WJCC School Board to Hear Results of Climate Study

By Amber Lester Kennedy Tuesday, May 10, 2011

The Williamsburg-James City County School Board will hear the results of a climate study of the division conducted earlier this year at a work session tonight.

The study results will be presented by Dr. Megan Tschannen-Moran, a professor at the College of William and Mary School of Education who was contracted by WJCC to conduct the study. Tschannen-Moran’s primary research focuses on relationships of trust in school settings and how these are related to school climate, according to her website.

Tschannen-Moran designed two surveys to gather data. One survey assessed the perceptions of faculty and staff, while the other assessed the perceptions of parents. The faculty and staff survey consisted of 100 questions that assessed various aspects of school climate, while the parent survey consisted of 58 questions. Data was gathered through paper and electronic surveys during the last two weeks of February.

A total of 634 faculty and staff participated, with 302 providing comments on an open-ended final question. A total of 1,092 parents participated, with 479 providing comments on the final open-ended question. The participants represented all schools in the division (the Academy for Life and Learning was not included as a school because it was considered a program, according to spokesperson Greg Davy).

Tschannen-Moran’s study looked at academic optimism, which she said is a composite of the three school climate measures most closely related to student achievement: academic press (as in the push to strive for greatness), collective teacher efficacy and faculty trust in students and parents. She also looked at perceptions of community engagement, trust, parent involvement, communication, faculty trust and collaboration, job satisfaction, faculty morale, recognition, leadership, behavior, bullying and safety. To read the full study results, click here.

Certain topics attracted more comments than others, including behavioral guidelines, the needs of average students and parental involvement. On the latter topic, teachers described an atmosphere where principals always believe parents over teachers and parents described teachers who weren’t open to allowing parents to volunteer. Parents also expressed disappointment that all teachers don’t regularly use Edline, an online system that allows parents to track assignments and their child’s performance, but when it has been used, parents said it was a wonderful tool.

Faculty and staff also widely reported they were satisfied with their jobs, with 42 respondents noting they felt camaraderie with coworkers, felt supported and cited great leadership. Morale, however, was low, with faculty and staff reporting high levels of stress in response to increasing accountability pressures. One teacher wrote, “Morale at the school feels to be very low, and it has been this way for a long time. The faculty often feel stressed, pressured and over-scrutinized. They feel unencouraged and unsupported by the administration. I think the teachers do a wonderful job of striving for excellence in spite of this, however, and our students receive a great education, due to their hard work, talent and perseverance.”

Similarly, teachers reported they valued collaboration and were discontent when they didn’t feel like their school had a collaborative culture. One teacher noted team-building experiences are needed, and another said a lack of time to collaborate is the greatest obstacle. Tschannen-Moran also asked faculty and staff to share what stresses them, and they reported feelings of frustration, fatigue, depression, resentment and burnout.

When asked to rank perceptions of problem behaviors, faculty ranked student absenteeism as their biggest concern, while parents ranked “students making fun of other students” as their biggest concern. Bullying was ranked as a high concern for both parents and teachers, as well. Both groups indicated a strong sense of safety overall.

“These results indicate a school division with a strong emphasis on academics, a high level of engagement with the community, productive working relationships among the staff, and respect for school leaders,” Tschannen-Moran wrote. “People generally feel safe and satisfied with their work, although morale has suffered with the pressures of accountability and budget cuts.”

The board will discuss her findings at their work session, which will begin at 7 p.m. in the City Council chambers of the Stryker Building in Williamsburg.