Organizational Focus as a Moderator of the Relation Between Student Externalizing Behavior and Teacher Job Satisfaction

Abstract

Examined how schools' organizational focus affects teachers' job satisfaction and intent to stay in their jobs. Analyses considered both individual teacher perceptions of clarity and consistency regarding school goals, expectations, and priorities, as well as the aggregate of these teacher perceptions as a measure of schools' level of focus. The study examined the hypothesis that organizational focus attenuates the correlation of externalizing student behavior and teacher job satisfaction. Data from three years of county-wide (N schools = 45) teacher self-report surveys were examined using hierarchical linear modeling. Schools with higher focus had significantly higher job satisfaction, and individual teacher perceptions of school focus significantly predicted higher job satisfaction across all samples. Hypothesized attenuating interaction was found nonsignificant, suggesting teachers' individual perceptions of clarity in their schools' roles and expectations and perceptions of their students' behavior are more predictive of satisfaction than school-wide perspectives on either. Findings warrant further study of organizational focus as a potential school-level target for intervention.