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In the present study, 4 recurrent models of organizations found in the management and organizational psychology literatures were used to describe schools. Each model is distinguished by its emphases on specific organizational processes, which in turn imply what constitutes desired output and usually serves as a basis for determining organizational effectiveness. Survey responses relating to school processes and outputs were obtained from fifth-grade students (N = 9,431) and school staff (N = 3,291) in 117 elementary schools. To derive school-aggregated progress in student achievement, I obtained school archival data on student performance on standardized achievement tests for the current time period and 1 year earlier. The open systems and human relations models provided the best-fit statistics and explained the most variance in achievement progress, followed by the rational goal model. Model-to-data fit statistics were similar when percentages of students enrolled in the free and reduced-price meals syst...

In this study, I examined the relation of consensus among students and parents regarding their perceptions of the school environment, its relation to their evaluation of the school environment, and the combined effect of consensus and evaluation on important student and parent outcomes. I analyzed survey responses of elementary school students (N = 25,557) and their parents (N = 23,107) regarding the learning and social environment of schools (N = 122). Results showed that consensus among student and parent perceptions regarding the school environment was significantly and positively correlated with their evaluation of the school environment. Schools having more racially and ethnically diverse student populations and more newcomers to the school showed significantly less student and parent consensus regarding the school environment. School size was unrelated to consensus. School-level multiple regression analyses showed significant and positive relations of student and parent evaluations of the school (sc...

Employing a sample of 122 public elementary schools, the present study used results of parent and student surveys to examine relations among school structure, school population composition, parent involvement, and parent perceptions of school safety, school climate, the school facility, the helpfulness of school staff, the academic instruction, teacher-student relationships, and student recognition. At the individual parent level, characteristics associated with higher participation in school activities included having a child enrolled in the gifted and talented program, a child in the second grade, multiple children enrolled in the public schools, and perceptions of a safe, empowering, and positive school climate. In contrast, characteristics associated with lower parent participation in school activities included being Hispanic, African American, or Asian American; being of lower-socioeconomic status; having a child enrolled in either special education or the English-as-a-second-language program. At the...

In this study I employed statistical procedures used in organizational psychology to evaluate whether measurements of school social environment showed group consensus and, further, whether relations between school social environment and parent satisfaction and student enjoyment of classroom activities were related to school membership. Employing scales of school social environment, I obtained perceptions from 26,904 students and 33,153 parents of students who attended 122 elementary schools located in a large, suburban school district. Scale data were analyzed using several statistics that showed the extent of within-school and between-school agreement on the scales and covariation between Parent Overall Satisfaction and Student Enjoyment and the social environment scales. Scales that showed greatest within-school consensus for parents were School Safety and Parent Involvement, and for students, School Facilities, School Safety, School Staff Helpfulness, and Diversity of Friendships. The relation of Paren...