A Holistic Portrait of Readiness for School Improvement: Students, Parents, Teachers, School Staff, and Leaders' Perspectives on School Climate

• In Event: 65.021 - Developing Tools for Equity Awareness in School Improvement: Support, Development, and Networking for Teachers and Leader

Abstract

Although school improvement receives much attention and financial investment, there are several elements of improvement that are underexplored. These include: 1) School readiness to undertake improvement initiatives; 2) Equity awareness and social justice lenses in school improvement; and 3) Student and parent perspectives on school improvement. These three areas can make or break leaders’ improvement agendas, and are in a mutually reinforcing relationship with school climate. This paper is a comparative case study of stakeholders’ perspectives on their schools’ leadership and climate at the point when schools have been identified for improvement monitoring. Findings provide insights into how a school's climate is connected to its needs and strengths, and to its potential challenges in the improvement process ahead.

Authors

• Irene H. Yoon, University of Utah

• Ashley McKinney, University of Utah

• Cori A. Groth, University of Utah

• Andrea K. Rorrer, University of Utah