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Measuring Organizational Climate

Wayne K. Hoy, former chairman of the department of educational administration and associate dean of academic affairs at Rutgers University, is now a professor in the Graduate School of Education. Professor Hoy received his B. A. from Lock Haven State College in 1959 and his D. Ed. from The Pennsylvania State University in 1965. His primary research interests are theory and research in administration, the sociology of organizations, and the social psychology of administration. In 1973, he received the Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching and in 1987, the Alumni Award for Professional Research. He is past secretary-treasurer of the National Conference of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) and is past president of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA). He is a past member of the editorial board of the Educational Administration Quarterly and currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Educational Administration. Professor Hoy is co-author with Professors D. J. Willower and T. L. Eidell of The School and Pupil Control Ideology (1967), with Professor Cecil Miskel of Educational Administration: Theory, Research, and Practice (1987), and with Patrick Forsyth of Effective Supervision: Theory into Practice (1986). His work has been published extensively in the research and professional literature.

C. John Tarter is an assistant professor in the department of educational administration at St. John's University in New York City. He is a former college administrator and public school teacher. Professor Tarter received his B. A. from the California State College at San Bernardino in 1966, his M. A. from the University of California, Riverside in 1969, and his Ed. D. from Rutgers University in 1984. He was a recipient of the Phi Delta Kappa Research Award in 1976. He has published in the Journal of Educational Administration, Educational Administration Quarterly, High School Journal, Planning and Changing, and The Journal of Research and Development in Education. Professor Tarter's research interests lie in the areas of organizational behavior, organizational structures, and research methodologies.

Robert B. Kottkamp is associate professor and directs the doctoral program in Educational Administration and Policy Studies in the School of Education, Hofstra University. His long term research interests include the study of teaching as an occupation, the principalship, school climate and effectiveness, and the use of reflection as a means for improving teaching and administrative behavior. His studies have appeared in Phi Delta Kappan, Educational Administration Quarterly, Journal of Research and Development in Education, Alberta Journal of Educational Research, and Education in Urban Society. With several administrators, teachers and university colleagues, he is now exploring the relationship between developing more reflective practice and the improvement of school climate and effectiveness.

 

This book is the culmination of nearly a decade of research and development. Its purpose is twofold: to provide educational researchers with a set of reliable and valid measures to study the nature of the school workplace, and to provide practitioners with a set of tools to evaluate their school climate with an aim toward organizational improvement.

We use personality and health metaphors to explore the organizational climates of schools. The openness of a school is measured by two new instruments: the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire for Elementary (OCDQ-RE) and Secondary (OCDQ-RS) Schools. Similarly, school health is determined by two new inventories: the Organizational Health Inventory for Elementary (OHI-E) and Secondary (OHI) Schools. The conceptual foundations for these instruments as well as their technical details are described for researchers and scholars interested in using the frameworks and instruments in their own work. In addition, a summary of basic research demonstrates the utility of the measures in studying school outcomes. For practitioners, who may be less interested in the technical properties, there are step-by-step directions for administering, scoring, and interpreting the measures. For graduate students, we have presented a rough outline of a research agenda that provides many doctoral students with research projects for years to come.

The book will be read differently by researchers and practitioners. Researchers will want to read carefully the first six chapters, which provide an overview of the frameworks, technical details of the instruments, and research findings, and then browse the last chapter, which provides copies of the instruments and scoring directions. Practitioners will be interested in the first chapter, an overview, and the last chapter, which provides both a summary of the conceptual bases for each instrument and the practical directions needed to use the tools in professional and organizational development. In fact, we believe that Chapter 7, last chapter, is a practical guide for administrators; it contains all the information necessary for administrators and teachers to use the climate measures.

The research and development of these instruments has involved a large number of people. The impetus for the project came in a theory and research course in 1980 as graduate students in educational administration at Rutgers University read and discussed the conceptual and empirical work of Andrew Halpin and Matthew Miles. That discussion led John Feldman and John Mulhern to team with Carol Mulhaire, Arthur Travlos, Robert Kottkamp and Wayne Hoy to form a research group to study organizational climate. The group provided the initial thrust for the research reported in this book, but it was merely a beginning. Since then, other graduate students, including Sharon Clover, Carolyn Hartley, Thomas Podgurski, Louise Witkowski, and Deborah Pavignano have made important contributions to our work. Madhu Golhar helped us solve a number of difficult computer problems. Professors James Bliss and C. John Tarter have labored diligently the past five years to expand and test the instruments. In a real sense, the work is a joint effort of all of these graduate students and professors.

We encourage all interested researchers and practitioners to use any of the instruments in this book. There is no fee; simply reproduce the instrument and use it in your research or organizational development. We ask only that you share your results with us so that we can refine the measures, development more comprehensive norms, and add to the body of knowledge about school climate. Address all correspondence to Professor Wayne K. Hoy, Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903.

Finally, we would be remiss if we did not acknowledge the contributions of Anita Woolfolk, Frank Fahy, and Robert Rimmer, all of who read sections of the book and made useful contributions. It is a better book because of their suggestions.

June 26, 1990

W. K. Hoy

C. J. Tarter

R. B. Kottkamp

1. NATURE OF THE WORKPLACE

    Climate or Culture

    A Concluding Note

    Click Here to Download Chapter 7

    REFERENCES

    Click Here to Download References

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

References

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