The fifth school-level factor is “collegiality and professionalism.” This factor deals with the manner in which staff members in the school interact and the extent to which they approach their work as professionals. As shown in Figure 2.3 (p. 19), researchers use a variety of descriptive terms for this factor. Edmonds uses “administrative leadership”; Levine and Lezotte use “strong leadership” and “practice oriented staff development.” Sammons calls it “professional leadership,” “shared vision and goals,” and “a learning organization”; Bosker and Scheerens and Marzano use “leadership” and “cooperation.”

The early discussions of staff collegiality and professionalism were couched within the context of “school climate” in the 1970s. For some researchers, school climate was the umbrella defining effective schooling. This was certainly the case for Wilbur Brookover and his colleagues (Brookover & Lezotte, 1979; Brookover & Schneider, 1975; Brookover, et al., 1978; Brookover, et al., 1979). In his analysis of the characteristics of effective schools versus ineffective schools (as defined by the academic achievement of those students from low socioeconomic backgrounds), Brookover and colleagues (1978) note

...we believe that the differences in school climate explain much of the differences in academic achievement between schools that is normally attributed to composition. (p. 303)