Researchers have been challenged to go beyond socioeconomic status in the search for school-level characteristics that make a difference in student achievement. The purpose of the present study was to identify a new construct, academic optimism, and then use it to explain student achievement while controlling for socioeconomic status, previous achievement, and urbanicity. The study focused on a diverse sample of 96 high schools. A random sample of teachers from each school provided data on the school’s academic optimism, and student achievement scores and demographic characteristics were obtained from the state department of education. A confirmatory factor analysis and hypothesis tests were conducted simultaneously via structural equation modeling. As predicted, academic optimism made a significant contribution to student achievement after controlling for demographic variables and previous achievement. The findings support the critical nature of academic optimism.
The concept of organizational justice is defined, and, based on a review of the literature, ten principles of organizational justice are elaborated. Similarly, the elements of faculty trust are conceptualized and discussed. Then, a model of organizational justice and trust is proposed and tested using path analysis. The results underscore the symbiotic relations between trust and justice. The paper concludes with a few suggestions for future research and recommendations for practice.
The theory-driven Organizational Health Inventory (OHI) was compared to the empirically derived Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (OCDQ-RS) in predicting student achievement and teachers' commitment to the school. After controlling for the socioeconomic status of the 58 secondary schools in the sample, only academic emphasis, a subtest of the OHI, made a significant contribution to student achievement. While both instruments predicted commitment, the OHI explained more of the variance. The findings suggest that, at best, the influence of the principal is indirect on school achievement but direct on commitment. Further application of both the OHI and OCDQ-RS is recommended.
Background:The paradox of relying on routines and standard practices, which protect institutional functioning from the vagaries of personality, often comes at the cost of thoughtful adaptability. Purpose: The objectives are to conceptualize and apply the construct of mindfulness to schools and to explore trust as a school condition that fosters mindful actions. Setting: A diverse sample of 75 middle schools was selected for study. Participants: Twenty-six hundred teachers responded to survey instruments in 75 schools. Research Design: An ex post facto test of a theoretical set of hypotheses was performed. Data Collection and Analysis: Data were collected by researchers in regular faculty meetings and assessed using correlational, regression, and factor analyses. Findings: Faculty trust and school mindfulness seemed necessary conditions for each other. Conclusions: Mindfulness is a concept every school administrator should understand and practice, and a culture of trust seems necessary to achieve both the ends of understanding and practice. Principals need to lead in mindful ways. By encouraging faculty to play with ideas, to create novelty in their classrooms, to feel safe to take reasonable risks, to experiment, and to be resilient, the principal can have profound effects on school mindfulness.
An open social systems model is used to frame and test a series of hypotheses. The socioeconomic status of the environment and four internal system elements (structure, individual, culture, politics) of the school are used to explain two sets of school outcomes: student achievement and teachers' assessments of overall school effectiveness. A typical sample of 145 elementary schools in Ohio is used to test the relationships. The model and results are useful in understanding how this set of key variables as a whole defines quality elementary schools.
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