Quality Middle Schools

Building on 20 years of careful research and real-world testing, the authors show administrators how to assess their school′s health. The goal is to improve middle schools by making sure the "culture" is right for all groups - students, teachers, staff. The authors call their measurement tools the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire Revised for Middle Schools, for tapping the openness of a school′s professional interactions, and the Organizational Health Inventory for Middle Schools, for capturing the health of interpersonal relationships in schools. The "climate" questionnaire and the "health" inventory are included in the book - both are ready to copy and administer. These measurements are user-friendly and easy to interpret; scoring directions are clearly explained. Educators can use the openness (OCDQ-RM) and health (OHI-RM) to view, describe, and improve the nature and quality of their schools′ culture and climate. The OCDQ-RM and OHI-M measurements can help administrators and staff better understand their school′s professional development needs. School leaders, especially superintendents and principals, can use these hands-on tools to understand what′s going on in their schools - and then make changes as necessary. Actual case studies demonstrate how the questionnaires can be used to make every middle school a high-quality and positive learning enviroment.

Wayne K. Hoy received his B. S. from Lock Haven State College in 1959 and then taught mathematics at Cheltenham High School in Pennsylvania. He received his D. Ed. from The Pennsylvania State University in 1965 and began his professorial career at Oklahoma State University. He moved to Rutgers University in 1968, where he was a distinguished professor, department chair, and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. In 1994, he joined the faculty at The Ohio State University as an endowed professor, The Novice G. Fawcett Chair in Educational Administration. In January of 2013, he retired and is now a professor emeritus at The Ohio State University. In 1973, he received the Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching from Rutgers University; in 1987, he received the Alumni Award for Professional Research from the Rutgers University Graduate School of Education; in 1991, he received the Excellence in Education Award from The Pennsylvania State University; in 1992, he received the Meritorious Research Award from the Eastern Educational Research Association; in 1996, he became an alumni fellow of The Pennsylvania State University; in 2001 he received the Research Award from the Ohio State College of Education. He is past secretary-treasurer of the National Conference of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) and past president of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA). In November 2003, he received the Roald Campbell Lifetime Achievement Award in Educational Administration and in 2009 he was elected a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association. He is the author, coauthor, or coeditor of 24 books in the fields of research and theory, educational administration, decision making, leadership, and instructional supervision. Three of his recent books are Instructional Leadership: A Research-based Guide to Learning in Schools (2013), with his wife Anita Woolfolk Hoy; Educational Administration: Theory, Research and Practice (2013), with Cecil Miskel; and Improving Instruction Through Supervision, Evaluation, and Professional Development (2014), with Michael DiPaola.