Identifying profiles of school climate in high schools.

Abstract

This cross-sectional study analyzed data from 364,143 students in 492 high schools who completed the Georgia School Climate Survey during the 2017-2018 school year. Through latent profile analysis, we identified that student perceptions of school climate could be classified into three distinct profiles, including positive, moderate, and negative climate. Using multinomial logistic regression, we then identified school and student characteristics that predicted student classification in the student profiles using the total sample and subsamples by race/ethnicity. Among the key results, we found that most of the school characteristics (e.g., percent of students receiving free or reduced lunch, schools with higher percentages of minoritized students) predicting classification in the negative and positive school climate profiles were different for White students compared to minoritized students. For example, Black students in primarily non-White schools were more likely to view school climate positively, whereas the opposite was the case for White students. We also found that Black and Other (e.g., multiracial) students were more likely to be classified in the negative school climate profile and less likely to be classified in the positive school climate profile compared to White students. In contrast, Latino/a/e students were more likely to be classified in the positive school climate profile and less likely to be classified in the negative school climate profile. Implications for research and practice are discussed. Impact and ImplicationsThis study demonstrates that high school student perceptions of school climate can be classified into three profiles (positive, moderate, and negative). Both school (e.g., school size) and student characteristics (e.g., race/ethnicity) were associated with classification in these profiles, but classification varied by student race/ethnicity. Study findings emphasize the importance for school leadership teams to collect and disaggregate school climate by student race/ethnicity to improve school climate for minoritized students.