relationship between school climate and school performance in Miami-Dade County's schools of choice

The purpose of the study was to determine whether a relationship exists between school climate and school performance in Miami Dade County's schools of choice. More specifically, the study sought to determine: (a) the climate in Miami Dade County's magnet programs/schools of choice; (b) whether high performing (A/B) magnet programs schools have a different climate than low performing (D/F) magnet programs/schools of choice; (c) if the relationship between school climate and school performance is moderated by contextual factors; and (d) if a model can be developed to predict school performance using the variables in the study. Archival data was retrieved from the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) website to determine school performance and from Miami Dade County Public Schools' (MDCPS') website, District Profiles and Statistical Abstracts from 1998-1999 to 2003-2004 to determine school climate. The MDCPS' data is based on survey responses from The School Climate Survey that is administered annually to 100 parents, staff and students in all 356 K-12 schools. Four questions guided the research and nine related hypotheses aligned to specific questions were analyzed and presented. The school was the unit of study. The results from School Climate Responses for 73 magnet programs/schools representing 12 percent of Miami Dade County Public Schools' 356 schools were analyzed. After determining a mean score for each selected item in the survey, the overall mean scores for each year was computed. The analysis employed a variety of procedures including Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), graphical analyses and Multiple Regression/Correlational Analyses. The study has implications for policy makers at the state and district level, principals, teachers and parents as they relate to reduction of school size and a trend towards schools-within-a school or theme schools. There are also issues that will inform future research and leadership development at the university level.