Organizational climate and student achievement in Belizean secondary schools
Abstract
Scope and Method of Study: This quantitative study sought to find out if a relationship exists between organizational climate and student achievement in Belizean secondary schools, and explored whether the various factors of school climate have independent effects on achievement. The School Climate Index (SCI), which encompasses the factors of collegial leadership, teacher professionalism, academic press, and community engagement, was used to survey 1226 teachers in Belizean secondary schools. Pearson r correlational analysis method was used to determine relationships between the two variables. Further analysis was done using multiple regression technique to find out which of the factors of school climate was the best predictor of academic success in Belizean secondary schools. Findings and Conclusions: Findings revealed that there was a significant positive relationship between organizational climate and student achievement in math for Belizean secondary schools. Academic press was found to be the most significant predictor of student math achievement in Belizean secondary schools. This study implies that if Belizean educators focus on improving the academic press of their schools through creating a school environment that is serious, orderly, and focused on academics, there could be an improvement in math achievement in Belizean secondary schools. Recommendations: Educators should be cognizant of the climate that exists in a school because it does affect academic achievement. Including this construct in school improvement plans could probably lead to improvement in academic achievement in schools. Educators need to seek ways of creating an environment that is serious, orderly and pushes the students toward academic success. Such an environment is characteristic of a school with high academic press and according to this study, the latter is a significant predictor of student math achievement in Belizean secondary schools.
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