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This paper summarizes research on ways to measure a school's instructional climate. Four areas of inquiry revolve around accomplishment, recognition, power, and affiliation. Because a school's instructional climate has a significant impact on student learning, the study of instructional climate is important. Three sets of conditions to examine when measuring instructional climate include generalizability, changes in respondents, and changes over time. School norms are essential for interpreting and understanding a school's score. Samples of two forms of the Instructional Climate Inventory (for teachers and students) are presented and ways to analyze their results are described. A conclusion is that instructional climate is real, important, and measurable. A remaining question is how to create positive learning climates. One way is through school leaders who clearly articulate a school mission by their actions and behaviors. Four figures are included. (LMI)

Findings of a study that examined how effectively instructional leadership and instructional climate predict student learning outcomes are presented in this paper. Surveys to determine principals' self-perceptions and teachers' perceptions of instructional climate were completed by 72 principals and 1,523 teachers. Achievement results for 9,415 students, taken from the Illinois statewide student-assessment program, were available at the third-grade level (56 schools), sixth-grade level (41 schools), and eighth-grade level (15 schools). The dimensions of instructional leadership included: defining mission; managing curriculum and instruction; supervising and supporting teaching; monitoring student progress; and promoting instructional climate. Measured dimensions of instructional climate included accomplishment, recognition, power, and affiliation. Findings demonstrated a significantly positive correlation between principals' self-ratings of instructional leadership and student achievement. The correlations were strongest for academic satisfaction, recognition, accomplishment, and commitment. No significant relationships were found between teacher ratings of instructional leadership and student achievement, though they were generally positive. In conclusion, the findings provide empirical evidence for a strong relationship between instructional leadership and student learning outcomes. (Contains 26 references.) (LMI)

A study examined the impact and cost effectiveness of a principal leadership-development program. The program is based on one-on-one interaction between the participant and a leadership analyst, and it includes the following components: assessment, feedback, and construction of a one-year personal development plan. A survey mailed to 195 Illinois administrators who participated in the program yielded 120 responses, a 62 percent response rate. Respondents' evaluations of the program itself and its impact on them were strongly positive. A utility analysis of program costs and benefits concluded that when program costs are considered within the context of program returns, benefits far outweigh costs. Five tables are included. (Contains 15 references.) (LMI)

The reliability and validity of teacher ratings, the relationship between teacher ratings and principal self-reports of instructional leadership, and the degree to which they are influenced by demographic factors are examined in this study. Methodology involved completion of the Instructional Leadership Inventory, a self-report measure, by 81 principals and completion of the Instructional Climate Inventory by 1,700 teachers representing a cross section of suburban schools within the Chicago metropolitan area. Demographic variables were also analyzed. Results show substantial agreement between principal and teacher ratings of instructional leadership; however, factor analysis suggests that teacher ratings are influenced by their perceptions of school culture. Conclusions are that teacher ratings of instructional leadership have questionable validity in identifying specific principal behaviors that contribute to school effectiveness and that principal behaviors indirectly affect student outcomes. Nineteen tables are included. (LMI)

Attending to the questions of how school leadership influences learning and achievement and what effective school leaders do, this document describes a measurement-based approach for studying and developing effective school leadership. The document details the conception, refinement, and psychometric properties of the Instructional Leadership Inventory (ILI), a self-report survey designed to assess the direct impact principals have on their schools. Responses regarding principals' efforts to define school mission, manage curriculum, supervise teaching, monitor student progress, and promote instructional climate and those responses regarding general characteristics of staff, school, and community are used in the ILI to uncover characteristics of effective leadership. Also described are the conception, development, reliability, and validity of the student version and teacher version of the Instructional Climate Inventory (ICI), a multiple-choice survey designed to flesh out and cross-check the information obtained via the ILI. Lastly, the document discusses the School Administrator Assessment Survey (SAAS), a modification of Maehr and Braskamp's SPECTRUM, which is designed to measure administrators' job satisfaction, commitment, self-concept, personal incentive, perception of job opportunities, and perception of instructional climate. Included are six tables and one figure. (46 references) (CLA)

After defining school culture in terms of Organizational Culture, after Maehr and Braskamp (1986), this document presents three related studies, each based on data from a 1989 statewide assessment effort by the University of Illinois and the Illinois State Board of Education. The studies explore the relationship between school culture, motivation, and achievement. The first uses data collected from 9,693 high school juniors and examines school characteristics and family background in relationship to student motivation and academic achievement in specific subjects. The second study, drawn from the responses of 4,002 10th-grade students, explores the viability of the causal model in which school culture affects motivation, which, in turn, affects achievement. Also discussed are the influence of peer and family achievement pressure on motivation and achievement. The third study uses the same database as the second and examines the relative influence of the five dimensions of school culture--namely, accomplishment, power, recognition, affiliation, and overall sense of purpose--on student motivation. Lastly, the degree to which student ethnicity, enrollment orientation, and education of parents influence the effect the different facets of school culture have on motivation is discussed. Included are 3 figures and 14 tables. (66 references) (CLA)

Recent research on motivation and education has focused on the psychological environment of the classroom. Special consideration has been given to perceived stresses on goals, purposes, and meanings of learning activities and the relationships of these to motivation and achievement. The study summarized in this paper builds on this work, especially on the conceptualization of a psychological environment. Taking advantage of an extensive student achievement study conducted in association with a statewide assessment program, researchers surveyed over 16,000 students in 4 different grade levels in 820 Illinois schools regarding perceptions of school goal stresses ("school culture"). Their responses were considered in relationship to measures of motivation and achievement, using causal modeling techniques. Results generally provided support for a causal model that links school culture to motivation and motivation to achievement, though the relative importance of school culture varied at different school levels. Additionally, the five culture dimensions (accomplishment, power, recognition, affiliation, and overall sense of school mission) varied in importance as predictors of motivation. (32 references) (Author/MLH)

A set of objective instruments to assess school leadership and instructional climate were developed in this study designed to improve upon the primarily descriptive, individual-oriented leadership assessments of prior research. Self-reports on daily activities were elicited from 41 male and 40 female principals, and a leadership inventory was administered to compare the reported relative importance of behavioral descriptions with beliefs for the prediction of effective instructional leadership. Findings indicate that beliefs about work are a significant factor in explaining differences between leaders and that what is learned about instructional leadership is highly dependent on whom is asked. The implementation of an instructional leadership development program indicates that individually oriented programs are effective models for instructional leadership training. (35 references) (LMI)

Studies of principals' leadership behavior have been limited to purely descriptive content with no insight into the meanings they ascribe to their actions. The inclusion of individual interpretation is crucial to understanding the link between actions and their intended impact on a situation. The methodology used in this study assesses principals' own interpretation of their behavior at the time of an action. An "Instructional Leadership Inventory" consisting of 48 items designed to measure the "Five Dimensions of Instructional Leadership" (defines mission, manages curriculum, supervises teaching, monitors student progress, and promotes instructional climate) was given to each of the 81 principals representing schools from the Chicago metropolitan area studied along with a beeper. Five times each day during a regular work week, principals were signaled at random to fill out a behavioral assessment form. Results of the survey relate the dimensions of instructional leadership to behavioral reports made by the principals. The most dramatic finding is the absence of consistent differences in the types of activities that effective vs. less effective principals engage in. Distinctions lie in specific meanings leaders ascribe to what they did. A comprehensive listing of explanations and results is included. (EJS)

Results of a descriptive quantitative study to identify personal beliefs and goals shared by effective school principals are presented in this report. Data were collected through an experience sampling study of principals, and through teacher and student attitudinal surveys. The experience sampling stage involved 81 Illinois elementary or secondary principals who were electronically paged at randomly selected times to record current activities, beliefs, and moods. Findings indicate that principals' beliefs most significantly influence leadership effectiveness. An extensive bibliography, 53 tables illustrating the results of responses to the Principal Activity Sampling Form and a copy fo the form are included. (LMI)