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The walls speak: The interplay of quality facilities, school climate, and student achievement
Journal of Educational Administration
Abstract
Purpose
– A growing body of research connecting the quality of school facilities to student performance accompanies recent efforts to improve the state of the educational infrastructure in the USA. Less is known about the mechanisms of these relationships. This paper seeks to examine the proposition that part of the explanation may be the mediating influence of school climate.
Design/methodology/approach
– Teachers from 80 Virginia middle schools were surveyed employing measures including the School Climate Index, a seven‐item quality of school facilities scale, as well as three resource support items. Data on student SES and achievement were also gathered. Bivariate correlational analysis was used to explore the relationships between the quality of facilities, resource support, school climate, student SES, and student achievement. In addition, multiple regression was used to test school climate as a mediating variable between the quality of facilities and student achievement.
Findings
– Results confirmed a link between the quality of school facilities and student achievement in English and mathematics. As well, quality facilities were significantly positively related to three school climate variables. Finally, results confirmed the hypothesis that school climate plays a mediating role in the relationship between facility quality and student achievement.
Originality/value
– As we face fundamental issues of equity across schools and districts, leaders struggle to convince taxpayers of the need to invest in replacing and/or renovating inadequate facilities. Deeper understandings of the complicated interplay between the physical and social environments of school, and how these dynamics influence student outcomes, may help educators build a compelling case.
... School climate may also have associations with factors related to school facilities and student achievement. In the study by Uline and Tschannen-Moran (2008), the researchers examined potential relationships between school climate, the quality of school facilities, and student achievement. The researchers found evidence that the quality of school facilities had a significant effect on students' achievement in English and mathematics. ...
... Another factor that might help or hinder classroom quality is the physical classroom environment. Prior research suggests a correlation between the physical classroom space and student academic outcomes (Uline & Tschannen-Moran, 2008) yet limited studies have examined classroom quality with the physical classroom variables together. ...
This study examined PK-12 teachers’ perceptions of their classroom physical learning environment and classroom climate in relation to their job satisfaction and efficacy. Previous studies suggest that teacher self-efficacy and attitudes contribute to stress, burnout, and retention rates. Using the Framework for Classroom Quality, an online survey was developed for this topic and administered to PK-12 school teachers in Oklahoma. Exploratory factor analysis was performed on data collected using 16 survey items related to the teachers perceptions of classroom physical variables, classroom climate variables, teacher efficacy and teacher perception of student characteristics. Results indicated that teacher affect and efficacy has a moderately strong, positive correlation with teacher perceptions of their classroom physical environment. Additional studies that utilize an improved survey instrument will conduct a second data collection with a new population of teachers with the aim of validating and improving the fit of the three-factor solution.
... (3) Shelving Shelving is amongst the most significant feature of any library. As Cynthia and Megan [12] assert, shelving layout and design must be central to ease the accessibility of available materials. A convenient height to shelving is crucial for the effective use of the library. ...
... Of the 265 questionnaires that were sent out however, a total of 203 (76.60 percent) were returned. This return rate is justifiable when compared with the return rate in the works of Ertugrul et al. [2] whose return rate was 73 percent and that of Cynthia and Megan [12] whose return rate was 75 percent. ...
... The common spaces in schools and, in particular to the present study, spaces where student work is on display, contribute to the aesthetic atmosphere of the school, speak to the culture of learning within, and share messages about student and teacher experiences (Eckhoff, 2019;Gandini, 1998). As passing through a school's common spaces is a daily occurrence for students, teachers, parents, and community members, their design and aesthetic can serve to facilitate interactions between individuals and with the space itself thereby encouraging a sense of engagement with and among the school's community of learners (Uline & Tschannen-Moran, 2008). Student work displays are an important feature of common spaces in schools because experiences and efforts, and comments from families or others from the school community (Schroeder-Yu, 2008). ...
At present, research exploring educator’s understandings of displays of student work is scant yet such displays are regularly exhibited within the community spaces of early learning and elementary schools. These displays communicate messages to those within the space about teacher and student agency, curricular priorities, children and their work, and the relationship between teaching and learning. Grounded in a framework of documentality and teacher vision, this paper explores the ways in which preservice teachers (PSTs) understand teacher-cultivated, student work documentation. This research used a Photo-Elicitation Interview methodology to develop a descriptive account of PSTs' visions and understandings of teacher-cultivated, classroom documentation and displays of children's work. Findings reveal that PSTs held paradoxical views of student work documentation teetering between an appreciation of an adult-centered aesthetic disconnected from their academic and creative capacities to an expressed valuing of an agentic positioning of children in the experiences of the classroom.
... Nos últimos dois anos, em fóruns informais, os professores têm reportado um aumento dos níveis de indisciplina em sala de aula. Importa identificar aspetos e relações estruturantes que permitam compreender e intervir estrategicamente em meio escolar, considerando as relações entre clima, qualidade do ensino e sucesso académico (e.g., Thapa et al., 2013;Uline & Tschannen-Moran, 2008;Wang & Degol, 2016). As atitudes e os comportamentos do professor estruturam os seus métodos de ensino e influenciam a gestão de sala de aula e de comportamentos, sendo imperioso perceber se os profes-sores se sentem capazes de lidar e gerir desafios e problemas em contexto de sala de aula. ...
Um clima escolar positivo prediz positivamente a autoeficácia dos professores. Este artigo reporta os resultados de um estudo que explorou as relações entre as crenças de autoeficácia de professores portugueses para gerir a indisciplina em sala aula, o clima escolar e clima de sala de aula. Participaram 400 professores do 3.º ciclo do ensino básico, os quais responderam a três questionários que avaliam as suas crenças de autoeficácia sobre gestão de sala de aula, clima escolar e clima de sala de aula. A análise de dados, baseada em medidas de estatística inferencial, revela que os professores, de modo geral, possuem crenças de autoeficácia elevadas na gestão da indisciplina. Conclui-se, ainda, que os professores com maior tempo de serviço docente, maior tempo de serviço na mesma escola e que receberam formação para gerir a indisciplina detêm crenças de autoeficácia sobre gestão da indisciplina mais elevadas. Por último, professores que percecionam o clima escolar e clima de sala de aula como sendo mais positivo apresentam níveis mais elevados de autoeficácia na gestão da indisciplina. Os resultados obtidos permitem confirmar a importância do clima escolar e de sala de aula, inferindo-se que a perceção de eficácia docente é influenciada pelo clima das organizações escolares onde os professores exercem a sua profissão. Com base nos resultados mais significativos são discutidas as implicações para a formação inicial e contínua de professores.
... Previous research on primary and secondary educational institutions has consistently demonstrated the significance of the physical campus environment in facilitating effective teaching and learning. These studies have further substantiated the existence of strong positive associations between the quality of school amenities and students' academic performance [27][28][29]. According to [30], past researchers had to adopt a post-occupancy evaluation (POE) approach to assess the quality of the HEI campus and services. ...
The present study employs a quantitative approach to measure the student perception of the direct and mediating effect of quality education for ensuring employability skills in higher education students of Bangladesh. The study was conducted on 154 undergraduate and graduate students at a Private University in Bangladesh, through a cross-sectional survey using a structured data questionnaire. The multilevel measurement and structural model, which was based on the constructs of quality education, employability skills of students, course structure, institutional policy, and physical aspects, was analysed using Partial Least Squares modelling with SmartPLS 4. The aim was to identify the employability skills that are present among higher education students in Bangladesh through student perception and explore the mediating role of quality education in shaping these skills. The findings suggest a significant gap between the skills taught in private universities, and the industry requirements of Bangladesh, which highlights the urgency for administrators and policy-makers to act fast. physical aspects have a positive influence on quality education and employability skills, but course structure and policy show less direct impact. Moreover, quality education is a crucial mediator for only the factors that match a direct effect. This proves that higher education students in Bangladesh may not have acquired the technical knowledge required by the industry. However, the present study was conducted on undergraduate and graduate students at a single private university, thus acknowledging the need to diversify the population sample in future studies for enhanced generalizability. The implications of these results extend to educational policymakers, institutions, and stakeholders, therefore emphasizing the need for curriculum enhancement, industry-academia collaboration, and policy reforms.
... Over the past 40 years, a broad spectrum of individuals, ranging from politicians and physicians to researchers across various fields, has investigated whether and how the quality of school facilities may influence student achievement [25][26][27][28][29]. The results generally differ depending on the context or country of investigation [30]. ...
... Most empirical researches recently have reported a positive association between the physical environment and student learning outcomes [29,[38][39][40][41]. [42] for instance, studied the effect of school infrastructure on the academic performance of primary education students in Latin America and confirmed that educational infrastructure such as water and electricity impacted the achievement of primary education students in Latin America with varying impact across countries. [43] offered proof of a positive relationship between the quality of school facilities and student performance in English and mathematics tests. Infrastructure aids academic performance by providing a conducive and friendly teaching and learning environment for effective teaching and learning [44]. ...
The main thrust of this study was to assess the infrastructure inequality and academic performance nexus. Education statistics (2018) from the Ghana Statistical Service was used for the study. Firstly, ANOVA was used to estimate whether district-level academic performance differed at various infrastructure distribution levels (Infrastructure Quintile levels). The study further assessed the relationship between infrastructure and academic performance based on the System General Methods of Moments technique. It was found that the difference in district-level academic performance is conditioned on the infrastructure inequality. Also, previous academic performance had a significant positive relationship with performance. A U-shaped relationship found to exist between academic performance and class size, The study recommends the pursuit of policies aimed at bridging the education infrastructure gap such as prioritisation of education infrastructure development in deprived communities, so as, to impact academic performance.
Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES) sebagai institusi yang mengemban amanah membangun peradaban melalui bidang pendidikan, berkewajiban memberikan pelayanan yang terbaik bagi para penggunanya. Disebutkan sebagai pengguna dalam hal ini adalah civitas akademika. Seiring berjalannya waktu, kepuasan atas pelayanan yang diberikan perlu diukur untuk mengetahui tingkat kepuasan yang diterima oleh para pengguna. Proses pengukuran dikemas dalam suatu survei dengan sasaran Dosen, Mahasiswa, dan Tenaga Kependidikan. Kepuasan adalah hasil evaluasi antara harapan (perception) terhadap kualitas layanan dengan kinerja kualitas layanan yang dirasakan (perceived) oleh penggunaan layanan (konsumen/pelanggan). Kepuasan atau ketidakpuasan pelanggan adalah respons pelanggan terhadap evaluasi ketidaksesuaian yang dirasakan antara harapan sebelumnya (atau norma kinerja lainnya) dan kinerja aktual produk yang dirasakan oleh pemakai. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kuantitatif non-eksperimental. Metode yang digunakan pada penelitian ini adalah Metode Service Quality Servqual. Pengolahan data dilakukan dengan uji validitas, reliabilitas, analisis kesenjangan untuk melihat kesenjangan antara harapan dan kenyataan serta uji paired sample t test atau uji wilcogson untuk melihat apakah terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan antara harapan dan kenyataan. Tujuan dari penelitian ini yaitu mengetahui kepuasan layanan sarana dan prasarana di UNNES berdasar pandangan dosen, tenaga kependidikan dan mahasiswa. Populasi dalam penelitian ini antara lain 1) jumlah mahasiwa S1, 2) Jumlah dosen UNNES, 3) Jumlah Tenaga Pendidikan UNNES dan dengan sampel sebanyak 1241 orang yang terdiri dari 106 dosen, 112 pegawai, dan 1023 mahasiswa. Data kepuasan ini bisa menjadi rujukan stakeholder dalam hal ini pimpinan UNNES dalam pengambilan kebijakan untuk pengelolaan sarana dan prasarana di UNNES. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian didapat tingkat kepuasan hanya pada kisaran baik atau puas belum mencapai kisaran sangat puas. Oleh karena itu perlu peningkatan layanan sehingga mampu sampai tingkat sangat puas. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kuantitatif non-eksperimental. Metode yang digunakan pada penelitian ini adalah Metode Service Quality Servqual. Pengolahan data dilakukan dengan uji validitas, reliabilitas, analisis kesenjangan untuk melihat kesenjangan antara harapan dan kenyataan serta uji paired sample t test atau uji wilcogson untuk melihat apakah terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan antara harapan dan kenyataan. Tujuan dari penelitian ini yaitu mengetahui kepuasan layanan sarana dan prasarana di UNNES berdasar pandangan dosen, tenaga kependidikan dan mahasiswa. Populasi dalam penelitian ini antara lain 1) jumlah mahasiwa S1, 2) Jumlah dosen UNNES, 3) Jumlah Tenaga Pendidikan UNNES dan dengan sampel sebanyak 1241 orang yang terdiri dari 106 dosen, 112 pegawai, dan 1023 mahasiswa. Data kepuasan ini bisa menjadi rujukan stakeholder dalam hal ini pimpinan UNNES dalam pengambilan kebijakan untuk pengelolaan sarana dan prasarana di UNNES. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian didapat tingkat kepuasan hanya pada kisaran baik atau puas belum mencapai kisaran sangat puas. Oleh karena itu perlu peningkatan layanan sehingga mampu sampai tingkat sangat puas.
Low learning outcomes were observed among some high school students. Psychologically, this issue is influenced by self-efficacy and self-regulation, which students also lack. Therefore, this research aims to examine the influence of self-efficacy on learning outcomes with self-regulation as an intervening variable. This research involved 600 students from elite public high schools in Sinjai, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. School selection was carried out by random sampling across Sinjai. Data were collected through self-efficacy and self-regulation questionnaires as well as learning outcome assessments. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and SEM methods. The research results show that self-efficacy does not have a significant effect on learning outcomes (p-value=0.761), but self-efficacy has a significant effect on self-regulation (p-value=0.000). Meanwhile, self-regulation has a significant direct effect on learning outcomes (p-value=0.005). Self-efficacy significantly affects learning outcomes with self-regulation as an intervening variable (p-value=0.017). The goodness of fit indicators are R^2 and SRMR. R^2 for learning outcomes and self-regulation are 0.68 and 0.27, respectively, and the model’s SRMR score is 0.09. This research emphasizes the importance of self-regulation and self-efficacy in improving learning outcomes.
The study surveyed school facilities and students' learning outcome in Social Studies in Calabar Metropolis, Cross River State Nigeria: Implication for Geography Education. To achieve the purpose of this study, two null hypotheses were formulated. Ex-post-facto research design was used for the study. The population of the study comprised all Upper Basic III students from government owned schools in the study area. While purposive sampling technique was used in selecting 200 students offering Social Studies for the study. A 20-item ''School Facilities Questionnaire (SFQ) and a 20-item Social Studies Achievement Test (SSAT)' were used for data collection. Data analysis technique adopted was the independent t-test. The hypotheses formulated for the study were tested at .05 level of significance. The result showed that, classroom facilities and sports facilities significantly influenced students' learning outcome in Social Studies in Calabar Metropolis. Based on the findings, it was recommended that government and all relevant stakeholders should ensure adequate equipping of our schools with modern classroom facilities to improve teaching and learning.
First study of how daylighting in elementary school classrooms is associated with improved test scores. Includes analysis from over 9000 student records in three school districts.
Researchers and reformers have suggested that school climate is an important aspect of effective schools; however, the notion of climate is defined in a myriad of ways, is frequently nebulous, and is often merely a slogan for better schools. The current analysis uses a health metaphor to conceptualize and measure important aspects of school climate and then examines relationships between school health and student achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics in a sample of middle schools. As predicted, dimensions of organizational health were significantly related to student achievement even when the socioeconomic status of the school was controlled.
Although the is little disagreement conquering the belief that principals have an impact on the lives of teachers and students, both the nature and degree of this effect continues to be open to debate. The relationship is complex and not easily subject to empirical verification. This article reviews the empirical literature on the relationship between the principal's role and school effectiveness during the period from 1980 to 1995. We specifically focus on the conceptual underpinnings of several theoretical models to study the role, the relationship between models and methods of investigation, an4 consequently, to what has been learned about the nature of the principal impact. We conclude by framing a possible research agenda for the next generation of studies on the effects of school administration.
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.
The present study investigates the relationships among a variety of school-level climate variables and mean school achievement in a random, sample of Michigan elementary schools. School-level SES, racial composition and climate were each highly related to mean school achievement; only a small proportion of the between-school variance in achievement is explained by SES and racial composition after the effect of school climate is removed. The climate variable we have called Student Sense of Academic Futility had the largest correlation with achievement. An observational study of four schools with similar SES and racial composition but different achievement tended to support the more analytical findings and suggest the processes by which climate affects achievement.
School climate has been studied with a multitude of variables, methodologies, theories, and models, resulting in a not easily defined body of research. This analysis of the school climate literature, based on over 200 references, uses an organizational theory taxonomy to organize the diverse body of research and to draw conclusions about common findings. The history of school climate research is reviewed, noting the influence of climate instruments developed to study climate in settings other than the total school building, such as business, college, and classroom settings. The difficulty of defining school climate is reflected in the diversity of climate typologies that have evolved, despite their often common roots. The debate about school climate is tied to differences among researchers in theory base, variables to study (and their hypothesized interrelationships), unit of measurement choices, and the validity of subjective and qualitative data (based on participant or observer perception). Some common conclusions about school climate (considered as an independent, intervening, or dependent variable) do emerge in the literature. The paper concludes with a summary of the methodological issues common to school climate studies and suggestions for dealing with the concomitant problems