TY - JOUR TI - Referents of faculty trust and school achievement DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T30000BK PY - 2014 AB - Researchers have identified faculty trust as a school level characteristic that has demonstrated a strong, significant influence on achievement even when controlling for SES (Bryk & Schneider, 2002; Goddard, Salloum, & Berebitsky, 2009; Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001; Hoy, 2002). The purpose of this study was to further examine the relationships among SES, prior school achievement, the referents of faculty trust, and school achievement, and to identify whether the referents of faculty trust can positively influence school achievement. Six research questions were developed to examine relationships among SES, prior school achievement, the referents of faculty trust, and school achievement. A hypothesized path model of school achievement was also tested. The unit of analysis for this correlational study was a New Jersey elementary school. Teachers provided data for measures of faculty trust by responding to items on the Omnibus Trust Scale (OTS, Hoy & Tschannen-Moran, 2003). Two archived data sources provided data for a school level measure of SES, four measures of prior school achievement, and four measures of school achievement. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM, Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002) was used to calculate the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and partition the variance within and between sampled schools for each referent of faculty trust. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients and path coefficients were computed to identify any evidence of relationships among variables and determine direct and indirect influences of SES, prior school achievement, and faculty trust on school achievement. SES, prior school achievement, and faculty trust in clients were all positively associated with school achievement. Relationships between faculty trust in the principal and faculty trust in colleagues as well as between faculty trust in colleagues and faculty trust in clients were found; however faculty trust in the principal and faculty trust in clients did not demonstrate any connection. Prior school achievement and faculty trust in clients were strong predictors of school achievement. SES indirectly influenced school achievement through faculty trust in clients. The mitigating influence of faculty trust in clients on school achievement and the relationships among the three referents of faculty trust warrant further investigation. KW - Educational Administration and Supervision KW - Trust KW - Teachers--Attitudes KW - Academic achievement LA - eng ER -