| Approximately six hundred instructional staff members from a total of forty-one schools completed surveys. Results from both Public Secondary Schools (PSS) and Separate Secondary Schools (SSS) in Southern Ontario were compared with reference to the pre-determined variables 'Leadership Style', 'School Climate', 'Intervening Variable' and 'End Result' (school effectiveness). The theoretical backdrop for this research was the effective school movement.;This research found that: (1) The PSS rated significantly higher on the 'End Result' variable (school effectiveness), while the SSS registered significantly higher on the 'Leadership Style' variable and several of the 'Goal/commitment' sub-variables. All told, the SSS rated higher on fourteen-of-seventeen (POS-related) sub-variables. (2) The regression analyses indicated that the variables (i) 'School Climate' and (ii) 'Intervening Variable' would act as the strongest indicators of "school effectiveness": The SSS rated the variables in the order stated (above) whereas the PSS rated the same variables in reverse order. Both of these findings were of interest and surprise in the context of school effectiveness literature. This ordering of variables was interpreted to reflect priorities within the respective educational systems.;In conclusion, the research offered that both local and national culture and values as well as the culture and values of each particular school setting will relate directly to school effectiveness. |
