Skólamenning og námsárangur

This is the fourth paper in a series based on the longitudinal study Motivation of Students in Compulsory Schools in Iceland. The literature suggests that student achievement is strongly related to two interrelated factors, namely the school leadership and the organizational culture of the school – the school culture (Deal and Peterson, 1999; Hoy and Miskel, 1996, 2008; Fullan, 2001). The concept of school culture refers to the values and norms that shape traditions and interactions, i.e. how school personnel interact and operate when solving everyday challenges. Accordingly, the teachers’ views towards student learning are a significant part of the culture of schools. Deal and Peterson (1999) and Schein (2004) state that school culture can be of various kinds, but Maehr and Midgley (1996) emphasize that the values and norms towards teaching and learning are of utmost importance for academic success in schools. Hoy and Miskel (1996, 2008) point out that there are a limited number of empirical studies available on school culture. Generally, however, empirical studies suggest that culture in successful organizations is proactive in nature and emphasizes co-operation and collaboration of all their staff. This scarcity also applies to the Icelandic context. The findings presented in this paper shed a light on the relationship between aspects of school culture in eight compulsory schools in Iceland with achievement on nationally administered comprehensive exams. Method Data was collected in eight compulsory schools (ages 6–16), four of them located in the greater Reykjavik area and four in rural areas. Data was gathered with a questionnaire where teachers responded to questions and statements. On the one hand, the theoretical framework that guided the development of the questionnaires for teachers and middle managers was developed from the works of Maehr and Midgley (1996). According to them, the values and norms towards teaching and learning are the most important dimensions of every school culture. On the other hand, questions concerning school culture focused on organizational and managerial elements. There were 318 teachers in these eight compulsory schools and the response rate was 75%. Findings and discussion Factor analysis was carried out on the data collected from teachers and middle managers. Two separate factor analyses were done, one for statements that describe in general terms the school culture and the other on statements describing the culture in relation to teaching orientation. Scores on standardized tests in Icelandic and Abstract School culture and school achievement 35 Skolamenning og namsarangur mathematics in grades 4, 7 and 10 were obtained from The Educational Testing Institute in Iceland for the year the data was collected, as well as for the two following years. The relationship between the factors from the two different factor analyses was examined as well as the relationship between the factors and the scores on the standardized tests. The factor analyses generated three major factors from the general questions and statements of the school culture: (a) power and influence, (b) innovation, (c) strategic leadership. The factor analysis of questions and statements describing the teaching dimension produced the factors of (d) comparison, and (e) task. This is equivalent to the dimensions of an ability oriented culture and task oriented culture observed by Maehr and Midgley (1996). A positive relationship was found between the factors (d) comparison and (a) power and influence and also a positive relationship between (e) task and the factor (b) innovation, and (c) strategic leadership. Furthermore, a positive relationship was also found between achievement in grades 4 and 7 and the teaching emphasis on (e) task. There was a positive correlation between achievement in all the grades and emphasis on (c) strategic leadership.