DEFINING QUALITY EDUCATION: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF ALBERTA HIGH SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENTS

DEFINING QUALITY EDUCATION:

A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF ALBERTA

HIGH SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENTS

Edmund J Saley

A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Capella University

March 2006

Leadership does not begin with power. It begins with a compelling vision.

Frederick Smith, founder of Federal Express

If I had 8 hours to chop down a tree, I would spend 6 sharpening my axe.

Attributed to Abraham Lincoln

Where there is no vision, the people perish.

Proverbs 29:18a

DEFINING QUALITY EDUCATION:

A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF ALBERTA

HIGH SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENTS

Edmund Julius Saley

has been approved

February 2006

APPROVED:

DANIEL C. BRUCH, D.Min., Ph.D., Sc.D., Faculty Mentor and Chair

BERNARD KLEIN, Ph.D., Committee Member

RODERICK C. SIMS, Ph.D., Committee Member

ACCEPTED AND SIGNED:

__________________________________________

DANIEL C. BRUCH, D.Min., Ph.D., Sc.D.

__________________________________________ James A. Wold, Ph.D. Dean, School of Education

Abstract

This research study used quantitative as well as qualitative techniques to investigate the content

and manner of presentation of high school mission statements. Text analysis was done by human

raters as well as by computer. High school mission statements were analyzed for characteristics

of content, clarity and motivational tone. Independent variables were the recognized sources of

authority defining school systems such as public, separate, private sectarian and private

Christian. Fifteen dependent variables were categorized according to four themes within the

educational enterprise: stakeholders; philosophy; strategic planning; and presentation. Two

hypotheses were tested with the following overall results: (1) High school mission statements

exhibited different content and text clarity according to sources of institutional authority; (2) The

mission statements of academically higher performing schools exhibited more of the desired

components. The private sector and in particular the Christian sector came out looking much

more educationally vigorous than the public sector.

Soli Deo Gloria

Acknowledgements

To my wife Josephine, I thank you and love you. You have given me the love, stability,

and nurturing environment allowing me to the time to quietly study and reflect. Not only did you

manage most family affairs especially the needs of our children but you also took up much of my

training and travel responsibilities especially during my comprehensives and dissertation in the

last two years of my program. To my children Timothy and Hannah, I thank you. You have been

so patient and loving toward your philosopher Dad who might have spent more of his time

playing basket ball or board games, etc., with you. I am deeply grateful and hope that the past

three years of neglecting time with you can be made up through other opportunities for time and

fellowship in the future. I love you.

My faithful and encouraging mentor Dr. Bruch, was with me from the beginning of my

Capella studies. He allowed me to soar to my heart’s content in my comprehensive papers but

then helped me to channel my very broad interests into a focused empirical study. Thank you

from the bottom of my heart, Dr. Bruch. Thanks to Dr. Bernie Klein who made me feel very

special especially for his surprising tolerance for my soaring excursions of scholarly dreaming in

papers I have written for him in the past. Thanks to Dr. Sims for your challenge to more

precisely articulate just what I’ve been doing. Thank you to others in Capella who provided

special encouragement, in particular, Dr. Liz Bruch, Nou Yang, Dr. Pam Hanfelt, Dr. Larry

Reynolds and Dr. Mark Rossman.

I want to acknowledge a deep appreciation for my three raters: Dr. P. K. Tam, Daniel

Tam, and Keith Davies who were so enthusiastic and faithful in the many statements you worked

through. Yours was a labor of love for which I will be always grateful and may God richly bless

your generosity. Thank you also for the quick responses to my emails when I had questions

during the data analysis.

Thank you to those who helped me set up the statistical strategy for this study in

particular Dr. P. K. Tam and Dr. W. Y. Poon of the Chinese University of Hong Kong as well as

Joshua Tam and Dr. Ron Gray. I would not have got off the ground without Dr. Poon’s generous

expert advice.

I thank the following for special encouragement: Jamie Taylor, Dr. Jim Taylor, Richard

Konieczny, Rose Carlton, Mrs. Dorothy Tam, Dr. Lynne Yang, and Dr. Eric Drewry.

Both my parents are now deceased but their memory cannot but remain a powerful

influence in my life. My dear mother Nelly has already been gone 34 years. I will never forget

the debt I owe to her generous and self-sacrificing love. I also remember her predicting that I

would always be a man of books. How I wish she could see that I have become a man of one

book. From my dear father Karl Heinz, I have a philosophic bent. I have the privilege to pursue

those of his gifts which he was never able to develop because of his passionate commitment to

business. Also, I cannot forget my stepmother Evelyn who has since my father’s death truly

taken up the mantel of a parent and grandparent.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements............................................................................................................ iv

Table of Contents............................................................................................................... vi

List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... ix

List of Figures ................................................................................................................... xii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION................................................................................................... 1

Background of the Study .................................................................................................... 1

Purpose of the Study ........................................................................................................... 3

Research Questions and Hypotheses .................................................................................. 4

Nature of the Study ............................................................................................................. 5

Significance of the Study.................................................................................................... 6

Definitions of Terms ........................................................................................................... 6

Assumptions and Limitations ........................................................................................... 10

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................... 12

Introduction....................................................................................................................... 12

The Purpose of Mission Statements.................................................................................. 12

The Misuse and Abuse of Mission Statements ................................................................. 18

The Effectiveness of Mission Statements ......................................................................... 22

The Content of Mission Statements.................................................................................. 22

The Presentation of Mission Statements........................................................................... 39

CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................ 45

Introduction....................................................................................................................... 45

The Research Philosophy.................................................................................................. 45

Theoretical Framework..................................................................................................... 46

Research Design................................................................................................................ 51

Sampling Design............................................................................................................... 53

Measures ........................................................................................................................... 59

Data Collection Procedures............................................................................................... 61

Pilot Testing...................................................................................................................... 63

Data Analysis Procedures ................................................................................................. 63

Limitations of Methodology ............................................................................................. 67

Expected Findings............................................................................................................. 68

Chapter 4. Data Collection AND Analysis ................................................................................... 70

Introduction....................................................................................................................... 70

Text Presentation: Readability and Tone.......................................................................... 72

Text Content...................................................................................................................... 80

Results of Hypothesis Testing ........................................................................................ 101

CHAPTER 5. SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, RECOMMENDATIONS, IMPLICATIONS ...... 106

Summary......................................................................................................................... 106

Discussion ....................................................................................................................... 107

High School Mission Statements Distinguish Themselves According to Categories of Institutional Authority ..................................................................................................... 107

High School Academic Performance Correlates with Mission Statement Components. 119

Recommendations........................................................................................................... 121

Implications..................................................................................................................... 126

REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 128

APPENDIX A. PEARCE’S CONTENT QUESTIONS ............................................................. 132

APPENDIX B. SAMPLE MISSION STATEMENTS............................................................... 133

APPENDIX C. RATER SHEET................................................................................................. 137

APPENDIX D. STATISTICS FOR READING EASE TESTS ................................................. 138

APPENDIX E. TEST STATISTICS FOR TONE SCORES...................................................... 141

APPENDIX F. TEST STATISTICS FOR RELEVANCE TO STAKEHOLDERS .................. 142

APPENDIX G. TEST STATISTICS FOR PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION......................... 146

APPENDIX H. TEST STATISTICS FOR EVALUATION OF STRATEGIC PLANNING.... 149

APPENDIX I. ACADEMIC RANKING ACCORDING TO SCHOOL TYPES ...................... 151

APPENDIX J. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF GENERAL ARRAY OF VARIABLES........ 152

APPENDIX K. NAMES OF THE INDEPENDENT RATERS................................................. 153

APPENDIX L. FURTHER EXPLORATION ON CORRELATION OF VARIABLES .......... 154

APPENDIX M. GLOSSARY ..................................................................................................... 156

List of Tables

Table 1. Sources of Institutional Authority..................................................................................... 9

Table 2. Progression of mission statement content criteria from Pearce to Stober ...................... 26

Table 3. Progression of mission statement content criteria from Pearce to present ..................... 39

Table 4. Historical rational for variables of the data collection instrument................................. 49

Table 5. Rater Sheet D25 .............................................................................................................. 50

Table 6. Pearce & David’s Research Design Comparing Fortune 500 Mission Statements........ 53

Table 7. Population and Sample Size of Alberta High Schools for Analysis............................... 59

Table 8. Average Readability Scores for High School Mission Statements................................. 73

Table 9. Tone Scores..................................................................................................................... 78

Table 10. Target Groups. Yes/No. ................................................................................................ 81

Table 11. Specific Target Groups ................................................................................................. 83

Table 12. Principal Service(s). Yes/No......................................................................................... 85

Table 13. Principle Services Specified ......................................................................................... 86

Table 14. Identification of Geographic Area to be Served. Yes/No............................................. 88

Table 15. Sense of Educational Community................................................................................. 90

Table 16. Emphasis on Character and Life vision. Yes/No.......................................................... 92

Table 17. Character & Life Vision. Specific Content................................................................... 93

Table 18. Philosophy of Education............................................................................................... 94

Table 19. Cosmic Worldview. Yes/No ......................................................................................... 96

Table 20. Worldview Specified .................................................................................................... 97

Table 21. Reality Factor................................................................................................................ 98

Table 22. One Clear Goal ........................................................................................................... 100

Table 23. Overall Academic Rating............................................................................................ 103

Table 24. General Array of Purpose Statement Components ..................................................... 104

Table 25. Appendix D-1. Raw data for Reading Ease Tests ...................................................... 138

Table 26. Appendix D-2. Test Statisticsd for FRE only Alberta................................................. 139

Table 27. Appendix D-2. Test Statisticsd for FRE with 5 Added BC Secular Private Schools.. 139

Table 28. Appendix D-3. Test Statisticsd for LD ....................................................................... 140

Table 29. Appendix D-4. Test Statisticsc for Word Count ......................................................... 140

Table 30. Appendix E. Test Statisticsc. Tone Scores.................................................................. 141

Table 31. Appendix F-1. Test Statisticsd Target Groups Part 1.................................................. 142

Table 32. Appendix F-1. Test Statisticsd. Target Groups Part 2-a. Religious Groups................ 142

Table 33. Appendix F-1. Test Statisticsd. Target Groups Part 2-b. Racial/Ethnic Groups......... 142

Table 34. Appendix F-2. Test Statisticsc. Principle Services. Part 1 .......................................... 143

Table 35. Appendix F-2. Principle Services. Part 2-gd. Christian Education & Discipleship .... 143

Table 36. Appendix. F-3.Test Statisticsd for Geographical Area Scores.................................... 144

Table 37. Appendix F-4. Test Statisticsc for Sense of Community (Yes/No) ............................ 145

Table 38. Appendix F-4. Test Statisticsc. Scaled “Sense of Community” Score ....................... 145

Table 39. Appendix G-1. Test Statisticsc. Character Part 1. ...................................................... 146

Table 40. Appendix G-1. Test Statisticsd. Character Part 2. Christian ....................................... 146

Table 41. Appendix G-1. Test Statisticsd. Character Part 2. Whole Child. ................................ 146

Table 42. Appendix G-2. Test Statisticsc. Philosophy ................................................................ 147

Table 43. Appendix G-3. Test Statisticsc. Worldview. Part 1 .................................................... 148

Table 44. Appendix G-3. Test Statisticsd. Worldview. Part 2-N ................................................ 148

Table 45. Appendix G-3. Test Statisticsd. Worldview. Part 2-C ................................................ 148

Table 46. Appendix H-1. Test Statisticsc. Reality Scaled score. ................................................ 149

Table 47. Appendix H-1. Test Statisticsc. Clear Big Goal.......................................................... 149

Table 48. Appendix H-2. Clear Big Goal. Test Statisticsc. Summary of Significant Pairs ........ 150

Table 49. Appendix I. Test Statisticsd. Academic Ranking of Alberta High Schools................ 151

Table 50. Appendix I. Academic Ranking of Alberta Schools Plus Five BC Private Secular Schools ................................................................................................................................ 151

Table 51. Appendix I. Test Statistics. Academic Ranking with Five BC schools added. .......... 151

Table 52. Appendix J. Test Statisticsb. General Array ............................................................... 152

Table 53. Appendix L. Non Parametric Correlations ................................................................. 154

Table 54. Appendix L. Proximity Matrices. A dissimilarity matrix........................................... 155

Table 55. Appendix L. Proximity Matrices. A similarity matrix................................................ 155

List of Figures

Figure 1. Average readability scores for high school mission statements according to sources of institutional control ............................................................................................................... 74

Figure 2. Reading ease means reconfigured to increasing readability (only Alberta).................. 75

Figure 3. Line graph with reading ease means scaled to increasing readability........................... 77

Figure 4. Tone scores. Average readability scores for secondary statements of purpose according to sources of institutional control.......................................................................................... 79

Figure 5. Target group(s). Yes/No. Average content item scores for secondary statements of purpose according to sources of institutional control ........................................................... 82

Figure 6. Specific target groups. Average tally scores for the presence of specific target groups identified in secondary statements of purpose according to sources of institutional control 84

Figure 7. Principal service(s). Yes/No. Average content item scores for secondary statements of purpose according to sources of institutional control ........................................................... 86

Figure 8. Principal services specified. Average tally scores for the presence of specific services identified in secondary statements of purpose according to sources of institutional control 87

Figure 9. Identification of geographic area to be served. Yes/No ................................................ 89

Figure 10. Sense of Educational Community ............................................................................... 91

Figure 11. Emphasis on character and life vision. Yes/No........................................................... 92

Figure 12. Character and life vision. Specific content.................................................................. 93

Figure 13. Philosophy of education .............................................................................................. 95

Figure 14. Cosmic worldview. Yes/No......................................................................................... 97

Figure 15. Worldview specified.................................................................................................... 97

Figure 16. Reality factor. Scale adjusted for direction ................................................................. 99

Figure 17. One clear goal............................................................................................................ 100

Figure 18. Overall academic rating. Sample results for overall academic rating of Alberta high schools according to sources of institutional authority....................................................... 103

Figure 19. General array of purpose statement components grouped by average academic rank............................................................................................................................................. 105

Figure 20. Line graph with reading ease means scaled to increasing readability....................... 109

Figure 21. Percentage of teachers who strongly agreed with various statements about the school’s professional climate and working conditions, by sector and private school type: 1999–2000............................................................................................................................................. 115

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

This study was conceived in two contexts: that of a practical need and that of some leads

in educational research. The practical need was to develop a philosophical foundation for a

secondary school. The leads in education research come from studies and reports on the relative

performance of public and private schools in the U.S. These have revealed large and significant

differences in the performance of school types. Not only are there significant differences in

outcomes, but reports brought out by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES),

suggest that the difference in success is related to the difference in educational goals, vision and

mission of schools. These two motivations led to the investigation of high school mission

statements.

Background of the Study

Mission statements were first investigated in the business world (Bart, 1998, 2001;

Caruthers & Lott, 1981; Cochran & David, 1986; David, 1989; Pearce, 1982; Pearce & David,

1987; Toftoy & Chatterjee, 2004), and then in the hospital industry (Bart, 2000). Later such

investigations were also applied to tertiary education (Lang & Lopers-Sweetman, 1991; Lopers-

Sweetman, 1991; Newsom & Hayes, 1991; Stemler & Bebell, 1999; Stober, 1997). There have

been numerous global comparisons of primary and secondary school types (Alt & Peter, 2002;

Barrow, 2002; Broughman & Colaciello, 2001; Coulson, 1999; Holton & Broughman, 2003;

McLaughlin & Broughman, 1997; Shokraii, 1997; Wirt et al., 2004). However, this study did not

reveal anyone who had done a content analysis of high school mission statements.

Defining Quality Education 2

To benefit from previous studies on mission statements in business, hospitals and tertiary

education and to enhance the body of knowledge already built up, this study applies these

previous aims and methodologies to the field of secondary education. While the original interest

has been the contrast between secular and religious vision and mission, this study will attempt to

establish a foundation in the larger area of research in this field and focus on integrating previous

research in the area of vision and mission both in business and in education. This study is then

foundational to further work in the area of mission statements and their effect in secondary

education.

One starting question for investigations of business mission statements has been whether

or not an organization has any mission statement at all and what the effect of having no mission

statement is on those firms which do have one. Applied to education, are schools with no mission

statement less effective than schools with a mission statement? However, a review of school web

sites as part of this study revealed that the school with no mission statement at all is very rare. A

random sample of 43 schools of all school types out of a total of 655 Alberta schools, revealed

only one school for which there was nothing at all displayed resembling a mission statement.

This study will focus on the following two questions. The first is to see whether the

content and presentation of mission statements correlates with the traditional and established

categories of educational authority. The second is whether there are some visions and missions

that are more effective than others. For the purposes of this study effectiveness will be

constrained to the area of academic effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study

1. Investigate the Content and Manner of Presentation of High School Mission Statements in

Conformity with Variables Introduced from the Research Literature.

This study used quantitative as well as qualitative techniques to investigate the content

and manner of presentation of high school mission statements. High school mission statements

according to institutional authority were analyzed for characteristics of content, clarity and

motivational tone. Independent variables consisted of the sources of authority defining school

systems. Dependent variables consisted of four groups: (1) those relevant to stakeholders in the

educational process; (2) those related to the philosophy of education; (3) those concerned with

strategic planning; and (4) those of presentation. These four larger themes of dependent

variables were further broken down into more specific variables which could be measured both

quantitatively and qualitatively. The first theme relevance to stakeholders include d variables of

target group, principal service, geographic area and educational community. The second theme

philosophy of education included variables of philosophy, students’ character and life vision and

cosmic worldview. The third theme strategic planning included a variable estimating the reality

and doability of the mission and a variable inquiring about the focus of the statement. The fourth

theme presentation included readability measures and tone. The authorities by which these

variables were determined in the literature and in this study will be explained in chapters 2 and 3

respectively.

Besides the investigation of the content profile on each school sector according to the

above variables, this research study sought to verify that the content and presentation of school

mission statements actually reflect the sources of control (in particular, public, private sectarian,

private non-sectarian) or whether mission statements are skewed according to the eroding

influences of the market, the ideologies of the age, and the locus of current political power.

2. Investigate the Relationship between Mission Statements and School Academic Performance

This study also investigated the correspondence between the content and characteristics

of mission statements and school performance as measured by students’ academic outcomes.

Research Questions and Hypotheses

Research Question 1: Do high school mission statements differ in content and presentation

according to sources of institutional authority?

Hypothesis 1: A random sample of mission statements stratified to include public,

independent non-sectarian, and independent sectarian high schools will exhibit similar

content and presentation according to groupings by sources of authority.

Null hypothesis: A random sample of mission statements stratified to include public,

content and presentation irrespective of sources of authority.

Research Question 2: Does the content and presentation of high school mission statements differ

between high performing and low performing schools?

Hypothesis 2: The content and presentation of high school mission statements bear a

significant relationship to school performance as measured by students’ academic

outcomes.

Null hypothesis: The content and presentation of mission statements bear no significant

relationship to school performance as measured by students’ academic outcomes.

Nature of the Study

This research study used quantitative as well as qualitative techniques to investigate the

content of high school mission statements. High school mission statements of school types

according to institutional authority were analyzed for characteristics of content, clarity and

motivational tone. Independent variables were the widely recognized sources of authority

defining school systems such as public, separate, private sectarian and private Christian.

Dependent variables consisted of four groups of variables: (1) stakeholders; (2) philosophy; (3)

strategic planning; and (4) presentation. These four larger themes of dependent variables were

further be broken down into more specific variables that could be measured both quantitatively

and qualitatively. The first theme relevance to stakeholders included variables of target group,

principal service, geographic area, and educational community. The second theme philosophy of

education included variables of philosophy, students’ character and life vision, and cosmic

worldview (see Appendix M). The third theme strategic planning included a variable estimating

the reality and doability of the mission and one inquiring about the focus of the statement. The

fourth theme presentation included tone and readability.

In investigating the mission statement profile for each school sector according to the

above variables, this research study sought to verify whether the content and presentation of

school mission statements actually reflect the foundational sources of authority or whether

mission statements are skewed according to market pressures and attitudes. The study also

investigated the correspondence between the content and characteristics of mission statements

and school performance as measured by students’ academic outcomes. While much is known

about high school education, there has been little study about their mission statements, the

content contained therein, and the differences in the statements between various types of high

schools.

Significance of the Study

Three educational stakeholders may benefit from this study. Schools will have the

opportunity to acquire better insight into the dynamics of effective mission statements. This is

extremely important for purposes of self-understanding, organizational focus, strategic planning,

stakeholder motivation and marketing. Governments will have the opportunity to acquire a better

appreciation for the effectiveness of a diversity of educational sources of authority. Educational

researchers may benefit from a study of high school mission statements to complement what has

been done on business and college mission statements. Education researchers, government

authorities as well as school administrators and strategists may have the opportunity to acquire

fresh insights into the purposes and visions of other schools and school sectors.

Definitions of Terms

Mission Statement. A mission statement was defined for the purpose of this study as a

formal public statement defining an institution and its purpose as published on the school web

site. Mission statements might have other labels as well, such as creed, values, purpose, vision,

beliefs, objectives, or goals. Statements of purpose identified by these and similar headings were

part of this study. The protocol used to gather statements from internet sites is described in

chapter 3.

Dependent Variables

For the purpose of this study, content included specific categories grouped into four

themes: stakeholders; philosophy; strategic planning; and presentation. These four larger themes

of dependent variables were further broken down into more specific variables which could be

measured both quantitatively and qualitatively. The first theme relevance to stakeholders

included variables of (1) target group, (2) principal service, (3) geographic area, and (4)

educational community. The second theme philosophy of education included variables of (5)

philosophy, (6) students’ character and life vision, and (7) cosmic worldview. The third theme

strategic planning included a variable estimating the (8) reality and doability of the mission and

one inquiring about the (9) focus of the statement. The fourth theme presentation included (10)

tone and (11-15) readability scores.

This study operationally defined content and presentation according to criteria and

methodologies similar to those used by past researchers such as Stober (1997) in his study of

college mission statements in the Middle States, by Pearce and David (1987) in their study of the

mission statements of Fortune 500 companies, and by Newsom and Hayes (1990) in their review

of college and university mission statements. Using the techniques of previous studies, three

independent raters examined sample mission statements for the presence of the above mentioned

content criteria. Independent raters also considered the tone of the text (was it inspiring,

motivating, or stimulating?) according to procedures modified from those of Stober (1997) as

well as Cochran and David (1986).

For the purpose of this study, readability (or text clarity) was measured via computer

analysis using a grammar and style software to establish document readability scores. Analysis

included techniques similar to those used by Stober (1997) in his study of college mission

statements and by Cochran and David (1986) in their study of mission statements prepared by

businesses and schools of business. To operationalize reading ease, they manually computed

Gunning’s Fog Index for each mission statement. As with Stober, this study used computer

software to build a database of readability measures for each mission statement to calculate: the

Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) score, a 100 point scale with 0 being most difficult to read, and the

Gunning’s Fog Index (GFI), a scale approximating the reading grade level necessary to

comprehend a document. In addition, this study added a third reading ease test, the Flesch-

Kincaid Grade Level score, which rates text on a U.S. grade-school level. These variables and

procedures are described more fully in Chapters 2 and 3.

Independent Variables

Sources of Institutional Authority

In the U.S., the generic categorization of sources of institutional authority are: public,

independent non-sectarian, and independent sectarian. These were the categories used by Stober

(1997) and others working with American schools. High schools in Canada include these

familiar school types but include also a number of further distinctions as presented in Table 1.

Whereas in the U.S. public schools consist only of regular public schools and charter schools, in

Canada, there is also a separate public school system consisting of a Catholic system and in rare

cases also of a separate Protestant school system. In addition, there are Francophone public

schools which use exclusively the French language.

Certain categories of schools did not fit within the scope of this study. This study did not

include Francophone schools because of the added difficulty translation would cause for a word

analysis. Charter schools were also not included since there were only three in Alberta and these

did not have the quorum of 15 students required for this study. Neither were home schools

included since they are a special category of schooling and do not fit within the scope of this

study. Federal First Nation schools were also not included in this study. The following chart

shows the sources of institutional authority for Alberta high schools with those excluded greyed

Table 1. Sources of Institutional AuthorityTypology of Alberta High Schools

According to Source of Control1) Regular public schools2) Separate Catholic3) Separate Protestant

FrancophoneX

Public

CharterX

4) Private Secular

5) Private Christian

Private

Home SchoolsX

Federal First Nations SchoolsX

X School types not included in this study.

Assumptions and Limitations

A Focus on Canada

While there has been much study of the U.S. educational scene with respect to K-12

schools, there has been less about the Canadian K-12 educational scene. Nonetheless, Canada

provides an intriguing study since the Federal government in Canada has constitutionally very

little to do with K-12 education, that being the responsibility of each of the provinces

respectively. As a result, there is a great variation in the kind of schooling offered in the different

provinces.

A Further Focus on Alberta

The Fraser Institute, an independent Canadian economic and social research and

educational organization, has done a number of studies on school choice in Canada (Cowley &

Easton, 2004; Hepburn, 1999; Hepburn & Belle, 2003). A 2003 study by Hepburn and Belle

devised an instrument based on similar studies in the United States to evaluate each province on

a “freedom index” to establish the nature and relative availability of school choice among the

Canadian provinces. Alberta came out as the number one province for the availability of school

choice. There being a fuller complement of categories of school authority to choose in Alberta,

makes this province an especially rich field from which to take samples on the relative efficacy

of school mission statements.

Sample Limited to Web Sites

Samples all taken from school web sites present ed many advantages but also entailed

some assumptions. It was assumed in particular that the venue of a web presentation as opposed

to the traditional college catalogue presentation would not alter the proportional differences in

variables of mission statement characteristics. Both defining mission statements written up in

school catalogues or as presented on the web requires studied judgments. As George Cole in his

study of mission statements on the web has noted, it is not simple to assess whether a given text

is merely history or consists of a value statement, or as to which statements have no apparent

relationship to directions or objectives. Another problem is that some Web sites present

information in a format that does not rely on standard structures for either sentences or

paragraphs but favor concerns with issues of site design (Cole, 2002).

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

This literature review will show how the focus of this paper emerged from previous

studies. The review begins with an introduction into the importance of research into mission

statements dealing with their purpose, the consequences of their misuse, and their effectiveness.

Following this introduction, the major part of the review concerns the two major themes of this

study, the content and the presentation of mission statements.

The Purpose of Mission Statements

Every educational institution or program needs a mission statement. Otherwise one ends

up moving the target to where the arrow went. A mission statement brings clarity to purposes,

goals and objectives. If we don't aim at something, we are that much less likely to hit it. If one is

going to build or develop a school, there must be a reason for doing it. An institution cannot be

effective if it wanders aimlessly (Benson, 2001). An increasing amount of literature has been

emerging in recent decades on the topic of mission statements. Why should educators study

mission statements? Christopher J. Lucas (1997) in his Crisis in the Academy comments that if

there is true crisis in American higher education today, it is chiefly a crisis of “purpose within the

university" (p. xiv). Mission statements are said to be essential for an effective organization.

Christopher Bart notes in his study of the mission statements of innovative firms:

Without a doubt, the mission statement is regarded as one of the most fundamental building blocks of an organization. It is both the cornerstone of any firm's strategic planning process and is considered the starting point in such hot topics as reengineering, TQM, and self directed work teams. (Bart, 1998)

In Futuring Tools for Strategic Quality Planning in Education (1999), Alexander and

Serfass assert that scientific planning requires organizations to establish their mission, vision,

shared values, goals, and a procedure for the deployment of these goals throughout the

organization. The following summary is a brief outline of some of their uses as brought out in the

literature.

Articulate the Vision of and Justify the Existence of the Organization

The mission statement gives a brief summary of the nature of an institution. It briefly

describes the institution and its reason for existence. This is essential in application for license,

accreditation or charter. Regional accreditation is primarily a tool for determining the degree to

which an institution fulfills its mission.

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education states: “Well-defined and clearly

stated missions are necessary so that institutions can remain true to their basic orientation while

strategically responding to external and internal forces” (1991).

The mission statement is also considered essential to help in strategic planning. The

Baldrige National Quality Program in Education assessment asks each school to begin its

application with an organizational profile. The key aspect of this profile is the organization’s

vision and mission. The assessment manual explains:

Use of such terms as “purpose,” “vision,” “mission,” and “values” varies depending on the organization…. Nevertheless, you should have a clear understanding of the essence of your organization, why it exists, and where your senior leaders want to take it in the future. This clarity enables you to make and implement strategic decisions affecting the future of your organization. (Baldrige National Quality Program--Education Criteria for Performance Excellence, 2005, p. 38)

Give Direction to the Organization

Toftoy and Chatterjee assert that the mission statement is an essential component of the

business plan of a company. “A company without a mission is like a ship without a rudder!”

(Toftoy & Chatterjee, 2004). The mission statement guides the school on what to teach. Warren

Benson, Professor of Christian Education at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, notes that we

can no longer be content to argue on the level of teaching techniques when the whole matter of

what to teach is up in the air. Every educational institution or program needs a mission statement.

Otherwise one ends up moving the target to where the arrow went. A mission statement brings

clarity to purposes, goals and objectives (Benson, 2001). If we don't aim at something we are that

much less likely to hit it. If one is going to build or develop a school there must be a reason for

doing it. An institution cannot be effective if it wanders aimlessly. The mission statement guides

curriculum, classroom management and everything that happens in the school. Travers and

Rebore, in their book Foundations of Education—Becoming a Teacher, point out “the

curriculum, discipline, classroom organization, and student performance all stem from the

mission of the school" (2000, p. 79).

Promote the Organization

Each educational institution is called to promote its vision and mission both in the

community and among its students. It needs to do this to attract students to the institution in the

first place, in particular if it is a private institution. Johnson and Meyerson (1994) suggest that

donors will target their charitable giving by clarifying their mission, and that institutions with

well-defined and communicated missions will more effectively compete for those charitable

dollars. Stober notes: “Mission statements serve to define an institution, and to distinguish it

from other organizations within this diverse group. In this capacity, the mission statement also

serves as a tool for marketing the institution to prospective students and charitable donors”

(Stober, 1997).

Institutions need students and money, but they also need to attract the good will and

enthusiastic participation of the community. This includes the involvement of parents in

students’ activities and in school projects that involve the financial and other support of the

community.

A school, as a community of scholars and teachers, also has the mandate to educate the

whole community. It can do this by demonstrating its vision and mission statement and

educational philosophy in all its activities. The mandate of the school must also be promoted

among the students to have their full cooperation and enthusiastic involvement in the programs

set up for their intellectual, psychological, social, physical and spiritual growth.

On the negative side, in his analysis of mission statements, Stober notes that mission

statements are often used as smoke-screens for opportunism (Stober, p. 14).

Mitigate the Forces of Erosion

Institutions may be tempted to compromise the integrity of their basic orientation by

redefining themselves in ways that are most likely to attract students and funding. Well-defined

and clearly stated missions are necessary so that institutions can remain true to their basic

orientation while strategically responding to external and internal forces (Commission on Higher

Education, 1991).

Related to this issue are the powers of ideological pressure and of changing social

fashions, which can have a powerful influence on compromising the original vision and mission

of an institution. Hepburn (2002) notes that the now secular public school system in Canada and

the United States was originally largely a Protestant Christian system. G. M. Marsden (1996) has

documented the en mass discarding of American Church founded colleges of their Christian

visions and missions with the onslaught of modern ideologies.

Motivate and Unify the Stakeholders

In their NCES survey of private schools, Alt and Peter point out that "the principal’s top-

priority goals, if communicated effectively to teachers and other staff, can influence both daily

practices and the professional climate at the school" (2002). They further note that a school’s

professional climate, in particular the existence of a strong shared purpose among staff members

and cooperative interactions among people at the school, is likely to contribute to its

effectiveness…. Newmann and Wehlage (1995) found that when teachers feel a sense of

community at their schools, they can better communicate consistent goals to students and

collaborate more effectively on raising student achievement…. Another study (Bryk & Driscoll,

1988) found that teachers who work toward shared goals express higher job satisfaction and have

lower absentee rates than do other teachers (2002, p. 15).

It is the nature of an educational institution to promote its vision and mission both in the

community and among its students. It needs to do this to attract students to the institution in the

first place, in particular if it is a private institution, but also to attract the good will and

enthusiastic participation of the community. This includes the involvement of parents in

students’ activities and in school projects that involve the financial and other support of the

community. A school, as a community of scholars and teachers, also has the mandate to educate

the whole community. It can do this through its vision and mission statement and educational

philosophy. As mentioned above, the mandate of the school must also be promoted among the

students to have their full cooperation and enthusiastic involvement in the programs set up for

their growth.

Morally Justify the Endeavor

The observation that an institution needs a vision and mission leads to the further

question of what is the right mission or aim. It is important to have an aim, but the character and

nature of that mission is also of vital importance. That one can aim also means one can miss the

mark. Just as teaching techniques are not all equally effective, so philosophies of education and

visions and missions are not equally good. Parker J. Palmer says that “all education is a process

of spiritual formation or deformation” (2003). This paper will not attempt to answer the age old

question of what should be the aim of education although it is hoped that the empirical evidence

gathered in this study will help toward a better discernment in the strategic design of school

missions.

Provide a Standard for Assessment

“CPIE members have concluded that the most appropriate standards for assessments

undertaken at, about, or by Collin County Community College District (CCCCD) are the

District’s stated mission and goals” (Wallace & Martin, 2004, p. 1).

The Misuse and Abuse of Mission Statements

The topic of moral justification for an endeavor leads into the problem of the misuse of

mission statements. Critics of mission statements have called them at best ineffective and at

worst immorally misleading.

The Problem of Vacuousness

The usefulness of mission statements is perceived as variable, mainly because they tend

to be either too general or lack elements which would drive planning or delivery (Edem,

Spencer, & Fyfield, 2003, p. 21). Many of today's mission statements are too vague to make

them useful as a benchmark. "Right now, [entrepreneurs] can do better than just saying 'We're

going to produce high-quality goods and satisfy our customers, and we consider our employees

our greatest asset,'" says Paul Davis, president of the Scanlon Leadership Network. "It's so

innocuous that it doesn't mean anything" (Penttila, 2002).

In a statement of unusual candor, the Ohio Board of Regents in a discussion paper, noted

that there is a tendency for the mission statements of four-year colleges and universities to claim

to have an "over-arching commitment to providing quality instruction, research and public

service" (Ohio Board of Regents, 1993). They decried the indistinguishable similarity of too

many mission statements in higher education. Unfortunately, the generality of mission

statements does not provide the directional cues that are necessary in today's academic

organizations (Cole, 2002).

The Temptation to Opportunism

Stober refers to research by Lang and Lopers-Sweetman which points out that mission

statements may become an opportunistic tool when they enable the institution to mimic an

abstract model that is most likely to obtain funding, or attract students (Lang & Lopers-

Sweetman, 1991; Stober, 1997, p. 15). Lang and Lopers-Sweetman (1991) proposed that

There are systemic forces that, at least, do not encourage colleges and universities to express highly differentiated roles and that, at most, force institutions into a common academic mold, which in practice separates mission statements from plans and planning. (p. 608)

Public funding via measurable cost to benefit criterion may encourage institutions to mimic a

model most likely to receive funding (Stober, 1997).

Stobers cites Johnson and Meyerson who suggest that donors will target their charitable

giving by clarifying their missions, and that institutions with well-defined and communicated

missions will more effectively compete for those charitable dollars. However, the diversity of

private funding sources may encourage both public and independent institutions to define their

unique missions to tap those sources (Stober, 1997, p. 16).

The forces of secular humanism emanating from the secular state have also been

responsible for great pressures on originally religious schools. For instance, the now secular

public school system in Canada and the United States was originally largely a Protestant

Christian system (Hepburn, 2002) . The en mass discarding of American Church founded

colleges of their Christian visions and missions is not only proverbial but well documented

(Marsden, 1996; Marsden & Longfield, 1992). A question corollary to this investigation would

be: is there any indication of the school compromising its foundational mission to conform to

external pressures whether of the market or from the state?

The Problem of Crass Lack of Ethics

"I suspect the majority of mission statements don't reflect reality, and I think it's apparent

to employees," says Lin Grensing-Pophal, a Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, consultant and the

author of HR Essentials: Your Guide to Starting and Running the HR Function (Cited in Penttila,

2002). One of the most startling examples of this is Enron, whose mission statement noted that

the company prided itself on four key values: respect, integrity, communication and excellence.

Among other things, all business dealings at Enron were supposed to be "open and fair." It's

obvious the former seventh-largest U.S. company wasn't living its own mission statement

(Penttila, 2002).

The Social Reinforcement of Hypocrisy

An article by Entine and Nichols (1996) notes that as well-meaning as codes and mission

statements purport to be, promises that companies don’t or cannot hope to implement divert

attention from the need for structural changes. Unfortunately, our social attitudes are such that

the real benefits of many well-publicized codes have gone to the companies who were

embarrassed into drafting them, not the people they were designed to help. Entine and Nichols

refer to the fashionable ethics-in-business movement in which “good intentions” has become the

new standard of corporate ethics. Highly-praised New Age firms that sell commodity products at

premium prices have been found lacking in critical areas of accountability and honesty of

marketing. In February 1995, Starbucks became the first company in the agricultural

commodities sector to announce a “framework” for a code-of-conduct…. But according to

CEP’s Executive Director Alice Tepper Marlin, the mission statement alone was enough to earn

Starbucks its honor. How has it enforced its code? “We’ve done nothing yet,” acknowledges

Olsen. “It’s a slow incremental process.” First condemned for labor practices which it could not

hope to change, Starbucks is now praised for actions it has not yet taken.

Celebrating good intentions in the absence of accountability goes to the heart of the

corporate ethics conundrum. “Researchers have found no correlation between company ethics

codes and ethical practices,” says Kirk Hanson, a Stanford lecturer who has written extensively

on corporate responsibility. The Gap, Levi Strauss, Nike, K-Mart and J.C. Penney, which all

have admirable ethics codes, have sourced from foreign sweatshops. Or consider Reebok which

gives out an annual Human Rights Award but sprints from one low wage country to the next,

paying its Indonesian workers twenty-three cents an hour (Entine & Nichols, 1996) .

It’s a dangerous trend that companies promote Thoreau-like mission statements without

organizational commitments to implement those ideals. “So many so-called progressive

companies have noble corporate philosophies,” says Jon Lickerman, director of research at the

Calvert Group, which promotes socially responsible companies, “but mistreat their own

employees, vendors, and customers” (Entine & Nichols, 1996).

The Importance of Accountability

To be effective a mission statement should conform to the "smart" rule. It should be

specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and trackable (Penttila, 2002).

The Need for a Clarification of Values

Stober suggests that to prevent mission statements from becoming simply a “smoke

screen for opportunism,” there needs to be a clarification of institutional values. Wilcox and

Ebbs suggest that ethical leadership requires that stake-holders be given an opportunity to

discuss the institution’s essential values: a “values audit” (Wilcox & Ebbs, 1993). George Keller

notes also the importance of taking seriously and keeping in touch with the traditions, values and

hopes of an institution. He points out that a strategy can never be effective if it tries to ignore

those powerful intangibles. Rather than being overlooked they should be articulated (Keller,

1983).

The Effectiveness of Mission Statements

Lopers-Sweetman in their study supported the notion that mission statements are most

effective if linked to the planning process and if stakeholders are fully engaged in the process

(Lopers-Sweetman, 1991). To be effective, the mission statement,

has to come from within the bowels of the organization. Everyone should participate in a meaningful way—not just the top strategy planners, but everyone. Once again, the involvement process is as important as the written product and is the key to its use.(Terez, 2003)

The Content of Mission Statements

The Work of Pearce and David 1989

In the early 80’s, educational literature considered mission statement content in a general

sense, but components were not considered. For instance, Caruthers and Lott (1981) suggested

that a mission statement should be “permissive and restrictive” with the permissive portion

defining an institution’s heritage and destiny, while the restrictive portion making public what

the institution “does not believe itself to be” (Stober, 1997).

Unlike the education literature, the business literature of the time tended to be specific.

Pearce operationalized and tested eight key components of mission statements: (1) target

customers, (2) basic products or services, (3) primary markets, (4) principal technology, (5)

concern for survival, growth, and development, (6) company philosophy, (7) company self-

concept, and (8) concern for public image (1982; Pearce & David, 1987). Pearce’s list has been

the standard and has subsequently appeared throughout the literature, sometimes with minor

modifications. In a 1989 review of 75 mission statements selected from Business Week 1000

firms, Fred David adds a ninth component “concern for employees” (1989).

Lang and Lopers-Sweetman did a review of the form and content of 32 post-secondary

mission statements and 12 master plans for higher education (Lang & Lopers-Sweetman, 1991).

Although Lang and Lopers-Sweetman did not report the methodology used to establish these

groups and their categories have not turned out as productive as those of Pearce, yet their work

reinforced the concept, already worked on by Pearce and David, that mission statements should

be operationally (concretely, measurably, and thus transferably) defined for analysis.

Pearce and David (1987) tested the hypothesis: “the mission statements of high

performing Fortune 500 companies will exhibit more of the desired components than will those

of low performing Fortune 500 firms” (p. 109). To prepare for the content analysis, three raters

read and discussed selected literature including sample mission statements. The raters then

independently read mission statements selected for the study and recorded the presence, or

absence of each criterion adapted from Pearce (Pearce, 1982; Pearce & David, 1987). Inter-rater

reliability coefficients indicated consistency, and analysis using Pearson interrelations

established that the eight components were distinct variables. Mean values for “high performers

and “low performers” were compared for each of the eight components. For three content

items—philosophy, self-concept, and public image—the mean values for “high performers” were

significantly higher than the mean values for “low performers.” Although the results of their

study focused on business mission statements, the methodology served as a way to define

operationally the content of mission statements.

The Work of Newsom and Hayes 1991

Pearce and David had defined and applied their content criteria to business mission

statements. Newsom and Hayes demonstrated that it is possible to extend this type of analysis to

post-secondary educational intuitions. They adapted the work of Pearce and David to study the

stated missions of 142 post-secondary institutions in 11 southeastern states (Newsom & Hayes,

1991). The response rate was 80% (114 institutions) of which 93 provided comments appropriate

for analysis. Newsom and Hayes compared public, private non-sectarian, and private sectarian

post-secondary institutions. They used a modification of Pearce’s eight components reducing the

number to seven by combining: principal technology and concern for survival, growth and

development into a single category they called commitment. Newsom and Hayes used techniques

similar to those of Pearce and David, but without statistical analysis. Their work also supported

the concept that mission statements may differ in content according to institutional sources of

authority (e.g., public, private, sectarian and non-sectarian). Their data suggested that mission

statements of public institutions are most likely to define a region the college serves, but

sectarian institutions were most likely to define the institution’s philosophy and desired public

image (1991; Stober, 1997, p. 129).

The Work of Stober 1997

Spencer Stober (1997) followed closely the methodology of Pearce and David and like

Newsom and Hayes also applied it to colleges and universities. He combined the category of

commitment, which Newsom and Hayes had made from combining Pearce’s unique technologies

with concern for survival, and further combined it with principal services also naming this new

combination principal services. Moreover, Stober somewhat modified the Pearce components by

combining philosophy, self-concept, and public image into one criterion simply called

philosophy. Thus Stober telescoped Pearce’s criteria from eight to four components. Stober did

not ask about the effectiveness of mission statements relative to performance as had Pearce and

David. However, Stober did add to the content variables of Pearce and David variables of tone

and of clarity which he adapted from the work of Cochran and David (1986).

Stober’s idea was to combine both qualitative and quantitative research techniques to do

more than simply count words. He notes that while content analysis was originally designed to

be objective by focusing on the words, phrases, and concepts (i.e., frequency equals

significance), rather than on meanings and motives or circumstances surrounding production of

the text, this approach was found to be inadequate since in some cases it may not be possible or

appropriate to simply count words without considering implied meanings (e.g., measuring tone

and philosophical intensity of statements within the study). In his study, he intended to produce

frequencies but also consider interpretation by readers as well as motives or circumstances

surrounding production of the text (Stober, 1997, p. 40).

Independent human raters read and interpreted the text of sample mission statements, and

these statements were then examined using an outside observer (a computer). The qualitative

data gathered by independent raters was used to inform quantitative data collection (computer

word searches), and whereas this added a subjective component to quantitative data collection,

the construction of computer generated word profiles was independent of work done by raters

(Stober, 1997, pp. 39-40).

Table 2. Progression of mission statement content criteria from Pearce to StoberPearce & David (1982; 1987) Newsom & Hayes (1991) Stober (1997)1. Philosophy 1. Philosophy2. Self-concept 2. Self-concept3. Public image 3. Public image

1. Philosophy

4. Target group 4. Target group 2. Target group

5. Principal services 5. Principal services6. Unique technologies

7. Concern for survival

6. CommitmentPrincipal services

8. Geographic range 7. Geographic range 3. Geographic range

The Suggestions of Lucas 1996

In his Crisis in the Academy, Christopher Lucas (1997) sees the true crisis in American

higher education today to be chiefly a crisis of “purpose within the university" (p. xiv). His

concern is with the extreme fragmentation of the university curriculum. He is concerned that

there be an attempt to inspire students with a life vision (Lucas, 1997, p. 52). He sees the need to

aim at developing the character of students (Lucas, 1997, p. 55). He writes of the civic function

of the university, that it should prepare students as citizens. “Citizens need to be clear reflective

thinkers; they need cultural awareness and appreciation for society’s traditions. They require full

awareness of the social and natural environment in which they live” (Lucas, 1997, p. 46, 52). He

articulates the need for broad liberal learning?

Lucas is concerned also with the formation of the students’ worldview. He is concerned

that it is typically too narrow. He decries the distortion of the original German idea of

Wissenschaft or science as knowledge in general or integrated knowledge into a focus on

empiricism, which had not originally been the connotation of the word. It was not enough that

psychology, sociology, anthropology, and similar fields should seek to become social sciences,

but the same imperative was also felt in the humanities. He notes that closely connected with the

ideology of scientism was a tendency toward intellectual fragmentation and the “carving up” of

knowledge domains into ever smaller and more manageable pieces. This has led to

institutionalized specialization, a focus on the immediate use of knowledge, a drive toward the

professionalization of occupations and vocations with a resulting overwhelming of liberal

education by specialized education (Lucas, 1997, pp. 66-70).

If we are to have a broader curriculum to shape the character of the student as Lucas

proposes, what would inform the worldview of that curriculum? Some postulate that any vision

so long as it is well defined and articulated serves the same purpose. Others would disagree and

maintain that the character and nature of the mission is important. Parker J. Palmer says that “all

education is a process of spiritual formation or deformation” (2003). This view implies that

philosophies of education and visions and missions are not equally good. Such considerations

lead this study to ask: Does the mission statement make clear the character or worldview of the

mission? And how might that worldview be related to other components of the mission statement

as well as student outcomes?

Lucas has emphasized that a broad, liberal curriculum should aim at the social,

recreational, and spiritual development of its young people (Lucas, 1997, p. 51). In an analysis of

mission statements it would be helpful to see just what purposes for education missions

statements of different schools do reflect. This idea is addressed in the analysis of Steve Stemler

and Damian Bebell (1999).

The Work of Stemler and Bebell 1999

In 1999, Steve Stemler and Damian Bebell published a content analysis of university

mission statements in which they looked for educational goals to be found in American

schooling. They compared educational themes addressed by the school systems according to

source of institutional authority. Stemler and Bebell attempted to take a sample of educational

institutions from the whole educational age spectrum across the U.S. (elementary, middle,

secondary, and post secondary institutions). They looked for major themes in their sample of

mission statements and identified ten major themes with their relative frequencies for each of the

levels and school types. Their ten themes were (1) cognitive/academic, (2) social, (3) citizenship/

vocational, (4) physical, (5) attitude/ values/ emotional development, (6) school environment, (7)

spiritual community, (8) local community, (9) global community, (10) faculty/staff. They

concluded that the purpose of school shifts from emotional development in the early levels of

schooling to cognitive development at the college level.

Unique about their study was that all mission statements were obtained from school web

sites. The Stemler and Bebell methodology has some shortcomings. Unfortunately, their

selection of school mission statements were taken from one particular private web site (The

Global School Net Foundation) which, although having a large number of schools subscribed,

would tend to attract mainly those schools of similar vision and mission. The groupings and

selection of themes and especially the groupings seemed also somewhat arbitrary. Moreover,

they did not mainly use independent raters, as did the Pearce and David and the Stober studies,

preferring to do the analysis themselves. Nevertheless, the Stemler and Bebell study do provide

us with a list of educational themes to investigate in an analysis of mission statements.

The Work of Bart 1998

A Comparison of Mission Statement Content to Outcomes

Christopher Bart (1998) asked, “Are there differences in the content and characteristics of

mission statements between innovative and non-innovative organizations?” (p. 66). This study

would also like to ask this question of high and low performing schools. As Pearce and David

(1987) had looked for differences in the content of mission statements between high and low

performing firms, so Bart (1998) looked for differences in the content of mission statements

between innovative and non-innovative organizations. The methodology and questions which

have been used for the business world give us helpful direction in investigating the mission

statements of schools. As with business organizations, the differences in the content of school

mission statements could also be compared to their performance. If suggestions for the

improvement in the innovation and performance track record of North American firms would be

welcome, how much more would identification of unique characteristics of the mission

statements of successful schools be welcome if it might lead to better performance in the area of

education? For if the literature is correct, schools are in even worse trouble than businesses.

Organizational Contingency Theory and the Benefits of Diversity

Not all organizational circumstances are the same and therefore the managerial responses

required should be tailored to fit the specific context. This approach is often referred to as

organizational contingency theory and has been applied to the case of innovative organizations

by Galbraith and Kazanjian (1986) as follows:

For the innovating organization, what is called for is an absence of formal structure as bureaucracy is anathema to innovation. Rules, regulations, procedures, accepted practice and programmed activity will stifle creativity and drive out new ideas ... What is needed is the organizational climate of an independent start up firm, characterized by an informal, unstructured, group problem solving approach where decisions are made quickly and communications are personal and face to face. (Galbraith et al., 1986)

From this idea Bart argues that innovative corporations require organizational

arrangements (i.e., systems, procedures, approaches, etc.) different from non-innovative ones.

Moreover, one would also expect the nature and content of mission statements to vary

significantly between different types of organizations—especially, innovative and non-

innovative companies.

Organization contingency, if applied to education argues that a one-administration-fits-all

approach is not in the best interests of citizens and their educational needs. As in the case of

business, monopoly and bureaucracy reduces competitiveness, creativity and ultimately threatens

survival. The best interests of a nation are in allowing more freedom to education providers as

well as parents and students in the education market. Unfortunately, diversity of educational

opportunities is often not encouraged. Could this be a cause for the malaise in our education

system? It appears that where there is more freedom for educational diversity there is also a

significant improvement in results. In Canada, for instance, the province which encourages the

most freedom of educational options, Alberta, also has the best educational outcomes.

Mission Statement Components

Ten of the 25 mission statement components Bart investigated were found, in the case of

the innovative firms, to be used significantly more often than in the case of the non-innovative

firms. These high-use mission components were: competitive strategy, behavior standards, one

big goal, specific financial objectives, non-financial objectives, technology defined, concern for

survival, concern for employees, concern for shareholders, and a statement of vision.

Moreover the respondents in the innovative firms were significantly more satisfied with

the content of their particular firm’s mission statement, its clarity and its understandability than

those respondents in the non-innovative firms. The former also reported that their missions were

perceived to have significantly greater influence over both their own behavior as well as the

behavior of others. As a result, respondents in innovative firms claimed to be significantly more

committed to their mission statements than those in the non-innovative organizations (Bart,

1998).

Measurable Standards

Bart found that among the 10 content variables that were most significant in the content

statements of innovative firms six of them centered on the notion of accountability and

measurability. These were the components of: competitive strategy, behavior standards, one big

goal, specific financial objectives, non-financial objectives, and technology defined. Bart found

that specific objectives helped in making the mission statement more than just a set of good

intentions. For instance, Bart notes that “where firms specify somewhere in their mission the

innovative behaviors expected, high levels of the actual behaviors appear to follow” (1998, p.

71). This suggests that any analysis of mission statements should check to see whether it contains

measurable strategic variables.

Technology Definition and Concern for Survival

Bart (1998) found that technology definition and concern for survival were more highly

specified in the case of innovative firms. He notes that no firm can expect to be innovative in

everything. He suggested that non-innovative firms, on the other hand, do not make the choices

of focus to do well (p. 71). We mentioned earlier the advantage of a diversity of educational

institutions which can focus on the particulars of their vision and mission. We noted that some

state jurisdictions allow more of such diversity than others and that those which allow more

freedom seem to have more success. It is hoped that an analysis of the respective mission

statements of institutions according to authority will give further insight into this question.

What is Innovation and What is Success?

Bart’s results suggested that high numbers of new products are not necessarily what make

a firm innovative. Instead, it is the number of new products brought successfully to market. In

addition, the mission statements of innovative companies were ones that appeared to make a

difference in the everyday lives of firm members. They created action (Bart, 1998, p. 73). This

also applies to schools. There may be a lot of innovation, but does it actually result in better

outcomes for the students?

Mission Statement Rationales—Concern for Customers, Employees and Shareholders

In his study, Bart (1998) also investigated the difference in rationales for mission

statements between innovative and non-innovative firms. He found that only four of the ten

drivers were found to produce significant differences between the innovative and non-innovative

sub-sets of firms. The four high-usage drivers were: providing a common purpose, creating

shared values, emphasizing the interests of external stakeholders, and inspiring employees.

Notable is that these drivers are exactly the ones held to be important for schools by major

reports published by the National Council of Educational Statistics of the U.S. Department of

Education.

Writing for the NCES, Alt and Peter (2002) cite a number of studies that found links

between teachers’ perceptions of a school’s professional climate, on the one hand, and teachers’

effectiveness and job satisfaction on the other (Mitchell, Ortiz, & Mitchell, 1987; Rosenholtz,

1991). They note an extensive 1993 study of Catholic high schools by Bryk, Lee, and Holland in

which a range of attributes were found to contribute to school effectiveness. These attributes

included the staff’s communal organization to advance shared goals; principals having primary

decision making authority for most school management matters; teachers’ commitment to the

academic, spiritual, and social development of students (which encompassed providing extra

help when needed and supporting extracurricular activities); and an atmosphere of mutual respect

among everyone in the school (Cited in Alt & Peter, 2002, p. 12). Alt and Peter point out that a

school’s professional climate, in particular the existence of a strong, shared purpose among staff

members and cooperative interactions among people at the school is likely to contribute to its

effectiveness. They note Newmann and Wehlage (1995) found that when teachers feel a sense of

community at their schools, they can better communicate consistent goals to students and

collaborate more effectively on raising student achievement. “Similarly, another study (Bryk and

Driscoll 1988) found that teachers who work toward shared goals express higher job satisfaction

and have lower absentee rates than do other teachers" (Cited in Alt & Peter, 2002, p. 15). It will

be helpful to keep these results in mind. When looking at school mission statements we will want

to ask if there are references to providing a common purpose, creating shared values,

emphasizing the interests of external stakeholders, and inspiring employees.

Another interesting question raised by Bart is whether innovative firms approach the

creation (or, re-formulation) of their mission statements differently because they are

fundamentally different from non-innovative firms. Do innovative firms better understand

(perhaps almost intuitively) the importance of having a common purpose, maintaining shared

values, considering external stakeholders and inspiring employees and thus create their missions

with these thoughts in mind. Or, is it that by emphasizing, to a significant extent, the firm's

purpose, values, external stakeholders and motivation during the mission's creation, a more

innovative organization will result (Bart, 1998, pp. 72-73). Is it the organization that makes the

mission statement or the mission statement that makes the organization?

Bart notes:

The mission statements of innovative organizations contained significantly clearer and more explicit references in their concern for employees and shareholders than our non-innovative organizations. Innovative firms obviously seem to better appreciate the need for recognizing the contribution which these stakeholders make to company success. By giving them equal prominence in their firms' mission, innovative companies help balance the (potentially competing) interests of multiple stakeholders for the benefit of the entire organization. Non-innovative firms, in contrast, appear to be working in a state of imbalance and may, in fact, be focusing on the customer to the detriment of other critical stakeholder groups. (Bart, 1998, p. 72)

Some have said that when a school system has a monopoly on education, there is a tendency

toward bureaucratization and insensitivity toward the customer, which are the parents and

students, and a focus on the benefits and views of teachers’ unions, government administrators,

and academic ideology. That is why the research of Bart and others suggests the benefit of focus

on a broader ranger of stakeholders and, in particular, on those on the receiving end of the whole

process, the parents and students. Many good intentions may be voiced but if the resulting

education is poor the whole exercise is in vain.

Vision

Bart notes that innovative firms were observed to have significantly more prominent

statements of vision imbedded in their documents than non-innovative firms. He suggested that

they have a better sense of direction than non-innovative organizations. “They know where they

are going” (Bart, 1998, p. 72). When analyzing the vision statements of educational institutions

we will also want to look for statements of vision.

Commitment

Bart’s responses indicate that innovative firms have much higher levels of committed

employees than non-innovative organizations. He notes that significant differences in the degree

to which selected behavior standards were expressed in the mission statements apparently

existed. He suggests that both innovative and non-innovative firms understand why they are

creating and deploying their missions in the first place but that innovative firms manage to

articulate the required behavior standards in their mission statements more effectively. “Non-

innovative firms may argue the need for behavior standards (in their mission rationales) just as

forcefully and persuasively as innovative firms. The difference is that the non-innovative firms

don't seem to mean it or want it as much” (Bart, 1998, p. 73).

The Work of Edem, Spencer, and Fyfield 2003

A British report on provider missions by Edem, Spencer, and Fyfield (2003) of the

Learning and Skills Development Agency, commissioned by the Department for Education and

Skills identifies a range of practice in establishing an institutional mission and presents proposals

for the effective development and review of institutional missions. The literature review

identifies the value of the process of mission development, especially when mission is developed

with stakeholder involvement and used to drive strategy and operational activity. The survey of

providers indicated that the development, content and use of mission are variable among

providers.

The report cites Mullane (2002) who shows that in studies of mission, the importance of

the process is acknowledged by managers. In one study Mullane cites, 73% of managers were

less than fully satisfied with the process used to create mission, “primarily because major

stakeholder groups, most notably employees and managers, had been left out of the process.” In

another study, he notes that managers found mission to be the most used tool out of 25 identified.

The claim here was that “satisfaction rested on the mission statement’s efficacy at creating

organizational integration—getting everyone focused on common objectives” (Cited in Edem et

al., 2003, p. 4).

On a related theme, Bart and Baetz (1998) introduced the concept of mission–

organizational alignment as a potentially important antecedent to a mission’s influence over

employee behavior. They observed that the more closely an organization was able to align its

structure, systems and procedures with its mission, the greater the impact on performance

generally, and on employee behavior, in particular. Bart (1999) obtained similar results in his

study of 103 hospitals. The key elements here are employee involvement and correspondence of

mission with actual operational reality. The employees of a school are the teachers. An analysis

of school mission statements must therefore probe the integration and satisfaction of teachers

with the school vision and mission.

Edem et al. (2003) conclude that mission statements can be potentially powerful strategic

tools. But to be effective internally and externally, they need to be the end result of a careful

process of consultation, involving the participation of key stakeholders, to enable them to

genuinely convey the sense of mission of the whole organization. Mission statements must also

have operational relevance. In addition to probing the concern for having the teachers on board

another element to probe for would be operational relevance.

The Work of Toftoy & Chatterjee, 2004

Toftoy and Chatterjee (2004) give a readable and comprehensive review of the findings

about mission statements up to the present. They repeat, summarize, and emphasize the criteria

already brought out by earlier researchers. Their purpose is to help small business people to

realize the importance of the mission statement as a crucial part of planning and securing the

success of their business.

A unique contribution of their paper is their observations of certain situations when

formulating a mission may not be beneficial. They suggest three such kinds of situation. One

such situation arises if members of the top management are ideologically divided, it is better not

to develop a mission and thrust it upon the managers. Rather, it is wiser to eliminate the aberrant

manager or wait till he or she has moved on. A second such situation arises when senior

management is volatile and unstable, such as if top executives are changing frequently or if new

leaders are not involved in the mission development process. Third, creation of a mission

statement may be counter-productive if the company strategy is rapidly changing or uncertain

due to the business environment or abrupt changes in business regulations, fiscal or monetary

policies. They note that all such circumstances demand flexibility in strategy and values (Toftoy

& Chatterjee, 2004, p. 8).

Table 3 outlines the progression of mission statement content criteria from Pearce to

present.

Table 3. Progression of mission statement content criteria from Pearce to presentPearce & David

(1982; 1987)Newsom & Hayes

(1990)Stober (1997) Literature to 2005

1. Philosophy 1. Philosophy 1. Philosophy 2. Self-concept 2. Self-concept 2. Vision (Bart, 1998)3. Public image 3. Public image

1. Philosophy 1. Philosophy

3. Cosmic worldview (Lucas, 1997)

4. Target group 4. Target group 2. Target group

4. Target group

5. Principal services

6. Unique technologies

7. Concern for survival

6. Commitment

3. Principal services

6. Character & life vision of students (Lucas, 1997)

8. Geographic range

7. Geographic range

4. Geographic range

7. Geographic range

8. Commitment (Bart, 1998)9. Concern for employees (Bart, 1998; David, 1989)

9. Concern for Employees (David, 1989)

2. Relevance to Stakeholders

10. Educational community(Alt & Peter, 2002)

11. Educational purpose (Lucas, 1997; Stemler & Bebell, 1999)12. Behavioral

standards (Bart, 1998)

13. One big goal (Bart, 1998)

3. Strategic planning(Bart, 1998; Edem et al., 2003; Mullane,

2002; Toftoy & Chatterjee, 2004)

14. Specific objectives (Bart, 1998)

The Presentation of Mission Statements

Tone and Clarity

Besides looking at the content of mission statements, Spencer Stober (1997) measured

also the tone and clarity of his sample of mission statements of Middle States colleges and

universities. Stober adapted his techniques for operationalizing the presentation of mission

statements from a study by Cochran and David (1986). Thus in addition to comparing the content

of mission statements, Stober included the question whether colleges and university mission

statements differed in content and text clarity according to sources of institutional authority and

the Carnegie Classification (Stober, 1997, p. 5).

Cochran and David (1986) assumed that good mission statements should project an

“inspiring tone” and be clearly written. More recently, Toftoy and Chatterjee point out that a

mission statement should be sufficiently clear and concise to be understood by employees

throughout the organization (2004).

Cochran and David (1986)1 compared the tone and readability of mission statements

prepared by schools of business to statements prepared by businesses. They systematically

sampled the 1984 Fortune 500 companies (n = 61) and the schools of business accredited by the

American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (n = 74). The methodology to establish

tone was similar to the technique previously described for the Pearce and David study for their

analysis of content using independent human raters. The inspiring attribute was operationalized

by training two independent raters to consider one key question while reading the mission

statements: “Is the mission statement motivating and stimulating, i.e., is it written in a futuristic

positive, optimistic tone?” Cochran and David reported that their calculation of inter-rater

reliability indicated no significant differences in ratings. To operationalize readability, the Fog

Index was computed for each mission statement.

1 Description of Cochran and David’s study is cited from Stober (1997).

Cochran and David (1986) reported that “corporate mission statements (78% of n = 61)

are written in a more positive tone that university mission statements (26% of n = 74),” and that

“both groups of mission statements are written with a high readability level (x = 24.61 years of

education” (p. 115). The work of Cochran and David later informed that of Stober (1997) who

included this instrument in his study of the mission statements of Middle State colleges and

universities.

Stober’s hypothesis about presentation was that “a random sample of mission statements

stratified to include public, independent non-sectarian, and independent sectarian colleges and

universities will exhibit similar text clarity” (specifically: Flesch Reading Ease and Gunning’s

Fog Index scores, word counts, and scaled tone scores). This analysis will adapt Stober’s

approach to investigage text clarity.

With reference to text clarity, Stober’s study concluded:

Through the eyes of a computer, sectarian statements were significantly easier to read that were public statements, and human raters judged these statements to be more enriching, inspiring, motivating and stimulating. While the philosophical language associated most frequently with sectarian statements did not reduce computer generated readability scores, it many have caused raters to judge these statements to be of a more inspiring and enriching tone. (Stober, 1997, p. 130)

In his study, Stober also used a technique of making word profiles. The results here

showed that public institutions were more likely to reference words such as access, opportunity

and support. Sectarian institutions were more likely to reference words such as life, faith, and

values. And non-sectarian institutions were more likely to reference words such as arts, sciences

and society. Stober notes that these missions complement each other and are a complement that

characterizes American higher education and may in part contribute to its success (Stober, 1997.

p. 142).

One problem we may encounter with a writing ease analysis of web site mission

statements is that when text presentations are mixed with a visual presentation, we will not be

able to do a similar analysis as with a purely textual presentation as might be found in a school

catalogue. In his review of web site mission statements, Cole noted that the posted mission

statements did not necessarily follow an essay format, so the measurement of certain mission

statement elements was judgmental. As an example, a bulleted listing, in a mission statement,

would usually be treated, by software, as if all items were part of one sentence, unless a period

was used at the end of each item on the list. Often, the listing of items used incomplete sentences

and, thus, in total, appeared to be part of one very long sentence, by text analysis software (Cole,

2002). The dissimilarity of presentation will be even greater if the web site uses a fully

audiovisual presentation. In such a case, we may not be able to use normal text analysis but must

use analysis specifically designed for web site and audiovisual presentation.

Mission Statements on the World Wide Web—Bart, 2001

Christopher Bart had found that to secure the success of mission statements, they should

be communicated and disseminated to as many internal and external stakeholders as possible

(Bart, 2001). In an earlier study, Bart had found that a positive relationship existed between, on

the one hand, the total number of methods used to communicate and disseminate a mission and,

on the other, firm performance (Bart, 2000). Bart suggested that mission statements become

more effective when they are easily remembered—especially by employees. Therefore, high

visibility—with postings in many locations—helps aid the development of mission familiarity

and recognition (Bart, 2001, p. 361).

Before Bart, Sashkin (1988) as well as Deal and Peterson (1994) suggested several key

ways to communicate and articulate vision, including communicating the school's mission

symbolically through mottos, flags, banners, and materials that are sent out from the school, such

as letterheads, pencils, and so forth (Peterson, 1995).

An increasingly strategic method for communicating a mission statement is through the

Internet and the posting of an organization's mission statement on its company Web site (Bart,

2001). The Internet provides a means for organizations to communicate an enormous amount of

information to their relevant stakeholders (i.e., customers, employees and investors), as well as to

large numbers of other interested parties (e.g., students) and organizations, for relatively

insignificant costs. That organizations have been realizing this is attested to in that a simple

search query on the World Wide Web using only one search engine can produce hundreds of

thousands of mission statements (Bart, 2001). Stemler and Bebell in their study of school

mission statements, also related the analysis of mission statements to the Word Wide Web, but

focused solely on the use of the Web for data collection (1999).

In his 2001 study, Bart investigated what types of organizations are using the Web to

advertise their missions; where a mission statement is typically located in a corporate Web site;

and what some of the motivations are that an organization has for posting or not posting its

mission. Bart found that the mission category dominating the sample of listings investigated was

educational institutions (38%) and the least frequently mentioned ones were religious

organizations (10%) and government agencies (9%). For-profit corporations and not-for-profit

associations represented the middle of the survey standings with 23% and 20% respectively

(Bart, 2001, p. 363). It is helpful for this study that of all organizations utilizing the Web for

presentation of missions, educational institutions are foremost. This supports the use of using the

Web to analyze and compare missions among educational institutions.

In an analysis of mission statements found on the web one would want to assess the

quality of the web site as this would both reflect on the attitude of the institution toward its

mission statement as well as the effectiveness of that statement among stakeholders. Simple

questions to ask might be: Has the school made good use of the possibilities of the Web? Is the

site well done or poorly done?

CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY

Introduction

This chapter presents the methodology used to gather data describing the content and

readability of high school mission statements. Topics focus on the philosophy of research,

theoretical framework, research design, sampling design, measures, data collection procedures,

pilot testing, data analysis procedures, limitations of methodology, and expected findings.

The Research Philosophy

Research approaches vary depending on the nature of the data sought. This study used a

mixed methods approach. It is of the interpretive research paradigm in that human raters read

between the lines to discover meaning and it is of the positivist (or scientific) research paradigm

in that it rigorously and objectively quantified text variables.

Why use a quantitative approach at all considering the qualitative nature of mission

statements? A key reason for including the quantitative approach is that previous researchers into

mission statements and, in particular, content analysis of mission statements have included

quantitative approaches. To fit this study into the context of previous studies, there has been an

attempt at similarity of approach. Although in some respects the emphasis was different, the

methodology of this study approximately followed the methodology of Spencer Stober (1997)

whose study looked at tertiary institutions. This was to see if a study focusing on secondary

institutions would get similar results. This study, however, expanded on some of the quantitative

variables suggested by Stober and reined in the qualitative for the sake of coherence and focus.

The types of school authority can be compared in a purely quantitative way when doing

text analysis which is simply related to word and grammar counts. The questionnaire deals with

both types of variables but this study kept mainly to the quantitative aspect of the variables

comparing their quantitative degree, that is, to what degree each of the school types have those

components pointed out by the literature as being relevant to good mission statements. Therefore

although the nature of mission statements is both qualitative and quantitative, for the sake of

focus and simplicity, this study concentrates on the quantitative aspect of mission statements.

This may seem strange considering that the subject of the study goes far beyond what can be

adequately explained quantitatively. Therefore, a later investigation should follow this up with a

more qualitative study which may not be empirical but may deal with a philosophical

explanation of existing empirical data.

Theoretical Framework

The theoretical development of this research instrument is illustrated by three tables—

Table 3, Table 4, and Table 5. Table 3 presents the historical progression of mission statement

content criteria in the literature. Table 4 presents these criteria culled from the literature ordered

in the form of research questions under four headings: relevance to stakeholders, philosophy of

education, strategic planning, and presentation. The research questions under these headings

were developed into the data collection instrument presented in Table 5.

Relevance to Stakeholders

This study used all of Pearce and David’s (1987) criteria six of which are grouped under

the general heading of relevance to stakeholders—target group, principal services, unique

technologies, concern for survival, geographic range, and concern for employees (Table 5, Rater

Sheet, Items 1-4). Many researchers have highlighted the importance of involving all

stakeholders in the process of mission statement development (Alt & Peter, 2002; Bart, 1998,

2001; Edem et al., 2003; Mullane, 2002). This study has thus attempted to gauge the stakeholder

involvement with the question: Is there a sense of educational community involving all

stakeholders—particularly teachers and parents (Table 5, Rater Sheet, Item 4).

Philosophy of Education

Christopher Lucas in his Crisis in the Academy was concerned with the extreme

fragmentation of the university curriculum and the demise of broad liberal learning. He was

concerned that there be an attempt to inspire students with a life vision (Lucas, 1997, p. 52). He

saw the need to aim to develop the character of the students (p. 55). Thus this study introduced a

character and life-vision variable to test the presence in the mission statement of a concern for a

unified life vision and for character education, operationalized in the question: Is there a concern

for the character and life vision of the students? (Table 5, Rater Sheet, Item 5)

Stober (1997) combined philosophy, self-concept and public image into the one criterion

called philosophy. This study has used Stober’s original question: Does the mission statement

clearly define the school’s beliefs, values or philosophy? (Table 5 , Rater Sheet, Item 6)

Palmer noted that all education is a process of spiritual formation or deformation (2003).

Therefore, our instrument probed into the character or worldview revealed by the mission

statement? Does the mission statement define a cosmic worldview? (Table 5, Rater Sheet, Item 7)

Strategic Planning

In recent years, the literature has emphasized the efficacy of mission statements:

distinguishing those factors that make them either of central effectiveness for the school or just

good intentions and fine words without any import (Bart, 1998; Edem et al., 2003; Mullane,

2002; Toftoy & Chatterjee, 2004). This analysis sought some indication of whether the mission

statement operationalizes its good intentions. Thus, the rater sheet question 9 probed for a reality

measure (Table 5).

Bart (1998) found that innovative firms were observed to have significantly more

prominent statements of vision embedded in their documents than non-innovative firms. They

simply seemed to have a better sense of direction. “They know where they are going” (Bart,

1998, p. 72). Therefore, this study sought to probe whether the purpose statement projected a

vision of where the institution was going. The raters were asked whether the mission statement

reflects one big goal (Table 5, Rater Sheet, Item 10).

Presentation

Another variable continuously reiterated in the literature is the notion of commitment

(Bart, 1998; Newsom & Hayes, 1991; Stober, 1997). Bart noted, “Non-innovative firms may

argue the need for behavior standards (in their mission rationales) just as forcefully and

persuasively as innovative firms. The difference is that the non-innovative firms don't seem to

mean it or want it as much” (Bart, 1998, p. 73). The variable tone was used as an indicator of the

force of commitment? Is this statement written in a enriching, inspiring, motivating, or

stimulating tone? (Table 5, Rater Sheet, Item 11)

Table 4. Historical rational for variables of the data collection instrument Does this statement identify target group(s) that the school intends to or is uniquely able to serve? (Religious groups, racial/ethnic groups, challenged, talented, other)

(Stober, 1997)

Does this statement identify a principal service (technical specialization, professional career preparation, academics in general, academic specialization, arts, Other/unique)

(Stober, 1997)

Does this statement specify a geographic area to be served? (Stober, 1997)

Does the statement express concern for employees? (Bart, 1998)

Does the statement imply an educational community? (Alt & Peter, 2002)

Relevance to stakeholders

Is there a concern for the character and life vision of the students (Lucas, 1997, p. 52)

Does this statement clearly define the school’s beliefs, values, or philosophy(not stated, vague/not clear, in a general sense, clearly stated, emphatically stated)

(Stober, 1997)

Is there a statement of vision? (Bart, 1998)

Philosophy of Education

Does the statement define a cosmic worldview (naturalistic, theistic, other) (Lucas, 1997, p. 66)

Does the statement emphasize an educational purpose (Cognitive/academic, social, citizenship, vocational, physical, attitude/values, emotional development, school environment, spiritual, educational community, faculty/staff, other)

(Stemler & Bebell, 1999)

Can the statement drive strategic planning? Can the objectives be evaluated or measured?

Strategic Planning

Does the statement define one big goal?

(Bart, 1998; Edem et al., 2003; Mullane,

2002; Toftoy & Chatterjee, 2004)

Is this statement written in an enriching, inspiring, motivating, or stimulating tone? (very stimulating, motivating, matter-of-fact, dull, depressing)

(Bart, 2001; Cochran & David, 1986; Stober, 1997)Presentation

Is the statement presented in a readable style (specifically: Flesch Reading Ease and Gunning's Fog Index scores, word counts)?

(Cochran & David, 1986; Stober, 1997)

Table 5. Rater Sheet D25School Code: Rater:

1. Does this statement identify target group(s) that the school intends to (or is uniquely able) to serve?…… No Religious groups racial/ethnic groups challenged talented students at risk

2. Does this statement identify a principal service? …………………………………………………………. No technical specialization/professional career preparation arts advanced academics academic specialization core academics Other

3. Geographic area. Are the school geographic boundaries specified?. ………………………………………. No

4. Is there a sense of educational community involving all stakeholders such as teachers and parents? No

1 - Stakeholders together in a common vision 2 - Between 1-3 3 - Top down management4 - Between 3-5 5 - School drifting along with stakeholders apathetic, uninvolved, uncommitted, no real direction

Comment:

5. Is there special emphasis on building the character and life vision of the students?……………………. No Christian utopian liberal education whole child nationalistic/citizenship

6. Does this statement clearly define the school’s beliefs, values, or philosophy?

1 - Not stated 2 - Vague/not clear 3 - In a general 4 - Clearly stated

5 - Emphatically stated Key words/ phrases:

7. Does the mission statement define a cosmic worldview? ………………………………………………... No naturalistic Christian If other please comment:

8. What educational purposes are stated? cognitive/academic arts social citizenship leadership vocational physical

attitude/values emotional development school environment spiritual community faculty/staff Other

9. Reality factor

1 - Smart: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, trackable 2- Less SMART than 1

3 - Vague/fuzzy 4 - Empty, irrelevant (nice words but meangingless) 5 - Manipulation

Comment:

10. Does the statement define one overriding and clear big goal? ………………………...………………… NoIf so what is it?

11. Inspirational factor. Is this statement written in an enriching, inspiring, motivating, or stimulating tone?

5 - very stimulating 4 - motivating 3 - "matter of fact" 2 - dull 1 - depressing

Key words/ phrases:

Note: Rater sheet slightly modified for the sake of spacing. For appearance of original see Appendix C.

Research Design

Design for Hypothesis 1

Hypothesis 1, which relates the content and presentation of school mission statements to

institutional authority, was modeled on that of Spencer Stober (1997) who had in turn closely

followed the work of Pearce and David (1987) as well as Newsom and Hayes (1991).

As with Stober (1997), this study combined both qualitative and quantitative research

techniques to do more than simply count words. Stober noted that content analysis was originally

designed to be objective by focusing on the words, phrases, and concepts (i.e., frequency equals

significance), rather than on meanings and motives or circumstances surrounding production of

the text. However, as previous researchers have found, it is necessary not only to produce

frequencies but also consider interpretation by readers as well as motives or circumstances

surrounding production of the text.

Independent human raters read and interpreted the text of sample mission statements, and

these statements were then also examined using an outside observer (a computer). Stober

explained that this methodology is of the interpretive research paradigm in that human raters read

between the lines to discover meaning and it is of the positivist (or scientific) research paradigm

in that it rigorously and objectively quantifies text variables. These paradigms complement one

another. In some cases, it may not be possible or appropriate to simply count words without

considering implied meanings (e.g., measuring tone and philosophical intensity of statements).

For these reasons, even quantitative data had to be collected using qualitative techniques while

the qualitative data gathered by independent raters were used to inform purely quantitative data

collection (computer word analysis).

During preparatory work in sampling the data, it was noted that the best results would be

obtained by a combination of analysis by the researcher in conjunction with parallel analysis by

independent raters. In this way, the researcher could keep in close touch with the unique

characteristics of the data.

Design for Hypothesis 2

Hypothesis 2, which carries the inquiry of hypothesis 1 a step further, relates the content

and presentation of mission statements to school performance. The research design here was

based on the work of Pearce and David who hypothesized in the case of business mission

statements that “the mission statements of high performing Fortune 500 companies will exhibit

more of the desired components than will those of low performing Fortune 500 firms” (Pearce &

David, 1987, p. 109). For each mission statement component, Pearce and David compared the

differences in the average scores for components among high performing companies with the

average scores of low performing companies, looking for significant differences between these

average scores. In Pearce and David’s study, high performers were firms in the top quartile of a

profit margin distribution of all responding Fortune 500 companies. Low performers were the

lower quartile firms (Pearce & David, 1987, p. 112). Although the particular components as well

as the measure of performance differ between businesses and educational institutions, the basic

hypothesis is the same and a similar methodology was applied (see Table 6).

Table 6. Pearce & David’s Research Design Comparing Fortune 500 Mission StatementsExamples of

Statement ComponentsHigh Performers’

Means ScoreLow Performers’

Mean ScoreStatistical Difference Between Mean Scores

Philosophy Datum Datum DatumSelf-concept Datum Datum DatumPublic image Datum Datum Datum

Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc.

For the educational institutions of this study, the measure of the performance of schools

used was the Fraser Institute’s annual rating of academic performance for all Canadian primary

and secondary institutions. Using eight indicators and building on data about student results

provided by Alberta Education (the provincial Ministry of Education) each school receives a

report card score on a scale from zero to 10.2 Using the Fraser Institute report card, a score was

referenced for each school of the sample of schools taken in this study. The distribution of the

average scores for each group of schools was sorted.

Sampling Design

Population and Sampling

This study sampled the population of Canadian high schools in the province of Alberta

(6533 high schools in 2005). While previous researchers into college mission statements have

2 The foundation of the Report Card is an overall rating of each school’s academic performance which is based on eight indicators. This set of indicators was selected in order to provide systematic insight into a school’s performance : (1) average diploma examination mark; (2) percentage of diploma examinations failed; (3) difference between the school mark and examination mark in diploma courses; (4) difference between male and female students in the value of indicator (3) for English 30-1; (5) difference between male and female students in the value of indicator (3) for Pure Mathematics 30; (6) diploma courses taken per student; (7) diploma completion rate; (8) delayed advancement rate (Cowley & Easton, 2005).

3 The number listed on the government web site is 655. However, two schools were found to be listed twice resulting in a total of 653 schools.

taken samples of college catalogues, the current study has used the internet as a convenient and

technologically up-to-date method of obtaining data. This was also a precedent set by others such

as Stemler and Bebell (1999).

Rationale for Population Sampled

Why Focus on Canada? Canada provides an intriguing study since the federal

government in Canada has constitutionally very little to do with K-12 education, that being the

responsibility of each of the provinces respectively. As a result, there is a great variation in the

kind of schooling offered in the different provinces.

Why Focus on Alberta? There being a fuller complement of categories of school

authority to choose in Alberta, makes this province an especially rich field from which to take

samples on the relative efficacy of school mission statements. The Fraser Institute, an

independent Canadian economic and social research and educational organization, has done a

number of studies on school choice in Canada (Cowley & Easton, 2004; Cowley & Easton,

2005; Hepburn, 1999; Hepburn & Belle, 2003). A 2003 study by Hepburn and Belle devised an

instrument based on similar studies in the United States to evaluate each province on a freedom

index to establish the nature and relative availability of school choice among the Canadian

provinces. Alberta was revealed to be the number one province for the availability of school

choice while B.C. came in second on the freedom index.

Sources of Information on Alberta

The Government of Alberta has initiated extensive inventories of its educational

programs making the statistics available on the web. For instance, the Alberta Government web

site (http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/ei/maps/) lists and categorizes the schools of the province

according to level, geographical area and governing authority. Although the major categories of

information seem to be covered, not all information about every school is necessarily available.

It may be that some schools have declined to make all information available. For instance, many

of the private schools have web sites but these are not listed in the government list of schools

with web sites. This may be because web sites are relatively new and it has been an optional item

of information to publish on the government web site.4

Procedure for Getting a Data Sample

The following was the procedure used to establish a definition of a data set:

1. Obtained the total list of Alberta high schools. From the Government of Alberta web

site (Schools and School Boards, 2005) obtained a list of K-12 schools in Alberta (2214 K-12

schools). Using MS Excel sorted the list isolating those schools offering the high school level.

Thus, obtained a list of high schools (653 high schools).

4 The schools listed with web sites are not the only ones with web sites. It seems the sites most conveniently known to the provincial Department of Education are listed. However, that they are or not listed does not correspond to the existence or even the quality of the web site. Thus, when sampling, it is better to just choose the school whether or not a web site is listed and then later find out whether or not there is a web site. In almost all cases, a web site exists.Some web sites of schools were just going up and the mission statement had not yet been inserted.

2. Sorted the 653 high schools according to governing authority using MS Excel. It

proved to be better to start by taking the list according to governing authority before choosing

schools with web sites since preliminary investigation showed that there was no reliable list of

school web sites. In particular, many web sites of Christian institutions were not listed on the

government web site. Because all schools were required to register with the government, the

official government lists of schools were otherwise very reliable. After all schools were listed,

one could later check to see whether the schools in the sample had web sites.5

3. Sorted by whether the schools qualified for a report card ranking. The latest Report

Card on Alberta's High Schools put out by the Fraser Institute (Cowley & Easton, 2005) ranked

269 high schools (see next section for the criteria of schools that have a report card).

4. Took a larger sample than needed to have some schools to do a pilot study. This study

aimed for a sample of 10 schools for each school authority if available. However, this many

schools turned out to be available for only three of the seven school types. The other school types

simply did not have that many schools in Alberta. For the other school types, the full population

of available schools was sampled.

Linkage of Sample with Availability of High School Report Card

The link of content analysis with the ranking of schools followed the pattern taken

already by studies in business but not yet in the area of education. To compare the academic

5 Definition of Christian. Contrary to categorization in the U.S., the Alberta Government reports do not officially distinguish between Christian and secular private schools. The philosophy of education is very different yet these schools are not distinguished by government categorization. I thus put into the Christian category any private school which claimed intentionally to base its educational philosophy on Christian principles. The education landscape in Alberta provided some surprises. The “Edmonton Christian School” is a sizable public school with a Christian mission. I have not yet found this anywhere else on the Continent.

evaluation ranking against a content analysis of the vision and mission statements added a

valuable dimension to the study. Ideal for this purpose was the yearly ranking of Canadian

schools developed by the Fraser Institute. The Fraser Institute in their annual Report Card

(Cowley & Easton, 2004; Cowley & Easton, 2005) has listed 269 Alberta high schools. They

have included all high schools in Alberta except (1) schools at which fewer than 15 regular day

students were enrolled in grade 12, and (2) schools that did not generate a sufficiently large set of

student data to enable the calculation of an overall rating out of 10. (3) Also excluded from the

ratings and rankings are centers for adult education and continuing education; (4) schools that

cater largely to non-resident foreign students; (5) home-schooling support centers, and (6) certain

alternative schools that do not offer a full program of courses (Cowley & Easton, 2005, p. 43).

This still left the vast majority of high schools according to the various levels of authority.6

Schools Not Included in the Sample

1. Francophone schools. These were not included in this study because of the

complications translation would present to the content analysis.

2. Federal Schools. The First Nations schools were also not included because these were

not included in the annual Report Card survey by the Fraser Institute and are for cultural,

historical reasons more complex to compare to the provincial education system and must be

taken as a special case perhaps to be included in another kind of study.

6 The Fraser Report makes clear that the exclusion of a school from the Report Card should in no way be construed as a judgment of the school’s effectiveness but only that it did not fit the above logistical assessment criteria(Cowley & Easton, 2005, p. 43).

3. Charter schools. Among the three charter schools none had the quorum of 15 to be on

the 2005 Report card of the Fraser Institute.

4. Home schools. The category of home schools is proportionately large in Alberta which

is the only province where home schooling is partially funded by the government, giving one

more educational choice for Alberta citizens. However, home schools were not included in

the sample of mission statements to be investigated. This category was for the purposes of

this study too unique.

A Viable Sample Size

How many school web sites were needed to make the data viable? Stober studied 120

colleges in his sample because it permitted at least 20 institutions per group (1997, p. 41). He

reasoned that ANOVA group sizes should be similar and greater than ten; therefore, 20 schools

would give him a large margin. Stober noted that 10 samples in each category would be a

reasonable minimum. Stober’s sample size approximated that used in a similar study of South

Eastern colleges by Newsom and Hayes (1991).

This study randomly selected a maximum of ten samples in each category which fit the

criteria of the study. The 10 samples were screened from a much larger sample since some of the

schools did not qualify to be among the 268 for which a report card was available. Table 7

presents the cross-section of Alberta school types with those not included in this study grayed

out. Although it was hoped that 10 samples would be available for each school type, separate

Protestant schools turned out to have only a total of three schools, only two of which fit the

criteria for a report card score. Moreover, even among all private secular schools in Alberta only

five could be found which fit the report card score criteria. Therefore, for some parts of the

computer analysis of this study where a difference was very close to the margin of statistical

significance and where testing could be done without further burden on the raters, five random

schools were chosen from B.C. to test the effect of a larger sample size (see Statistical Analysis

below).

Table 7. Population and Sample Size of Alberta High Schools for AnalysisTypology of Alberta High Schools

According to Source of ControlAll

High schoolsSample

Size 1) Regular public schools 423 schools 10 schools2) Separate Catholic 79 schools 10 schools

3) Separate Protestant 3 schools 3 schools

FrancophoneX 12 schools

Public

CharterX 3 schools

4) Private Secular 53 schools 5 schools

5) Private Christian 47 schools 10 schools

Private

Home SchoolsX

Federal First Nations SchoolsX 31 schoolsTotal 651 schools 38 schools

X School types not included in this study.(Schools and School Boards, 2005; Student Population by Grade, School and Authority, Alberta 2002/2003 School Year, 2004)

Measures

Independent Variables—Sources of Institutional Authority

The most generic categorization of sources of institutional authority in North America

would be public, independent non-sectarian, and independent sectarian. These were the

categories used by Stober and others working with American schools (1997). High schools in

Alberta included these familiar school types but included also other school types as listed in

Table 1 and in Table 7. However, as explained above, this study did not include francophone

schools, federal (First Nations) schools, charter schools and home schools.

Dependent Variables—Content and Presentation

Content

For the purpose of this study, content included specific categories grouped into three

themes. The first theme relevance to stakeholders included variables of target group, principal

service, geographic area, and educational community. The second theme philosophy of

education included variables of character & life vision, philosophy, and cosmic worldview. The

third theme strategic planning consisted of the variables: reality factor and one big goal.

This study operationally defined content according to criteria and methodologies similar

to those used by past researchers such as Stober (1997) in his study of college mission statements

in the Middle States, by Pearce and David (1987) in their study of the stated missions of Fortune

500 companies, and by Newsom and Hayes (1990) in their review of college and university

mission statements. Using the techniques of previous studies (Cochran & David, 1986; Newsom

& Hayes, 1991; Pearce, 1982; Pearce & David, 1987; Stemler & Bebell, 1999; Stober, 1997),

three independent raters were engaged to examine sampled mission statements for the presence

of content criteria. In this study, the researcher also joined as one of the raters both to have a

larger sample of ratings but also to have a closer understanding and inside view of the rating

process.

Presentation

Presentation measurements were represented by two variables: tone and readability.

Three independent raters plus the researcher considered the tone of the text (i.e., was it inspiring,

motivating, or stimulating?) according to procedures modified from those of Stober (1997) as

well as Cochran and David (1986). For the purpose of this study, text clarity was measured via

computer analysis using a grammar and style checker to establish document readability scores

(see section below, Computer Analysis for Readability).

Data Collection Procedures

Data collection included gathering mission statements and converting them to MS Word

files. The literature shows a similar methodology in studies on mission statements of tertiary

institutions although the procedures have been evolving in pace with the development of internet

technology. Newsom and Hayes (1990) gathered their samples of Mission statements by way of

a letter and survey. Mathieu (1993) and Stober (1997) improved upon this by taking their

samples of mission statements directly from college catalogs. This assured that schools selected

were part of the study and that statements used were public pronouncements describing the

institution. Stober had improved upon Mathieu with the availability of a College Catalogue Index

on CD-ROM. This at least made the data more readily available and presumably presented in a

consistent format. This study used an approach similar to that of Stemler and Bebell who

extracted mission statements from the Internet (Stemler & Bebell, 1999). This study improved

upon Stemler and Bebell in that while their web sites all came from the master web site of a

private ideologically restricted organization, the data base for this sample consisted of the total

schools for all sources of institutional authority in the province of Alberta. Since they were

samples randomly take from the whole population of Alberta schools, they could be inferred to

give a relatively accurate reflection of the nature of schools in Alberta.

The location of the mission statement of a school is not a cut and dry matter. As was

found by other researchers, statements of institutional purpose were often embedded in sections

under a heading other than mission (e.g., vision, beliefs, values, purpose, objectives, etc.). Many

schools had more than one such heading to include the total mission statement. In many cases,

the problem was further complicated in that the district to which a school belonged had a mission

statement for all the schools under its jurisdiction. The individual school may or may not have its

own mission statement. Often the district had a mission statement and the individual school

would state an abbreviated version or an adaptation of the district statement. Or, the individual

school would refer to the larger district mission statement in its particular statement.

Gathering statements from a web site began with a search for any statements on a

particular school’s web site related to the idea of mission. References to a larger district mission

statement were also copied. All references found were copied and pasted onto an MS Word file

for that school. Files of mission statements to be evaluated by raters were identified only by the

code name of the school, a four digit number giving no clue to source of authority. These files

were kept track of through a master list which listed all schools in the sample and by which

responses could later be re-identified.

Pilot Testing

Samples of schools were collected and organized from public government web sites.

Samples of mission statements from these schools were recorded. In the meantime, the

questionnaire was being refined to better reflect the respective options to be discerned in the

mission statements. An informal pilot study was done by the researcher using ten randomly

chosen high schools not included in the population to be used in the study. This helped to

develop computer techniques for collecting, managing, and analyzing electronic files containing

the statements as well as design and test questions to be answered by independent raters as they

read the statements (see Table 7 for a graphical outline of the school types and sample sizes).

Data Analysis Procedures

Computer Analysis for Readability

Computer analysis was used to measure statement readability. When Cochran and David

(1986) examined mission statements prepared by businesses and schools of business, they

operationalized readability by manually computing Gunning’s Fog Index for each mission

statement. Stober calculated three readability scores for each mission statement: (1) the Flesch

Reading Ease score (the FRE-score is a 100 point scale with 0 being most difficult to read), (2)

the Gunning’s Fog Index (the GFI-score is a scale that approximates the reading grade level

necessary to comprehend a document), and (3) the number of words in the statement. For the

sake of consistency and comparison, this study continued using the instruments used by Stober

and others. This study added two more measures of reading ease, the Flesch-Kincaid Grade

Level score, which rates text on a U.S. grade-school level and lexical density (number of

different words / total number of words x 100). Texts with a lower density are more easily

understood. Readability scores for each statement were entered in an SPSS database for analysis.

Gunning’s Fog Index and lexical density were calculated through online software (Text Content

Analysis Tool, 2005). The others were calculated using the readability statistics function of the

Microsoft Word grammar tool. Average FRE, GFI, FKGL, lexical density and word count values

for each of the groups were summarized in tables.

Rater Analysis for Content and Tone

In Stober’s study, three independent raters examined statements for the presence of

general content criteria modified from those used by earlier researchers (Pearce, 1982; Pearce

and David, 1987; David, 1989; Newsom and Hayes, 1990). The content criteria used by Stober

were the following: (1) target groups, (2) commitment or principal service, (3) geographic area

to be served, and (4) communication of the college’s beliefs, values or philosophy. This study

has added to Stober’s list other variables identified as important in the literature. The content

variables investigated in this study were the following:

A. Relevance to stakeholders1. Target groups2. Commitment or principal service,3. Geographic area to be served,4. Educational community

B. Philosophy of Education5. Character & life vision6. Philosophy7. Cosmic worldview

C. Strategic planning

8. Reality factor9. One big goal

As with the presentation variables, these content variables were also investigated to test the

hypothesis that a random sample of high school mission statements stratified into the traditional

North American categories of: public, private Christian, private secular, as well as the peculiarly

Canadian separate Catholic and the peculiarly Albertan separate Protestant would exhibit

similar content items. Stober had also used the first three categories, while the later two are

peculiar to the Canadian context.

The 38 statements were prepared for evaluation by raters. To reduce bias on the part of

raters as they read the documents, the following steps were taken. Institutional identifiers were

removed, statements were prepared in a uniform font (Times New Roman, 10 point, single

spaced), and a uniform page layout was maintained (left margin at one inch). Italics and

underlines were removed, but capitals, paragraphs, and lists were maintained (see Appendix B

for sample statements). Raters independently completed electronic data forms on an electronic

MS Word template (Appendix C) as they read each of the 38 statements. Raters sent in forms by

email as they were completed.

Data from forms was entered and statistically analyzed using SPSS.7 Yes and No

responses for each of the four raters were converted to “1” and “0” values respectively, and then

totaled for a minimum value of “0” to a maximum value of “4” for each statement criterion. A

second level of analysis for content included a tally of specific content items identified by each

rater. Average group tally scores for content items were tabulated.

7 SPSS is a statistical program for the social sciences. This study used release 12.0.0 ("SPSS 12.0 for Windows," 2003).

To generate tone scores, independent raters responded to the question: Is this statement

written in an enriching, inspiring, motivating or stimulating tone? An average scaled tone score

for each group was calculated by totaling Likert values provided by raters: a score of 0-3 is

depressing; 4-6 is dull; 7-9 is matter of fact; 10-12 is motivating; and 13-15 is very stimulating.

Readability scores were summarized and displayed in a table.

Statistical Analysis

To test the whether there were statistically significant differences between outcomes of

the authority types, this study chose to use the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test. The Wilcoxon Rank

Sum method tests the null hypothesis that two related medians are the same. This test allows one

to compare medians of paired sample distributions. Since there were only the means of samples

from five authority types to match, this was a very doable test. Written notationally, all of the

tests done for this study could be set up as testing H0: Mx = My. If the p-value turned out small,

we could reject H0. An acceptably small p-value would be less than 0.05 or a 95% confidence

level that the difference was reliable. This is also the threshold of statistical significance used by

Stober in his tests of universities and college purpose statements.

Although the most popular test of the significance of the difference between means is the

t-test, this assumes a normal distribution and a large sample size. If the data is normal, this is the

best option since the power would be larger. However, since in this case the sample was small

and the distribution was not known to be normal, it was thought safer to use the Wilcoxon Rank

Sum test instead of the t-test.8

Limitations of Methodology

Perhaps the biggest limitation of this study was the smallness and narrow geographic

focus of the sample. The research population consisted of high schools accredited by the

Government of Alberta. A preliminary survey suggested that 56 high schools could be included

in the study. However, this number had to be reduced to 38 schools for the following reasons: (1)

the First Nations schools are left out because they are a special category and not included in the

annual Frazer Report Card used in the second hypothesis; (2) the separate Protestant schools

proved to be three schools instead of four as listed on the government web site9 and of these

three schools only two fully fit the criteria for the study; (3) Although the study had hoped to use

10 secular private schools for evaluation, only five schools were found in Alberta which met the

criterion of at least 15 grade-12 students. This limitation in sample size, especially for private

secular and separate Protestant schools, greatly hindered the confirmation of statistical

significance in some cases. That was the case for example in rater sheet question 5: Is there

special emphasis on building the character and life vision of the students? (Yes/No). The lack of

significant results from the private secular type points to the weakness of the limited sample size

(see chapter 4).

8 I am very grateful for the professional opinion of Professor P. K. Tam and Dr. W. Y. Poon of the Chinese University of Hong Kong for their invaluable help in this area. They not only have immaculate professional competence and integrity but have great generosity which comes from their love for their students. Although they suggested a possible methodology for the mathematical aspects of the study, the responsibility for the use I have made of it in the way of implications or recommendations is mine.9 One of the schools was listed as two schools solely for funding purposes.

However, because little study has been done in this area in the field of education, and this

being the first study of this kind with high schools, it was hoped that at least a beginning could

be made. Methodology has been tested and refined for use with secondary education, and future

research can extend the geographic area and the size of the sample. The natural subjectivity

involved in using human raters was also a difficult problem to overcome. Other studies have

faced the same problem and this study has made as much effort at impartiality as the other

studies which have used this methodology. A third problem is the difficulty of accessing the

most critical variables. This study has sought to meet this challenge by a thorough and extensive

literature review.

Expected Findings

As typical in scientific studies, we use a methodology which leans toward the Type II

error and begins by assuming the null hypothesis, that there is no significant difference between

the components or presentation of the mission statements of the various school types. This was

also the starting point for Pearce and David, Stober, and others. Of course, it was hoped that

some differences would be found and, in particular, that these differences would align according

to types of institutional authority. If we did find differences, they would have to be large enough

so that the gap between those expected if we assume no difference and the actual results obtained

was just too big to have arisen out of sampling variation alone.

Similarly, although we suspect from the findings of research in the commercial field that

the content and presentation of mission statements will bear a significant relationship to

institutional performance, we will first assume that the content and presentation of mission

statements bear no significant relationship to school performance as measured by students’

academic outcomes. If we do find a difference it will have to be too large to have arisen by

expected sampling variation within one population alone.

CHAPTER 4. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Introduction

A review of the literature indicated that well defined and clearly stated missions are

necessary so that institutions can remain true to their basic orientation while strategically

responding to external and internal forces. The literature also indicated that more successful

organizations tend to have more comprehensive mission statements and exhibit more of the

desired components on such statements than those of low performing organizations.

The study described here continued the tradition of adapting methodologies from

research into the commercial field to program evaluation in the education field. This study

further adapted and expanded methodologies developed by earlier researchers to examine the

content of college and university mission statements and applied them to high school mission

statements. Previous studies were expanded by (a) adopting content criteria to fit more accurately

the educational setting at the high school level, (b) extending the readability measures of

previous content analyses of mission statements, and (c) adding more content variables than

previous studies to consolidate, to reflect and to test the findings of previous research.

The research population consisted of high schools accredited by the Government of

Alberta. The original plan had been to include 56 high schools. However, this number was

reduced to a more modest number of 38 schools for the following reasons: (1) the First Nations

schools are left out because they are a special category and not included in the annual Frazer

Report Card used in the second hypothesis; (2) the separate Protestant schools proved to be

three schools instead of four as listed on the government web site (listed as two schools for

funding purposes only) and of these three schools only two fully fit the criteria for the study; (3)

although the study had hoped to use 10 secular private schools for evaluation, only five schools

were found which met the criteria of at least 15 grade-12 students. Thus the final total sample of

school types contained 38 high schools in five groups: 10 regular public schools; 10 separate

Catholic schools; 3 separate Protestant schools; 10 private evangelical Christian schools and 5

private secular schools (see Table 7).

The sample mission statements from these five school types were then gathered

according to the procedure detailed in chapter three and then tested with a comprehensive set of

criteria developed from the literature. These criteria and methodologies were used to test the

following hypotheses.

Hypothesis 1: A random sample of mission statements stratified to include public,

content items (relevance to stakeholders, philosophy of education, strategic planning) and

presentation (Flesch Reading Ease, Gunning’s Fog Index, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level,

lexical density, word counts and tone scores).

Hypothesis 2: The content and presentation of mission statements will bear a significant

relationship to school performance as measured by students’ academic outcomes.

To test the first hypothesis, evaluation criteria for mission statements developed from the

literature were grouped according to a total of 15 categories: (a) six for text presentation

(readability with five subcategories and tone scores) and (b) nine for text content (relevance to

stakeholders with four subcategories, philosophy of education with three subcategories, and

strategic planning with two subcategories). For the sake of clarity of presentation and where

applicable, the data was sorted according to size. Significant differences between values were

indicated by asterisked subscripts. For additional clarity, the results obtained are displayed in the

form of bar graphs. Testing the first hypothesis required that at least one among the 15 mission

statement criteria would prove to be statistically different among the five school types.

Testing the second hypothesis required that the mission statements of higher performing

schools would consistently reflect more of the criteria desirable in effective purpose statements.

Text Presentation: Readability and Tone

Readability Scores

Table 8 and Figure 1 summarize readability scores for groups according to sources of

institutional control. Text readability statistics were computed for each of the five tests of

readability: (1) the average Flesch Reading Ease score, (2) the average Gunning’s Fog Index, (3)

the average Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (4) the average lexical density, and (5) the average

words per statement.

Graphs are helpful to see all the readability data at a glance as a general picture. Figure 1

shows that the Gunning’s Fog Index (GFI) and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) are

clustered very close together and suggest no particular difference. However, the graph suggests a

much more substantial difference in the Flesch Reading Ease, the average lexical density, and

the average number of words per statement scores.

Table 8. Average Readability Scores for High School Mission Statements According to Sources of Institutional Control

School Types

Readability Tests

Private Christian

Private Secular (Alta)

Private Secular

(Alta & BC)

Public SeparateCatholic

Separate Protestant

FRE 42.48 (a*) 28.62 (b*) 32.00 (a*) 39.15 40.44 (b*) 34.83GFI 12.78 13.97 13.74 12.96 14.67 12.09FKGL 11.49 12.00 12.00 11.02 10.86 11.47LD (%) 38.35 c*d* 41.35 40.87 55.75 c* 51.98 d* 38.85Word Count (X100) 18.17 e* f* 11.76 15.58 4.72 e* 4.47 f* 10.54

Notes: FRE--Flesch Reading Ease score (the FRE-score is a 100 point scale with 0 being most difficult to read)GFI-- Gunning’s Fog Index (the GFI-score is a scale that approximates the reading grade level necessary to comprehend a document)FKLS-- Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score, which rates text on a U.S. grade-school levelLD--Lexical Density = (Number of different words / Total number of words) x 100. Texts with a lower density are more easily understood.Word Count--the number of words in the statement.For a more detailed statistical report see Appendix D.

For the Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) test, the higher the score, the easier the text is to read.

Using the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test, we find that separate Catholic schools show a significantly

higher score than private secular schools (see Appendix D. Readability Test Statistics). Although

from the graph, the widest difference seems to be presented by private Christian compared to

private secular schools, the statistical significance is only at 80% (p < .080). This may have been

because of the small size of the secular private school sample. Since the Alberta secular private

school sample was only five schools, it was thought that perhaps adding a sample of five private

schools from B.C. would raise our confidence level that the difference between private Christian

and private secular schools is reliable. Indeed, a random sample of five more private secular

schools from B.C., making a sample of 10 secular private schools, brought the significance up to

almost 99% (p < .013). However, this seems to have increased the variance of the private schools

sample so much that the confidence level for the difference between private secular schools and

private Catholic schools went down to only 87% (p < .169). In spite of the ambiguity of the

confidence level, there is grounds for suspicion that the private Christian and Catholic sectors

have the easiest statements to read with the private secular sector being the most difficult to

read. Supporting this suspicion is that Stober’s study found private Christian colleges and

universities to have the highest score in the FRE while his sample of public colleges and

university mission statements had the lowest FRE.

Notes: Although the original color used in the graphical display will appear in gray through publication, the legend can

still be read since the order from top to bottom in the legend is the same as the order of the bars from left to right. The statistical significance for the FRE (a*) showed with the five Alberta schools. The statistical significance for

the FRE (b*) showed only after five additional B.C. schools were added to increase the private school sample to 10 schools. Brackets indicated the tentative nature of the results.

See Appendix D for more statistical detail.

Figure 1. Average readability scores for high school mission statements according to sources of institutional control

(b*)(a*)

Reading Ease Alta Schools

FRE↑easier

GFI↓easier

FKGL↓easier

LD (%)↓easier

Word Count(X100)

Private Christian

Private Secular

Public

Separate Catholic

Separate Protestant

Texts with a lower lexical density are more easily understood. Here the private Christian

sector again had the easiest statements to read while the public sector seemed to have the most

difficult statements to read. This again confirmed Stober’s findings about public colleges

(Stober, 1997, p. 59). In this study, a comparison of lexical density also showed the mission

statements of separate Catholic schools to be significantly more difficult to read that those of

private Christian schools.

Notes:Although the original color used in the graphical display will appear in gray through publication, the legend can

still be read since the order from top to bottom in the legend is the same as the order of the bars from left to right.The statistical significance for the FRE (a*) showed with the five Alberta schools. The statistical significance for

the FRE (b*) showed only after five additional B.C. schools were added to increase the private school sample to 10 schools. Brackets indicated the tentative nature of the results.

For a more detailed statistical report see Appendix D.

Figure 2. Reading ease means reconfigured to increasing readability (only Alberta)

Word count refers to the length of the mission statement. As shown by Figures 1 and 2,

the Christian private sector was on one extreme having on average the most verbal content, with

(b*) (c*)

Increasing Readability

Private Christian

Private Secular

Public

Separate Catholic

Separate Protestant

Private Christian 42.48 7.82 8.70 30.83 18.17

Private Secular 28.62 7.16 8.33 29.32 11.76

Public 39.15 7.72 9.07 22.12 4.72

Separate Catholic 40.44 6.82 9.21 24.01 4.47

Separate Protestant 34.83 8.27 8.72 30.58 10.54

FREAdjusted GFI

(100/GFI)Adjusted FKGL

(100/FKGL)Adjusted LD (100-

LD)/2Word Count (X100)

the public and separate Catholic systems having the shortest mission statements. The Wilcoxon

Rank Sum test showed that in this sample, the private Christian schools had on the average

significantly longer mission statements than either public schools (at p < .047) or separate

Catholic high schools (at p < .009). There is no statistically significant difference between the

statement lengths of the other school types.

Recapitulation and Discussion of Readability Scores

Although the GFI and the FKGL suggest no particular differences between the readability

of school types, the Flesch Reading Ease, the lexical density, and the number of words per

statement scores suggest differences consistent with each other as well as consistent with

previous research. This is easier to see if we reconfigure and rescale the data to be all

consistently going in one direction, so that a higher score consistently means an easier reading

level. Such a reconfigured scale would look like Figure 2 in the form of a bar graph or Figure 3

in the form of a line graph. Those three variables which show a difference between school types

all flow in the same direction, although somewhat erratically. A larger sample size may help to

take out the jaggedness of the lines. For the variables of reading ease the sample size of secular

Protestant schools proved to be too small to make significant comments.

The FRE suggests that the statements of private Christian schools and private Catholic

schools are easier to read that those of private secular schools. With regard to lexical density, the

private Christian sector again had the easiest statements to read, next came private secular

schools, third Catholic separate schools and the public sector had the most difficult statements to

read. This confirmed Stober’s findings about public colleges (Stober, 1997, p. 59). The Christian

private sector had the longest statements of purpose, with the public and separate Catholic

systems having the shortest mission statements. These findings are also consistent with Stober’s

analysis of college and university mission statements. With the Gunning Fog Index and word

counts, Stober’s study found no significant differences between sources of institutional control.

However, Stober’s Flesch Reading Ease analysis suggested private Christian colleges and

universities have the easiest statements to read while public colleges and universities had the

most difficult to read (Stober, 1997, p. 59).

Notes: a LD is adjusted to indicate increasing readability by the formula (100 - LD) ÷ 2. b Adjusted Word Count by dividing by 100.

For all variables of reading ease the sample size of secular Protestant schools proved to be too small to make significant comments. See also Table 8. For more statistical detail, see Appendix D.Figure 3. Line graph with reading ease means scaled to increasing readability

PrivateChristian

PrivateSecular

SeparateCatholic

SeparateProtestant

Public

Adjusted GFI (100 ÷ GFI)

Adjusted FKGL (100 ÷ FKGL)

Adjusted LD (100 - LD) ÷ 2

Word Count (× 100)

Text Tone Scores

Besides these readability measures, text tone scores were the other variable suggested by

previous research to measure the quality of presentation of mission statements of educational

institutions. On the rater sheet, this was called the inspirational factor. Raters were asked: Is this

statement written in an enriching, inspiring, motivating, or stimulating tone? (5-very stimulating;

4-motivating; 3-matter-of-fact; 2-dull; 1-depressing). Raters’ average responses can be seen in

Table 9 and Figure 4. The Wilcoxon Ranked Sum test which compared pairs of distributions

showed significant differences between the following pairs of average scores PC-P, PC-SC, PS-

P, and SC-P. SP institutions did not show a significant difference because the sample size was

too small (see Appendix E for a detailed statistical summary). For greater clarity, the raw data

was rearranged in order of size. The shape of this distribution of tone scores was further clarified

by means of a bar graph.

Table 9. Tone ScoresAverage Readability Scores for Secondary Statements of Purpose According to Sources of Institutional Control

Sources of Institutional Control

Private Christian (PC)

Private Secular (PS)

Separate Catholic (SC)

Separate Protestant (SP)

Public(P)

Tone Scores 4.15 G* H* 4.00 I* 3.30 H* J* 3.25 2.35 G* I* J*

Notes: Raters were asked: Is this statement written in an enriching, inspiring, motivating, or stimulating tone? (5-very stimulating; 4-motivating; 3-matter-of-fact; 2-dull; 1-depressing). Scores are sorted by size.* Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via Wilcoxon Rank Sum.

In his study of U.S. Middle States colleges and universities, Stober found that

independent raters were significantly more likely to identify sectarian statements (when

compared to public statements) as having an enriching, inspiring, motivating or stimulating tone

(Stober, 1997, p. 57). The findings of this study for tone scores support those of Stober. Table 9

and Figure 4, which order the data according to size, show public institutions scoring lower than

all other school types while private Christian institutions rank significantly above the others.

According to the raters, private Christian and private secular institutions produced mission

statements which were thought motivating. Separate Catholic and protestant institutions were

ranked as matter-of-fact, while public high schools were on the average categorized as being

Tone Scale: 5-very stimulating; 4-motivating; 3-matter-of-fact; 2-dull; 1-depressing* Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p<.05 via Wilcoxon Rank Sum. See Table 9. Also Appendix E for more detail.

Figure 4. Tone scores. Average readability scores for secondary statements of purpose according to sources of institutional control

G* I*J*

Tone Scores (Ave)

0.00.51.01.52.02.53.03.54.04.5

PrivateChristian

Private Secular SeparateCatholic

SeparateProtestant

Public

Text Content

Nine content criteria of good mission statements identified by the literature were sorted

under three general topic areas:

A. Relevance to stakeholders1. Identification of target groups2. Identification of commitment or principal service3. Identification of geographic area to be served4. Sense of educational community

B. Philosophy of Education5. Emphasis on building character & life vision6. Defining a philosophy7. Defining a cosmic worldview

C. Strategic planning 8. Reality factor9. Defining one overriding and clear big goal

As with the six presentation variables, these content variables were investigated to test the

hypothesis that a random sample of high school mission statements stratified into the traditional

North American sources of educational authority will exhibit similar content items.

Identification of Target Groups

On the rater sheet, target groups are the first of the group of variables identified from the

literature as being relevant to stakeholders (see Appendix C). Raters were asked: Does this

statement identify target group(s) that the school intends to or is uniquely able to serve?

(Yes/No). A subset of this variable inquired more specifically into the categories of target groups.

Raters were asked to specify which targets were mentioned in the school’s purpose statement: a-

religious groups; b-racial/ethnic groups; c-challenged; d-talented; e-students at risk; or f-other.

Each of the four raters’ yes or no response for a specific criterion was converted to a “1” or “0”

value and those values were then totaled for a possible score of 0 to 4. The Wilcoxon rank sum

test which compares pairs of distributions showed significant differences between the following

pairs of average scores PC-P, PC-SC, PS-P, SC-P, and SP-P (see Table 10; Figure 5 and

Appendix F-1 for more detail).

Table 10. Target Groups. Yes/No. Average Content Item Scores for Secondary Statements of Purpose According to Sources of Institutional Control

Private Christian

Separate Catholic

Separate Protestant

Private Secular

Public (P)

Target Group(s) 3.40 a** b* 2.90 b* d* 2.67 e* 2.60 c* 0.50 a** c* d* e*

Notes: Raters were asked: Does this statement identify target group(s) that the school intends to or is uniquely able to serve? (Yes/No). * Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via Wilcoxon Rank Sum (**differ significantly at p < .01).

Private Christian, separate Catholic, separate protestant and private secular school

statements of purpose identified target groups significantly more often than did those of public

schools. In addition, private Christian mission statements identified target groups significantly

more often than did those of separate Catholic schools.

Notes: Raters were asked: Does this statement identify target group(s) that the school intends to or is uniquely able to serve? (Yes/No). * Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via Wilcoxon Rank Sum(**differ significantly at p < .01, see Appendix F1 for details).Figure 5. Target group(s). Yes/No. Average content item scores for secondary statements of purpose according to sources of institutional control

Raters also identified specific target groups. The higher the number for a group, the more

institutions within that group that had identified specific target groups (see Table 11 and Figure

6). The tally scores of specific target types show that Christian institutions, whether private

Christian or separate Catholic, targeted religious groups significantly more often than other

institutions. Public institutions targeted racial/ethnic groups significantly more often than

private Christian schools. Otherwise, no statistically significant differences were found.

d*e* c*

a** c* d* e*

Target Group(s)

Private Christian Separate Catholic SeparateProtestant

Private Secular Public

Table 11. Specific Target GroupsAverage Tally Scores for the Presence of Specific Target Groups Identified in Secondary Statements of Purpose According to Sources of Institutional Control

Private Christian

Private Secular

Public Separate Catholic

Separate Protestant

a. religious groups 34 a* b** c* 0 a* d* 1 b** e** 28 c* d* e** 0b. racial/ethnic groups 0 f* 0 4 f* 1 0c. challenged 1 9 1 0 4d. talented 0 3 2 1 2e. students at risk 0 0 1 0 5f. socio/economic elite 0 2 0 0 0Notes:

These scores were tallied as a subset of the content item question: Does this statement identify target groups that the school intends to or is uniquely able to serve?

Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum. The private secular group may have shown a significant difference with a larger sample size.

* Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via Wilcoxon Rank Sum (** differ significantly at p < .01, see Appendix F1 for more details).

These results confirm those of Stober in his work with colleges and universities. Stober

had noted that sectarian institutions were significantly more likely to identify target groups than

were public institutions (Stober, 1997, p. 62, Table 4-4) and the groups targeted were most likely

to be religious groups (Stober, 1997, p. 66, Table 4-6).

Private Christian Private Secular Public Separate Catholic SeparateProtestant

religious groups

racial/ethnic groups

challenged

talented

students at risk

socio/economic elite

Note: Raters were asked: Does this statement identify target groups that the school intends to or is uniquely able to serve? Only two variables proved statistically significant. Religious groups and to a lesser extent racial/ethnic groups.

Figure 6. Specific target groups. Average tally scores for the presence of specific target groups identified in secondary statements of purpose according to sources of institutional control

Identification of Principal Services

Principal service was the second item on the rater sheet (see Appendix C). This was

another variable in two parts. The first part was a simple yes/no inquiry: Does this statement

identify principal service(s)? (Yes/No). The categories of content items offered for principal

services were: (a) technical specialization/professional career preparation; (b) arts; (c)

advanced academics; (d) academic specialization, (e) core academics; and (f) other (see

Appendix C).

Table 12. Principal Service(s). Yes/NoAverage Content Item Scores for Secondary Statements of Purpose According to Sources of Institutional Control

Separate Protestant (SP)

Private Secular (PS)

Private Christian (PC)

Separate Catholic (SC)

Public (P)

Principal Service 2.67 2.4 f* g* 1.8 1.5 g* 0.8 f*Notes: Raters were asked: Does this statement identify principal service(s)? (Yes/No). Content scores range are average values per group and based on total yes (1) or no (0) responses by the author and three independent raters for the presence of each content item (maximum value = 4). See the methodology section for details. * Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via Wilcoxon Rank Sum.

The scores for the first part can be seen in Table 12 and Figure 7. Each of the four raters’

yes or no responses for a specific criterion was converted to a “1” or “0” value and those values

were then totaled for a possible score of 0 to 4. The Wilcoxon Rank Sum test which compares

pairs of distributions showed significant differences between two pairs of average scores, PS-P

and PS-SC (see Table 12 and Figure 7). For more clarity, the data is again ordered according to

frequency. Significant differences between values are indicated by the subscripts. Private secular

school statements of purpose identified principal services significantly more often than those of

separate Catholic or public schools. Public schools identified any principal service least often.

Raters also identified specific principal services. The average tally scores for specific

content criteria are presented. These scores were tallied as subsets of general content item

questions requesting raters to identify specific principal services . The higher the number for a

group, the more institutions within that group that had identified specific services (see Table 13

and Figure 8).

Does this statement identify principal service(s)? (Yes/No).* Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.

Figure 7. Principal service(s). Yes/No. Average content item scores for secondary statements of purpose according to sources of institutional control

Table 13. Principle Services SpecifiedAverage Tally Scores for the Presence of Specific Services Identified in Secondary Statements of Purpose According to Sources of Institutional Control

Private Christian

Private Secular

Separate Protestant

a. Technical specialization 0 0 1 2 2

b. arts 0 1 0 2 0

c. advanced academics 1 3 4 6 3

d. academic specialization 0 2 2 2 2

e. core academics 0 0 0 0 0

f. ESL 0 0 0 0 1

g. Christian education & discipleship 16 a** 0 1 a** b* 8 b* 0

h. special learning needs/ disabilities/ enhanced supervision/ scheduling needs

2 7 0 1 6

i. Other 0 3 1 0 1

Notes: These scores were tallied as a subset of the content item question: Does this statement identify target groups that the school intends to or is uniquely able to serve? See methodology for details. * Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test (** differ significantly at p < .01, see Appendix F2 for more details).

Principal Service

SeparateProtestant

PrivateSecular

PrivateChristian

SeparateCatholic

Public

The tally scores of specific services do not show statistically significant differences

among the content items for principal services given in the literature studied (technical

specialization/professional career preparation; arts; advanced academics; academic

specialization, and core academics). However, the raters revealed other principal services not

found in the literature. Among these, Christian education & discipleship was the only special

service which was significantly different among the institutions. Private Christian and Catholic

separate school statements of purpose were found to have significantly more references to the

service of Christian education & discipleship that were public school statements.

Notes: These scores were tallied as a subset of the content item question: Does this statement identify target groups that the school intends to or is uniquely able to serve? This line graph is much enhanced when displayed in the original color version. However one outstanding variable (g) is also the only statistically significant one (See Appendix F2 for more details).

Figure 8. Principal services specified. Average tally scores for the presence of specific services identified in secondary statements of purpose according to sources of institutional control

PrivateChristian

Private Secular Public SeparateCatholic

SeparateProtestant

a. Techincal specialization

b. arts

c. advanced academics

d. academic specialization

e. core academics

f. ESL

g. Christian education & discipleship

h. special learning needs/ disabilities/enhanced supervision/ scheduling needs

i. Other

Identification of Geographic Areas to be Served

The third variable in the group relevance to stakeholders is geographic area(s). As with

Stober, this was a simple yes/no query: Are the school geographic boundaries specified?

(Yes/No) (See Appendix C). No significant results were found from this inquiry (see Table 14

and Figure 9).

Table 14. Identification of Geographic Area to be Served. Yes/NoAverage Tally Scores for Identification of Geographical Area to be Served in Secondary Statements of Purpose According to Sources of Institutional Control

Separate Catholic

Private Christian

Private Secular

Separate Protestant

Public

Geographic area 1.7 1.1 1.0 1.0 0.7Are the school geographic boundaries specified? (Yes/No

Stober had found that, in the case of colleges and universities, sectarian institutions were

least likely to identify a geographic area to be served (Stober, 1997, p. 62). This study did not

show a similar pattern for high schools. However, in hindsight, it may be that the question on the

rater sheet was not worded well. In this study, Stober’s question was rephrased: Are the school

geographic boundaries specified? At least for the sake of comparison, it would have been better

to phrase the question in the same form Stober used: Does this statement specify a geographic

area to be served? Because of the ambiguity of the wording, there may have been confusion

among the raters as to the intent of the question. Perhaps the aim should have been to ask about

whether or not there is intent to serve a particular geographic area. It seems some raters took it

this way and others understood the question to ask whether a geographic area is mentioned at all.

If the study were done again, it would be better to clarify this rater question.

Are the school geographic boundaries specified? (Yes/No). No statistically significant difference was found from this sample.

Figure 9. Identification of geographic area to be served. Yes/No

Sense of Educational Community

The fourth variable in the group relevance to stakeholders is sense of educational

community. This variable also has two parts. Raters were first asked a simple yes/no question: Is

there a sense of educational community involving all stakeholders such as teachers and parents?

(Yes/No). The results are displayed in Table 15 and Figure 10. For the first part, the scores of the

raters where simply added giving a maximum possible score of four. Private Christian school

statements of purpose were significantly more often rated as having a sense of community than

public school or separate Catholic school statements.

Geographic area

0.40.6

1.21.4

Separate Catholic Private Christian Private Secular SeparateProtestant

Public

Table 15. Sense of Educational CommunityAverage tally scores for a sense of educational community involving all stakeholders identified in secondary statements of purpose according to sources of institutional control

Private Christian

Private Secular

Separate Catholic

Separate Protestant

Public

Sense of Educational Community (Yes/No)

3.60 h* i* 3.00 2.80 i* 1.70 1.50 h*

Scaled Sense of Community Score

1.77 l* m* 1.54 1.41 m* 1.47 1.19 l*

Notes: Raters were asked: Is there a sense of educational community involving all stakeholders such as teachers and parents? (Yes/No). * Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via Wilcoxon Rank Sum.

The second part of the question asked raters to give a more detailed response as to the

nature of the sense of educational community reflected in the purpose statement: 5-Stakeholders

together in a common vision; 4-Between 5-3; 3-Top down management, 2-Between 3-1; 1-School

drifting along with stakeholders apathetic, uninvolved, uncommitted, no real direction.

The Likert scale for this variable was adjusted to conform to the same direction as those

for other variables. This was done by substituting a 5 for 1, 4 for 2, and 3 for 3. The average

result for the four raters was calculated. Public school statements are most accurately described

as conveying a top down management relationship among stakeholders. In conveying a sense of

educational community in which stakeholders share a common vision, Private Christian school

statements rated significantly higher on the Likert scale that public or Separate Catholic purpose

statements.

Notes: Raters were asked: Is there a sense of educational community involving all stakeholders such as teachers and parents? (Yes/No)* Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.

Figure 10. Sense of Educational Community

Emphasis on Building Character & Life Vision

The second set of variables found in the literature to be important for statements of

purpose are categorized as philosophy of education. These three variables are: (1) character and

life vision, (2) philosophy and (3) cosmic worldview. To establish whether the school mission

statement emphasizes building the character and life vision of their students, raters were asked:

Is there special emphasis on building the character and life vision of the students? (Yes/No)

Raters considered both private Christian and separate Catholic school statements to have very

significantly more emphasis on building students’ character and life vision that those of public

school statements (see Table 16 and Figure 11).

j(p<.11) m*

Private Christian Private Secular Separate Catholic Separate Protestant Public

Sense of Educational Community(Yes/No)

Scaled "Sense of Community" Score

Table 16. Emphasis on Character and Life vision. Yes/NoAverage Tally Scores for the emphasis on character and life vision identified in secondary statements of purpose according to sources of institutional control

PrivateChristian

Private Secular

SeparateProtestant

Emphasis on Character &Life vision (Yes/No)

3.90 n** 2.80 0.50 n** o** 3.10 o** 1.00

** Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .01 via Wilcoxon Rank Sum.See Appendix G-1 for more detail.

Raters were asked: Is there special emphasis on building the character and life vision of the students? (Yes/No).** Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .01 via Wilcoxon Rank Sum. See Appendix G-1 for more detail.

Figure 11. Emphasis on character and life vision. Yes/No

This variable also had a second part in which raters were asked to be specific about the

type of life vision which the school sought to build into their student’s lives: C-Christian, U-

utopian, L-liberal education, W-whole child, N-nationalistic/citizenship, O-other. Private

Christian and separate Catholic school statements had significantly more emphasis on a

Christian vision than private secular, public or separate Protestant school statements. Separate

Catholic statements had significantly more emphasis on a Christian vision than public or private

secular schools (see Table 17 and Figure 4-10). Only private secular and public school

n**(p<.004)

o**(p<.005)

n** o**

Emphasis on Character & Life Vision (Yes/No)

Separate Catholic

Private Secular

SeparateProtestant

PublicPrivate Christian

statements prompted the response for a whole child vision. This category was not prompted by

the other school types. That the responses tended to be categorical (i.e., all or nothing) suggests

major differences in educational vision (see also Appendix G for a more detailed statistics).

Table 17. Character & Life Vision. Specific ContentAverage tally scores for specific content references to the nature of the character and life vision emphasized in secondary statements of purpose according to sources of institutional control

Private Christian

Private Secular

Separate Protestant

Christian 39 a* b** c* 0 a* d* 1 b** e** 31 c* d* e** 0

Utopian 0 1 1 0 0Liberal 0 3 2 0 2Whole Child 0 f* 4 f* g* 2 0 g* 0

Nationalistic 0 3 1 0 1Other 0 3 0 0 0Notes: * Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.** Averages with the same subscript differ very significantly at p < .01 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.See Appendix G-1 for more detail.

Notes: Raters were asked to be specific about the type of life vision which the school sought to build into their student’s lives: C-Christian, U-utopian, L-liberal education, W-whole child, N-nationalistic/citizenship, O-other. ** Averages with the same subscript differ very significantly at p < .01 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test. See Appendix G-1 for more detail.

Figure 12. Character and life vision. Specific content

b**(vs.

public)e**(vs.

public)

f* g*0

PrivateChristian

Private Secular

Separate Protestant

ChristianUtopianLiberalWhole ChildNationalisticOther

Defining a Philosophy

Independent raters were asked: Does this statement clearly define the school’s beliefs,

values or philosophy? (1) not stated, (2) vague/not clear, (3) stated in a general sense, (4)

clearly stated, or (5) emphatically stated. The results are presented in Table 18 and Figure 13

(see also Appendix G for a more detailed statistical summary).

With tertiary education, Stober found that sectarian institutions were significantly more

likely than public and non-sectarian institutions to define the institution’s philosophy. Public and

non-sectarian statements of philosophy were rated as vague or not clear, but sectarian

philosophical statements were stated in a general sense (Stober, 1997, p. 62).

Table 18. Philosophy of EducationAverage tally scores for specific references to philosophy of education in secondary statements of purpose according to sources of institutional control

Private Christian

Separate Catholic

Private Secular

Separate Protestant

Public

Philosophy 4.65 p** q** 3.50 q** s* 3.15 r* 2.25 1.80 p** r* s*

Notes: * Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.** Averages with the same subscript differ very significantly at p < .01 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.See Appendix G-2 for more details.

In this study, all of private Christian, Separate Catholic, and private secular statements

were found to be significantly more clearly defined than public school statements. Moreover,

private Christian school statements were found to be very significantly more defined than

Catholic separate school statements (and private secular if the sample were larger). Private

Christian statements were rated as emphatically stated, separate Catholic as somewhat clearly

stated, private secular as stated in a general sense, separate Protestant as vague and public as

even vaguer edging toward not stated.

Notes: Raters were asked: Does the statement clearly define the school’s beliefs, values or philosophy? (1) not stated, (2) vague/not clear, (3) stated in a general sense, (4) clearly stated, or (5) emphatically stated.* Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p<.05 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.** Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .01 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.See Appendix G-2 for more details.

Figure 13. Philosophy of education

Defining a Cosmic Worldview

The third variable in the set eliciting the philosophy of education was cosmic worldview.

This variable was also probed in two parts. The first was the yes/no inquiry: Does the mission

statement define a cosmic worldview? (Yes/No) With a yes answer being represented by “1” and

a no answer by a “0”, the sum of the four raters responses could give up to a maximum of 4

points and a minimum of zero. Private Christian and Separate Catholic school statements

defined a cosmic worldview significantly more often than private secular or public school

p** (.005)

q**(.008)

s*(.012)

p**r*s*

Philosophy

Private Christian SeparateCatholic

Private Secular SeparateProtestant

Public

statements. Moreover, private secular schools defined a cosmic worldview more often than

public schools ( see Table 19 and Figure 14).

Table 19. Cosmic Worldview. Yes/NoPrivate

ChristianSeparate Catholic

Private Secular Separate Protestant

Public

Cosmic Worldview (Yes/No) 4.00 t* u** 3.30 w* x* 1.00 t* v* w* 0.67 0.40 u** v* x*

Does the mission statement define a cosmic worldview? (Yes/No).*Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.**Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .01 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.

The second part of this question asked raters to specify the nature of the cosmic

worldview reflected by a statement of purpose. There was a choice of N-naturalistic, C-

Christian, or θ-other. Private Christian and Separate Catholic schools overwhelmingly specified

a Christian worldview with none of the other school systems in the sample specifying this

worldview. In direct contrast, private secular and public school statements reflected a naturalist

worldview. The results for Protestant school statements were similar in orientation to the secular

school systems implying that if the sample size were higher they may also be shown to reflect

the naturalist perspective (see Table 20 and Figure 15; see also Appendix G-3 for a more detailed

statistical summary).

Does the mission statement define a cosmic worldview? (Yes/No).*Averages significantly at p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.**Averages differ with high significance at p < .01 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.

Figure 14. Cosmic worldview. Yes/No

Table 20. Worldview SpecifiedPrivate

ChristianPrivate Secular

Separate Protestant

Naturalistic 0 a* b* 5 a* c* 7 b* d* 0 c* d* 4

Christian 40 e* f** g* 0 e* 0 f** h** 33 g* h** 0

Other 0 0 1 0 0

Does the mission statement define a cosmic worldview? Naturalistic, Christian, or Other*Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.**Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .01 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.

Does the mission statement define a cosmic worldview? (Naturalistic, Christian or Other)See Table 20 and Appendix G-3 for more details.

Figure 15. Worldview specified

t*(.025)

u**(.004)

t* v*w* u** v* x*

Cosmic Worldview (Yes/No)

PrivateChristian

SeparateCatholic

PrivateSecular

SeparateProtestant

Public

Private Christian Private Secular Public SeparateCatholic

SeparateProtestant

Naturalistic

Christian

Reality Factor

The reality factor is a variable selected to measure the quality of strategic planning

revealed by a school’s statement of purpose. Raters were asked to grade statements of purpose on

their quality of strategic planning on the following Likert scale: 1-SMART: specific, measurable,

attainable, relevant, trackable; 2-less SMART than 1; 3-vague/fuzzy; 4-empty, irrelevant (nice

words but meaningless); 5- manipulation. While the separate Protestant category did not have

enough samples to make its score significant, all other differences are statistically significant at

least to p < .05 according to the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test. Another way to state the result is that

separate Protestant, private Christian and private secular school statements came out looking

quite SMART on the reality scale, while separate Catholic school statements were somewhat

SMART, and public school statements were rather vague and fuzzy.

Table 21. Reality Factor Original Scale Public Separate

Catholic Private Christian

Private Secular

Separate Protestant

Reality Factor 3.35 a** c* e** 2.58 b** d* e** 1.80 a** b** 1.80 c* d* 1.50

Reality Factor: 1-SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, trackable; 2-less SMART than 1; 3-vague/fuzzy; 4-empty, irrelevant (nice words but meaningless); 5- manipulation*Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.**Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .01 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.

If one reversed the direction of the Likert scale to reflect a positive instead of a negative

upward direction, it would look like Figure 16 (see also Appendix H).

Notes: Reality Factor. 5-SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, trackable; 4-less SMART than 5; 3-vague/fuzzy; 2-empty, irrelevant (nice words but meaningless); 1-manipulation.*Averages differ significantly at p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.**Averages differ with high significance at p < .01 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.

Figure 16. Reality factor. Scale adjusted for direction

Defining a Clear Big Goal

The second variable to test the quality of strategic planning reflected in a school mission

statement is that inquiring into whether the purpose statement defines one overriding and clear

big goal (see the Rater Sheet in Appendix C). This was also a yes/no question. Private Christian

school statements scored very significantly above both separate Catholic and public school

statements (at p < .004). Catholic statements also scored very significantly above those of public

school statements (at p < 0.10) (For more detailed statistics see Appendix H).

A second part of this variable asked in an open ended way for raters to specify this big

goal. The raw data here which was in free commentary form was considerable and complex and

c*(.041)

d*(.042)

a**(.005)

b**(.007)

e**(.008)

Reality Factor

SeparateProtestant

Private Secular

Private Christian

Separate Catholic

Public

thought unsuitable for presentation in this paper as it would extend the study too much, but could

be a starting point for later study.

Table 22. One Clear GoalSorted by size Private

ChristianPrivate Secular

Separate Catholic

Separate Protestant

Public

Big Goal 3.80 a** b** 3.40 2.30 b** c** 1.33 0.60 a** c**

Does the statement define one overriding and clear big goal? (1-Yes / 0-No)*Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.**Averages with the same subscript differ with high significance at p < .01 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.

Does the statement define one overriding and clear big goal? (1-Yes / 0-No)* Averages differ significantly at p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test. ** Averages differ with high significanceat p < .01 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test. See Appendix H-2 for more detail.

Figure 17. One clear goal

a**(.004)

b**(.004) b**

c**(.010)

a**c**

Clear Big Goal

Private Christian Private Secular Separate Catholic SeparateProtestant

Public

Results of Hypothesis Testing

Hypothesis 1

Data presented support the following conclusion with respect to the first hypothesis. High

school mission statements within this research sample exhibited different content and text clarity

according to sources of institutional authority.

Hypothesis 2

The second hypothesis to be tested in this study was that t he content and presentation of

mission statements bear a significant relationship to school performance as measured by

students’ academic outcomes. This hypothesis was based on the design of Pearce and David who

hypothesized in the case of business mission statements that “the mission statements of high

performing Fortune 500 companies will exhibit more of the desired components than will those

of low performing Fortune 500 firms” (Pearce & David, 1987, p. 109). Pearce and David

compared the differences in the average scores for mission statement components among high

performing companies to the average scores of low performing companies, for each component

looking for statistical differences between these average scores. The schema for Pearce and

David’s comparison of corporate mission statements is outlined in Table 6.

In Pearce and David’s study high performers were firms in the top quartile of a profit

margin distribution of all responding Fortune 500 companies. Low performers were the lower

quartile firms (Pearce & David, 1987, p. 112). Although the particular components as well as the

measures of performance differ between businesses and educational institutions, the basic

hypothesis is the same and a similar methodology was applied.

For the educational institutions of this study, the measure of the performance of schools

used was the annual overall rating of each school’s academic performance by the Fraser Institute

for all Canadian primary and secondary institutions. Using eight indicators and building on data

about student results provided by Alberta Education (the provincial Ministry of Education), the

Fraser Institute calculates a report card score on a scale from zero to 10 for each school (see

chapter 3 for details).

Using the Fraser Institute report card, a score was referenced for each school of the

sample of schools taken in this study. The distribution of the average scores for each group of

schools was sorted revealing the following ranking order from high to lower rank: (1) private

secular, (2) private Christian, (3) separate Catholic, (4) separate Protestant, and (5) public.

Statistically significant differences were found between higher and lower ranking school types

(see Table 23 and Figure 18 as well as Appendix I). With the limitations of the sample size, the

significance of ranking of private secular and separate Protestant schools could not be

determined. The difference among the school types in the sample between private Christian and

public schools as well as separate Catholic and public schools was highly significant at (p < .005

and p < .009 respectively). When the sample size for private secular schools was increased to 10

by taking a random sample from another province, significance in the data was revealed also for

this difference (p < .014). The scores in this random sample presented a statistically significant

difference between the higher performers (private secular, private Christian, and separate

Catholic schools) in contrast to the comparatively lower performer (public schools).

Table 23. Overall Academic RatingSample Results for Overall Academic Rating of Alberta High Schools According to Sources of Institutional Authority

Private Secular

Private Secular1

Private Christian

Separate Catholic

Separate Protestant

Public

Overall Rating 2003- 2004 7.58 8.02 c* 7.32 a** 6.55 b** 6.4 4.8 a** b** c*

Statistical Significance p<.014 p<.005 p<.009Notes: 1 An additional random sample of 5 additional secular private schools from B.C. makes the average academic rank of this school type significantly different. * Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.** Averages with the same subscript differ with high significance at p < .01 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.

* Averages differ significantly at p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Rank test.** Averages differ with high significance at p < .01 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test.

Figure 18. Overall academic rating. Sample results for overall academic rating of Alberta high schools according to sources of institutional authority

To test that the mission statements of higher performing schools exhibited more of the

desired components all sets of scores were scaled in the same positive-negative direction (see

Table 24 and Figure 19 as well as Appendix J). In Figure 19, one can see visually that all

components are higher for the higher performing schools compared to public schools. Even the

results for principle service, geographic area, and cosmic worldview, which appear somewhat

erratic on the chart, are all at a higher level in higher performing school type statements than the

a**(p<.005)

a** b**c*

Overall Academic Rating2003-2004

012345678

Private Secular

Private Christian

Separate Catholic

SeparateProtestant

Public

b**(p<.009)

lower performing public schools’ statements. Moreover, as can be seen in Table 24, in the

bottom row Total Score across Categories, an average of all the components for each school

type reveals a significant difference between the average of the components for public school

statements and the average of the components for the higher performing school types.

Table 24. General Array of Purpose Statement ComponentsGeneral Array of Purpose Statement Components for Secondary Institutions Grouped by Average Academic Rank

Higher Ranking Lower Ranking

PrivateChristian

PrivateSecular

SeparateCatholic

Public

Target group(s) 3.40 a** b* 2.60 c* 2.90 b* d* 0.50 a** c* d* e*

Principal Service 1.80 2.40 f* g* 1.50 g* 0.80 f*

Geographic area 1.10 1.00 1.70 0.70Sense of Educational Community (Yes/No) 3.60 h* i* 3.00 j* k* 2.80 i* k* 1.50 h* j*

Scaled Sense of Community Score (÷4) 4.42l * m* 3.85 3.53 m* 2.97 l*

Emphasis on Character & life vision 3.90 n** 2.80 3.10 o** 0.50 n** o**

Philosophy 4.65 p** q** 3.15 r* 3.50 q** s* 1.80 p** r* s*

Cosmic worldview 4.00 t* u** 1.00 t* v* w* 3.30 w* x* 0.40 u** v* x*

Reality factor 4.20 y** z** 4.30 A* B* 3.43 z** B* C** 2.65 y** A* C**

One big goal 3.80 D** E** 3.40 2.30 F** E** 0.60 D** F**

Tone Scores 4.15 G* H* 4.00 I* 3.30 H* J* 2.35 G* I* J*

Total Score Across Categories 39.02 K** N* O** 31.50 L** N* 31.35 M** O** 14.77 K** L** M**

Notes: * Averages with the same subscript differ significantly at p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test (** differ with high significance at p < .01). See Appendix J for more details.

Private Christian Private Secular Separate Catholic Public

Target group(s)

Principal Service

Geographic area

Sense of Educational Community(Yes/No)

Scaled "Sense of Community" Score(÷4)

Character & life vision

Philosophy

Cosmic worldview

Reality factor

One big goal

Tone Scores

Note: This graph appears better in color but the trends can be seen in black and white as well.

Figure 19. General array of purpose statement components grouped by average academic rank

CHAPTER 5. SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, RECOMMENDATIONS, IMPLICATIONS

Summary

Well defined and clearly stated missions are necessary so that institutions can remain true

to their basic orientation while strategically responding to external and internal forces. This study

examined the content and text clarity of 38 mission statements as published by secondary schools

accredited by the Province of Alberta, Canada. Mission statements were gathered from the web

sites of high schools within the research sample. Techniques of earlier researchers were

enhanced to examine the statements for content items (dealing with relevance to stakeholders,

philosophy of education, strategic planning) and for presentation (through Flesch Reading Ease,

Gunning’s Fog Index, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, lexical density, word counts and tone

scores). Statistically significant differences were observed between the five institutional

categories studied—public, separate Catholic, separate Protestant, private secular and private

Christian. Results have been presented in chapter 4, and specific data have been referenced in the

summary and discussion that follows. Recommendations and implications are discussed along

with suggestions for further research. Although this discussion is limited to secondary schools

accredited in the Province of Alberta, it is possible that these finding may be applied with

caution to other populations of North American secondary schools.

With respect to the first hypothesis, it was found that mission statements of high schools

reflect significant differences between sources of educational authority. Significant differences

were found for 12 of the 15 components tested. Among the five readability measures tested by

grammatical analysis, three out of five tests showed significant differences. Among the content

variables, all except one (geographic area) showed significant differences. In addition, there is a

noticeable correlation between the character of the components of mission statements and the

types of institutional sources of authority (see Appendix L). This adds weight to the argument

that the sources of authority have characteristic differences.

The second hypothesis, tested correlation between academic soundness and mission

statement characteristics and found both that characteristic mission statement components and

source of institutional authority correlate with the academic success of an educational enterprise.

We had already found through hypothesis 1 that sources of institutional authority produce

characteristic mission statements. It seems that the differing kinds of educational institutional

authority produce correspondingly different qualities of mission statements which in turn are

related to predictably differing qualities of education (at least from the point of view of academic

success). The discussion which follows will expand upon these findings as well as cite other

studies which show similar trends.

Discussion

High School Mission Statements Distinguish Themselves According to Categories of Institutional

Authority

The contention that the mission statements of secondary schools are basically similar

across the school types has been shown to be false. Secondary schools in this study distinguished

themselves according to school authority in all but three of the 15 components used to test them.

School types have significantly unique mission statement contents and presentation. Institutional

authorities distinguish themselves by (a) readability and tone, (b) by relevance to stakeholders

(target groups, principal services, and educational community), (c) by philosophy of education

(emphasis on character and life vision, philosophy, worldview), and (d) by the quality of

strategic planning (reality factor and definition of a clear overall goal).

Institutional Authorities Distinguish Themselves by Readability and Tone

Readability Analysis

Although the Gunning’s Fog Index (GFI) and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL)

suggested no particular difference between the grammatical reading ease of school types, the

Flesch Reading Ease, the lexical density, and the number of words per statement scores

suggested differences consistent with each other, consistent with tone and content scores

submitted by human raters, as well as consistent with previous research. This was easier to see

by rescaling and synchronizing the data to be all going in one direction so that higher scores

consistently mean an easier reading level. This was done in Figure 2 and Figure 3. The three

variables which showed a difference between school types all flowed in the same direction

although somewhat erratically. A larger sample size may have helped to take out the jaggedness

of the lines. Among the tables and figures for this data, the line graph Figure 3 showed the trend

of the data most clearly and is reproduced here in Figure 20.

The FRE suggests that the statements of private Christian schools are easier to read that

those of private secular schools. For the FRE, these findings show the private Christian sector to

have the easiest statements to read with the private secular sector being the most difficult to

read. With regard to lexical density, the private Christian sector again had the easiest statements

to read, next came private secular schools, third Catholic separate schools and the public sector

had the most difficult statements to read. The Christian private sector had the longest statements

of purpose, with the public and separate Catholic systems having the shortest mission

statements.

Adjusted LD

Word Count0

Private Christian

Private Secular

Separate Catholic

Separate Protestant

Public

Notes: For all variables of reading ease the sample size of secular Protestant schools proved to be too

small to make significant comments. See Figure 3, for a more details on this line graph. Figure 20. Line graph with reading ease means scaled to increasing readability

These findings are consistent with Stober’s analysis of college and university mission

statements. With the Gunning Fog Index and word counts, Stober’s study found no significant

differences between sources of institutional control. However, Stober’s Flesch Reading Ease

analysis inferred private Christian colleges and universities have the easiest statements to read

while public colleges and universities had the most difficult to read (Stober, 1997, p. 59).

In summary, Albertan private Christian school statements had the easiest statements to

read, followed by either private secular or separate Catholic school statements with public

school statements being the most difficult to read as well as among the shortest. The next step

would be to take samples from other provinces as well to see if the Canada-wide picture looks

the same as that in Alberta. It is suggested that the differences found in Alberta will be even

more extreme in other provinces because of the sectarian nature of the general population of

Alberta where even in the public school sector mission statements can be found which have a

sectarian vision and mission. This would be particularly rare in a province like Ontario which

according to a report by the Fraser Institute tends to be much less tolerant of private institutions

of any kind (Hepburn & Belle, 2003). Thus one would expect differences between the secular

and the religious visions and missions to be even more pronounced in a province such as

Ontario.

Tone Scores

Besides these readability measures, text tone scores were the other variable suggested by

previous research to measure the quality of presentation of mission statements of educational

institutions. In his study of U.S. Middle States colleges and universities, Stober found that

independent raters were significantly more likely to identify sectarian statements (when

compared to public statements) as having an enriching, inspiring, motivating or stimulating tone

(Stober, 1997, p. 57).

The findings of this study for tone scores support those of Stober. In this study, private

Christian and private secular institutions produced mission statements which were thought

motivating. Separate Catholic and Protestant institutions were ranked as matter-of-fact, while

public high schools were on the average categorized as being dull.

Institutional Authorities Distinguish Themselves by Relevance to Stakeholders

Identification of Target Groups

Private Christian, separate Catholic, separate protestant and private secular school

statements of purpose (in that order) identified target groups more often than those of public

schools. Striking is the contrast between public schools and other school types. Every one of

these school types distinguished themselves with statistical significance by identifying target

groups more often than public schools.

Christian institutions (both private and separate Catholic) targeted religious groups more

often than other institutions. Public institutions targeted racial/ethnic groups more often than

private Christian schools. With a larger sample size private secular schools may have been

found to target challenged students more often that other groups.

These results confirm those of Stober in his work with colleges and universities. Stober

had noted that sectarian intuitions were significantly more likely to identify target groups than

were public institutions (Stober, 1997, p. 62, Table 4-4) and the groups targeted were most likely

to be religious groups (Stober, 1997, p. 66, Table 4-6).

Identification of Principal Services

Private secular school statements of purpose identified principle services significantly

more often than those of separate Catholic or public schools. Public schools identified any

principle service least often.

Raters also identified specific principle services. The tally scores of specific services do

not show statistically significant differences among the content items for principle services given

in the literature studied (i.e., technical specialization/professional career preparation; arts;

advanced academics; academic specialization, and core academics). Stober had not found any

significant difference in principal services among institutions according to institutional authority

for the categories in his survey either (Stober, 1997, p. 62, Table 4-4). Interestingly, however, the

raters revealed other principle services not found in the literature. Among these Christian

education & discipleship was the only special service which was significantly different among

the institutions. Private Christian and Catholic separate school statements of purpose were

found to have significantly more references to the service of Christian education & discipleship

than were public school statements.

Identification of Geographic Areas to be Served

With respect to the variable identification of geographic area to be served, no significant

results were found from this inquiry. However, Stober had found that, in the case of colleges and

universities, sectarian institutions were least likely to identify a geographic area to be served

(Stober, 1997, p. 62). This study did not show a similar pattern for high schools. If anything, the

results of this study tended to go in the opposite direction of Stober’s study suggesting that

sectarian institutions identified a geographic area to be served more often than public institutions.

However, the difference was only statistically significant to p < .10. In hindsight, it may be that

the question on the rater sheet was not worded well and this should be improved in another such

study (see Recommendations in this chapter).

Sense of Educational Community

Private Christian school statements came closest to conveying a sense of educational

community in which stakeholders share a common vision. Separate Catholic and private secular

statements were described as having some sense of educational community but tending toward

top down management.10 Instead of having a sense of educational community, public school

statements were most often described as conveying a top down management relationship among

stakeholders.

Stober (1997) did not investigate this variable in his study. However, these findings are

consistent with findings of reports by the NCES on private schools in America such as that of Alt

and Peter (2002). Alt and Peter pointed out a number of studies that found links between

teachers’ perceptions of a school’s professional climate and teachers’ effectiveness and job

satisfaction (Mitchell, Ortiz, & Mitchell, 1987; Rosenholtz, 1991). They cited an extensive study

of Catholic high schools in which a range of attributes were found to contribute to school

effectiveness. These attributes included the staff’s communal organization to advance shared

goals; principals’ having primary decision making authority for most school management

matters; teachers’ commitment to the academic, spiritual, and social development of students;

10 The sample size for private secular schools was too small to give a 95% confidence level.

and an atmosphere of mutual respect among everyone in the school (Bryk, Lee, and Holland

1993). They point out that a school’s professional climate, in particular, the existence of a strong,

shared purpose among staff members and cooperative interactions among people at the school, is

likely to contribute to its effectiveness. They note Newmann and Wehlage (1995) found that

when teachers feel a sense of community at their schools, they can better communicate

consistent goals to students and collaborate more effectively on raising student achievement.

Similarly, they point out a study by Bryk and Driscoll (1988) found that “teachers who work

toward shared goals express higher job satisfaction and have lower absentee rates than do other

teachers” (Cited in Alt & Peter, 2002, p. 15). Presented in Figure 21, the survey on School

Climate and Working conditions done by Alt and Peter on a large sample of the whole

population of American primary and secondary schools showed a similar pattern to that found in

this study. The other religious11 category, of Alt and Peter’s study, which shows the highest

levels of teacher satisfaction, refers to all private religious schools other than Catholic and is

closely equivalent to the private Christian sector of this study. The comparatively better school

climate and working conditions in private Christian schools in the American study compare with

the similarly higher sense of educational community in the private Christian sector of this

Alberta study.

11 In the U.S., the other religious sector consist of 96.8% Christian and 99.4% Judeo-Christian schools (the remainder are Islamic with 0.6% of schools) (Broughman & Colaciello, 2001, 6)

Other religious 71.3% 67.7% 72.3% 63.5% 48.1% 41.4% 41.9%

Catholic 62.9% 46.5% 55.3% 50.2% 40.0% 37.4% 36.8%

Nonsectarian 64.1% 68.0% 47.4% 53.1% 37.1% 38.8% 33.0%

Public 53.7% 35.8% 33.2% 33.9% 15.6% 38.0% 22.8%

I am satisfied with teaching at

this school

I am satisfied with my class

Most colleagues share school's

mission

Staff cooperative effort is high

I receive lots of parent support for my work

I consciously coordinate

courses with

Rules are consistently enforced by

From data given by Alt and Peter (2002, p. 16)

Figure 21. Percentage of teachers who strongly agreed with various statements about the school’s professional climate and working conditions, by sector and private school type: 1999–2000

Institutional Authorities Distinguish Themselves by Philosophy of Education

Emphasis on Building Character & Life V ision

The second set of variables found in the literature to be important for statements of

purpose are categorized as philosophy of education. Raters considered both private Christian and

separate Catholic school statements to have significantly more emphasis on building students’

character and life vision that those of public school statements. What was that vision? As might

be expected, private Christian and separate Catholic school statements had significantly more

emphasis on a Christian vision than private secular12 or public school statements. However,

private Christian schools had significantly more emphasis on a specifically Christian vision and

mission than separate Catholic schools.

One of the purposes of this study was to inquire to what extent mission statements of

schools reflect the traditional mission and vision of the institutional authority which they

represent and to what extent the statement reflects an erosion of the original vision and mission

of that institutional authority. Does the weaker emphasis on a specifically Christian vision and

mission relative to private Christian schools indicate a dilution of the Christian vision and

mission among the Catholic school sector? This study suggests evidence which points in that

direction.

Only private secular and public school statements prompted the response for a whole

child vision. This category was not prompted by the other school types. That the responses

tended to be significantly categorical (i.e., all or nothing) suggests major differences in

educational vision. Another question brought out here is: just what does an institution mean by a

whole child vision? A glance at the literature shows that this term is ambiguous enough to be

used to go along with any vision and mission. Does that an ambiguous term is most used to

describe the private secular and public school statements indicate a corresponding ambiguity in

their vision and mission? The responses for the other two variables queried in the philosophy

section would also support such a suggestion.

12 The lack of a significant result from secular private schools shows the weakness of the small sample size. However, only five schools were found in this category which met the criteria of the study (see Recommendations).

Defining a Philosophy

With tertiary education, Stober found that sectarian institutions were significantly more

likely than public and non-sectarian institutions to define the institution’s philosophy. Public and

non-sectarian statements of philosophy were rated as “vague” or “not clear,” but sectarian

philosophical statements were at least stated in a “general sense” (Stober, 1997, p. 62).

In this study, all of private Christian, separate Catholic, and private secular statements were

found to be significantly more clearly defined than public school statements . Moreover, private

Christian school statements were found to be significantly more defined that Catholic separate

school statements.13 Private Christian statements were rated as emphatically stated, separate

Catholic as somewhat clearly stated, private secular as stated in a general sense, separate

Protestant as vague and public as even vaguer edging toward not stated. The impression given is

that the philosophy and vision articulated by the public category is either not there or vaguely

stated with no educationally charismatic appeal.

Defining a Cosmic Worldview

For the first part of this query, Private Christian and Separate Catholic school statements

defined a cosmic worldview14 significantly more often than private secular or public school

statements. In turn, private secular schools defined a cosmic worldview more often than public

schools.

The second part of this question asked raters to specify the nature of the cosmic

worldview reflected by a statement of purpose. Private Christian and separate Catholic schools

13 and private secular if the sample were larger (see Recommendations). 14 For a definition of cosmic worldview see Appendix M: Glossary.

overwhelmingly specified a Christian worldview with none of the other school systems in the

sample specifying this worldview. In direct contrast, private secular and public school

statements reflected a naturalist worldview.15 The categorical and absolute nature of the

dichotomy reflects back on a similar response to the character and life vision variable. We seem

to be looking at diametrically opposed worldviews. However, the one seems to hold most of the

educational charisma while the other is ambiguously held and lacking in educationally visionary

power.

Institutional Authorities Distinguish Themselves in the Quality of Strategic Planning

Reality Factor

The reality factor was a variable selected to measure the quality of strategic planning

revealed by a school’s statement of purpose. The results of the strategic planning variable were

striking if only because all differences were significant.16

Private Christian statements together with private secular schools had the highest

ranking on the reality scale. Separate Catholic school statements were a significant second and

public school statements were a significant last on the reality scale. Another w ay to state the

result is that private Christian and private secular school statements came out looking quite

SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, trackable) on the reality scale, while separate

15 The results for protestant schools statements were similar in orientation to the secular school systems implying that if the sample size were higher they may also be shown to reflect the naturalist perspective (see Table 4-14 and Figure 4-14)16 With the exception of the Protestant category which did not have enough samples for a statistically significant inference.

Catholic school statements were somewhat SMART, and public school statements were rather

vague and fuzzy. There is a pattern here among the results of this analysis of school purpose

statements. In fact, the private sector and in particular the Christian sector comes out looking

much more educationally vigorous than the public sector.

Defining a Clear Big Goal

The second variable to test the quality of strategic planning reflected in a school mission

statement is that inquiring into whether the purpose statement defines one overriding and clear

big goal. Private Christian school statements scored significantly above both separate Catholic

and public school statements. Catholic statements also scored significantly above those of public

school statements.17

A second part of this variable asked raters to specify this big goal. The raw data here,

which was in free commentary form, was considerable and complex and thought unsuitable for

presentation in this paper as it would extend the study too much, but could be a starting point for

later study.

High School Academic Performance Correlates with Mission Statement Components

Using the Fraser Institute report card, a score was referenced for each school of the

sample of schools taken in this study. The distribution of the average scores for each group of

schools was sorted revealing the following ranking order from high to lower rank: (1) private

secular, (2) private Christian, (3) separate Catholic, (4) separate Protestant, and (5) public.

17 Here both private secular and separate Protestant school samples were not large enough to register statistical significance.

Statistically significant differences were found between higher and lower ranking school types

(see Table 23 and Figure 18). With the limitations of the sample size the significance of ranking

of private secular and separate Protestant schools could not be determined. The differences

among the school types in the samples between private Christian and public schools as well as

separate Catholic and public schools w ere highly significant. When the sample size for private

secular schools was increased the significant difference in the data was also revealed.

Thus, scores of this random sample of Alberta high schools presented a statistically significant

difference between the higher performers (private secular, private Christian, and separate

Catholic schools) in contrast to the comparatively lower performer (public schools).

To test that the mission statements of higher performing schools exhibited more of the

desired components, all sets of scores were scaled in the same positive-negative direction. The

results were tabulated in Table 24 but can best be seen in Figure 19. It can be seen visually that

all components are higher for the higher performing schools compared to public schools. Even

the results for principle service, geographic area, and cosmic worldview, which appear somewhat

erratic on the chart, are all at a higher level in higher performing school type statements than the

lower performing public schools’ statements. Moreover, an average of all the components for

each school type reveals a significant difference from the average of the components for public

school statements for each of the higher performing school types.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Administration

How can the results of this study be put to immediate, practical use and by whom? The

following educational stakeholders would potentially benefit from this study.

Schools will have the opportunity to acquire better insight into the dynamics of effective

mission statements. This is extremely important for purposes of self-understanding,

organizational focus, strategic planning, stakeholder motivation and marketing.

Governments will have the opportunity to acquire a better appreciation for the

effectiveness of a diversity of educational sources of authority. The shortcomings of the present

system of public education as revealed in the systemic and comprehensive weaknesses of public

school mission statements as well as the shortfall in the academic bottom line should point

governmental efforts at more decentralization, community autonomy, and sensitivity in the area

of education. The success of private and sectarian schools suggests that governments linking

more to the real needs of the grassroots educational stakeholders, the parents and students, would

ensure a greater vitality in the educational endeavour. This is underlined by the observation that

the provinces with the greatest educational choice (Alberta and B.C.) are also those which have

the greatest success in average academic result. It is also true that those provinces where

government offers least educational freedom are also those in which students do most poorly on

both internal and international comparisons (Hepburn & Belle, 2003).

Educational researchers may benefit from a study of high school mission statements to

complement what has been done on business and college mission statements.

This study may offer particular encouragement to those stakeholders in private education

who struggle in an uphill battle to offer a viable educational package to those families which are

looking for alternatives to currently fashionable curriculum offered by the public system of

education.

Education researchers, government authorities, school administrators and any interested

stakeholders may have the opportunity to acquire fresh insights into the purposes and visions of

other schools and school sectors.

Recommendations for Future Research

It is hoped that this study will be helpful in the chain of research of what has already been

done in the area of missions and visions in education and that it would prove stimulating and

helpful as one stepping stone toward further research in this area. It is hoped that future studies

would confirm, enlarge on and refine the findings of this study and develop those aspects of the

study which go beyond its limitations. Such further research may wish to include some of the

following suggestions.

Further Investigation using Computer Generated Word Profiles

In his study of Middle States college mission statements, Stober (1997) had done some

interesting work with word profiles, listing the most frequently used words for each group of

mission statements and then searching for unique content related words. Computer analysis was

used to build word profiles for statements grouped according to institutional authority groupings.

Word profiles were developed to identify the 25 most frequently used words in each group. The

top 25 content words for each group were scanned for words unique to each group. Due to

considerations of time and scope this study omitted this interesting investigation (Stober, 1997).

Refinement of the Wording of Rater Questions

The rater question for identification of geographic areas in particular needs to be

reworded. Although Stober had found that, in the case of colleges and universities, sectarian

institutions were least likely to identify a geographic area to be served (Stober, 1997, p. 62), this

study did not show a similar pattern for high schools. However, in hindsight, it may be that the

question on the rater sheet was not worded well. In this case, Stober’s question was rephrased:

Are the school geographic boundaries specified? At least for the sake of comparison, it would

have been better to phrase the question in the same form Stober used: Does this statement specify

a geographic area to be served? Because of the ambiguity of the wording, there may have been

confusion among the raters as to the intent of the question. Perhaps the aim should have been to

ask about whether or not there is intent to serve a particular geographical area. It seems some

raters took it this way and others understood the question to ask whether a geographical area is

mentioned at all. If the study were done again, it would be better to clarify this rater question.

Further Exploration of the Possible Effects of the Personal P hilosophy of Raters

More thought needs to be given to the effect of the philosophy of the raters on the results.

It is difficult to determine independence when the categories may set raters against each other.

Other studies have used a similar methodology and have also done little to investigate or discuss

the effects of rater bias. To attain more independence, it may be best to take raters from outside

the social-political-philosophic environment in which the school sample is taken. In this study,

two out of the three independent raters had all of their primary and secondary schooling outside

of North America. They would not share the same social-political-philosophic biases toward the

school system as that of North American raters, giving them somewhat more independence. If it

could be arranged, one could intentionally set raters with opposing philosophies on the rating

team. However, even if raters disagree, one suspects that that may only highlight the fact that the

mission statements are different. Most of the mission statement criteria would not be affected by

philosophy. For instance, target groups, geographic area, principal services, educational

community, and even the criteria probing philosophy of education are all more rooted in the

content of the mission statements rather than in the raters’ ideological perceptions. The only

variable that might conceivably be somewhat obscured is the tone score which actually measures

the extent to which the statement inspires the raters’ feelings. It is even conceivable that

differences in philosophy of education among the raters would not reduce significant differences

of response with respect to different sources of educational authority and may even accentuate

the differences.

Increase of Sample Size and Population Geographic Range

To increase the reliability of the findings would require more samples and to increase the

generalizability of the findings would require a wider geographic area. This study has focused on

the high schools in Alberta, one province in Canada. Now that the variables and the study model

have been somewhat tested, the next step might be to do a Canada-wide study. If that proved

interesting enough, a U.S. study would come next since that is the country next most similar to

Canada. If the study is to develop into the Chinese context, it might be best to start with Hong

Kong which is a region thriving on a large proportion of publicly supported separate and private

schooling.

Thoughts about Comparisons with China

Hong Kong would be an interesting study. What is interesting about Hong Kong is the

huge part the private sector plays as the provider of education. As with many economically

developed countries and regions, Hong Kong has a system of free and compulsory education.

But instead of playing the role of direct provider of education, the Hong Kong Government relies

on mostly non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or the Third Sector, to provide basic

education for Hong Kong’s residents (Charles Chan, 2004, p. 39). According to the Education

Indicators for the Hong Kong School Education System 2001 Abridged Report, NGO’s managed

82.6% of the primary schools and 68.3% of secondary schools. Only 5.8% were government

schools, 12.8% were local private and 4.5% were private international schools, operated by

NGOs or by profit-m aking organizations (Charles Chan, 2004, p. 46).18

Deeper Study into the O verall Purposes of Education

Steve Stemler and Damian Bebell (1999) considered the purposes of education in their

analysis of post-secondary mission statements. I gained insight and encouragement from Stemler

and Damian’s study and had at first planned to include the variable educational purpose in this

18 If as this study infers: (1) private Christian schools are more relevant to stakeholders than public schools; (2) private Christian schools have a philosophy of education with educational charisma and visionary power while public system is vague or lacking vision altogether; (3) private Christian schools have the highest rank in the reality scale, looking SMART while public schools are “vague and fuzzy.” Why are we then not putting more public funding into promoting private Christian education, as is done in Hong Kong, since this sector is doing such a good job at education?

study. However, it became apparent that this category should be identified for future research but

left out at present for the sake of keeping this research paper within reasonable limits.

More thought needs to be put into the nature of the differences found among school

types. This study has categorized mission statement components under two main types:

presentation and content. Presentation included readability and intensity of impression. This

measured not only presentation as reflecting the orientation of a school but also as reflecting the

impact on the audience, that is, the level of stakeholder motivation aroused by the statement.

Both these aspects of presentation reflect a level of charisma. Content variables were categorized

into those related to stakeholders, those of philosophy and those related to strategic planning.

Among variables of philosophy, it was found that school systems aligned themselves into large

and systematic worldview groups. It would be worthwhile to explore further how the various

components correlate systematically with the specific philosophies of education. Indeed, the

marked commonalities among school types suggest that there are connected relationships which

must be better understood to discern the reasons for or lack of the effectiveness of mission

statements and of school systems.

Implications

It is not the purpose of this paper to delve deeply into the implications of the results. This

was intended to be an empirical study, the logical and philosophic implications of which have yet

to be further explored and fleshed out. Nor has the purpose been mainly a practical one. The

value is hopefully philosophic and long range. It was hoped first of all to build a model with

which to investigate fundamental differences between educational approaches in order to get a

better understanding of possible reasons for their effectiveness or lack of it. If the results of this

study have suggested further areas of investigation, it has served its purpose.

Certainly, much in this study is suggestive for philosophical explanation. Stober found

school philosophy to align significantly with authority type. U.S. studies show that religious

schools have better academic results. One hypothesis is that there exists a causal relationship

between the vision and mission of religious schools and academic results. The results of this

study could support such a hypothesis. Stephen Covey (1990) emphasized that the mission

statement

has to come from within the bowels of the organization. Everyone should participate in a meaningful way—not just the top strategy planners, but everyone. Once again, the involvement process is as important as the written product and is the key to its use. (Cited in Terez, 2003)

Yet, as one considers the accelerating historical growth of the public sector one is aware of large

social and historical forces of bureaucratization increasingly reducing community participation

and freedom of choice in education. Is this related to the tendency toward mediocrity seen in the

apparent dilution of vision in the statements of the public school sector? Another large issue

revealed by this investigation is the real clash of worldviews and spiritual oppositions in the

categorically differing philosophic foundations of school authorities. But such larger philosophic

considerations go beyond the limitations of this study or even the work of this investigator. It is

hoped that others who value education and seek the most solid educational foundations for both

teaching and research will pick up the torch of the present study and continue where this study

left off.

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APPENDIX A. PEARCE’S CONTENT QUESTIONS

1. Philosophy Does this mission statement define the colleges’ beliefs, values, or philosophical priorities?

2. Self-concept Does this mission statement describe how the institution views itself3. Public image Does this mission statement describe the institution’s desired public

image?4. Target group Does this mission statement identify specific groups that the college

intends, or is uniquely able, to serve?5. Principal services Does this mission statement identify academics [teaching or research]

as a primary responsibility?6. Unique technologies Does this mission statement identify technologies/services in addition

to teaching or research?7. Concern for survival Does this statement express a commitment to growth or survival?8. Geographic range Does this mission statement specify geographic areas to be served?

APPENDIX B. SAMPLE MISSION STATEMENTS

Sample Mission Statement 1

This is a sample of statement as printed for raters. Note that the school name has been replaced with a blank.

Administrator's Message

Welcome to __________ High School. The philosophy of this school is simply not to be second, academically or extra-curricular, to any other school of equal size, in the province for a long time to come. You should be proud that this is your school and, we are sure, you will treat it with the utmost respect. We urge you at the same time to involve yourselves to the best of your ability in your studies and to achieve as much as you possibly can; it is your future and yours alone.

__________ High School is only a building and will remain only a building unless staff, students and parents cooperate to establish and maintain a positive attitude toward each other and toward education in general. It is only in this community spirit of cooperation and collaboration that everyone will gain and benefit.

Remember that this period in your life should be a happy and memorable one. Plan your time carefully, use your ability to the fullest, and avail yourself of all the services curricular and extra-curricular which __________ High School offers. Make this a successful year, especially for yourself.

Sincerely,

__________Principal

__________Vice-Principal

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School Philosophy

The philosophy of __________ High School embraces the concept of the holistic approach to education. In order to serve the best interests of students, a balanced program, including intellectual, physical, cultural, and spiritual components, is necessary. When these components are blended into the total program, the school will produce well-rounded students with broad interests, abilities, and talents.

This philosophy is best practiced when mutual consideration and sensitivity exist between staff, students and parents.

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School Vision

In keeping with the vision statement of the Wild Rose School Division, _______________ High School in its philosophy and goals does embrace the words "All students of the Wild Rose School Division will develop and demonstrate skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary to be productive and caring citizens in a changing world."

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General School Goals

We believe that the most effective learning takes place when staff and student relationships have aspects of congeniality, respect, trust, opportunity for success and elements of challenge.

The school program must be based on sound scholarship practices, which would help each student achieve to the maximum of his ability.

The goals stated below are meant to convey the intent for all students rather than be prescriptive for each student. We recognize that the teacher is the central facilitator in the learning process and rational judgment must prevail to accommodate individual differences of students. In addition, flexibility is required so that student and parent input will be considered and a wide range of experiences will be used to stimulate creativity and growth for each student. Because of this, our objectives are limited to what we intend to achieve.

The objectives, which we follow, are within the limits of the Alberta Program of Studies Goals with special emphasis on the needs of the students in our school.

Each year in keeping with the province's three-year business plan, each school develops an action plan based upon goals chosen by the division board. That action plan as a separate document has input by parents, students and staff. The goals and objectives laid out in that plan will reflect the following in general and yet be very specific in attaining terminal goals. The following are considered to ongoing and intrinsic to any successful school operation.

The school program must be based on sound scholarship practices, which help students:

1. to enjoy a school climate which has aspects of congeniality, respect, trust and opportunity for success and challenge.

2. to achieve better than an acceptable level in reading and math.

3. to develop practical skills in using the scientific method and to improve logical thinking techniques.

4. to acquire knowledge, skills, attitudes and habits consistent with their educational and vocational goals and which motivate students to practice sound health, fitness and safety.

5. to develop learning skills, interests and motivation which will continue throughout their lifetime.

6. to learn to respect and to get along with people of various beliefs, life styles and other characteristics that set them apart.

7. to develop skills for effective use of finances and natural resources.

8. to learn to use leisure time in a constructive manner.

9. to develop a sense of purpose in life and ethical or spiritual values which respect the worth of an individual, justice, fair play, and fundamental rights, responsibilities and freedoms.

Sample Mission Statement 2

This is a sample of statement as printed for raters. Note that the school name has been replaced with a “__________ High School”.

MISSION STATEMENT

____________ High School emphasizes academic achievement through the development of personal responsibility in a safe and caring atmosphere of acceptance and respect for the individual.”

PROFILE

__________ High School offers all regular core area subjects and programs from Grades 1-12 as well as a number of specialized programs including an Elementary Resource Room, Jr. High Resource Room, Jr. High Integrated Occupational Program, Sr. High Integrated Occupational Program, French, Music, Band, Art, Outdoor Education, and Drama. These programs serve to meet each student’s learning needs and to broaden the student’s knowledge base. ___________ High School has three well-developed computer rooms where students are offered instruction in Word Processing and Computer Literacy. We are also staffed with a School Counsellor, a Family School Liaison Worker, and a Career Transitions Worker who are able to offer assistance in personal, family, and career counselling. Additional offerings include Career and Technology Studies (i.e., Financial Management, Industrial Arts, Food Studies, Fashions, and Job Safety Skills), Work Experience, Registered Apprentice Program and Green Certificate Program.

Getting an education not only involves school studies, it also means learning more about oneself. By joining in on various school activities, you’ll not only have fun and meet new people, but also give yourself an opportunity to develop your talents and skills. Some extra-curricular activities include: the Jr. High Students’ Union, Sr. High Students’ Union, Grade 12 Graduation Executive Membership, Grade 1-12 Intramural Sports, and a wide variety of Extra-Curricular Sports (i.e., Golf, Cross-County Running, Volleyball, Basketball, Badminton, Team Handball, Track & Field, and Curling). Go Rams and Lams!

We suggest parents and guardians become involved in their child’s education and we recognize the importance of parents’ interest. Remember, you are your child’s first teacher!

We encourage our Grade 1-12 Parents/Guardians to become involved in the School (Parent) Council and Grade 12 Parents/Guardians to become involved with the Parent Graduation Society. Please contact the school for details if you are interested.

SCHOOL MOTTOS

‘In Pursuit of Excellence’‘No Victory Without a Struggle’‘Home of the Rams and Lams’

_____________ School Division # __________Three-Year Education Plan

2005/2006 – 2007/2008

ACCOUNTABILITY STATEMENTThe Education Plan for __________ School Division #__ for the three years commencing

September 1, 2005, was prepared under the direction of the board in accordance with theresponsibilities specified in the School Act, the Government Accountability Act, Alberta Education Policy 2.1.1 (Accountability in Education: School Authority Accountability) and the provincial government’s accounting policies. This Education Plan was developed in the context of the provincial government’s business and fiscal plans. The board is committed to achieving the planned results laid out in this plan.

VISIONThe goals and strategies outlined in this Three-Year Plan are consistent with the vision of Alberta Learning: The Best Learning System in the World

MISSION__________ School Division:WE STRIVE FOR THE SUCCESS OF ALL STUDENTS IN ___________ SCHOOL DIVISION #__ BY SERVING THEIR EDUCATIONAL NEEDS.

BELIEFSIn __________School Division # __, we believe:• We can make a positive difference in the life of every student.• Students should be the focus of all the efforts within the division; every student is important and none will be overlooked.• Schools should promote the development of skills, abilities and attitudes which lead to a desire for lifelong learning.• Students should be provided a positive learning environment that promotes their development and helps them become contributing, positive members of society.• All students should have the opportunity to experience a variety of activities and programs todevelop their skills, abilities, talents and to accommodate their learning styles.• Students should have high expectations set for them and receive constant and ongoing feedback.• Positive role models are important in instilling desirable values in children.• Everyone involved in the education of a child should work cooperatively to provide a positivelearning environment for students.• Positive parental and community involvement is important to student success.• All students and all staff are entitled to work in a safe, orderly environment, where they feelcomfortable, accepted and respected.• Students and staff should be able to do their best and achieve their goals without fear for theirphysical or mental well-being.• That quality programs, where practical, should be delivered to students at a school close to theircommunity.• Every student will learn, and that student success is largely determined by the quality of teaching.• Caring relationships are fundamental to student success.• In partnership with the larger community, we are accountable and responsible for the intellectual, moral, social/emotional and physical development of each child. We believe also that achievement is supported by strong moral and character education, and that the development of assets will lay the foundation for student success.• Schools must establish a safe, secure and stable environment in order for students to learn.• The success of our students is a reflection of our commitment to the three essential pillars—academics, asset building and community.

APPENDIX C. RATER SHEET

Version D25School Code: Rater:

Relevance to stakeholders1. Does this statement identify target group(s) that the school intends to (or is uniquely able) to serve?…… No

Religious groups racial/ethnic groups challenged talented students at risk Other

2. Does this statement identify a principal service? …………………………………………………………. No technical specialization/professional career preparation arts advanced academics academic specialization core academics Other

3. Geographic area. Are the school geographic boundaries specified?. ………………………………………. No

4. Is there a sense of educational community involving all stakeholders such as teachers and parents? No

1 - Stakeholders together in a common vision 2 - Between 1-3 3 - Top down management4 - Between 3-5 5 - School drifting along with stakeholders apathetic, uninvolved, uncommitted, no real direction

Comment:

Philosophy of Education5. Is there special emphasis on building the character and life vision of the students?……………………. No

Christian utopian liberal education whole child nationalistic/citizenship Other

6. Does this statement clearly define the school’s beliefs, values, or philosophy?

1 - Not stated 2 - Vague/not clear 3 - In a general 4 - Clearly stated

5 - Emphatically stated Key words/ phrases:

7. Does the mission statement define a cosmic worldview? ………………………………………………... No naturalistic Christian If other please comment:

Strategic Planning8. What educational purposes are stated?

cognitive/academic arts social citizenship leadership vocational physical attitude/values emotional development school environment spiritual community

faculty/staff Other

9. Reality factor

1 - Smart: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, trackable 2- Less SMART than 1

3 - Vague/fuzzy 4 - Empty, irrelevant (nice words but meangingless) 5 - Manipulation

Comment:

10. Does the statement define one overriding and clear big goal? ………………………...………………… NoIf so what is it?

Presentation11. Inspirational factor. Is this statement written in an enriching, inspiring, motivating, or stimulating tone?

5 - very stimulating 4 - motivating 3 - "matter of fact" 2 - dull 1 - depressing

Key words/ phrases:

Note: Rater’s comments based on spontaneous insights from the data, most welcomed at any point in the rater sheet.

APPENDIX D. STATISTICS FOR READING EASE TESTS

Table 25. Appendix D-1. Raw data for Reading Ease TestsReading Ease: All Scores (Alberta + BC) with Averages

School Code FRE FRE (reversed) GFI FKGL LD Word Count

Private Christian 0030 42.1 58 14.24 11.4 40.26% 12944391 47.6 52 11.73 10.8 43.27% 10104466 32.0 68 18.36 12.0 72.16% 995193 47.9 52 8.55 11.4 32.38% 20295197 41.1 59 15.43 12.0 34.57% 20096491 47.6 52 12.68 11.4 31.49% 19976496 35.6 64 13.36 12.0 29.23% 27419906 42.2 58 9.16 10.3 35.12% 26929927 45.9 54 11.57 11.6 26.78% 31149978 42.8 57 12.74 12.0 38.20% 1187

Ave PC 42.5 58 12.78 11.5 38.35% 1817Private Secular (Alta) 9908 22.3 78 16.38 12.0 38.19% 1248

9913 30.0 70 14.09 12.0 46.24% 7369917 32.1 68 12.16 12.0 34.34% 21849922 30.2 70 14.31 12.0 48.11% 6429952 28.5 72 12.90 12.0 39.89% 1072

Ave PS Alta 28.6 71 13.97 12.0 41.35% 1176Private Secular (BC) 03996011 39.3 61 12.46 12.0 32.94% 3080

03996332 22.8 77 17.02 12.0 50.08% 62104296673 42.7 57 11.48 12.0 31.25% 236204596367 34.9 65 15.34 12.0 54.50% 57607996005 37.6 62 11.29 12.0 33.14% 3063

Ave PS BC 35.5 65 13.52 12.0 40.38% 1940Ave PS (Alta & BC) 32.0 68 13.74 12.0 40.87% 1558

Public 0590 46.4 54 12.16 9.7 63.12% 1432209 41.7 58 13.86 11.7 60.59% 2002306 23.5 77 11.60 12.0 37.90% 12422806 28.3 72 16.21 12.0 69.41% 884402 49.4 51 11.31 9.8 53.81% 2224410 42.6 57 12.03 8.5 77.78% 574411 54.2 46 13.30 12.0 47.23% 4645725 27.8 72 14.79 12.0 61.62% 2947063 49.4 51 11.43 10.5 42.99% 12559865 28.2 72 12.88 12.0 43.06% 752

Ave P 39.2 61 12.96 11.0 55.75% 472Separate Catholic 0346 30.3 70 15.94 12.0 51.97% 248

0439 32.7 67 14.04 12.0 68.93% 1791178 49.0 51 11.70 10.6 62.73% 1102274 55.1 45 11.34 9.8 46.32% 7732471 58.4 42 11.35 8.3 54.69% 3163272 53.3 47 11.18 10.5 34.20% 9356870 51.6 48 11.59 9.4 47.88% 3428402 27.8 72 25.68 12.0 46.43% 6298403 15.6 84 19.33 12.0 57.47% 2588409 30.6 69 14.55 12.0 49.13% 681

Ave SC 40.4 60 14.67 10.9 51.98% 447Separate Protestant 2541 31.1 69 14.48 12.0 39.35% 1089

2556 25.5 75 13.07 12.0 38.46% 11152558 47.9 52 8.72 10.4 38.74% 957

Ave SP 34.8 65 12.09 11.5 38.85% 1054

Table 26. Appendix D-2. Test Statisticsd for FRE only Alberta PrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -1.753(a) -1.070(a) -.051(a) -.535(a) -1.214(b)Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .080 .285 .959 .593 .225

SepCath -PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt -SepCath

-2.023(b) -1.069(b) -.237(b) .000(c) -1.069(a).043 .285 .813 1.000 .285

a Based on positive ranks.b Based on negative ranks.c The sum of negative ranks equals the sum of positive ranks.d Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test

Table 27. Appendix D-2. Test Statisticsd for FRE with 5 Added BC Secular Private SchoolsPrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -2.497(a) -1.070(a) -.051(a) -.535(a) -1.274(b)Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .013 .285 .959 .593 .203

SepCath -PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt -SepCath

-1.376(b) -1.069(b) -.237(b) .000(c) -1.069(a)

.169 .285 .813 1.000 .285

a Based on positive ranks.b Based on negative ranks.c The sum of negative ranks equals the sum of positive ranks.d Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test

Table 28. Appendix D-3. Test Statisticsd for LDPrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepPro -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -.405a -1.988a -2.599a -1.604b -2.023a

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .686 .047 .009 .109 .043

SepCath -PrivSec

SepPro -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepPro -Public

SepPro -SepCath

-1.753a .000c -.255b -1.069b -1.604b

.080 1.000 .799 .285 .109a Based on negative ranks.b Based on positive ranks.c The sum of negative ranks equals the sum of positive ranks.d Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test

Table 29. Appendix D-4. Test Statisticsc for Word Count PrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepPro -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -.674a -2.497a -2.701a -.535b -2.023a

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .500 .013 .007 .593 .043

SepCath -PrivSec

SepPro -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepPro -Public

SepPro -SepCath

-1.753a -.535a -.051b -1.069b -1.604b

.080 .593 .959 .285 .109a Based on positive ranks.b Based on negative ranks.c Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test

APPENDIX E. TEST STATISTICS FOR TONE SCORES

Table 30. Appendix E. Test Statisticsc. Tone Scores. PrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -.368a -2.680a -2.533a -1.089a -2.041a

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .713 .007 .011 .276 .041

SepCath -PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt -SepCath

-1.625a -1.604a -2.383b -1.604b -1.342b

APPENDIX F. TEST STATISTICS FOR RELEVANCE TO STAKEHOLDERS

F-1.Test Statistics for Identification of Target Groups

Values significant to p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test are highlighted and/or marked with an asterisk (p < .01 marked with a double asterisk).

Table 31. Appendix F-1. Test Statisticsd Target Groups Part 1. Public –

PrivChrisPrivSec –PrivChris

SepCath –PrivChris

SepProt –PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -2.831a -.680a -2.236a .000b -2.032a

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .005** .496 .025* 1.000 .042*

SepCath -PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt –Public

SepProt -SepCath

-.136c -.447a -2.558c -1.633c -.447c

.892 .655 .011* .102* .655a Based on positive ranks; b The sum of negative ranks equals the sum of positive ranks; c Based on negative ranks;d Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.

Table 32. Appendix F-1. Test Statisticsd. Target Groups Part 2-a. Religious Groups.PrivSec

- PrivChrisPublic

- PrivChrisSepCath

- PrivChrisSepProt

- PrivChrisPublic

- PrivSecZ -2.041a -2.859a -2.449a -1.633a -1.000b

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .041* .004** .014 .102 .317

SepCath- PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt- SepCath

-2.032b .000c -2.871b .000c -1.604a

.042* 1.000 .004** 1.000 .109a Based on positive ranks; b Based on negative ranks; c The sum of negative ranks equals the sum of positive ranks; d Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.

Table 33. Appendix F-1. Test Statisticsd. Target Groups Part 2-b. Racial/Ethnic GroupsPrivSec

- PrivChrisPublic

- PrivChrisSepCath

- PrivChrisSepProt

- PrivChrisPublic

- PrivSecZ .000a -2.000b -1.000b .000a -1.414b

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) 1.000 .046* .317 1.000 .157

SepCath –PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath –Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt- SepCath

.000a .000a -1.342c -1.000c .000a

1.000 1.000 .180 .317 1.000a The sum of negative ranks equals the sum of positive ranks; b Based on negative ranks; c Based on positive ranks; d Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.

F-2. Test Statistics for Identification of Principal Services

Values significant to p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test are highlighted and/or marked with an asterisk.

Table 34. Appendix F-2. Test Statisticsc. Principle Services. Part 1PrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -1.134a -1.754b -.791b -1.342a -2.041b

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .257 .079 .429 .180 .041*

SepCath -PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt -SepCath

-2.060b -1.000a -1.382a -1.604a -1.604a

.039* .317 .167 .109 .109a Based on negative ranks.b Based on positive ranks.c Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test

Table 35. Appendix F-2. Principle Services. Part 2-gd. Christian Education & DiscipleshipPrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -1.732a -2.588a -1.732a -1.000a -1.000b

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .083 .010** .083 .317 .317

SepCath -PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt -SepCath

-1.414b .000c -1.930b .000c -1.000a

.157 1.000 .054* 1.000 .317a Based on positive ranks.b Based on negative ranks.c The sum of negative ranks equals the sum of positive ranks.d Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test

F-3. Test Statistics for Identification of Geographical Area

Table 36. Appendix. F-3.Test Statisticsd for Geographical Area Scores PrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -.966a -.850b -1.511a .000c -1.414b

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .334 .395 .131 1.000 .157

SepCath -PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt -SepCath

.000c -1.000a -1.628a -1.000a -1.000b

1.000 .317 .103 .317 .317a Based on negative ranks.b Based on positive ranks.c The sum of negative ranks equals the sum of positive ranks.d Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test

F-4. Test Statistics for Identification of Sense of Community

Table 37. Appendix F-4. Test Statisticsc for Sense of Community (Yes/No) PrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -.736a -2.314a -2.533a -.272a -1.826a

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .461 .021 .011 .785 .068

SepCath -PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt -SepCath

-1.069a -.447a -1.606b -.447b -1.633b

Table 38. Appendix F-4. Test Statisticsc. Scaled “Sense of Community” Score PrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -.736a -2.103a -2.530a -.272a -1.604a

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .461 .035 .011 .785 .109

SepCath –PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt -SepCath

-1.069a -.447a -1.368b -.447b -1.633b

.285 .655 .171 .655 .102a Based on positive ranks.b Based on negative ranks.c Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.

APPENDIX G. TEST STATISTICS FOR PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

G-1. Test Statistics for Character Development Scores

Table 39. Appendix G-1. Test Statisticsc. Character Part 1. PrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -1.890a -2.877a -2.060a -1.633a -1.761a

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .059 .004 .039 .102 .078

SepCath –PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt -SepCath

-.828b -1.633a -2.821b -.272b -1.604a

.408 .102 .005 .785 .109a Based on positive ranks; b Based on negative ranks; c Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.

Table 40. Appendix G-1. Test Statisticsd. Character Part 2. Christian PrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -2.121a -2.972a -2.060a -1.633a -1.000b

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .034 .003 .039 .102 .317

SepCath -PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt -SepCath

-2.060b .000c -2.848b .000c -1.604a

.039 1.000 .004 1.000 .109a Based on positive ranks; b Based on negative ranks; c The sum of negative ranks equals the sum of positive ranks; d Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.

Table 41. Appendix G-1. Test Statisticsd. Character Part 2. Whole Child. PrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -2.000a -1.414a .000b .000b -1.414c

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .046 .157 1.000 1.000 .157

SepCath –PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt -SepCath

-2.000c -1.414c -1.414c -1.000c .000b

.046 .157 .157 .317 1.000a Based on negative ranks; b The sum of negative ranks equals the sum of positive ranks; c Based on positive ranks; d Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.

G-2. Test Statistics for Clear Definition of a School Philosophy

Table 42. Appendix G-2. Test Statisticsc. PhilosophyPrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -1.753a -2.812a -2.654a -1.604a -2.032a

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .080 .005 .008 .109 .042

SepCath -PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt -SepCath

-.677b -1.604a -2.502b -1.089b -1.069a

G-3. Test Statistics for Specification of a Cosmic Worldview

Values significant to p < .05 via the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test are highlighted and/or marked with an asterisk. Those significant to p < .01 are marked with double asterisk.

Table 43. Appendix G-3. Test Statisticsc. Worldview. Part 1PrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -2.236a -2.913a -1.841a -1.633a -2.000a

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .025* .004** .066 .102 .046*

SepCath -PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt -SepCath

-2.060b -1.000a -2.741b -1.414b -1.633a

.039* .317 .006** .157 .102a Based on positive ranks; b Based on negative ranks; c Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.

Table 44. Appendix G-3. Test Statisticsd. Worldview. Part 2-N PrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -2.236a -2.333a .000b -1.414a -1.414c

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .025* .020* 1.000 .157 .157

SepCath -PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt -SepCath

-2.236c -.577a -2.333c -.577a -1.414a

.025* .564 .020* .564 .157a Based on negative ranks; b The sum of negative ranks equals the sum of positive ranks; c Based on positive ranks; d Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.

Table 45. Appendix G-3. Test Statisticsd. Worldview. Part 2-C PrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -2.236a -3.162a -1.841a -1.732a .000b

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .025* .002** .066 .083 1.000

SepCath -PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt -SepCath

-2.060c .000b -2.871c .000b -1.604a

.039* 1.000 .004** 1.000 .109a Based on positive ranks; b The sum of negative ranks equals the sum of positive ranks; c Based on negative ranks; d Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.

APPENDIX H. TEST STATISTICS FOR EVALUATION OF STRATEGIC PLANNING

H-1. Test Statistics for Reality Score

Table 46. Appendix H-1. Test Statisticsc. Reality Scaled score. PrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -.272a -2.812a -2.699a -1.069b -2.041a

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .785 .005** .007** .285 .041*

SepCath -PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt -SepCath

-2.032a -.447b -2.673b -1.633b -1.604b

.042* .655 .008** .102 .109

a Based on negative ranks; b Based on positive ranks; c Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.* Significant to p < .05; ** Significant to p < .01.

Table 47. Appendix H-1. Test Statisticsc. Clear Big GoalPrivSec -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

Public -PrivSec

Z -.816a -2.842a -2.879a -1.089a -1.890a

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .414 .004** .004** .276 .059

SepCath -PrivSec

SepProt -PrivSec

SepCath -Public

SepProt -Public

SepProt –SepCath

-1.890a -1.342a -2.588b -1.000b -.816a

.059 .180 .010** .317 .414a Based on negative ranks; b Based on positive ranks; c Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.* Significant to p < .05; ** Significant to p < .01.

H-2. Test Statistics for the Presence of One Big Goal

Table 48. Appendix H-2. Clear Big Goal. Test Statisticsc. Summary of Significant PairsPublic -

PrivChrisSepCath -PrivChris

SepCath -Public

Z -2.842a -2.879a -2.588b

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .004** .004** .010**a Based on negative ranks; b Based on positive ranks; c Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.* Significant to p < .05; ** Significant to p < .01.

APPENDIX I. ACADEMIC RANKING ACCORDING TO SCHOOL TYPES

Overall Academic Ranking of Alberta High Schools According to Sources of Institutional Authority

Table 49. Appendix I. Test Statisticsd. Academic Ranking of Alberta High Schools PrivSec –PrivChris

SepCath –PrivChris

Public –PrivChris

Z -.405a -.920b -.535b -2.803b

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .686 .357 .593 .005**

SepCath -PrivSec

SepProt –PrivSec

Public –PrivSec

SepProt -SepCath

Public -SepCath

Public -SepProt

-.674b .000c -1.753b -.535a -2.606b -1.089b

.500 1.000 .080 .593 .009** .276a Based on negative ranks; b Based on positive ranks; c The sum of negative ranks equals the sum of positive ranks;d Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.* Significant to p < .05; ** Significant to p < .01.

Table 50. Appendix I. Academic Ranking of Alberta Schools Plus Five BC Private Secular SchoolsAlberta Schools (+ 5 BC Priv Sec Schools) Private

SecularPrivate

ChristianSeparateCatholic

SeparateProtestant Public

Overall Rating 2003- 2004 8.02 a* 7.32 b** 6.55 c** 6.4 4.8 a* b**c**

* Significant to p < .05; ** Significant to p < .01.

Table 51. Appendix I. Test Statistics. Academic Ranking with Five BC schools added. PrivSec -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

Z c -.711(a) -.920(b) -.447(a) -2.803(b)Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .477 .357 .655 .005**

SepCath - PrivSecSepProt -PrivSec

Public -PrivSec

SepProt -SepCath

Public –SepCath

Public -SepProt

-1.376(b) -.447(b) -2.449(b) -.447(b) -2.606(b) -.447(b)

.169 .655 .014* .655 .009** .655

a Based on negative ranks; b Based on positive ranks; c Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.* Significant to p < .05; ** Significant to p < .01.

APPENDIX J. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF GENERAL ARRAY OF VARIABLES

Table 52. Appendix J. Test Statisticsb. General ArrayPrivSec -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivChris

SepProt -PrivChris

Public -PrivChris

SepCath -PrivSec

Z -2.225a -2.669a -2.312a -2.934a -.489a

Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .026* .008** .021* .003** .624

SepProt –PrivSec

Public -PrivSec

SepProt -SepCath

Public -SepCath

Public -SepProt

-1.988a -2.936a -1.511a -2.936a -2.934a

.047* .003** .131 .003** .003**a Based on positive ranks; b Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test.* Significant to p < .05; ** Significant to p < .01.

APPENDIX K. NAMES OF THE INDEPENDENT RATERS

This study is modeled on the methodology of Stober who himself followed others who used independent raters in their analyses (Cochran & David, 1986; Newsom & Hayes, 1991; Pearce, 1982; Pearce & David, 1987). Stemler and Bebell, on the other hand, did not use independent raters except to make a check on the reliability on their judgments (1999). Stober, whose study focused on colleges and universities, chose three people with doctorates who were in different fields of tertiary education. He states: “Bias error was reduced by selecting professional educators with varied backgrounds: an academic biologist, a professor of education, and a college administrator” (Stober, 1997, p. 45). It is not clear that being in a different field of study or kind of educational responsibility reduces ideological bias, but in any case that is what Stober did.

Since this study is of high school mission statements, it was thought that educators who have some experience at the high school level would best qualify. Two of the raters are more mature with a rich background in teaching. One of these has been a high school principal for most of his career while the other while having more experience with university level instruction has spent extra time coaching gifted highschoolers for the mathematics Olympics. A third while qualified professionally and academically is young enough to remember his high school experiences first hand.

The following raters independently evaluated statements during October and November of 2005.

Professor Ping Kwan Tam, Ph.D.Dr. Tam is a research professor at the South West University in Chongqing, PRC. He has

recently retired from a professorship in Mathematics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Dr. Tam’s field of expertise is in pure mathematics in the area of functional analysis. What makes Dr. Tam particularly qualified as a rater for high school mission statements lies in his extra-curricular giftedness in working with talented high school mathematics students to prepare them for the International Mathematical Olympics.

Mr. Keith Davies, B.A., Dip. Ed.Mr. Davies is a former high school principal and now acts as Chairman of the Board of

Scarborough Christian School in Toronto.

Mr. Daniel Tam, M. Eng.Mr. Tam is a graduate in computer engineering at the University of Michigan (Ann

Arbor). His master’s research and interests are related to content analysis particularly in the area of using artificial intelligence to summarize text. He has worked as a software engineer for IBM. He now does product search for A9.com, Inc. a subsidiary of Amazon.com which researches and builds innovative technologies powering search engines. His youth makes him the rater closest to the actual high school experience.

APPENDIX L. FURTHER EXPLORATION ON CORRELATION OF VARIABLES

The striking visual correlation on the chart comparing mean scores for the variables on the rater sheet can be explored more using formal correlation analysis. Such a study could only be exploratory, two chief reasons being the small size of the samples and the uncertain nature of the relationship even if striking correlation is found. Nevertheless, such relationships can give leads to areas of further research.

In view of this a test of correlation for non-parametric variables was made using Kendall’s tau_b test. The data presents us with three correlations at the 99% confidence level. One such correlation is between private Christian schools and separate Catholic schools. The other two are between public schools and private secular schools and separate protestant schools respectively. That the highest correlation coefficient should be between two Christian school types is perhaps not surprising considering the commonalities in philosophy of education. For the same reason one might expect some correlation, although considerably lower than the first, between the public school sector and the private secular sector since they both profess a secular approach to education. What is most striking here is the marked correlation between the separate protestant sector and the public school sector. This finding is all the more striking when one looks at proximity matrices. In a dissimilarity matrix one finds that the separate Protestant sector is most similar to the public system and next in similarity to the private secular system. It is most dissimilar to the private Christian system. What we may be finding here is a classic case of an institution which has lost its original orientation and moved to a position more in line with the forces of ideological erosion.

Table 53. Appendix L. Non Parametric CorrelationsPrivChris PrivSec SepCath SepProt Public

Correlation Coefficient 1.000 .514(*) .807(**) .204 .330Sig. (2-tailed) . .029 .001 .389 .160

PrivChris

N 11 11 11 11 11Correlation Coefficient .514(*) 1.000 .389 .561(*) .611(**)Sig. (2-tailed) .029 . .100 .018 .010

PrivSec

N 11 11 11 11 11Correlation Coefficient .807(**) .389 1.000 .299 .278Sig. (2-tailed) .001 .100 . .209 .240

SepCath

N 11 11 11 11 11Correlation Coefficient .204 .561(*) .299 1.000 .673(**)Sig. (2-tailed) .389 .018 .209 . .005

SepProt

N 11 11 11 11 11Correlation Coefficient .330 .611(**) .278 .673(**) 1.000Sig. (2-tailed) .160 .010 .240 .005 .

Kendall's tau_b

Public

N 11 11 11 11 11* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Table 54. Appendix L. Proximity Matrices. A dissimilarity matrix Euclidean Distance

PrivChris PrivSec SepCath SepProt PublicPrivChris .000 3.788 2.855 6.143 8.038PrivSec 3.788 .000 3.081 3.293 5.554SepCath 2.855 3.081 .000 4.257 5.632SepProt 6.143 3.293 4.257 .000 3.757Public 8.038 5.554 5.632 3.757 .000

Table 55. Appendix L. Proximity Matrices. A similarity matrix Correlation between Vectors of Values

PrivChris PrivSec SepCath SepProt PublicPrivChris 1.000 .619 .918 .305 .484PrivSec .619 1.000 .485 .760 .751SepCath .918 .485 1.000 .353 .555SepProt .305 .760 .353 1.000 .815Public .484 .751 .555 .815 1.000

APPENDIX M. GLOSSARY

Cosmic WorldviewCosmic worldview refers to worldviews that underlie ways we in the Western world

think about ourselves, other people, the natural world and God or ultimate reality. A list of such worldviews as given by James Sire would be: Christian theism, deism, naturalism, nihilism, existentialism, pantheistic monism, the New Age, postmodernism, and pluralism. However, at this point in our Western society there are still basically two major worldviews which encompass the others: Judeo-Christian theism and naturalism. The one holding to a conception of the universe in which the God revealed through Jesus Christ transcends the universe having created it and sustains it. Naturalism which includes all other Western conceptions including postmodernism (a blend of East and West) rests on two key notions: (1) that the cosmos is all there is—no God of any kind exists and (2) the autonomy of human reason (Sire, 1997).

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