2. What is School Culture and
Climate:
According to Van Houtte and Van Maele (2011), culture is
the shared beliefs, values and assumptions. Climate is the
perceptions people believe about the infrastructure, social
composition, and cohesion.
Macneil, Prater, and Busch (2009) define culture and
climate in a simpler way:
culture= shared norms
climate= shared perceptions

3. What does research say about climate and
student achievement?
• Climate sets the tone for students to respond positively to the
high academic demands (Valasco, Edmonson & Slate, 2012).
• Climate directly impacts students’ psycho-educational
development (Valasco, et al., 2012).
• Macneil, Prater, & Busch (2009) warned that if the culture is not
hospitable to learning then student achievement can suffer.
• Culture is the most critical variable in school improvement
(Kowalski, 2010)

4. School Climate and the Principal
A principal must understand a school’s climate before he
can make any changes (Macneil, Prater, & Busch, 2009)
Diagnosing the climate, or health, of a school should be the
number one goal of every principal (Macneil, Prater &
Busch, 2009)
Principal behaviors are directly related to school climate
(Valasco, Edmonson & Slate, 2012).

5. An investigative research report using an
Organizational Health Inventory (OHI) to
measure schools’ climate
An investigative study performed by Macneil, Prater,
and Busch (2009) shows a direct correlation between
school culture and Texas Education Agency’s
accountability rating. The research was completed with
the use of an OHI survey.

6. Challenges of Culture
Change:
Certain to cause conflict
Multifaceted
Never-ending
(Dufour & Fullan, 2013; Kowalski, 2010)

7. Conclusion:
The improvement process…
• Clarity
• Commitment
• Collectively and collaboratively
(Dufour and Fullan, 2013)

8. References:
Dufour, R., & Fullan, M. (2013). Cultures built to last: systemic plcs at
work. (1st ed.). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
Kowalski, T. J. (2010). The school principal. New York, NY: Routledge.
Macneil, A., Prater, D., & Busch, S. (2009). The effects of school
culture and climate on student achievement. International
Journal of Leadership in Education, 12(1), 73-84.
Shapka, D., Collie, R., & Perry, N. (2011). Predicting teacher
commitment: the impact of school climate and social-emotional
learning. Psychology in the Schools, 48(10)
Van Houtte, M., & Van Maele, D. (2011). The black box revelation: in
search of conceptual clarity regarding climate and culture in
school effectiveness research. Oxford Review of Education,
37(4), 505-524
Velasco, I., Edmonson, S., & Slate, J. (2012). Principal leadership
behaviors and school climate: a conceptual analysis. Journal of
Education Research, 6(3)