A study of the relation of organizational climate to individually guided education programs in selected elementary schools in an eastern Virginia city school division

Purpose. This study was undertaken to investigate the following major questions: (1) Is there a significant difference in the organizational climate of IGE and non-IGE schools in an eastern Virginia city school division? (2) Do IGE and non-IGE schools differ significantly on each of the eight subtests identified by Halpin and Croft (1963) in the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire--Disengagement, Hindrance, Esprit and Intimacy (teacher behavior), Aloofness, Production Emphasis, Thrust, and Consideration (principal behavior)?;Scope of the Study. The Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (Halpin and Croft, 1963) was selected as the research tool for use in collecting the data for the study. In addition, information regarding teacher absenteeism and turnover was analyzed. All faculty members in the six schools sampled (100 percent) participated by completing the OCDQ. The t-test was performed to test for significance at the .05 level of confidence. A one-way analysis of variance was employed across schools. When significant f ratios were produced, the Scheffe test was used to probe the difference between the mean scores of the eight subtests of the OCDQ.;Findings. An analysis of the data revealed: (1) No significant differences in teacher perceptions of organizational climate in IGE and non-IGE schools were found. (2) A significant difference was observed for subtest eight, Consideration, with IGE schools achieving a higher score. (3) The one-way analysis of variance produced an f ratio significant at the .01 level of confidence for seven of the eight subtests of the OCDQ. (4) Using the Scheffe test to compare all pairs of means of the seven subtests with significant f scores, it was found that the IGE school implementing the greatest number of the thirty-five outcomes of the IGE process achieved a climate which tended to be more open than any of the other five schools. (5) Information collected on teacher absenteeism showed a significant difference in teacher attendance in IGE schools.;Conclusions. Consistent with the findings of this study, the following conclusions appear to be warranted: (1) The expressed willingness to become involved in the IGE process does not appear to affect teacher perceptions of school climate. (2) High implementation involvement in the IGE process appears to produce more favorable teacher perceptions of school climate. (3) Teachers employed in IGE schools in this sample had better attendance records than did teachers in non-IGE schools. (5) Neither IGE nor non-IGE schools as a group could be characterized as one of the six climate types described by Halpin and Croft (1963)