Student and Teacher Perceptions of School Climate: A Multilevel Exploration of Patterns of Discrepancy

BACKGROUND: School climate has been linked with improved academic achievement and reduced discipline problems, and thus is often a target of school improvement initiatives. However, few studies have examined the extent to which student and teacher perceptions vary as a function of individual, classroom, and school characteristics, or the level of congruence between teachers' and their students' perceptions of school climate. METHODS: Using data from 1881 fifth-grade students and their 90 homeroom teachers, we examined parallel models of students' and teachers' perceptions of overall school climate and academic emphasis. Two additional models were fit that assessed the congruence between teacher and student perceptions of school climate and academic emphasis. RESULTS: Multilevel analyses indicated that classroom-level factors were more closely associated with teachers' perceptions of climate, whereas school-level factors were more closely associated with the students' perceptions. Further analyses indicated an inverse association between student and teacher ratings of academic emphasis, and no association between student and teacher ratings of overall climate. CONCLUSIONS: Teacher ratings were more sensitive to classroom-level factors, such as poor classroom management and proportion of students with disruptive behaviors, whereas student ratings were more influenced by school-level factors such as student mobility, student-teacher relationship, and principal turnover. The discrepancy in ratings of academic emphasis suggests that while all of the respondents may have shared objectively similar experiences, their perceptions of those experiences varied significantly. These results emphasize the importance of assessing both student and teacher perceptions in future research on school climate.     

Role-playing as a Tool for Hiring,Training, and Supervising Peer Providers

This article presents role-playing as an activity that can help managers in hiring, evaluating, and supervising peer providers. With the increasing employment of peers in mental health care systems, supervisors have had to face dilemmas related to peer employment more frequently and with little guidance and direction. In response, this article presents role-playing as a practical tool to hire, train, and supervise peer providers. The effectiveness of role-playing depends largely on context and execution, and so this article also offers direction on how to maximize the utility and benefits of role-playing to enhance the performance of peer providers.     

Adoption of Quad Bike Crush Prevention Devices on Australian Dairy Farms

Quad bikes (all-terrain vehicles) are the leading cause of nonintentional farm injury deaths in Australia. Approximately 50% result from rollovers of the vehicle, with death frequently due to crush injury/asphyxiation. Crush protection devices fitted to quads have been demonstrated to enhance safety. This exploratory study aimed to assess feedback from a small group of dairy farmers (N?=?11) that had crush protection devices fitted to their quads. A mixed-methods design was adopted consisting of pre- and post-intervention surveys in addition to focus groups/interviews for this exploratory study. Results indicate that the crush protection device was viewed positively by the majority of participants, with virtually no impact on the reported performance of the quad in terms of braking, steering, suspension, and getting on/off. The most problematic issue was some contact with overhead objects, although the majority reported no issues at all. Some issues were also identified with attaching trailers, carrying loads, and noise from rattling. The participants reported that the likely potential benefits of a crush protection device clearly outweighed these issues. Some 4 to 6 months following the study, 10 of the 11 farmers continued to have the crush protection device fitted to their quad. The major barrier to adoption was the manufacturers’ resistance and negative public statements regarding the effectiveness of crush protection devices. Participants suggested that there are steps that can be taken to increase the uptake of crush protection devices by dairy farmers. Further lag in promoting these potentially life-saving devices will only add to the death and injury burden associated with quad bikes.     

Evaluating stress,burnout and job satisfaction in New Zealand radiation oncology departments

This research aimed to determine the levels of occupational stress, burnout and job satisfaction among radiation oncology workers across New Zealand. All oncology staff practising in all eight radiation oncology departments in New Zealand were invited to participate anonymously in a questionnaire, which consisted of the Maslach Burnout Inventory and measures of stress intensity associated with specific occupational stressors, stress reduction strategies and job satisfaction. A total of 171 (out of 349) complete responses were analysed using spss 19; there were 23 oncologists, 111 radiation therapists, 22 radiation nurses and 15 radiation physicists. All participants, regardless of profession, reported high stress levels associated with both patient‐centred and organisational stressors. Participants scored high in all three domains of burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and personal accomplishment. Interestingly, although organisational stressors predicted higher emotional exhaustion and emotional exhaustion predicted lower job satisfaction, patient stressors were associated with higher job satisfaction. Job satisfaction initiatives such as ongoing education, mentoring and role extension were supported by many participants as was addressing organisational stressors, such as lack of recognition and support from management and unrealistic expectations and demands. New Zealand staff exhibit higher levels of burnout than Maslach Burnout Inventory medical norms and oncology workers in previous international studies.