The purpose of this research was to determine the degree to which antecedents to trust impact teacher-administrator trust and to determine what impact that trust or a lack of trust had on student educational outcomes as mediated by school characteristics such as school type (elementary or secondary), percentage of minority students, and percentage of low socioeconomic students as measured by free and reduced lunch rates. A sample of 109 teachers and 46 administrators from 49 schools in rural school districts located throughout Southwest Tennessee participated in the study. Subjects completed an online version of the School Leader-Member Trust Survey which measured existence of trust and the frequency of trust-development activities occurring in the school based on the four trustee antecedents and the one trustor antecedent. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) testing revealed no statistically significant difference in teachers' and administrators' perceptions of the trust antecedents at the multivariate level. At the univariate level, however, statistically significant differences between administrators and teachers were observed for the four trust scales of benevolence, integrity, competence, and predictability. The second test, a multiple regression correlation, revealed moderate statistically sinificant relationships between all four constituent scales of the Leader-Member Trust Survey and the measure of propensity to trust for all 155 respondents, as well as for the administrator and teacher subgroups. Comparing the administrator and teacher subgroups, however, indicated no statistically significant difference. The next test run, an independent samples t-test, revealed no statistically significant difference in the means on AGI obtained for the low trust and high trust groups. Finally, a multiple regression test with added interactions was run. Using the Fisher r to z transformation, the correlations observed for each of these groups of schools was compared, but no difference in the strength of the correlations was found.

Most Americans agree on the necessity of education reform, but there is little consensus about how this goal might be achieved. The rhetoric of standards and vouchers has occupied center stage, polarizing public opinion and affording little room for reflection on the intangible conditions that make for good schools. Trust in Schools engages this debate with a compelling examination of the importance of social relationships in the successful implementation of school reform. Over the course of three years, Bryk and Schneider, together with a diverse team of other researchers and school practitioners, studied reform in twelve Chicago elementary schools. Each school was undergoing extensive reorganization in response to the Chicago School Reform Act of 1988, which called for greater involvement of parents and local community leaders in their neighborhood schools. Drawing on years longitudinal survey and achievement data, as well as in-depth interviews with principals, teachers, parents, and local community leaders, the authors develop a thorough account of how effective social relationships—which they term relational trust—can serve as a prime resource for school improvement. Using case studies of the network of relationships that make up the school community, Bryk and Schneider examine how the myriad social exchanges that make up daily life in a school community generate, or fail to generate, a successful educational environment. The personal dynamics among teachers, students, and their parents, for example, influence whether students regularly attend school and sustain their efforts in the difficult task of learning. In schools characterized by high relational trust, educators were more likely to experiment with new practices and work together with parents to advance improvements. As a result, these schools were also more likely to demonstrate marked gains in student learning. In contrast, schools with weak trust relations saw virtually no improvement in their reading or mathematics scores. Trust in Schools demonstrates convincingly that the quality of social relationships operating in and around schools is central to their functioning, and strongly predicts positive student outcomes. This book offer insights into how trust can be built and sustained in school communities, and identifies some features of public school systems that can impede such development. Bryk and Schneider show how a broad base of trust across a school community can provide a critical resource as education professional and parents embark on major school reforms. A Volume in the American Sociological Association's Rose Series in Sociology

This book samples recent and emerging trust research in education including an array of conceptual approaches, measurement innovations, and explored determinants and outcomes of trust. The collection of pathways explores the phenomenon of trust and establishes the significance of trust relationships in school life. It emboldens the claim that trust merits continued attention of both scholars and practitioners because of the role it plays in the production of equity and excellence. Divided into four parts, the book explores trust under the rubrics of learning, teaching, leading and bridging. The book proposes a variety of directions for future research. These include the simultaneous investigation of trust from the prospectives of various trusters, and at both the individual and group levels, longitudinal research designs, and an elaboration of methods.

"While trust has been shown as a key mechanism for facilitating school improvement, how that can be accomplished is not altogether clear. In this excellent book, Kochanek, through in-depth case studies and sophisticated quantitative analyses of data from a large urban school system, convincingly demonstrates how principal leadership can promote and sustain trust among administrators, teachers, and parents." -Barbara Schneider, Professor of Sociology University of Chicago "Kochanek′s book not only clearly explains the theoretical underpinnings of trust development in schools, but also provides rich case studies that explore this theory in action." -Carmen Manning, Assistant Professor of English Education University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Why is trust in schools so important? What does trust mean to a school′s productivity? Relationships between principals, teachers, and parents cannot be ignored when attempting school reform. No matter how innovative the changes or ideas, reform is unlikely to succeed unless the adults work together to implement it. Building Trust for Better Schools answers the question of how to build trust within the school community. Parents are dependent on teachers to educate their children. Teachers are dependent on principals to create school conditions that are conducive to helping children learn. This excellent new resource identifies links between the growth of trust and positive organizational outcomes that benefit school improvement efforts. But how do we build trust? Kochanek offers an innovative process model of trust building. Increased trust in schools: Fosters participation among faculty in school reform efforts Creates a greater openness to innovation among teachers Increases outreach to parents Produces even higher academic productivity in schools There is a need for efficient sharing of information in schools across role relationships. This can be done with the building of trust between principals, teachers, and parents as they work together toward a common goal!

In 2014 the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) adopted the Framework for Great Schools to act as a gauge for measuring and monitoring school improvement. The amalgamation of this framework entails six components- two of which are the foci of this study: trust and strong family-community ties as it relates to the engagement of families. Educational research (Mapp & Kuttner, 2013) has revealed the direct correlation of school improvement and student achievement with purposeful-intentional parent engagement. Therefore, this qualitative- comparative study explored school leaders’ capacity to address issues of impoverished and homeless families, their ability to foster trust and strong family-community ties with families and their protocol for progress monitoring and refinement. Participants in this study include six principals, four parents, four Students in Temporary Housing Liaisons (STHL) and two Community-based Organization representatives. All of these principals are affiliated with Title 1 elementary schools in NYC and Long Island which have a temporary housing population of 10% or greater. Data was collected using interview questions designed by the researcher, 3.4 indicator of NYC’s 2015-2016 Quality Review Rubric and NYC’s 2015-2016 Learning Environment (LE) survey. This study focused on identifying leadership ability and embedded school cultures to answer three research questions: 1. How are school leaders addressing issues of poverty and homelessness faced by families of their student population? 2. What structures or partnerships have schools established to address the needs of this population of families? 3. How is or to what extent is the school building trust in creating strong family-community ties? The findings of this study revealed that issues of poverty and homelessness hamper the building of trust and strong family- community ties. The contributing factors that are barriers to building trust and strong family-community ties are poor student attendance and parent involvement, immigration status, language/culture, negative experiences with schools, lack of communication and the disregard of parents as stakeholders. The barriers school leaders encountered vary from school to school thus their approaches to addressing the needs of families differed. Schools were most effective in meeting the needs of students and their families when they worked collaboratively with CBO partnerships and other agencies. This collaborative effort provided additional resources both human and financial to support addressing the needs of homeless and impoverished families. Lastly, protocols and methods used at the school level did not specifically measure trust and community-ties but success of activities or events that were geared toward families.

Make your school soar by escalating trust between teachers, students, and families Trust is an essential element in all healthy relationships, and the relationships that exist in your school are no different. How can your school leaders or teachers cultivate trust? How can your institution maintain trust once it is established? These are the questions addressed and answered in Trust Matters: Leadership for Successful Schools, 2nd Edition. The book delves into the helpful research that has been conducted on the topic of trust in school. Although rich with research data, Trust Matters also contains practical advice and strategies ready to be implemented. This second edition expands upon the role of trust between teachers and students, teachers and administrators, and schools and families. Trust Matters: Leadership for Successful Schools also covers a range of sub-topics relevant to trust in school. All chapters in the text have questions for reflection and discussion. Engaging chapters such as "Teachers Trust One Another" and "Fostering Trust with Students" have thought-provoking trust-building questions and activities you can use in the classroom or in faculty meetings. This valuable resource: Examines ways to cultivate trust Shares techniques and practices that help maintain trust Advises leaders of ways to include families in the school's circle of trust Addresses the by-products of betrayed trust and how to restore it With suspicion being the new norm within schools today, Trust Matters is the book your school needs to help it rise above. It shows just how much trust matters in all school relationships—administrator to teacher; teacher to student; school to family—and in all successful institutions.

In this revolutionary book, a renowned computer scientist explains the importance of teaching children the basics of computing and how it can prepare them to succeed in the ever-evolving tech world. Computers have completely changed the way we teach children. We have Mindstorms to thank for that. In this book, pioneering computer scientist Seymour Papert uses the invention of LOGO, the first child-friendly programming language, to make the case for the value of teaching children with computers. Papert argues that children are more than capable of mastering computers, and that teaching computational processes like de-bugging in the classroom can change the way we learn everything else. He also shows that schools saturated with technology can actually improve socialization and interaction among students and between students and teachers. Technology changes every day, but the basic ways that computers can help us learn remain. For thousands of teachers and parents who have sought creative ways to help children learn with computers, Mindstorms is their bible.