School Climate as a Predictor of Early School Leavers / Školska klima kao prediktor ranog prekida školovanja

Abstract

When investigating the literature, it seems that little attention has been paid to the school climate as a predictor of early school leavers (ESL). The main purpose of the present study was to answer the question, "to what extent does school climate predict the proportion of students leaving without a certificate?" The OECD data used in the study included 170 schools/principals, and 4848 students from Turkey. School principals' reports of "Students leaving without certificate (SC23Q01)" in the PISA 2012 study was used as the predicted variable. The perceptions of school principals and students in the PISA 2012 Turkey sample on factors related to school climate were used as predictor variables through a multiple linear regression analysis. The results showed that teacher-and student-related factors affecting school climate were moderately correlated with the proportion of early leavers. Teacher morale and disciplinary climate had a low correlation with the proportion of early leavers. The strongest association existed between student-related factors and teacher-related factors affecting school climate which were positively and strongly associated. School climate accounted for approximately 18% of the variance of ESL. These findings suggest that teacher-and student-related factors hinder learning to a lesser extent and tend to prevent ESL.