School Organizational Characteristics Research Articles

How can educational innovations become sustainable? A review of the empirical literature

In literature there is a great variety in the definitions and identified critical features of sustainability of educational innovations. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the entire range of factors influencing the sustainability and its core aspects. A systematic review was performed in which electronic databases were searched for peer reviewed articles, published between 2002 and 2017. Based on results of 44 publications, the following definition could be constructed: “Sustainability refers to the process of integrating the intervention's core aspects in organizational routines, which are adaptive to ongoing work, with maintenance or continuation of improved results.” We found four main factors influencing sustainability of educational innovations: school organizational, innovation, individual, and context characteristics. The empirical-based model developed in this review should be validated in practice to create transparency and focus in sustainability research.

Linking school organizational characteristics and teacher retention: Evidence from repeated cross-sectional national data

Teacher labor markets have strong implications for learning outcomes and equity for students, and yet schools that need teachers the most often face high turnover. Using repeated cross-sectional nationally representative data, this study examines the relationships between school organizational characteristics and teacher turnover and identifies what may be done to positively influence the teacher workforce. I find school organizational characteristics may indeed reduce teacher turnover, but this varies based on the type of organizational characteristic as well as the specific form of turnover. Policy and practical implications from the study are discussed.

The Relationship between Parent Volunteering in School and School Safety in Disadvantaged Urban Neighborhoods

ABSTRACT Schools located in disadvantaged urban neighborhoods report disproportionately high rates of crime and violence. Theoretical reasoning suggests that school-based parent participation may lead to improved school safety in these settings, but little empirical work has tested this relationship. This study examines the relationship between school-based parent volunteering and two measures of school safety by using data from five waves of the School Survey on Crime and Safety, Common Core Data, and the American Community Survey. Results from analyses of 12,698 schools indicated that school-based parent volunteering is associated with improved school safety, controlling for school organizational features, sociodemographic characteristics, and neighborhood-level crime. For schools in disadvantaged urban neighborhoods, this relationship persisted with parent volunteering being associated with less school crime and violence and student bodily harm. Findings establish a need for future research to determine whether parent volunteering may be a tool for enhancing school safety.

A Cross-Site Partnership to Examine Implementation and Sustainability of a School-Based Trauma Program.

Schools have been identified as an ideal setting for increasing access to mental health services particularly for underserved minority youth. The emerging field of implementation science has begun to systematically investigate strategies for more efficiently integrating evidence-based practices into community settings. Significantly less translational research has focused specifically on the school setting. To address this need, we examined the implementation of a school-based trauma intervention across three distinct regions. We conducted key informant interviews guided by Mendel's Framework of Dissemination in Health Services Intervention Research with multiple school stakeholders to examine what school organizational characteristics influence the adoption and implementation process and sustainability of Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS). Participants were selected from schools in three geographic regions in the United States: Western, Midwestern, and Southern. Our findings reveal that while sites had some common organizational factors that appeared to facilitate implementation, regions differed in how they compensated for less robust implementation domains. Across all regions, school stakeholders recognized the need for services to support students impacted by trauma. In the Western region, there was no centralized district policy for implementation; therefore, implementation was facilitated by school-level change agents and supervision support from the district mental health unit. In the Midwestern region, centralized district policies drove implementation. In both the Midwestern and Southern regions, implementation was facilitated by collaboration with a local mental health agency. This study contributes to the paucity of empirical information on the organizational factors that influence the implementation of evidence-based mental health interventions in schools. Our findings reveal that different implementation strategies across policies, structures, and resources can result in implementation of a school-based intervention. Frameworks such as Mendel's can be helpful in identifying areas of strength and improvement of implementation within a school organization.

The Implications of Intersectionality on Southeast Asian Female Students’ Educational Outcomes in the United States: A Critical Quantitative Intersectionality Analysis

Based on the framework of critical quantitative intersectionality, the purpose of this study is to examine the multifaceted impacts of Southeast Asian female students’ race or ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status on math achievement score and intention to enter higher education. This study found that math achievement scores of Southeast Asian students were significantly higher than those of other race or ethnicity groups. However, Southeast Asian female students’ intention to pursue higher education was significantly lower than that of Southeast Asian males as well as being the lowest among all female students. The school organizational characteristics used in this study did not mediate or differentiate the intersectionalities related to Southeast Asian female students. The patterns held regardless of schooling contexts.

Professional Development in the Use of Data: From Data to Knowledge in Data Teams

ABSTRACTSchools need support in the use of data. To provide this support, a data team intervention was developed. A prior study conducted in the Netherlands showed that several factors can enable or hinder the work of data teams. The current replication study focuses on the factors influencing data use in data teams and the perceived effects of the data teams’ work, but looking at data teams in Sweden. The results of this qualitative study show that the data teams’ work is influenced by the same factors as in the Netherlands: Data characteristics (e.g., relevance of the data), team characteristics (e.g., heterogeneity of the team), and school organizational characteristics (e.g., school leader support).

Why a Data‐Based Decision‐Making Intervention Works in Some Schools and Not in Others

The use of data for adaptive, tailor‐made education can be beneficial for students with learning difficulties. While evaluating the effects of a data‐based decision‐making (DBDM) intervention on student outcomes, considerable variation between intervention effects, ranging from high‐intervention effects to small or even negative intervention effects, across schools was found. The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether educator and school organizational characteristics are related to the effects of a DBDM intervention on student achievement growth by comparing 10 primary schools with strong intervention effects with 10 primary schools with no intervention effects on student achievement. Supportive and hindering factors were studied by means of surveys and interviews with school management teams, and by examining school reports from the project trainers. Results indicate that schools with strong intervention effects differed from schools with no intervention effects with regard to their teachers’ teaching quality, staff's attitude toward DBDM, and the school data culture.

Factors promoting and hindering data-based decision making in schools

ABSTRACTAlthough data-based decision making can lead to improved student achievement, data are often not used effectively in schools. This paper therefore focuses on conditions for effective data use. We studied the extent to which school organizational characteristics, data characteristics, user characteristics, and collaboration influenced data use for (1) accountability, (2) school development, and (3) instruction. The results of our hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysis from this large-scale quantitative study (N = 1073) show that, on average, teachers appear to score relatively high on data use for accountability and school development. Regarding instruction, however, several data sources are used only on a yearly basis. Among the factors investigated, school organizational characteristics and collaboration have the greatest influence on teachers’ data use in schools.

The role of feedback from the school leader during teacher evaluation for teacher and school improvement

Since the turn of the century, teacher evaluation has been introduced around the world with the intent to improve teaching. However, in the literature on teacher evaluation, often findings reveal critical accounts about the effectiveness of feedback in teacher evaluation for teacher and school improvement. This article presents a qualitative study in eight schools where teachers did indicate to find the feedback they discussed with school leaders during teacher evaluation processes useful. In this study, we investigate whether we can identify what teachers actually do with this feedback and which factors contribute to their response. Our findings demonstrate the importance of school organizational characteristics and an integrated leadership approach for the feedback response of teachers. Also, our findings reveal how teacher evaluation is used in these schools to further school improvement.

Educational Leadership in Latin Europe: A European Perspective

Much of the contemporary literature and theory of leadership has, as its starting point, the image of governance and public school leadership, an image that is very close to the vision proposed by the OECD. This view is strongly influenced by the way the neo-liberal Anglo-American approach analyzes and outlines the political and administrative characteristics of school organization. However, you cannot apply the same practices and policies all over the world, such as in the countries of Latin America. This general introduction is put forward with a framework in which we can reflect their own situation. It cannot be realistic to have a «one size fits all» policy such as the method of governance the OECD implies. An important addition to the traditional Anglo-American perspective presented in these pages is the discussion on the fact that strong leadership from above can be replaced by a perspective of distributed leadership, inserting the concepts of leadership within social contexts and a broader policy.

Factors Influencing the Functioning of Data Teams

Background Data-based decision making can lead to increased student achievement; however, schools struggle with the implementation of data-based decision making. Professional development in the use of data is therefore urgently needed. However, professional development is often ineffective in terms of improving the knowledge, skills, and attitude of the receiver. Purpose We need a more fundamental understanding of how we can increase the effectiveness of data-use-related professional development. This study therefore focuses on the factors influencing a professional development intervention for data-based decision making: the data team procedure. Data teams are teams of teachers and school leaders who collaboratively learn how to use data, following a structured approach and guided by a facilitator from the university. Based on an extensive literature review, we developed a data use framework in which the use of data is influenced by data characteristics, school organization characteristics, and user and team characteristics. Research Design We conducted case studies. Data Collection We focused on observing in depth the factors that influence the work of the data teams and interviewing the data team members about these factors. Four data teams of six schools for upper secondary education were followed over a period of 2 years. We observed and analyzed 34 meetings and analyzed 23 interviews, combined with our field notes. Although this pilot study only permits analytical generalization of the findings, the findings provide more in-depth insight into the factors that enable and hinder interventions, focusing on supporting collaborative data use in schools. Findings The results show that several data characteristics (access and availability of high-quality data), school organizational characteristics (a shared goal, leadership, training and support, involvement of relevant stakeholders), and individual and team characteristics (data literacy, pedagogical content knowledge [PCK], organizational knowledge, attitude, and collaboration) influence the use of data in data teams. The results also show that these influencing factors are interrelated. Conclusions Schools need support in all aspects of the use of data (from formulation of a problem definition to taking action based on the data). This study can form a starting point for larger studies into the factors influencing these types of professional development interventions to ensure effective implementation and sustainability.

The Relationship Between School Organizational Characteristics and Reliance on Out-of-Field Teachers in Mathematics and Science: Cross-National Evidence from TALIS 2008

This article investigates the effect of schools’ organizational features on teacher staffing decisions at the secondary level cross-nationally. I examine the importance of the principal’s administrative leadership style and school-level autonomy in making staffing decisions to understand variation in assignments of out-of-field teachers (OFT) to teach mathematics and science. I conduct secondary analysis based on a new international data set compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on lower-secondary school administration and teachers in 15 countries. I utilize a country fixed-effects model to study the effect of different types of organizational characteristics on the extent of reliance on out-of-field teaching in mathematics and science cross-nationally. The results indicate that the use of OFT is a school-specific issue. Several school characteristics affect levels of out-of-field teaching. After controlling for country fixed effects, I do not find a systematic relationship between the principal’s administrative leadership and the school’s reliance on OFT. However, higher school-level autonomy in making staffing decisions is significantly associated with lower reliance on out-of-field teaching.

An Analysis on the Effect of School Organizational Characteristics on Students’ Academic Performance and Educational Growth

이 논문은 학교효과를 밝히고자 했던 선행연구들이 학교 성과에 영향을 주는 다양한 학교변인들을 밝히고 있지만, 학교조직의 특성을 보다 잘 드러내기 위해서는 변인의 구성 역시 학교조직 특성에 맞게 구성해야 한다는 문제의식에서 출발하였다. 이를 위해 “교육행정학적 시각”에서 학교조직의 특성에 초점을 두고 변인을 구성함으로써 학교조직 특성이 학생의 학업성취와 정의적 성장에 주는 영향을 살펴보았다. 분석은 표본선택(sample selection bias)을 조정한 Tobit모형을 이용하였으며, 학교조직 특성이 학생의 학업성취와 정의적 성장에 어떤 영향을 미치는지 추정한 결론은 다음과 같다. 학교조직 특성 변수 모든 영역(교육활동, 구조, 교직원 역량, 학교풍토, 환경)에서 학생의 학업성취와 정의적 성장에 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 파악되었다. 이러한 결과는 향후 현재 중앙부처나 평가기관, 그리고 단위학교에서 학생의 교육적 성장을 위한 조직개선에 필요한 분야와 방안을 개발하거나 전략적 계획의 수립 등에 활용될 수 있다.

The use of school self‐evaluation results in the Netherlands and Flanders

This article presents the results of two studies on the use of school self‐evaluation in the Netherlands and Flanders. It focuses on which forms of instrumental use of school self‐evaluation results can be found in schools, and how differences in self‐evaluation use between schools can be explained. Results show that the instrumental use of self‐evaluation results in both contexts was limited. Results further show that differences in the use of school self‐evaluation results can be explained by differences in school organizational characteristics, implementation characteristics, and the characteristics of the school self‐evaluation itself. Implications for theory, policy, and practice are discussed.

Teacher perceptions of school culture and their organizational commitment and well-being in a Chinese school

This study aims to analyze and validate the dimensions and specific features of a school culture in a Chinese context. A sample of 181 teachers from a Chinese primary and secondary school in Beijing participated in a survey that measures school organizational cultural characteristics and teacher organizational commitment and well-being as outcomes of school culture. Specific cultural characteristics of this school and their impact on teacher organizational commitment and well-being were identified. The findings provide important information for understanding a school culture in the Chinese context. It enriches the theory related to school culture and the research findings that have been identified in the Western settings.

Racial Tensions and School Crime

This article uses data on school crime and other characteristics from a study of U.S. public schools to contribute to our knowledge about the extent and correlates of school violence and property crime. Following a brief review of the literature, the authors describe their efforts to examine the link between racial tensions and school crime. Relying on the macro version of general strain theory (GST) developed by Agnew and racial contact/threat perspectives on school race relations, a more specific purpose for their article is to determine the extent to which school-based crime is at least a partial function of extant racial tensions in schools. Analyses of violent and property-related incidents across a weighted sample of 1,936 middle and high schools indicate that racial tensions is a significant, positive correlate of both types of school crime, net of other school climate, organizational, and demographic characteristics. They discuss these findings and describe directions for future research with these data.

Factors influencing the adoption of a Health Promoting School approach in the province of Quebec, Canada

This study examined a prediction model that integrated three categories of predictors likely to influence adoption of the Quebec Healthy Schools (HS) approach, i.e. attributes of the approach, individual and contextual characteristics. HS receptivity was considered as a potential mediator. For this study, 141 respondents representing 96 schools participated in a postal survey. We used bivariate logistic regression to assess factors associated with HS adoption and Baron and Kenny's method to test the mediation effect of HS receptivity. Four predictors related to school organizational characteristics had more weight in influencing the adoption of HS: the 'presence of leaders within schools', 'perceived school contextual barriers', 'school investment in healthy lifestyles' and 'beliefs in collective efficacy'. The influence of the latter two predictors was not direct but mediated by HS receptivity. Our findings showed that standard attributes generally considered as predictors of the adoption of an innovation are not the strongest determinants to explain HS adoption in the present context. The results shed light on the crucial role of organizational context in the adoption of this type of approach.

School Organizational Characteristics, Social Support, and Burnout in Teachers

本研究は，教師バーンアウトに影響を及ぼす要因として，職場内での組織特性や個人が持っているソーシャルサポートを取り上げ，それらがどのような影響を与えているかを明らかにした。287名の小中学校教師がMaslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)，学校組織特性尺度，ソーシャルサポート尺度からなる質問紙調査に回答した。共分散構造分析によって，以下の2点が明らかになった。まずはじめに，学校の職場環境という学校組織特性がバーンアウトへ直接悪影響を及ぼすことを示した。次に，情緒的サポートを得ることでバーンアウトを緩和できるが，道具的サポートはバーンアウトに影響を与えないことを明らかにした。以上の結果から，教師バーンアウトを軽減するためには，職場の管理職や同僚との関係をよりよくしていくとともに，情緒的サポートを得られる環境を組織的に整えていくことが望まれる。

Charter School Enrollments in Context: An Exploration of Organization and Policy Influences

Using the 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey Public Charter School Questionnaire (U.S. Department of Education, 2000), this article provides an in-depth description of charter schools in the United States and presents multivariate analyses of the enrollment of low-income and minority students in the population of charter schools, taking into account both school organizational and state policy characteristics. The results suggest that management by for-profit educational management organizations (EMOs) can have both positive and negative effects on low-income and minority enrollment depending on EMO type and urban location. Notable were the strong and significant results on the importance of state policy characteristics in terms of shaping charter school enrollments of low-income and minority students.

Identifying Teacher, School, and District Characteristics Associated with Middle and High School Teachers' Use of Technology: A Multilevel Perspective

Investment in educational technology has increased rapidly in recent years and many observers have begun to question whether, and how technology is being used as a teaching and learning tool. In order to address this issue, this research used survey data collected from 1,404 middle and high school teachers in 52 schools across 22 Massachusetts school districts to examine how technology is being used by upper grade teachers, and examines the school and district organizational characteristics that are associated with increased use of technology as a teaching and learning tool. Specifically, this research used hierarchical linear regression (HLM) techniques to model the teacher, school and district characteristics associated with five specific teacher uses of educational technology. This research found that both teacher and organizational characteristics were each found to be associated with the five technology uses, and characteristics varied in their ability to predict the five different uses.