Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Committee Chair
E. Ray Dockery
Abstract
This dissertation was designed to examine factors contributing to both teacher and student satisfaction and to determine if a relationship existed between the satisfaction levels and student achievement. The contributing factors identified in this study consisted of items that could be influenced or controlled in the school environment. Maslow's (1943) hierarchy of needs was used to help identify factors that could contribute to teacher and student satisfaction.
The subjects for this quantitative study came from a rural high school in the southern part of the United States. The participants in this study were analyzed according to their level of curricular involvement in either honors or regular education classes. These groups were chosen because of the difference in success rates on end-of-course exams (EOCs) between students in honors classes and those in regular education classes. This study determined student achievement according to pass/fail rates on the EOC examinations. This study employed the use of electronic surveys to determine influencing factors of satisfaction and overall satisfaction levels for both teachers and students which insured anonymity for the participants. Forty one of the 54 teachers in the school agreed to participate in this survey and 263 of the 436 available students agreed to participate in this survey. The teachers responded to a 21-item survey and the students responded to an 18-item survey.
An analysis of the data did not reveal any relationship between the satisfaction levels of either teachers or students to student achievement. Although this study did not identify whether higher levels of satisfaction attributed to higher levels of achievement on end-of-course exams, many influencing factors to both teacher and student satisfaction were identified. The data from this study also suggest that building level satisfaction among both teachers and students is universal, regardless of the curriculum level in which one is involved. However, more research involving multiple schools is needed to support both a universal satisfaction level and a relationship between satisfaction and achievement.
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Citation Information
McWherter, Sean, "The Effects of Teacher and Student Satisfaction on Student Achievement" (2012). Education Dissertations and Projects. 64.
https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/education_etd/64