The purpose of this quantitative study was to discover the perceptions of school culture and correlate those perceptions with standardized test scores in elementary and secondary schools in southwestern Arizona. The intention of this study was to contribute to the field of education leadership related to student achievement and factors contributing to student achievement including organizational culture. A survey of teachers and administrators in participating schools in southwestern Arizona was completed and correlated with existing student achievement data for those participating schools. The School Culture Survey by Leithwood, Aitken, and Jantzi (2001) was used for the survey instrument, and the Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition, was used to measure student achievement. The survey results and student achievement data were correlated and revealed that a relationship does exist between perceptions of school culture and student achievement.

School climate and culture, and its relevance to student achievement has traditionally been a topic of discussion among educators. There have been many research studies dedicated to determining if a school's culture and climate had an effect on student achievement. This study sought to determine if teachers' perceptions of school culture and climate had an impact on student achievement at the elementary and secondary level. In 1963, Halpin and Croft began their research on the organizational climate of schools and suggested that further research be conducted based on their findings. This research sought to determine if there was a relationship between teachers' perceptions of school culture and climate and students' marking period/trimester 1 grades, teachers' perceptions of school culture and climate and students' Start Strong scores, and teachers' perceptions of school culture and climate and school leadership. The New Jersey School Climate Survey was distributed to teachers in four small school districts in Warren County, NJ. Survey data was collected from a total of 62 respondents, and academic data was provided to the researcher on coded spreadsheets. Data analysis was performed using Pearson correlation tests and independent sample t-tests through the use of the SPSS program in order to determine if any potential relationships existed. The data revealed that teachers' perceptions of school culture and climate did not have an impact on student achievement. Additionally, there were a number of relationships that existed with regard to teachers' perceptions of culture and climate and school leadership. The results indicated that the high school respondents answered less favorably compared to the elementary school respondents on the school leadership survey questions. This study may help school leaders have constructive conversations with their staff with regard to the school's culture and climate.(ProQuest abstract).

Dr. Cynthia Inez Taylor Pritchett SCHOOL CULTURE DEFINED This multi-national study used systematic review as a data collection technique to determine the current field of empirical studies that posit a definition of school culture and its characteristics. The data gathered from a qualitative synthesis and analysis of the acquired studies informed school culture taxonomy. The taxonomy presented domains, classes, categories, characteristics, and elements, which became the variables for meta- analysis. This adapted methodological process resulted in a valid and generalizable definition of school culture. The adapted sequential mixed methods exploratory approach used in this study resulted in the generation of grounded theory. The grounded theory is a definition of school culture that depicts its descriptions, domains, classes, categories, characteristics, and elements. School culture is the distinct individual social preferences, perceptions, experiences, and expectations of each school community member (i.e. administrators, teachers, parents, support staff, and students) that forms the collective internal school environment. This resolution is essential to educational leadership, policymakers, and the research community.