Date of Award

1996

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

First Advisor

Kofi Lomotey

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the linkage between work motivation derived from the expectancy theory and perceived organizational effectiveness derived from the Parsonian framework. School characteristics of community type, school size, and school socioeconomic status were used as predictor variables in the study. A secondary purpose was to examine these linkages in middle schools and to examine changes over time. Mixed methodologies, including quantitative and qualitative research techniques, were employed. The data were analyzed using the school and the individual teacher as units of analyses. To test the hypotheses, a multiple regression procedure was employed. The quantitative results of this study, based on a survey in 30 middle schools which included the perceptions of 659 middle school teachers, showed that work motivation and the three school characteristics were significant predictors of perceived organizational effectiveness when using the individual teacher as the unit of analysis. School size was found to be the best predictor of the criterion variable when using the school or the individual teacher as the unit of analysis. In the four middle schools selected as case study schools, middle school teachers were observed and interviewed at the end of the first semester The findings are presented as case analyses and as a cross case analysis between schools. The four case studies were conducted to further investigate the perceptions of middle school teachers on work motivation and organizational effectiveness. The case studies supported the hypotheses and added additional depth to the study. The interview questions revealed additional findings about teacher expectations, student effect on effort levels, and middle school teachers need for feedback. Although the cross case analysis revealed many differences between the schools, the schools were generally divided into the following groups: schools with teachers with high forces of work motivation and schools with teachers with low forces of work motivation. The groups were similar in teacher certification and experience, mean ages of teachers, and teacher expectations. As organizational effectiveness becomes more accepted as a multi-dimensional concept and with accurate measures of these complex variables, greater understandings of schools as organizations are possible.

ISBN

9780591035513

Pages

284

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.6224

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