CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by ETD - Electronic Theses & Dissertations EXAMINING DIFFERENCES AMONG PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA By Albert J. Boerema Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Leadership and Policy Studies August, 2005 Nashville, Tennessee Approved: Professor Mark Berends Professor Thomas Smith Professor Kenneth Wong Professor Paul Dokecki To four remarkable women: Marjorie Elizabeth, Emily, Mary ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my thanks to the members of my dissertation committee, Mark Berends, Paul Dokecki, Tom Smith, and Ken Wong, for their advice and helpful suggestions. As my advisor and dissertation committee chairman, Mark played the important and sometimes difficult role of guiding me through the transition from the practitioner to the research and policy world. I am thankful for his patience and good advice throughout this evolution. Thanks also to Joseph Murphy for advice and support during my time at Vanderbilt University. I am also appreciative of the role that Lee Hollaar and Robert Koole played as outside readers of several chapters of the dissertation. Finally, I want to thank Marjorie for the important part she played in this process. She gave up a rich musical career and a beautiful garden to allow me to pursue this academic work. Throughout the process she served as an editor and sounding board for ideas. I would not have been able to complete this project without her love and support. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION.................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii Chapter I. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................. 1 School Sector Differences....................................................................................... 3 Research Questions................................................................................................. 6 II. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................... 8 III. LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................... 15 Private School Academic Performance or ‘the Catholic school effect’ ............... 15 Organizations ........................................................................................................ 21 School Organization.............................................................................................. 28 The Teaching and Learning Core of Schooling.................................................... 33 Governance ........................................................................................................... 35 School Mission: Education as a Faith-based or Moral-based Activity................. 38 Research Questions and Hypotheses .................................................................... 40 IV. DATA AND METHODS ...................................................................................... 45 The Educational Context in British Columbia...................................................... 45 Differences in School Mission.............................................................................. 51 Evaluation Catalogue Data ................................................................................... 57 Achievement Data................................................................................................. 58 Methods................................................................................................................. 60 V. CONTENT ANALYSIS –SCHOOL MISSION................................................... 67 Representative Statements .................................................................................... 71 Community Distinctives ....................................................................................... 77 Goals and Objectives ............................................................................................ 79 iv Services Offered and the School Environment..................................................... 82 Parent Involvement ............................................................................................... 83 Discussion............................................................................................................. 84 VI. CONTENT ANALYSIS – ORGANIZATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS........... 87 School Founding ................................................................................................... 88 School Governance ............................................................................................... 91 Teacher Qualifications.......................................................................................... 95 Locally Developed Courses ................................................................................ 100 Cost per Student.................................................................................................. 101 Communications with Parents ............................................................................ 106 Time Allotments ................................................................................................. 110 Evaluation of Teachers and Principals................................................................ 111 Professional Development .................................................................................. 111 Counseling and Guidance ................................................................................... 114 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 116 VII. QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT DATA ....... 118 Descriptive Analysis ........................................................................................... 120 Multilevel Analysis............................................................................................. 126 Analytical Results ............................................................................................... 131 Discussion........................................................................................................... 139 VIII. DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................... 143 School Mission Statements................................................................................. 143 Implications of Mission Statements for School Organization ............................ 145 School Sub-sector and Academic Achievement................................................. 149 Significance and Implications of the Findings.................................................... 151 Appendix A. CONTENTS OF INDEPENDNT SCHOOL EVALUATION CATALOGUE....... 156 B. VISION STATEMENT CODE BOOK AND FREQUENCIES.............................. 158 C. YEAR OF SCHOOL FOUNDING.......................................................................... 160 D. PARENT COMMUNICATION CODEBOOK....................................................... 161 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 162 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Independent School Enrollments in B.C................................................................47 2. Private School Enrollment Comparisons...............................................................50 3. Independent School Sub-sectors............................................................................52 4. Summary of School Groups...................................................................................70 5. Summary of Analysis of Parent Involvement and School Goals...........................81 6. Styles of Private School Governance.....................................................................93 7. Independent School Teacher Qualifications for each Sub-sector..........................97 8. Summary of Cost per Student Analysis (1999-2004)..........................................102 9. Summary of Independent School Tuition Rates ..................................................105 10. Summary of Professional Development Activities............................................113 11. Counseling and Guidance Service for Students.................................................115 12. Descriptive Statistics..........................................................................................122 13. Results of Multilevel Analysis...........................................................................133 14. Sub-sector effects...............................................................................................137 15. Results of cross-level interactions .....................................................................138 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Model for Student Academic Achievement.............................................................9 2. Year of School Founding.......................................................................................89