In a contemporary demanding multicultural educational context, schools and teachers are called to prove their effectiveness on a daily basis. They are accountable to society regarding their job effectiveness and specifically, their contribution to the success of the main school mission, that is the improvement of student performance. The teachers’ role towards this goal is considered very important. It appears that the satisfaction teachers derive from their job affects the way in which they work and influences the educational outcomes of the school. At the same time, school climate is a parameter widely accepted as one that affects school effectiveness. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine whether teachers’ job satisfaction is affected by the climate in their school, and the extent to which an interactive procedure between aspects of these two parameters influences student achievement. The proposed research aspires to fill a research gap, which has been identified in the relevant literature, and to offer new knowledge by testing a dynamic model involving either linear or curvilinear relationships between aspects of teachers’ job satisfaction and aspects of school climate and school effectiveness.

There are a number of reasons why the improvement of educational management and the effective implementation of educational policy in any country should be given high priority. For instance, educational policy provides guidelines for decision-making, while the decision-making process itself influences the determination of policy. Also, educational management has an impact on the teaching and learning process, the organisational practices of school units, the utlilisation of both human and material resources, and the use of efficiency criteria and control systems. Furthermore, the decision makers, in conjunction with the various facets/chracteristics of the decision-making process (such as the nature of the collaboration among members, the analysis of environmental conditions, etc.), can significantly enhance performance. Ultimately, education is a social service that makes a substantial contribution to the social and economic development of a country. The purpose of this paper is, through case studies, to investigate the decision-making process in the Greek education system, as an indicator of the design and implementation of educational policy. This paper will attempt to show that a carefully planned decision-making process has a direct and positive impact on the function of the school system and consequently on the overall quality of education.