THE INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL CLIMATE CHANGE ON TEACHERS PRODUCTIVITY AND STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENT Musibau Adeoye Yusuf Department of Educational

Administration and Planning,Adeyemi College of Education Ondo, Ondo State, Nigeria E-mail : siyanmade@yahoo.co.uk and Johnson Tayo Adigun Department of Primary Education Studies,College of Education, Ikere- Ekiti E-mail: drjato@yahoo.com

Abstract: This study investigated the relationship between school climate, teachers productivity and students achievement in secondary schools in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti state. The study used descriptive research of the survey type. The sample of this study was eighteen secondary school. Simple random sampling technique was used for this study. Three sets of questionnaire were used to collect relevant data from the subjects. The first instrument tagged Teachers Productivity Questionnaire (TPQ), the second was tagged School Climate Questionnaire (SCQ) while the third instrument was tagged Students Achievement Questionnaire (SAQ). Data collected were analyzed using percentage score, means, standard deviation, t-test analysis and Pearson product moment correlation. All the hypotheses generated were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that the pre-dominant used school climate in secondary schools was open climate. The study also revealed that the level of teachers productivity was low while the level of students achievement was relatively high. It was also revealed that there was no significant difference in school climate between senior and junior secondary schools and school climate and teachers productivity in senior and junior secondary schools while the study revealed that there was a significant difference in students achievement between senior and junior secondary school students. It was revealed that there was a significant relationship between school climate, teachers productivity and students achievement. Based on the findings, it was recommended that school administrators should create a favourable school climate in order to enhance better teachers productivity and better students achievement.

Keywords: School climate, teacher productivity, students achievement

Introduction An organization could be defined as a system that consciously co-ordinates the activities of two or more persons and influences their behavior (Barnard, 1960). The school as an organization has certain aims and objectives which it has to achieve (National Policy on Education 2004). In order to achieve the aims and objectives, the organization climate of the organization including the school system is very important. This organization climate refers to the working condition among super ordinates (school heads) and subordinates (teachers) in a bid to achieve the aims and objectives of the school system. School climate refers to factors that contribute to the tone in schools, and attitudes of staff and students toward their schools. Positive school climate is associated with well managed classrooms and common areas, high and clearly stated expectations concerning individual responsibility, feeling safe at school, and teachers and another supporting staff that consistently acknowledge students and fairly address their behavior. (American Institutes for Research, 2007). The size of the school is equally important. In this regard, Eberts, Kehoe & Stone (1982) examined the relationship between school size and students achievement and found out that teachers satisfaction was greater in smaller schools than in large schools. In their study, Smith and Gregory (1987) utilized a climate assessment instrument and a series or in depth interviews and found that teachers were much more satisfied in the small schools than large schools, while Fowler and Welberg (1991) found in one of their studies that large school size was negatively related to school climate. Ramirez (1992) maintains that size per see is unrelated to achievement, rather the organization of classroom and other instructional space are the major elements in a schools success or failure. Teaching and learning situation in schools seem to be a function of the atmosphere of the school and the productivity of the teacher. School climate is a set of unique characteristics of a school. These characteristics distinguish one school from another. In one school the school head, teachers and staff may find pleasure in working together. In another school, it may be discontent among the staff. In one school, staff may appear well organized seem competent and exhibit confidence in whatever they do, yet in another school, there may be tension as the school heads loses control (Clifton 1999). School climate is related to school connectedness because without a positive and welcoming school climate, both students and teachers are unlikely to experience connectedness; the poor conceitedness would have negative effect on teachers job productivity and students achievement. Productivity of an organization is defined as the ratio of outputs produced by the organization and the resources consumed in the process. Teacher productivity is the ratio of output produced by the teachers, here the output refers to the quality and quality of students produces by the teachers. Litwin and stringer (1988) investigated leadership behavior and organizational climate and found out that by varying the leadership behavior in organization different climates could be created with implication for teachers job productivity and students achievement. According to the authors, organization A may be characterized by strong emphasis on structure, vertical communication, status, assigned role authority, rules and regulations. Organization B may be characterized by emphasis on teamwork and friendliness while organization C may be characterized by emphasis on quality, performance and creativity. Every educational organization has a climate that distinguishes it from other schools and influences behavior and feelings of teachers and students achievement for that school (Sergiovanni and Starratt, 1988).

Climate has been defined in various ways by authors as the perceived subjective effect of the formal system , the informal styles of managers and other important environmental factor that impact on the

attitudes , beliefs, values and motivation of people who work in a particular organization , personality of an organization , the atmosphere of the work place , including a complex mixture of norms , values , expectations, policies and procedures that influence individual and group patterns of behavior (Spencer , Pelote and Seymour,1998).

As for schools, climate is a necessary link between organizational structure, teacher attitudes to work and behavior and student achievement. It was found that formal characteristics of schools had an important influence on the way in which teacher perform their duties and obligation in the school system. Climate could represent a composite of the meditating variable that intervene between the structure of an organization and the styles and other characteristics of leaders, teacher productivity and student achievement. Numerous studies have been done on organizational school climate. For instance, Halpin and Croft (1963) find that it is behavior of elementary school principals, which in a large measure sets a climate tone for school. Kelner , Rivers and OConnell (1996) in their study that on going since the 1956s, indicate that successful leadership competencies and managerial styles producing motivating organizational climates ,which arouse employee motivation to do work well , and which predict the desired organization outcomes which in the school system is referred to as the students achievement . Hundred of studies have demonstrates the line between organizational climate and bottom link performance measure such as volume, efficiency productivity. According to Spencer, Pelote and Seymour (1998), the organizational climate has accounted for 10 to 25 percent of the variance in performance measures. Pirolamerlo, Hartel, Mann and Hirst (2002) examined how negative event impact on team climate and how team climate relates to performance. Based on the results, team climate had a positive relation with team performance. Zohar (2000) demonstrated that variation in behavior at the level of the individual supervisor, the group climate level of analysis affects safely behavior and it was plausible that this would hold true for other aspect of climate.

Climate could represent a composite of the mediating variable that intervenes between the structures of an organization. Halpin (1967) identified six types of organizational climate. He classified them as follows; open climate that is, a climate in which nothing is hidden to teachers, and every teacher feels satisfied with work. The second category is close climate; here the school heads and teachers are displeased with everything while exhibiting lack of commitment to work. The third is autonomous climate which is characterized by complete freedom for teachers to conduct their research; here the head teacher is relatively aloof. The forth is controlled climate, here the school heads are highly domineering, personal problems of staff are given little attention. The fifth is paternal climate. The school heads are dictators while teachers do not get on well with one another. The last is familiar climate. It is characterized by sociability at the expense of job performance. The school head, though considerate does not emphasis productivity. Thus school climate will affect the classroom climate which in turn would affect the classroom organization of the teachers.

High productivity is the hall mark of growth and development of nations all over the world, the level of efficiency, productivity and the ability of the educational system to achieve its set goals depend on the teacher as reflected in performing their defined roles because teacher are the fulcra upon which the

whole educational system revolves (Eduese, 1996). Teachers have been shown to have an important impact on student achievement and also play a crucial role on educational attainment (Lloyd, Mensch and Clark 2000). Teaching and learning achievement depend on teachers, for there can be no meaningful socio-economic and political development in any society without teachers. Productivity is concerned with the overall effectiveness and efficiency of getting things done. It is essentially a ratio to measure how well an organization converts resources into goods and services. In the school system, teacher productivity may be measured in terms of teachers performance. In assessing teachers performance, qualitative tools such as standardized test scores of student have been used (Schacter and Thum, 2004). Blankstein (1996 ) opined that grades and test scores do not reflect the quality of instruction because teacher input is not the only factor that influence students achievement in the school system , other factor that have been identifies to have significant Influence on students achievement include peer effect, ethnicity , gender, motivation , income as well as family background variables such as house hold environment and parental educational background (Wenglisky, 2001). This suggests that teachers productivity level may be evaluated in terms of what the teachers control and actually do in the classroom such as teaching effectiveness and classroom performance. Teaching effectiveness has been accepted as a multidimensional construct since it measures a variety of different aspect of teaching (Dunkin, 1997).

School administrators, students, colleagues and the teachers selfevaluation have been used to evaluate and measure teachers effectiveness and productivity. Moreover students competence in the evaluation of the effectiveness of their teachers has been of great concern to researchers in education. Barnett, Matthews and Jackson (2003), suggest that student rating are valuable indicator of teaching effectiveness, Nuhfer (2004) and Pozo-munoz, Rebolloso-pacheco and Fernandez-Ramirez.(2000) warned that student rating should be one of a comprehensive evaluation system and should never be the only measure of teachers effectiveness and productivity. The school administrator evaluation has also been used to evaluate teachers effectiveness. The accuracy of school administrator evaluation of tea cher has also been identified and studied. Jacob and Lefgren (2006) found a positive correlation between principal assessment of how effectiveness a teacher is at raising student achievement and that teacher success in doing so as measured by the value added approach . The above suggest that administrators, rating may also be one of the comprehensive ways of evaluating teachers effectiveness and productivity is the school system. Factors that influence teachers productivity have been identified to include teachers, gender, marital status, academic attainment teaching experience and school climate. It is against this background and literature that this study wants to examine the influence of school climate change on teachers productivity and students achievement in secondary school in Ikere local government area of Ekiti state.

Statement of problem Teacher productivity and student achievement in secondary school may be determined by several factors. It has also been observed that the teacher productivity and students achievement are poor. the expected outcome of teacher performance which is better student achievement is not easily achieved in the school system . People are complaining about the poor productivity of teacher which in turn leads to poor students achievement. Hence the need to conduct this study is highly important.

Purpose of study The main purpose of the study was to determine the level of school climate, student achievement and teacher productivity. The study used to determine the influence of school climate on teacher productivity of male and female student achievement research question. The following research questions were raised to direct the study:1. 2. 3.

What type of organizational climate is pre-dominantly used in school? What is the level of teacher productivity? What is the level of student achievement?

Hypotheses:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

There is no significant difference in school climate between senior and junior secondary schools. There is no significant difference in teachers productivity between senior and junior secondary schools. There is no significant difference in students achievement between senior and junior secondary schools. There is no significant relationship between school climate and teachers productivity. There is no significant relationship between school climate and students achievement .

Research methods The descriptive survey was utilized for this study .the study population comprised for all the 18 public secondary school (both junior and senior) in Ikere local government area of Ekiti state. All the school in the local government 18 was taken for the study. All the school heads of the schools constituted the subjects of the study. After a careful review of the literature the productivity variable was determined as a composite of teachers, productivity, school climate and students achievement. Three sets of questionnaires and rating scale were designed. The first questionnaire tagged teacher productivity questionnaire (TPQ) was designed for the school administrators to evaluate the teaching effective of the school sampled teacher in each school .the second questionnaire was tagged School Climate Questionnaire (SCQ) were to respond to by the teacher who were sampled by the study. The third questionnaire tagged students achievement questionnaire (S A Q) was respond to by the school registrars.

Methods of data analysis The data collected for the study were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive statistics that were used are percentages, frequency counts, means and standard deviation while the inferential statistics used were t-test analysis and Pearson product moment correlation analysis. Question 1, 2 and 3 were answered using frequency counts and percentages. Hypotheses 1 3 were tested

using t-test analysis while hypotheses 4 and 5 were tested using Pearson product moment correlation analysis. All the hypotheses formulated were tested at 0.05 level of significance.

Result Question 1: What type of school climate is pre-dominant in secondary schools?

Table 1: Type of school climate common in secondary schools school climate Open climate Closed climate Autonomous climate Controlled climate Familiar climate Paternal climate Common 180 % 100% Not common 180 180 180 180 180 % 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Table 1 show the pre-dominant school climate type that is commonly used in secondary schools. Respondents (180) in all the schools claimed that their schools have an open climate type of administration while they claimed that none of the other climate types were commonly used in their schools.

Question 2: What is the level of teachers productivity in secondary schools?

Table 2: teachers level of productivity in secondary schools Variables Performance in teaching Lesson preparation Evaluation of teaching Extra-curricular activities Effective leadership N 180 180 180 180 180 High 15 17 21 32 24 % 8.3 9.4 11.6 17.7 13.3 Average 35 23 100 60 33 % 19 12.7 55.5 33.3 18.3 Low 130 140 59 88 123 % 72.2 77.7 32.7 48 68.3

Motivation Disciplinary ability Lesson presentation Average

180 180 180 180

29 18 16 22

16.1 10 8.8 12.2

44 36 20 44

24.4 20 11.1 24.4

107 126 144 114

59.9 70 80 63.3

Table 2 indicates the level of teachers productivity in performance of teaching, lesson preparation, lesson presentation, extra-curricular activities, effective leadership, motivation and disciplinary ability as low as indicated by the school administrators. The performance level was on the average in the evaluation of teaching. The average productivity shows that 22 representing 12.2 percent had high level of productivity while those who had average level of productivity were 44 representing 24.4 percent and 144 representing 63.3 had low level of productivity. This implies that the level of teachers productivity was low.

Question 3: What is the level of students achievement in secondary schools? Table 3: level of students achievement in secondary schools Students achievement Low (0- 76.22) Moderate (76.23-82.61) High (82.62-100) Total Frequency 31 43 106 180 Percentage 17.2 23.8 58.8 100

Table 3 indicates the level of students achievement in secondary schools, the result indicates that out of the 180 respondents 31 representing 17.2 percent had low students achievement. Those who had moderate level of students achievement were 43 representing 23.8 percent while those had high level of students achievement were 106 representing 58.8 percent of the respondents. This indicates that the level of students achievement was relatively high.

Testing of hypotheses Hypothesis 1: There is no significant difference in school climate between senior and junior secondary schools.

Table 4: t-test analysis difference in school climate between senior and junior secondary schools Variables Senior school Junior school P >0.05 N 90 90 Means 48.57 50.03 SD 8.79 11.63 Df r-cal r-table

178

0.73

1.96

Table 4 reveals that the difference in school climate in senior and junior secondary schools. The result obtained from the analysis reveals that the value of t-calculated of 0.73 is less than the t-table value of 1.96 at 0.05 level of significance. Hence the null hypothesis is not rejected. This means that there is no significant difference in school climate between senior and junior secondary schools.

Hypothesis 2: There is no significant difference in teachers productivity between senior and junior secondary schools. Table 5: t-test analysis difference in teachers productivity between senior and junior secondary schools Variables Senior school Junior school N 90 90 Means 82.44 82.63 SD 6.12 6.52 Df r-cal r-table

178

0.2

1.96

P >0.05 Table 5 shows the difference in teachers productivity between senior and junior secondary schools. The result obtained from the analysis shows that the value of t-calculated value of 0.2 is less than the t-table value of 1.96 at 0.05 level of significance. Therefore, the null hypothesis is not rejected. This means there is no significant difference in teachers productivity between senior and junior secondary schools.

Hypothesis 3: There is no significant difference in students achievement between senior and junior secondary schools. Table 6: t-test analysis difference in students achievement between senior and junior secondary schools

Variables N Senior 90 school Junior 90 school

Means 82.06 84.75

SD 6.60 5.22

Df

r-cal

r-table

178

2.11

1.96

P <0.05

Table 6 reveals the difference in students achievement between senior and junior secondary schools. The result obtained from the analysis reveals that the value of t-calculated 2.11 is greater than the t-table 1.96 at 0.05 level of significance. However, the null hypothesis was rejected. This means that there was a significant difference in students achievement between senior and junior secondary schools. The mean score for both senior and junior school on students achievement showed that the mean score of junior secondary school 84.75 is greater than the mean score of senior secondary schools 82.06. This showed that there is a significant difference in students achievement between senior and junior secondary schools.

Hypothesis 4: There is no significant relationship between school climate and teachers productivity. Table 7: test of relationship between school climate and teachers productivity Variable School climate Teachers productivity N 180 180 0.591 P<0.05 0.195 r-cal r-table

Table 7 shows the relationship between school climate and teachers productivity. The result obtained from the analysis shows that the value of r-calculated of 0.591 is greater than the r-table value of 0.195. Hence the null hypothesis was rejected. This shows that there was a significant relationship between school climate and teachers productivity in secondary schools. The finding implies that teachers productivity is a function of the school climate. This means that teachers productivity would be high in a favourable school climate.

Hypothesis 5: There is no significant relationship between school climate and students achievement.

Table 8: test of relationship between school climate and students achievement Variable School climate students achievement N 180 180 0.472 0.195 r-cal r-table

P<0.05

Table 8 reveals the relationship between school climate and students achievement. It could observe that r-calculated (0.472) is greater than the r-table (0.195) at 0.05 level of significance. Therefore the null hypothesis was rejected. That is there was a significant relationship between school climate and students achievement. The finding implies that students achievement is a function of the school climate. This means that students achievement would be high in a favourable school climate.

Discussion The study revealed the pre-dominantly used school climate in secondary schools in Ikere-Local Government area of Ekiti state during the period under investigation. The study revealed that the predominant school climate in secondary schools is open climate. The reason for using open climate might not be unconnected with proper seminars organized by for the school administrator by the state Government. This implies that there are better induction programme for school principals on how to manage their schools which in turn may enhance better teachers productivity and batter students achievement in schools. This finding of this study supports that of Adeyemi (2008).

The study also revealed that the level of teachers productivity was low during the period under study. The reason for this might not be unconnected with the fact that the state government did not pay the salary of teachers as at when due. There are other factors outside the scope of this study that may contribute positively to teachers productivity in secondary schools. The study contradicts that of Olonisakin (2002) while it supports that of Adeyemi (2008). The study revealed that level of students achievement in secondary schools in Ikere local government area of Ekiti state was relatively high during the period under investigation. The relative high level of students achievement might not be unconnected with open climate style of administration been used by the school administrators and other factors such as provision of physical facilities, students commitment to their study, societal value among others. The finding of the study supports that of Yusuf and Adigun (2009). The reason for contradictory findings might not be unconnected with the variation in sampled used and period and area covered by the study.

The hypotheses tested revealed that there was no significant difference in school climate between senior and junior secondary schools. The reason for this outcome might be due to the fact that the government of Ekiti always organized seminars for school principals, vice- principals and Head of departments on how to administer their schools to yield better results. The study revealed that there was no significant difference in teachers productivity between senior and junior secondary schools. This implies that whether a teacher is working at junior or senior secondary school does not make a difference in their productivity, what maters is the administrative competence of the school principal and provision of facilities to work with in the school system.

The study further revealed that there was a significant difference in students achievement in senior and junior secondary schools. The mean score of junior secondary school is greater than the mean score of senior secondary schools. This showed that junior secondary had better students achievement than the senior secondary schools. The reason for this might not be unconnected with

thorough inspection of the junior secondary schools by inspectorate division of ministry of education and provision of both physical and material to work with by both the federal and state government.

The study further revealed that there was a significant relationship between school climate and teachers productivity. The finding implies that teachers productivity is a product of better school climate and that better teachers productivity would be enhanced through a better school climate. This would create better and conducive environment for the teachers to work within the school system.

The study also revealed that there was a significant relationship between school climate and students achievement. This study implies that better school climate would enhance better teachers productivity which in turn produces better students achievement in secondary schools.

Conclusion The findings of this study has led the writer of this paper to conclude that variables of school climate are critical variables in teachers productivity and students achievement in schools in Ikere local government area of Ekiti state. However, the open climate was found in the study to be the predominant methods of administration in schools, yet the study revealed that the level of teachers productivity in the school was low.

Recommendations Based on the findings, it was recommended that the school Principals, school maintain and create a favourable climate in secondary school system in order to enhance better teachers productivity and better students achievement. The school principal should monitor regularly, control, direct and guide teachers work and motivate them by providing physical facilities and other materials to work within the school system. The state government should not relent in their effort in organizing seminars for the school heads and ensure effective utilization of both physical and human facilities in school.

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