While
factors like a school's performance rating on state standardized tests are
still valuable, test scores don’t define how great a school is. A school’s
climate and culture are major determining factors especially since they affect
a student’s overall performance. Check out these five marks of a healthy school
culture that is conducive to learning.
Teacher
Turnover Rate
A
school’s teacher turnover rate is typically the biggest indicator of what kind
of culture is promoted in the school’s environment. If you’ve found that there
are several teachers that are choosing to leave, this is not a coincidence.
Great teachers tend to jump ship for several reasons including; lack of
communication with administrative leaders, poor communication and being
overworked.
When
teachers aren’t happy it doesn’t foster a positive learning environment. In
fact, a study showed that teacher turnover has a poor effect on a student’s
math and literacy scores. A revolving door of teachers also means that the
student doesn’t have the opportunity to actually develop strong relationships
with they're instructors.
Application
of Technology
Technology
has changed the face of education. A sign of a great school is its investment
in technology to improve learning and teaching processes. The school should be
proactive in ensuring that teachers are well trained in new applications.
School
culture revolves around the constant exchange of information. From the upload
of a photo from the school basketball game to a blog post about for
parent-teacher night information is crucial to the school environment. That’s
why school administration software is essential. A comprehensive school
administration software nurtures the relationship between teachers, students,
and parents.
Parent-
Teacher Engagement
Parent
and teacher engagement is crucial to a child’s academic success. A good school
will seek to make parents a big part of the learning process. This can be through social events that are
designed to encourage parents to get involved in school culture and instructors
having open lines of communication with parents. In fact, a good school wants
parents to be aware of what their children are learning and take measures to
ensure that this possible by making the academic agenda easily accessible.
Clearly
Defined Vision
An
institution should be focused on working towards a clearly defined vision.
There should be a concise action plan to keep the school on track to reaching
that goal. Often, institutes fail to align their plans with their actions. This
sends a very vague message to the parents. A school can be driven by sports,
technologically advanced or academic oriented. School leaders will have to
decide which direction the institute will take and stick to that specific
endeavor.
Collaboration
Of
course, a good school encourages collaboration amongst students, teachers and
other staff members. In the classroom, this is done by assigning group
assignments where students can work together on projects. This puts students in
the position to be able to work with others and gain leadership skills.
School
administration software can be really helpful in promoting collaboration
between the staff and parents. School management software makes this task
relatively simple though it’s applications with features like:
Real-time
grading
Instant
access to student and teacher attendance records
Automated
student admission
SMS
Integration
Ability
to upload school notifications
The
best part about using school administration software for collaboration is that
everyone including students, teachers, and parents have access to it through
login information.
Climate
Conducive to Learning
Of
course, the true mark of a quality school is that it promotes a culture that is
conducive to student learning. This can be done by promoting strong
staff-student relationships. What many school leaders don’t know is that this
provides the basis for the school climate. When students are confident that
they are liked and respected by their teachers they are more likely to succeed
in their academic efforts and behaviorally as well. On the other hand, when
interpersonal relationships are weak or nonexistent, it creates a feeling of
distrust, fear, and failure. This will undoubtedly have a negative impact on
the school’s culture.
Yes,
building strong relationships with teachers, students, and staff members should
be an institute's top priority. Be sure to promote positive interactions and
have school leaders take a genuine interest in student lives.
A
big part of having a good school climate is also clearly communicating school
rules with students so that they know what is expected of them. Rules will
create a stable and predictable environment that both parents and students can
trust in. Policies should address behavioral expectations. It’s especially
crucial to be consistent with such policies across the board to help reduce
issues like bullying which is common in many schools across the country. With rules
comes consequences. There should be consequences that are set in place to send
the message that they're actions to have after effects. The administration
should make sure that discipline is appropriate, consistent and immediate to
yield positive results. When administering discipline it shouldn’t be done in
anger but patience and empathy is key.
Praise
and Reward System
Students
that adhere to school rules and those that are excelling academically should be
recognized. It one of the many ways that students can be shown that they are
cared for. Positive feedback in the classroom can instill confidence especially
in students who struggle academically or socially.
When teachers talk to students in a praise-heavy approach they are more likely to continue down the road of achievement. This can be done by complimenting a specific behavior which also reinforces that same behavior. Students who excel should be rewarded this can serve as an incentive to keep up the good work.
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