An empirical test of conclusions from effective schools research

Effective schools variables identified in several literature reviews were collapsed into 6 constructs, and the independent effect of each construct was empirically tested on student achievement level. The data for this analysis were taken from the National Educational Longitudinal Study for the years 1988, 1990, and 1992. The regression analysis of the data indicates that the most important effective schools characteristics are an achievement-oriented school culture, principal autonomy in hiring and firing teachers, and high teacher morale. No evidence was found that teacher empowerment, teacher education level, most principal influences, and quality of relations between the administration and the school are related to student performance. © 1996 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC