Free Essay on the Factors That Influence the Efficacy of Learning Outcomes in Schools

Broad Topic Area

The broad topic area is the factors that influence the efficacy of learning outcomes in schools in the United States.

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Lit Review

The literature review mainly focuses on the teacher as a servant leader and how he or she influences the organizational and classroom climate of a school. The author describes a servant leader as a person with the capacity to not only provide leadership but also develop people and build communities. The author therefore shows that if the teacher was equipped with the skills of being a great servant leader, he would be able to create an enabling school climate and an appropriate organization climate necessary in solving the problem of declining quality of education which is currently being experienced in American schools.

Problem Statement

The problem statement of the study arose from the fact that there was no available scientific data to show whether there existed a relationship between teachers' servant leadership behaviors, classroom climate and student achievement at the collegiate level. This influenced the researchers to carry out a study using servant leadership, class room climate and student achievements as variables in order to determine if there was indeed a relationship between the above mention and if it existed was it significant enough to affect learning outcomes? Research Questions The research questions are also based on the variables. The first question seeks to determine the nature of the relationship that exists between servant leadership and climate. The second research question on the other hand seeks to establish the relationship between servant leadership and student achievement while the third question seeks to determine the extent to which the relationship between servant leadership and student achievement is influenced by the classroom climate.

Sample

Sampling for this study was conducted at a small private university in Northwest Pennsylvania. The sample consisted of data received from 300 students and 18 teachers from the university.

Describe Phenomena (qualitative) or Define Variables/ Hypotheses (quantitative)

The variables for the study are servant leadership, classroom climate and student achievement. Student leadership and classroom climate are used as predictor variables since they influence the effectiveness of a learning outcome. Student achievement on the other hand forms the forms the criterion variable because it's the one used to determine the effectiveness of a learning outcome.

Methodology & Design

The quantitative methodology and correlational research design were used for this study. They were appropriate for the study because they enabled the researcher to establish whether a relationship existed between his variables of interest which were servant leadership, classroom climate and student achievement (Creswell, 2013).

Purpose Statement

The purpose statement of this study was, "To determine the degree to which a relationship existed between servant leadership, classroom climate and student achievement for students at a small university in Northwest Pennsylvania.

Data Collection Approach

The data was collected using the SLP-R and the CUCEI instruments where the SLP-R measured the Teacher's Servant Leadership behaviors while the CUCEI measured the class room climate. The student's final grade served as the criterion variable. To ensure confidentiality of the data collected a survey coordinator was used in distribution and collection of the necessary material for the study.

Data Analysis Approach

The raw data was first screen to ensure that only correctly answered and complete instruments were used. Person correlation was used to address the first research question and hypotheses while spearman correlation was used for analysis of the second hypothesis. Regression analysis was finally used to determine the relationship between the variables under study.