A Study of the Relationship Between School Culture and ...

1 A Study of the Relationship Between School Culture and Standardized Test Scores Andrew Lee Smith Boca Raton A Study of the Relationship Between School Culture and Standardized Test Scores Copyright 2006 Andrew Lee Smith All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

2 Boca Raton, Florida USA 2008 ISBN-10: 1-59942-673-0 ISBN-13: 978-1-59942-673-0 A Study OF THE Relationship Between School Culture AND STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES by Andrew Lee Smith A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Management in Organizational Leadership University of Phoenix April 2006 iii ABSTRACT The purpose of this quantitative Study was to discover the perceptions of School Culture and correlate those perceptions with standardized test scores in elementary and secondary schools in

3 Southwestern Arizona. The intention of this Study was to contribute to the field of education leadership related to student achievement and factors contributing to student achievement including organizational Culture . A survey of teachers and administrators in participating schools in southwestern Arizona was completed and correlated with existing student achievement data for those participating schools. The School Culture Survey by Leithwood, Aitken, and Jantzi (2001) was used for the survey instrument, and the Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition, was used to measure student achievement.

4 The survey results and student achievement data were correlated and revealed that a Relationship does exist Between perceptions of School Culture and student achievement. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To my wife, Lisa. To my dad, family, and friends. To all of those who have given me influence and inspiration. Thank you to all the schools, administrators, and teachers who helped me to complete this Study . Thank you, Dr. Alex Nagurney, for your assistance and encouragement, and Dr. Kolberg for the reassurance and support to complete this project.

5 Thanks to Dr. Nanna for his wisdom and to Dr. Edwards for the extra push when I really needed one. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .. viii LIST OF FIGURES .. ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .. 1 Problem Statement .. 2 Background .. 2 Purpose of the Study .. 6 Significance of the Study .. 7 Significance to Leadership .. 8 Nature of the Study .. 9 Research Questions .. 10 10 Theoretical Framework .. 11 Assumptions .. 14 Scope, Limitations, and Delimitations .. 15 Summary .. 16 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.

6 17 Title Searches, Research Documents, Journals, and Articles .. 17 Organizational Culture .. 18 Organizational Culture and Measurable Outcomes .. 25 School 32 Standardized Testing as the Measure of Success .. 41 vi School Leadership .. 47 Summary .. 50 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .. 52 Research Method and Design Appropriateness .. 52 Instruments .. 57 School Culture Survey .. 57 Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition (SAT-9).. 59 Population and Sampling .. 61 Data Collection .. 61 64 Data Analysis .. 64 Organization and Clarity.

7 66 Summary .. 66 CHAPTER 4: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF 67 Description of Population Data and 68 Description of the SAT-9 .. 71 Research Question 72 Research Question 75 Summary .. 84 CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS .. 85 Summary and Discussion of Findings .. 85 Research Question 87 Research Question 90 vii Research Question 91 Conclusions .. 92 Implications and Recommendations .. 94 Recommendations for Future Research .. 100 Summary .. 102 103 Appendix A: Research Review .. 112 Appendix B: Signed Informed Consent.

8 113 Appendix C: Permission to Use an Existing Survey .. 128 Appendix D: Copy of Survey Instrument .. 130 Appendix E: Demographic Survey .. 133 Appendix F: Correspondence Regarding the Stanford Achievement Text, Ninth 134 Appendix G: Yuma County Profile .. 136 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Study 69 Table 2. School Culture Survey Mean Scores and Standard Deviation .. 73 Table 3. Teacher and Administrator Mean Culture 74 Table 4. Subject Scores and Percentile Ranks for the Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth 76 Table 5.

9 Ranking of Schools by Highest Mean School Culture score With Mean Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition, Percentile Rank .. 77 Table 6. Ranking of Schools from Lowest to Highest Mean Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition, Percentile Rank With Corresponding Mean School Culture Survey score .. 79 Table 7. Examples of Inconsistent School Culture score and Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition, Percentile Rank .. 94 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Correlation Between mean School Culture scores and mean Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition, percentile rank 80 Figure 2.

10 Correlation Between mean School Culture survey scores and mean Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition, percentile rank 81 Figure 3. Correlation Between mean School Culture survey scores and mean Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition, math scores.. 82 Figure 4. Correlation Between mean School Culture survey scores and mean Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition, reading scores.. 82 Figure 5. Correlation Between mean School Culture survey scores and mean Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition, language arts scores.