2020
DOI: 10.1177/2332858420948024
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Measuring School Climate: Validating the Education Department School Climate Survey in a Sample of Urban Middle and High School Students

Abstract: The U.S. Department of Education’s School Climate Survey (EDSCLS) is a free, open-source school climate survey available for any local or state education agency to use to measure three domains of school climate: engagement, safety, and environment. The present study leverages EDSCLS data from 3,416 students from 26 middle and high schools in Washington, DC to confirm the factor structure of the survey using both single-level and multilevel confirmatory factor analyses. At the individual level, our findings par… Show more

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Cited by 30 publications
(17 citation statements)
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“…Reviews of school climate research have stressed that school climate is a characteristic of the school and the individuals making up the school, and, thus, should be examined at the school level rather than the individual level alone (Konold & Cornell, 2015; Ryberg et al, 2020; Wang & Degol, 2016). In addition to staff‐member characteristics, factors at the school level may be associated with staff interest and use of climate data.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Reviews of school climate research have stressed that school climate is a characteristic of the school and the individuals making up the school, and, thus, should be examined at the school level rather than the individual level alone (Konold & Cornell, 2015; Ryberg et al, 2020; Wang & Degol, 2016). In addition to staff‐member characteristics, factors at the school level may be associated with staff interest and use of climate data.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…For this study, we undertook a theoretically-driven, iterative approach to validate the internal structure of a local school climate survey. We identified a measurement model, comprised of four school climate domains, with acceptable fit that excluded several non-theoretically relevant or poorly-loading survey items; this underscores the need to continue to improve measurement of school climate in research and practice via theoretically-aligned, reliable, and valid measures (Ryberg et al, 2020;Grazia and Molinari, 2021;Temkin et al, 2021). Our process of construct validation prior to examining associations of interest is a notable strength of this research.…”
Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning
confidence: 90%
“…There is near consensus that positive school climates foster conditions that facilitate students’ academic, social, and emotional needs (Cohen et al, 2009; Gage et al, 2016; McCoy et al, 2013; Ruiz et al, 2018). However, scholars conceptualize school climate broadly, describing it as some combination of beliefs, interactions, relationships, and organizational structures that shape students’, parents’, and staff members’ school experiences (Aldridge et al, 2018; Davis & Warner, 2018; Ryberg et al, 2020). Researchers have thus used varying measures to assess school climate (Berkowitz et al, 2017), positioning it as a multidimensional construct that broadly captures “the quality and character of school life” (National School Climate Council, 2007).…”
Section: Disparities In Perceptions Of School Climate Between Studentsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The policy focus on school climate is now inscribed in law, as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) mandates that in addition to testing, states must have at least “one measure of school quality or student success that is valid, reliable, and comparable across the state” (Darling-Hammond et al, 2016, p. 5). Using this provision, many states now include improving school climate as an essential part of their school improvement plans (Jordan & Hamilton, 2020; Ryberg et al, 2020; Temkin & Harper, 2017).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%