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Trust effects between internal school actors (e.g., teachers, students, administrators, parents) are well established in the literature, but less evidence exists about trust in district administration, leading to the question addressed in this study: Does teacher trust in district administration operate in a similar way as other trust forms? The study begins by situating trust within district leadership literature. A definition of trust in district administration is then advanced and its nature explained. From here, evidence on trust effects and self-determination theory are used to advance a hypothesized model that is tested in the empirical analysis. Results support the theory that trust in district administration may function as a relational support for teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study contributes to the development of a positive framework for effective public schools in 2 ways. First, it advances the construct self-regulatory climate as consisting of 3 generative school norms—collective faculty trust in students, collective student trust in teachers, and student-perceived academic emphasis. The authors argue these norms signal a school climate supportive of student psychological needs. Second, they test the predictive validity of self-regulatory climate by empirically examining its relationship with school performance. Results of structural equation modeling support the theory that collective faculty trust in students, collective student trust in teachers, and student-perceived academic emphasis combine to form a self-regulatory climate that has positive consequences for urban school performance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Our purpose was to advance and test a theoretical model of the nature and function of trust in schools. Unlike other studies, ours specified school trust as a latent construct manifested through parent and teacher trust perceptions. We hypothesized that trust would have a larger direct effect on collective teacher efficacy and achievement motivation than on school performance. Furthermore, we predicted that the total effects of trust on school performance would be stronger than the total effect of poverty. We used structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses. Results support the prediction that trust provides a lubricant for effective school performance by having more direct influence on social conditions than on actual performance. We also found that trust attenuates the negative relationship between poverty and school achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 (β5j = 5.0, p < .01) and school identification (β4j = 2.7, p < .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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – To investigate the consequences of relational trust, especially parent measured trust, for desirable school outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – Using a US Midwestern state sample of 79 schools, parent and teacher trust data are used to derive a trust-effectiveness typology. Trust was conceptualized as one party's willingness to be vulnerable to another party based on the confidence that the latter party is benevolent, reliable, competent, honest, and open. Findings – Findings derived from the extraction of canonical correlation variates support the prediction that a complex and extensive trust environment is predictive of internal school conditions and consequences, even after accounting for socioeconomic status of the school community. Four theoretical trust-effectiveness patterns emerge from the interpretation. Research limitations/implications – The research design was planned as a school level study. Perceptual data collected at the individual level were intended for aggregation thus, nested analyses were not possible. Other evidence is offered for justification of aggregations. Practical implications – Researchers and school leaders need to consider a broad trust environment as having relevance for predicting and enacting school success, not just those trust levels that can be measured as teacher perceptions. Originality/value – Previous school trust research, when it has considered parent trust, measured it as a teacher perception. This study measures parent trust directly and hence more credibly. The empirically derived trust-effectiveness school types introduce the possibility that "high teacher trust" can sometimes be part of a menacing school pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]