An analysis of factors affecting elementary teacher morale in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District

Teacher morale is a matter of increasing interest and concern. Morale is frequently considered to be related to issues such as teacher turnover and retention, quality of education, school climate, and overall job motivation. This study was conducted to determine the status of morale in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.; The study used a standardized instrument, the Purdue Teacher Opinionaire. The survey was administered to all 185 public elementary school teachers in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District's nine elementary schools. The Purdue Teacher Opinionaire measures teacher morale in ten categories, these including morale as it pertains to: Teacher Rapport with Principal, Satisfaction With Teaching, Rapport Among Teachers, Teacher Salary, Teacher Load, Curriculum Issues, Teacher Status, Community Support of Education, School Facilities and Services, and Community Pressures. Respondents completed the one hundred question survey independently, indicating their responses on a coded form utilizing a Likert-type scale.; The results of the study indicated that there was considerable variance of morale between the schools surveyed. Individual responses remained confidential, although results were reported District-wide and by each school. The overall level of elementary teacher morale tested lower than the norms at the 50th percentile for seven out of ten factors on the Purdue Teacher Opinionaire. The study identified three factors where dissatisfaction is primarily apparent, these being Salary, Work Load, and Status. There were only two areas where satisfaction was above the 50th percentile, namely, Community Support and Rapport Among Teachers.; It was concluded that elementary teacher morale was determined to be low, but that lower morale levels related more to teachers' perceptions of their own well-being versus that of the working environment. The items teachers are least satisfied with may be external and not within their control. Overall scores obtained in relation to the ten factors contained in the questionnaire were significant in most areas, but rather closely parallel the norms established for the test instrument. Thus, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District elementary teacher morale did not waver disproportionately when compared with the original teacher groups studied during the development of the survey.