The relationship between school culture and student achievement in Arizona elementary public schools

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether selected dimensions of school culture as measured by the School Culture Survey (SCS) (Valentine & Gruenert, 1998) were related to student academic achievement on Math, Reading, and Writing as measured by Arizona's Instrument for Measure Standards (AIMS). The SCS is a 35-item Likert, and the Likert is ranged from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree). The survey factored into six dimensions of school culture: Collaborative Leadership, Teacher Collaboration, Professional Development, Unity of Purpose, Collegial Support, and Learning Partnership. The school culture factor of Learning Partnership subscale was found to have a significant linear regression with Math, Reading, and Writing AIMS scores by analyzing the data from 1,120 teachers from a sample of 56 public elementary schools. A secondary purpose of this study was to determine whether school culture variables were associated with the characteristics such as principal's tenure, principal's gender, the number of administrators, the number of the teachers, the percentage of teachers earning a Masters Degree or higher, school size, school level, and socioeconomic status (SES). Principal Tenure and SES were found to have a significant linear regression with the school culture factor of Learning Partnership. A conclusion for the study is that the variance in student achievement in Math, Reading and Writing (AIMS) can be predicted and explained by the school culture factor of Learning Partnership, which is defined as the degree to which teacher, parents, and students work together for the common good of the students.