School Environment and Teacher Performance - Essay Example

SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT AND TEACHER PERFORMANCE Problem ment There are numerous questions as to whether school environments co-relate with performance of teachers. Attempts to find the bottom line of the issue and an honest answer prompted a survey to remove all doubts surrounding the debate. Purpose of study The study is aimed at understanding how educators view their environment, and to verify whether their perceptions of the environment affect their performance in school. Hypothesis of the study There is a positive co-relation between high perceptions of school environment with teachers’ performance. Area of study The study is conducted in Atha Elementary, a school located in Monroe, Georgia. It is a Title I school serving students in pre-kindergarten to fifth grade. The school has seven hundred and fifty students. There are 85 full-time teachers, 55 classrooms with an average of 9 students per teacher (Trulia, 2012). As a new teacher coming in, many educators have approached this researcher on concerns pertaining to administration support, discipline, and overall knowledge to serve their students. Some expressed concerns of not being equipped or trained properly to perform their job expectations. As the “new person” to the school, I have faced with some of the same issues. Methodology and design of study In this study, the researcher will use stratified random sampling to find his data. Stratified random sampling involves looking at distinct subgroups while obtaining data (CustomInsight, n.d.). For the research question, “Does High Perception of School Environment Correlate with Teacher Performance,” this researcher will be looking at two groups: regular education teachers and special education teachers. Atha Elementary has 9 special education teachers and 34 regular education teachers. Survey Questions Survey sample questions: These are the questions that the teachers are expected to answer. 1. Have I been trained effectively for the subject(s) I teach? 2. Has professional development helped me become a better teacher? 3. Do I have most of the materials needed to serve my students? 4. Do I have necessary documentation to understand students’ needs? 5. Are professional developments based on teachers needs? 6. Are job expectations clear at my school? The objective is to get a clear view on how educators perceive their environment. Therefore, a likert-scale must be utilized (Super Survey, 2007). This research after attitudinal information: describes how a person thinks or feels about something. Educators will be able to rate their feelings on a scale of 1 to 5 as shown below. 1 2 3 4 5 Agree Strongly Agree Neutral Strongly Disagree Disagree Quantitative In order to select the appropriate method of data recording one must first understand variables. Variables are used in the study of statistics. A variable is a characteristic that can take more than one set of values that numerical measures can be assigned to: height, age, income, country, grades, and housing type (Statistics Canada, 2011). Quantitatively, this writer will give a survey to collect initial perception of the school before professional developments are provided or major concerns are addressed. Surveys will be given to two mixed groups of elementary school educators (both groups will contain an equal amount of special and regular education teachers). Group A labeled (control group) will not be provided with options on professional development, will only meet with assistant principals at their request and group B labeled (experimental group) will receive professional development mandates, options on professional development, coaching/mentoring team, and meet with their assistant principals on a regular basis (minimum once bi-weekly). Along side of each professional development or principal meeting educators will be able to rate the usefulness of the encounter (dependent variable). The usefulness will be rated on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 not useful to 5 very useful). The data will be compiled and graphed at the end of each month and compared to group B who does not receive options or regular scheduled meetings with principle(s). Specifics on Data Collection Baseline- Data will be taken on each professional development and main encounter meetings (both group) during the first nine weeks of the 2011 to 2012 school year. During the second nine weeks of the school calendar, educators will be separated into two groups. Group A control group (no choices), Group B experimental group (choices, intervening variable). During the fourth nine weeks, data will be compiled and compared to verify if perception decreased, or remained the same when choices (independent variable) were introduced to Group B. This researcher intends on using the t-test for the validity of research results. A t-test is a statistical test involving confidence limits for the random variable t of a t distribution and used especially in testing hypotheses about means of normal distributions when the standard deviations are unknown (Merriam-Webster, 2010). To test this researcher’s hypothesis the best method to utilize is an online survey. Educators have easy access to computers and often at times feel confined to their computers. This will eliminate unnecessary paperwork and the possibility of a paper survey being lost in the “do later” pile. According to Numbers Insight (2009) online surveys, have a faster turnaround in response, typically a day or two. In addition, surveyors are more apt to respond to more sensitive issues or personal questions. Lastly, the online response is easily tabulated, sorted, analyzed, and can be converted into graphic presentation for others. Although online surveys seem beneficial for this researcher to utilize, it also can present some barriers. Questions must be worded accurately and remain focused on the goal of the research. Another barrier is having enough participants. Educators are aware the survey is not part of the school and is confidential. However, some are still afraid to participate in fear that administrators will somehow find out their response or some may not be very honest in their responses (Number Insight, 2009). In order for this survey to be successful, one will stick to the purpose and goals of the research question. Prior to sending out the survey, a cover letter explaining the purpose, goals, and why he/she is chosen to participate in the survey. This researcher will ask short close-ended or open-ended questions and keep questions to a minimum that focus on the goals of the research. Misunderstanding will be eliminated by using bold, italics, or underlining key words (StatPac, 2012). Lastly, a small incentive will be given to ensure participation and as a way to thank surveyors for participating. Interpreting Frequencies The mode is the most frequent score. Therefore, no calculation is needed. The median is the middle score. It cuts the distribution in half, so that there is the same number of scores above the median as there are below the median. The mean is the average score. The skew is a measure of asymmetry in a set of data. It affects the location of the mode, median, and mean. By indentifying the skew, the researcher can tell from the calculated values if a distribution is normally distributed or skewed. If the mean is lower than the mode, the distribution is negative. If the mean is higher than the mode then it is positive. Cronbach’s Alpha Cronbach is a measure that is widely used to measure how people similarly answer each question making up the scale. It is commonly used when researchers input multiple Likert questions in a survey or questionnaire and must determine if the scale is reliable (Lund Research , 2010). After analyzing the Cronbach’s Alpha score this researcher can conclude, the scale is reliable because all the Cronbach Alpha scores range closely. Summary According to data, this researcher can conclude that educators at Atha elementary school do not feel that they have been adequately trained to perform their jobs. Data shows that 2 strongly disagree, 2 disagree, and 2 are neutral. Another area that this researcher can conclude that educators at Atha elementary are not satisfied with their jobs is when it comes to necessary documentation to understand students needs. Furthermore, data shows that out of six employees, 4 disagree and 2 are neutral. Oneway Descriptives N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error 95% Confidence Interval for Mean Minimum Maximum Lower Bound Upper Bound Education 0-3 1 1.00 . . . . 1 1 4-6 1 4.00 . . . . 4 4 7-9 3 2.67 .577 .333 1.23 4.10 2 3 10-15 1 1.00 . . . . 1 1 Total 6 2.33 1.211 .494 1.06 3.60 1 4 Respondents Age 0-3 1 27.00 . . . . 27 27 4-6 1 35.00 . . . . 35 35 7-9 3 38.00 2.000 1.155 33.03 42.97 36 40 10-15 1 47.00 . . . . 47 47 Total 6 37.17 6.555 2.676 30.29 44.05 27 47 ANOVA Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Education Between Groups 6.667 3 2.222 6.667 .133 Within Groups .667 2 .333 Total 7.333 5 Respondents Age Between Groups 206.833 3 68.944 17.236 .055 Within Groups 8.000 2 4.000 Total 214.833 5 Frequency Table Respondents Age Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 27 1 16.7 16.7 16.7 35 1 16.7 16.7 33.3 36 1 16.7 16.7 50.0 38 1 16.7 16.7 66.7 40 1 16.7 16.7 83.3 47 1 16.7 16.7 100.0 Total 6 100.0 100.0 sex Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Female 4 66.7 66.7 66.7 Male 2 33.3 33.3 100.0 Total 6 100.0 100.0 experience Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 0-3 1 16.7 16.7 16.7 4-6 1 16.7 16.7 33.3 7-9 3 50.0 50.0 83.3 10-15 1 16.7 16.7 100.0 Total 6 100.0 100.0 Education Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid associates 2 33.3 33.3 33.3 bachelor 1 16.7 16.7 50.0 master 2 33.3 33.3 83.3 specialist 1 16.7 16.7 100.0 Total 6 100.0 100.0 position Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid paraprofessional 2 33.3 33.3 33.3 special education 2 33.3 33.3 66.7 regualr education 2 33.3 33.3 100.0 Total 6 100.0 100.0 Scale: ALL VARIABLES Case Processing Summary N % Cases Valid 6 100.0 Excludeda 0 .0 Total 6 100.0 a. Listwise deletion based on all variables in the procedure. Reliability Statistics Cronbachs Alpha Cronbachs Alpha Based on Standardized Items N of Items .567 .643 54 References CustomInsight. (n.d.). Random Samples and Statistical Accuracy. Retrieved January 28, 2012, from CustomInsight: http://www.custominsight.com/articles/random-sampling.asp Farlex. (2012). Hypothesis. Retrieved January 15, 2012, from The Free Dictionary: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hypothesis Lund Research . (2010). Cronbachs Alpha. Retrieved February 12, 2012, from Laerd Statistics: http://statistics.laerd.com/spss-tutorials/cronbachs-alpha-using-spss-statistics.php Number Insight. (2009, April 22). The Pros and Cons of Online Surveys. Retrieved January 19, 2012, from Mineful : 2012 Statistics Canada. (2011, June 17). Variables . Retrieved January 28, 2012, from Statistics Canada : http://www.statcan.gc.ca/edu/power-pouvoir/ch8/5214817-eng.htm StatPac. (2012). Questionnaire Desigh- Consideration . Retrieved January 20, 2012, from StatPac: http://www.statpac.com/surveys/questionnaire-design.htm Steinberg, W. (2008). Statistics Alive. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, Inc. Super Survey. (2007). Survey Questions . Retrieved January 30, 2012, from Super Survey Knowledge Base: http://knowledge-base.supersurvey.com/survey-questions.htm Trulia. (2012). Atha Road Elementary School . Retrieved January 19, 2012, from Trulia : http://www.trulia.com/schools/GA-Monroe/Atha_Road_Elementary_School/ Read More