Elementary School Social Climate and School Achievement

Abstract

The present study investigates the relationships among a variety of school-level climate variables and mean school achievement in a random, sample of Michigan elementary schools. School-level SES, racial composition and climate were each highly related to mean school achievement; only a small proportion of the between-school variance in achievement is explained by SES and racial composition after the effect of school climate is removed. The climate variable we have called Student Sense of Academic Futility had the largest correlation with achievement. An observational study of four schools with similar SES and racial composition but different achievement tended to support the more analytical findings and suggest the processes by which climate affects achievement.

A Cultural-Ecological Model of School Climate

“…While perceptions of climate have been demonstrated to vary across individual cultural variables such as race and ethnicity, these cultural identifiers are not automatic determinants of the degree to which schools, as a whole, will have a positive or negative school climate (Brookover et al, 1978;Fallon, O'Keeffe, & Sugai, 2012;Sugai, O'Keeffe, & Fallon, 2011). Neither can these cultural identifiers alone provide a complete picture of how personal characteristics and cultural contextual factors affect students' schooling experiences and perceptions of school climate.…”

“…First, schools possess something called climate and, while it is discernible between and within schools, school climate is difficult to define precisely and measure objectively. Second, school climate is influenced by, but not inevitably a proxy for, various dimensions of a school such as student body characteristics (e.g., race and ethnicity) school resources, or teacher characteristics (Anderson, 1982;Brookover et al, 1978;Koth et al, 2008). Finally, there is also agreement about the broad dimensions of the school environment that shape the school climate.…”

“…There exists a wide range of school improvement strategies aimed at creating a positive school climate; however, in order to identify the most relevant strategies to be used, it may be necessary to examine the impact of cultural variables within both classroom and school contexts to understand their impact on student development and perceptions of climate (Koth et al, 2008). The most likely school-level variables related to student success include structural aspects of school such as school size (Gottfredson, 1985;McNeely et al, 2002); physical features such as the quality of building and facilities (Freiberg, 1998); school resources including per-pupil expenditure and the curriculum; and composition variables such as mean student achievement, ethnic composition, SES (Brookover et al, 1978;Koth et al, 2008), and student mobility (Griffith, 2000). The school context also includes a subcontext, the classroom.…”

School microclimate: Teachers’ supportive behaviour and student performance

“…Ühelt poolt mõjutab kooli mikrokliima kuju nemist õpilaste sotsiaalmajanduslik taust (edaspidi: SES 2 ), mille kohta on 2 Rahvusvaheline lühend õpilase sotsiaalmajandusliku tausta kirjeldamisel, tuleneb inglis keelsest väljendist socioeconomic status. uurijad leidnud olulisi seoseid õpilaste tulemustega (Baird, 2012;Brookover et al, 1978;Null, 2013). Teiselt poolt on mikrokliimaga seotud teguriteks mitmed õpetajate käitumise aspektid (Cohen, McCabe, Michelli, & Pickeral, 2009;Devine & Cohen, 2007).…”

Brotherhood, Social Justice, and Persistent Deficit Ideologies: Latino Students’ Experiences in an All-male Catholic High School

“…For educational leaders interested in developing successful schools for historically underserved communities, studies of school climate have been useful to determine the factors, which contribute to minority student satisfaction and success (Brookover et al, 1978;Haynes, Emmons, & Ben-Avie, 1997;Slaughter-Defoe & Carlson, 1996). Within the school climate literature, researchers use school culture to define the norms, values and expectations of a school that promotes social and academic development.…”