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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to define student learning capacity and to examine the role of the school principal in nurturing it. Method: The study used cross-sectional data from 3,175 students in 70 schools located in a metropolitan area of a Southwestern city. We tested three hypotheses by following a conventional modeling building process in HLM 7.0: "Hypothesis 1"--Principal Support for Student Psychological Needs (PSSPN) is related to school differences in student-perceived autonomy-support; "Hypothesis 2"--PSSPN is related to school differences in student-perceived competence-support; "Hypothesis 3"--Student-perceived need-support mediates the relationship between PSSPN and grit. Results: Evidence aligns with our initial theorizing about student learning capacity and principal support for student psychological needs. Student-perceived need-support, as a social characteristic of capacity, manifests itself through teacher-student interactions in the learning process. Need-supporting interactions varied significantly across schools, and principals played a critical role in developing an instructional environment that students experienced as nurturing autonomy and competence. Implications: PSSPN highlights the transformative effects that regular principal-teacher social exchanges can have on instructional practices. School principals who interacted with teachers about student psychological needs and need-supporting instructional practices contributed to a learning environment that students experienced as autonomy-supporting and competence-supporting.

Background: Despite devotion of substantial resources and effort to increase parent/school partnerships, gaps remain between policy rhetoric and practice, especially in high-poverty communities. Current research focuses on parent involvement or effects of parent motivational beliefs on parent choice for behavior; however, it does not address the formation of beliefs or social factors that influence parent motivation to become involved. To gain a better understanding of factors that influence parent motivational beliefs, we examined the effects of parent social network, school outreach, and neighborhood health on parent role construction and parent efficacy in an urban school district. Method/Analysis: Survey data were collected from a random sample of 30 fifth-grade parents from 56 elementary schools in a large urban district in the Midwest. Using a partially latent structural regression model, we tested the relationships between school outreach, neighborhood health, parent social network, and parent motivational beliefs. Findings: The theoretical specification of the hypothesized model was observed in the pattern of the relationships among school outreach, neighborhood health, parent network, and parent motivational beliefs. Results: The results of the structural model confirm the association between parent social network and parent motivational beliefs. Combined parent social network and school outreach accounted for 10% of the variance in parent motivational beliefs. Implications for Research and Practice: Results from this study provide a different lens through which to view parent-school partnerships. Understanding parents as social actors whose perceptions are influenced through connections with other parents can help schools facilitate motivational beliefs that lead to effective partnerships.

Purpose: We set out in this study to establish a foundation for a line of inquiry around teacher trust in district administration by (1) describing the role of trust in capacity building, (2) conceptualizing trust in district administration, (3) developing a scale to measure teacher trust in district administration, and (4) testing the relationship between district trust and teacher commitment. Method: Teachers were the unit of analysis. Data were collected from a sample of teachers in one urban school district. Construct validity was assessed by examining content, structural, and convergent validity of the scale. A fully latent structural equation model was used to test the relationship between teacher trust in district administration and teacher commitment. Results: This study makes a strong case for developing a line of research on teacher trust in district administration. It establishes a good measure to use in future research, and it provides initial evidence showing that teacher beliefs are sensitive to the actions of district administrators. Implications: A valid and reliable measure can be used by researchers to study systematically the formation and effects of teacher trust in district administration. Accurate information on district trust also allows central office leaders to formatively assess the capacity of the school system to accomplish reform objectives at scale.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if collective student trust functions as a resource for urban elementary students. Methods: Data from 1,646 students nested in 56 elementary schools in an urban school district were used to test the hypothesized effect of collective student trust on school identification, self-regulated learning, and math and reading achievement. A model-building process in HLM 6.08 was used to test the three hypotheses. Random-intercepts means-as-outcomes models were used to assess the school-level effects on school identification and self-regulated learning, controlling for free and reduced lunch rate and prior achievement. A one-way ANCOVA with random intercepts was used for math and reading achievement. Free and reduced lunch was specified as a student- and school-level control in order to set a more conservative standard for detecting a trust effect. Results: The hypothesized effects of collective student trust on school identification, self-regulated learning, and achievement were confirmed. A culture of student trust in urban elementary schools partly contributed to identification with school, internal control over learning tasks, and math and reading achievement. Collective trust was the strongest school-level antecedent of positive student beliefs, behavior, and achievement. Implications: With policy debates centering on increased funding, accountability, and teacher and leader evaluation, trust may seem like an unlikely mechanism to ameliorate performance problems in urban schools. Results from this study suggest that policy makers and school leaders should not overlook student trust as a viable social resource for schools and students.

Purpose: The authors' focus was on understanding antecedents of parent trust toward schools. Two questions guided the inquiry: Is there a systematic difference in parent-school trust across schools? If so, what organizational conditions predict between-school variability in parent-school trust? Research Methods/Approach: Using multilevel modeling, this study examined school-level determinants of individual parent-school trust from a sample of 79 schools and 578 parents drawn randomly from a Midwestern state. Findings: Intraclass coefficients were first examined on the school-level attitudinal variables to determine their collective disposition. Estimates indicated that these conditions were collective properties of schools. Results from the Level 1 Means-As-Outcomes analysis showed that 16% of the variance in parent trust was explained by school membership. Level 2 predictors were entered individually with significant variables retained and entered into a combined model. Affective norms of parent perceived influence on school decisions ([beta]5j = 5.0, p less than 0.01) and school identification ([beta]4j = 2.7, p less than 0.01) had larger individual effects on parent-school trust than contextual conditions. Conclusion: Findings support the conceptualization of school trust as a collective property of school role groups that forms through affective, cognitive, and behavioral norms. Parent trust is not inherently deficient in schools plagued by social and contextual challenges. Regardless of poverty status, school size, diverse ethnic composition, and school level, school leaders can build and sustain parent trust by aligning policies and practices to address the affective needs of parents. Doing so reduces parents' perceived vulnerabilities and risks within the parent-school relationship. (Contains 2 figures and 6 tables.)

The article presents a study aimed to determine whether collective student trust functions can be a resource for urban elementary students. The study is undertaken through the collection of data from 1,646 students in 56 elementary schools in an urban school district and the development of model-building process to evaluate the hypotheses raised in the study. The results of the study confirm the hypotheses raised on school identification, educational achievement, and self-regulated learning.