The Impact of School Culture on Student Achievement in Rural Education

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School climate, also known as organizational health, has been described as the atmosphere, culture, resources, and social networks of a school (Collie, Shapka, & Perry, 2011). School climate involves three dimensions: the relationships between members of the organization, the personal development of the members, and the maintenance and change of the organization (Collie, Shapka, & Perry, 2011).

As we consider the relationships between the members of the organization we must consider all of the relationships that make up the school environment. The student/teacher relationship is the most commonly thought of relationship in the school, and rightly so. For effective instruction to take place teachers must be able to build strong quality relationships with their students (Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005). These relationships must move past the surface level and evolve into relationships build to handle the often complex intricacies of the student/teacher dynamic.

Peer-to-peer relationships serve another important dynamic in the overall school culture. These peer-to-peer relationships include both student-to-student and teacher-to-teacher. For an effective environment to exist each of these sets of peers must have quality working relationships built for collaboration.

The personal development of the members within the school environment is an important part in the overall school culture (Collie, Shapka, & Perry, 2011). For growth of the culture to take place there must be growth of the individuals within the culture. This is true of students as well as teachers. Students must not only continually grow academically, but must also, demonstrate growth within the culture of the school. Likewise, teachers require continually profe...

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...A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature. (R2Ed Working Paper No. 2011-1). Retrieved from the National Center for Research on Rural Education website: http://r2ed.unl.edu

Waldron, N. & McLeskey, J. (2010) Establishing a Collaborative School Culture Through Comprehensive School Reform. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consolation. Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. DOI: 10.1080/10474410903535364

Walberg, H.J., & Walberg, H.J., III (1994) Losing Local Control. Educational Researcher 23/5 (June/July 1994): 19-26.

Waller, W. (1932). The sociology of teaching. New York: Wiley.

Waters, J.T., Marzano, R.J., & McNulty, B. (2004) Leadership that sparks learning. Educational Leadership, 61(7), 48-51.

Wildy, H. & Clarke, S. (2008). Leading a Small Remote School: In the Face of a Culture of Acceptance. University of Western Australia. Crawley, Austral

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