THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE JOB SATISFACTION OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS TO STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF CLASSROOM SATISFACTION

The purpose of this study was to determine, in one district setting, if a relationship existed between teacher perceptions of satisfaction and student perceptions of satisfaction. Specifically, the study investigated classroom teachers indicating high, average, and low levels of job satisfaction to determine if student satisfaction differed in classrooms taught by teachers experiencing these three levels of satisfaction. The Work Environment Scale was used to measure teacher perceptions of job satisfaction and the Classroom Environment Scale was used to measure student perceptions of classroom satisfaction. The Work Environment Scale was administered to 160 teachers assigned to grades four through twelve in one school district. The Classroom Environment Scale was administered to students in thirty-three classrooms in the same district. Four hypotheses were investigated. These hypotheses and the findings for each are as follows: (1) It was hypothesized that a significant positive relationship would exist between teacher satisfaction and student satisfaction on the relationship dimension; this hypothesis was not supported. (2) It was hypothesized that a significant positive relationship would exist between teacher satisfaction and student satisfaction on the personal growth dimension; this hypothesis was supported. (3) It was hypothesized that a significant positive relationship would exist between teacher satisfaction and student satisfaction on the system maintenance and change dimension; this hypothesis was not supported. (4) It was hypothesized that a significant positive relationship would exist between teacher satisfaction and student satisfaction. Since a significant and positive relationship was not present for two of the three dimensions, this hypothesis was not supported. The basic purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teachers\u27 level of job satisfaction to determine if student satisfaction differed in classrooms taught by teachers who differed in levels of job satisfaction. The findings of this study do not support a common assumption about school climate, that a high level of teacher satisfaction will lead to improved levels of student satisfaction. The other conclusion from this study is that further studies about the interrelationships of teacher and student perceptions of climate are warranted. Until additional research is available, schools desiring to improve classroom satisfaction should focus efforts directly on students