Examination of Principals\u27 Perceptions on School Climate in Metropolitan Nashville Public Elementary Schools

The purpose of the study was to examine the school climate of the Metropolitan Nashville Public Elementary Schools through the lenses of the principals. Principals\u27 perceptions of their school climates was studied using independent variables of principal gender, years of experience as principal, tenure at present school, enrollment size of school, socio-economic level of school, school type, and the status of the school. The study examined the principals\u27 perceptions of their schools using this demographic data in conjunction with eight dimensions of school climate which served as dependent variables. These dimensions included Attitude and Culture, Faculty Relations, Leadership and Decision Making, Learning and Instruction Assessment, Physical Appearance, and Student Interactions. The School Climate Quality Analytic Assessment Survey Instrument from the Alliance for the Study of School Climate was used to measure the perceptions of the principals in the study. The statistical analyses of the variables indentified in the research questions included one-way ANOVAs, Pearson r correlations and Tukey tests. Analyses of the data were summarized using descriptive statistics for calculation and interpretation. Eight hypotheses were tested which provided a clear insight into the perceptions of school climate of the 59 elementary school principals involved in the study