The relationship between school culture , climate and students achievement in government primary schools of tarcha town , dawro zone, snnprs

Abstract

The purpose ofthis study was to assess therelationship between school cultures, climate and students achievements in primary schools of Tarcha Town administration.To this end, correlational design was used and both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. 137 teachersselected by census, and203 students by simple random sampling, 6 primary school principals by availability, 2 cluster supervisors and 6education office experts were selected by purposive samplingand used as primary sources of data. Secondary data sources were grade eighth students’ rostersof regional examinationdocuments. Data for the study were collected through questionnaire, semi-structured interview guide and document analysis. The researchers were distributed 354 questionnaires to the selected schools and 334 were returned with a return rate of 94.4%.The revised Organizational Climate Description Questionnaires (OCDQ- RE) and School Culture Survey were used as instrumental tool.The data collected were analyzed by using frequency counts, percentages and mean by SPSS. The findings of this study revealed that there is strong relationship between school culture, climate and students achievement and there are some problems in school climate and culture related to school principal, teachers and parents. A positive school climate and culture creates an optimal setting for teaching and learning. On the other hand, when the school climate and culture is not good it contribute negatively for the learning and achievement of students.This study presents a significantly useful model to understand the impact of school climate and provides baseline information for the implementation of the National Education Policy (2009), which focuses upon the improvement of learning environment of the schools.The results revealed of school culture andstudents achievement relationship is (r = .55, N = 320, p<0.05), school climate andstudents achievement relationship is (r = .84, N = 320, p<0.05), and school culture andschool climate relationship is (r = .71, N = 320, p<0.05).This indicates that the high level of school climate and culture associated with high level of students achievementand the low level of school climate and culture associated with low level of student achievements in the study area. This implies that the existence of positive correlation between the variables.