Abstract:

School culture and climate are widely recognized as important contextual factors shaping students’ learning conditions. Organizational climate—defined as the shared perceptions of relationships, expectations, and norms within the school—has been associated with students’ academic engagement and well-being. Parental involvement likewise plays a complementary role by reinforcing educational expectations and support structures.

This study examined differences in perceived school climate and in the attitudes of teachers, parents, and students in two types of Arab primary schools in Israel: church-affiliated schools (CAS) and public state schools (PSS). Data were collected using an attitudes questionnaire grounded in established social science and organizational climate models. In this study, the notion of “student success” refers to perceived educational conditions and responsibility structures commonly understood to support learning processes, rather than to direct measures of academic achievement.

The findings revealed consistent sectoral differences. Students in CAS rated overall school climate 11% lower (M = 3.85 ± 1.07) than students in PSS (M = 4.30 ± 0.82). System maintenance was rated 13% lower in CAS, and the largest gap emerged in the physical environment, where CAS students reported scores 31% lower than their PSS counterparts (M = 2.89 ± 1.63).

In contrast, teachers in CAS reported substantially stronger perceptions of professional role and responsibility (M = 4.46 ± 0.53), representing a 45% higher rating than teachers in PSS. Parents in CAS likewise attributed greater importance to teachers’ responsibilities (M = 4.23 ± 0.54), 19.8% higher than in PSS. With respect to parental responsibility, CAS managers reported high expectations (M = 4.70 ± 0.45), and parents themselves rated their role very highly (M = 4.83 ± 0.39), a level 74% higher than that reported by parents in PSS.

Taken together, the findings point to a nuanced pattern. While church-affiliated schools face challenges related to perceived climate and infrastructure, they exhibit particularly strong responsibility-oriented attitudes among teachers and parents. These attitudes reflect a leadership and cultural ethos that emphasizes moral commitment, accountability, and partnership in education. Within the limits of perceptual data, this constellation of factors may help explain why CAS are often viewed as educationally effective environments despite structural constraints.

Keywords:

School climate, parental involvement, teacher responsibility, Arab education, church-affiliated schools.