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The Organizational Health of Urban Elementary Schools: School Health and Teacher Functioning

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Abstract

This study examined the factor structure of the Organizational Health Inventory-Elementary version (OHI-E; Hoy et al. in Open schools/healthy schools: measuring organizational climate. Sage, Beverly Hills, CA, 1991) in a sample of 203 teachers working in 19 high-poverty, urban schools and the association of organizational school health with teacher efficacy, teacher stress, and job satisfaction. Results indicated a similar factor structure of the OHI-E as compared with the population of schools in the original sample (Hoy et al. in Open schools/healthy schools: measuring organizational climate. Sage, Beverly Hills, CA, 1991), and that specific components of organizational health, such as a positive learning environment, are associated with teacher efficacy, stress, and satisfaction. Overall, teachers’ relations with their peers, their school leadership, and their students appear especially critical in high-poverty, urban schools. Recommendations for research and practice related to improving high-poverty, urban schools are presented.

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Acknowledgments

The primary support for this manuscript was provided by NIMH grants R01 MH 073749 (Atkins, PI), 1P20MH0784458 (Atkins, PI), NIDA grant 5 T32 DA007293 (R. Mermelstein, PI), NIMH R01 MH629591 (Atkins, PI) and NIMH R01 MH56491 (Atkins, PI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Institute for Juvenile Research, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, 60608, USA

    Tara G. Mehta & Marc S. Atkins

  2. Center for Children and Families, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

    Stacy L. Frazier

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  1. Tara G. Mehta
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  2. Marc S. Atkins
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  3. Stacy L. Frazier
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Correspondence to Tara G. Mehta.

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Mehta, T.G., Atkins, M.S. & Frazier, S.L. The Organizational Health of Urban Elementary Schools: School Health and Teacher Functioning. School Mental Health 5, 144–154 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-012-9099-4

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