor.department

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Isbell, Angela Lake

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Cash, Carol S.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Rogers, Catherine S.
• Twiford, Travis W.
• Price, Ted S.

• school climate
• Title I
• school accreditation

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:2618

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/56675