Designing and Validating the Successful School Culture Model

School culture is an important managerial tool that helps school succeed. In many successful organizations, managers pay sufficient attention to this issue. However, studies related to this issue show that many organizations are not informed about the existence and performance manner of organizational culture. Thus, the present study was carried out to design and validate the successful school culture model. The research method adopted in this study was mixed-methods approach. In the qualitative phase, the statistical population involved articles published about school culture and successful school from 2005 to 2020 in Iranian and non-Iranian journals, out of which 50 articles were selected for the final analysis. In the quantitative phase, the statistical population involved all teachers of secondary high schools of Ardabil (five hundred teachers). Out of these, 217 individuals were selected as the statical sample using cluster random sampling. In the qualitative phase, the seven-stage meta-synthesis instrument proposed by Sandelowski and Barroso (2007) was used. In the quantitative phase, a researcher-made questionnaire was used. The results of the study led to the identification of 55 indices of successful school culture model. These were formed as 12 components, namely school prospect and mission, attention to the comprehensive growth of students, school’s empowering structure, effective cooperation and relation of employees, social support, cooperative management, positive learning environment, professional morality, effective leadership, learners’ cognitive features, effectiveness and efficiency, and effective human resource management. The validity of designed model was assessed and confirmed using SmartPLS3 software through factorial analysis. The results of this study can help educational managers and staff develop school culture, identify successful schools’ features, and improve effectiveness of schools.