0.3 Lindahl, r. (february 2009). school climate differences between  (Page 5/10)

In order to look at each of Tagiuri’s (1968) three factors as entities, means and standard deviations were calculated by summing the responses to all items for each standard. Five points were assigned to each Strongly Agree response, four points to each Somewhat Agree response, three points to each Neither Agree nor Disagree response, two points to each Somewhat Disagree response, and one point to each Strongly Disagree response. The school was the primary unit of analysis; however, the results for the Torchbearer Schools were averaged, as were those of the schools in the Comparison Schools group and those in the full, statewide population. These means and standard deviations were then used in the calculation of effect sizes (Cohen’s D).

When interpreting data from population studies, it is important to note that whatever differences are demonstrated are real differences, not differences that could be attributable to sampling error. Consequently, the reader/interpreter of the data must give particularly careful attention to the practical significance of those differences. This is a judgment that is best made by educators who understand school environments and school climate issues well.

Ecology

Among the items related to ecology (Table 1), the Torchbearer Schools teachers presented more positive responses to most items. Although the Torchbearer Schools teachers’ responses were somewhat more positive than those of the Comparison Schools teachers, both sets of teachers were generally quite positive about their access to instructional materials and resources, their access to technology to support instruction, the physical environments of their classroom, their access to reliable communication technology; and their access to office equipment and supplies. Torchbearer Schools teachers also reported being shielded by school leadership from disruptions and working with colleagues who viewed time as a flexible resource; their Comparison Schools peers’ responses showed considerable less satisfaction in these areas. However, the two largest differences between the groups were in working in a safe school environment and working in a school that is clean and well maintained. For these items, respectively, 69% and 64% of the Torchbearer Schools teachers responded Strongly Agree, versus only 33% and 38% of the faculty from the Comparison Schools. The exception to Torchbearer Schools faculty responses being more positive was in relation to those items related to the amount of time available during the school day for instruction, working with other teachers, and non-instructional time. For these items, little difference was found between the two populations.

When the responses to the 14 ecology items were summed to form a pseudo-continuous variable, the mean for the Torchbearer Schools was 3.84 (SD=.65) compared to the Comparison Schools’ mean of 3.49 (SD=.44). This difference yielded a Cohen’s D of 0.63, generally considered to be a moderate effect size.

Milieu

In regard to the milieu factors (Table 2), again the Torchbearer Schools' teachers were consistently and considerably more positive about their school climate than were their Comparison Schools peers. The differences were more pronounced than those for the ecology factor.