School Characteristics and Educational Outcomes: Toward an Organizational Model of Student Achievement in Middle Schools

Empowerment is defined and measured in terms of teachers’ power to control critical decisions about teaching and learning conditions. This research first considers the relationship between school climate and teacher empowerment and then the relationship between teacher empowerment and school effectiveness, which includes measures of mathematics and reading achievement in 86 middle schools. The results support the pivotal importance of teacher empowerment in the effectiveness of schools. Finally, a theoretical model is proposed to explain the linkages between organizational characteristics and student achievement.