Private School Characteristics and Educator Optimism for Long-Term Sustainability

• In Event: The Sustainability of Private Faith-Based Schools

Abstract

As the quantitative portion of the same study, administrators, teachers, and other school leaders from the 11 schools and networks were surveyed about their school’s practices with respect to financial sustainability and innovation. In the survey, respondents were asked on a four-point Likert scale how strongly they agreed 16 statements applied to their school. These items probed beliefs about the accessibility of the school to underserved students, relationships between teachers and administrators, the innovative culture of the school, and optimism about the school’s sustainability into the future. Principal components analysis yielded three factors, which we used to examine respondents’ optimism: commitment to access, openness to change, and quality of relationships.
Roughly 350 administrators, teachers, and other school leaders responded to the survey. Overall, administrators expressed the greatest optimism, and board members the greatest pessimism, about their respective school’s current practices and future sustainability. Generally, respondents agreed their school welcomes underserved students, promotes good relationships between administrators and teachers, and would continue to be open 10 years from now. Respondents were least likely to agree that teachers had adequate time to observe each other teach.
Correlational analysis yielded current resources were strongly related to optimism about a school being open a decade into the future. Respondents who agreed that their school “effectively supports underserved students” and has adequate resources to support underserved students and adequate time for teachers to collaborate were more likely to agree that the school would continue to open its doors. Similarly, respondents who felt their school welcomes change or has a connection to the surrounding community were more likely to agree their school would become more accessible to underserved student populations.

Authors

• Jonathan Eckert, Baylor University
  Presenting Author

• Lynn E. Swaner, Association of Christian Schools International
  Non-Presenting Author

• Erik Ellefsen, Baylor University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Matthew H. Lee, Association of Christian Schools International
  Non-Presenting Author