The relationship between teachers\u27 perceptions of the organizational climate and their perceptions of the effectiveness of the evaluation process

An examination of the relationship between organizational climate with its leader behavior dimensions and the perceived effectiveness of the organizational process of teacher evaluation was the expressed purpose of this study.;Halpin and Croft\u27s Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire and an investigator-designed instrument were used to measure perceptions of teachers in sixty-six public elementary schools in Iowa regarding the organizational climate and the effectiveness of the teacher evaluation process respectively. Data collected also included measures on eight climate subtests, two evaluation process subtests, and selected demographic variables.;Tests of significance of the Pearson Product Moment Coefficient of Correlation and the Step-wise Multiple Regression procedure were used for statistical analyses of the data.;Fifty-five percent of the Iowa public elementary schools sampled were perceived as having open climates and ninety-one percent were perceived as having effective teacher evaluation processes.;A high positive correlation was found between the perceptions of the effectiveness of the evaluation process and the openness of the organizational climate. Statistically significant correlations were found between six of the eight climate subtests and the effectiveness of evaluation measure. None of the demographic variables was found to be significantly related to either organizational climate or the perceptions of the evaluation process.;The step-wise multiple regression procedure resulted in the identification of thrust as the best predictor of both the overall perception of the effectiveness of the evaluation process score and the procedural subtest score. The best fit equation for predicting the effectiveness of the values subtest score included openness of climate, production emphasis, and thrust scores.;The high positive correlation between climate openness and effective teacher evaluation as well as the particular significance of the leader dimension of thrust supports the contention that organizational climate and teacher evaluation cannot be separated and consequently climate needs to be considered as a critical component of the teacher evaluation process