Contribution of Hardiness and School Climate to Alienation Experienced by Student Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomson, William C.; Wendt, Janice C.

1995-01-01

This study examined relationships between hardiness and school climate in contributing to student teacher alienation. Survey results from 106 student teachers indicated that hardiness significantly affected alienation. Alienation levels of high-hardy students decreased in more supportive school climates. Low-hardy students increased in alienation…

School Climate in American Secondary Schools: A Psychometric Examination of PISA 2009 School Climate Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sun, Letao; Royal, Kenneth

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 school climate survey instrument and evaluate perceptions of secondary school principals' located in the United States about school climate using an Item Response Theory (IRT) methodological approach. In particular, this study…

Profiles of Student Perceptions of School Climate: Relations with Risk Behaviors and Academic Outcomes.

PubMed

Shukla, Kathan; Konold, Timothy; Cornell, Dewey

2016-06-01

School climate has been linked to a variety of positive student outcomes, but there may be important within-school differences among students in their experiences of school climate. This study examined within-school heterogeneity among 47,631 high school student ratings of their school climate through multilevel latent class modeling. Student profiles across 323 schools were generated on the basis of multiple indicators of school climate: disciplinary structure, academic expectations, student willingness to seek help, respect for students, affective and cognitive engagement, prevalence of teasing and bullying, general victimization, bullying victimization, and bullying perpetration. Analyses identified four meaningfully different student profile types that were labeled positive climate, medium climate-low bullying, medium climate-high bullying, and negative climate. Contrasts among these profile types on external criteria revealed meaningful differences for race, grade-level, parent education level, educational aspirations, and frequency of risk behaviors. © Society for Community Research and Action 2016.

Quick Guide on Making School Climate Improvements. School Climate Improvement Resource Package

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, 2016

2016-01-01

Students learn best when they are in environments in which they feel safe, supported, challenged, and accepted. In addition, environments that have strong school climates foster the social, emotional, and academic well-being of all students. Research shows that when schools and districts effectively focus on improving school climate, students are…

School Climate Improvement Action Guide for Working with Families. School Climate Improvement Resource Package

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, 2017

2017-01-01

Improving school climate takes time and commitment from a variety of people in a variety of roles. This document outlines how family members--including guardians of students--can support school climate improvements. Key action steps are provided for the following strategies: (1) Participate in planning for school climate improvements; (2) Engage…

School Climate Improvement Action Guide for Working with Students. School Climate Improvement Resource Package

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, 2017

2017-01-01

Improving school climate takes time and commitment from a variety of people in a variety of roles. This document outlines key action steps to engage students in the school climate improvement process. Key action steps are provided for the following strategies: (1) Participate in planning for school climate improvements; (2) Engage stakeholders in…

School Climate and Academic Achievement in Suburban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sulak, Tracey N.

2016-01-01

School climate research has indicated a relationship between the climate of a school and academic achievement. The majority of explanatory models have been developed in urban schools with less attention given to suburban schools. Due to the process of formation of suburban schools, there is a likelihood these campuses differ from the traditional…

Handbook for Conducting School Climate Improvement Projects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howard, Eugene; And Others

This book discusses practical ways to improve a school's climate by increasing both productivity and satisfaction concurrently. Chapter 1, "Defining School Climate," identifies the overarching goals of school climate improvement, the basic human needs that school climate must address, the factors that make up a school's climate and…

Student Leadership Distribution: Effects of a Student-Led Leadership Program on School Climate and Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pedersen, Jeff; Yager, Stuart; Yager, Robert

2012-01-01

This study focuses on the understandings educators developed from two schools concerning how distributed leadership involving a select group of students affected the climate and community of their schools. Findings suggest that student-led leadership roles within the school community have an impact on creating a positive school-wide climate; a…

The Prediction of Teachers' Perceptions of School Climate from Their School's Utilization of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quackenbush, Rebecca J.

2017-01-01

School climate is an aspect of school life that has been examined closely in recent literature as it related to student interactions, behavior, and student achievement. Problem behaviors can affect students' academic learning as well as teachers' instructional time. Research has emphasized how a healthy school climate can yield positive effects on…

School Climate Improvement Action Guide for Community Partners. School Climate Improvement Resource Package

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, 2017

2017-01-01

Improving school climate takes time and commitment from a variety of people in a variety of roles. This document outlines how community partners can support school climate improvements. Organizations and individuals can partner with schools in many different ways--from delivering or coordinating direct services to students and families inside or…

Teachers' Perspectives on School Climate at a Low-Performing School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carson, Paul Kit

2012-01-01

A number of research studies have indicated that issues with school climate may be a source of the low academic and social success of students in the public school system. A poor school climate is often associated with low-performing schools; a positive school climate can increase student achievement and other indicators of school success such as…

School Climate and Leadership: Levers for School Improvement Efforts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Costa, Lois

2016-01-01

This qualitative study considers which aspects of school climate support or inhibit student achievement as each aspect relates to school leadership and school reform efforts. Due to the increased responsibility and accountability which schools face during these challenging times, school climate and the role of the school principal formed the basis…

School Climate: Historical Review, Instrument Development, and School Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zullig, Keith J.; Koopman, Tommy M.; Patton, Jon M.; Ubbes, Valerie A.

2010-01-01

This study's purpose is to examine the existing school climate literature in an attempt to constitute its definition from a historical context and to create a valid and reliable student-reported school climate instrument. Five historically common school climate domains and five measurement tools were identified, combined, and previewed by the…

School Climate for Academic Success: A Multilevel Analysis of School Climate and Student Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kwong, Darren; Davis, Jonathan Ryan

2015-01-01

This multilevel study examined the relationship between school climate and academic achievement. Using the Educational Longitudinal Survey (ELS, 2002), and a sample of 16,258 students and 1954 schools nationwide, we found that student-level perception of school climate--especially the student learning environment--was highly predictive of academic…

Authoritative school climate and high school dropout rates.

PubMed

Jia, Yuane; Konold, Timothy R; Cornell, Dewey

2016-06-01

This study tested the association between school-wide measures of an authoritative school climate and high school dropout rates in a statewide sample of 315 high schools. Regression models at the school level of analysis used teacher and student measures of disciplinary structure, student support, and academic expectations to predict overall high school dropout rates. Analyses controlled for school demographics of school enrollment size, percentage of low-income students, percentage of minority students, and urbanicity. Consistent with authoritative school climate theory, moderation analyses found that when students perceive their teachers as supportive, high academic expectations are associated with lower dropout rates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

School Climate and Teacher Commitment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Larry Don

2009-01-01

This study examined the relationship between school climate and teacher commitment. The study focused on elementary schools in Northeast Alabama. Thirty-four elementary schools consisting of 522 teachers took part in the study. The teachers completed two survey instruments: the Organizational Climate Index (OCI) and the Organizational Commitment…

Reference Manual on Making School Climate Improvements. School Climate Improvement Resource Package, 2017

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yoder, N.; Darling-Churchill, K.; Colombi, G. D.; Ruddy, S.; Neiman, S.; Chagnon, E.; Mayo, R.

2017-01-01

This reference manual identifies five overarching sets of activities for improving school climate, with the goal of improving student outcomes (e.g., achievement, attendance, behaviors, and skills). These sets of activities help to initiate, implement, and sustain school climate improvements. For each activity set, the manual presents a clear…

Improving School Climate in an Urban Junior High School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawson, Robert C.

The problem of poor school climate in an eighth- and ninth-grade center was addressed by the implementation of a school climate improvement project. The following are the primary goals of this practicum: (1) improve school attendance; (2) reduce out-of-school suspensions; and (3) improve student and teacher morale. To address these goals, a…

School Climate Measurement and Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Faster, Darlene; Lopez, Daisy

2013-01-01

Today, school climate assessment has become an increasingly important and valued aspect of district, state, and federal policy. Recognizing that effective school climate improvement efforts are grounded in valid and reliable data, the Federal Department of Education launched the Safe and Supportive Schools grant in 2010 to provide 11 states with…

A Qualitative Study of School Climate According to Teachers' Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ozen, Hamit

2018-01-01

Purpose: Academic researchers have reported that the climate of a school deeply affects students and other partners. A safe and caring school environment is one in which school attendees feel respected, feel that their work is meaningful, and feel that they are good at what they do. The purpose of this paper was to determine how teachers perceived…

School Climate Improvement Action Guide for Instructional Staff. School Climate Improvement Resource Package

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, 2017

2017-01-01

Improving school climate takes time and commitment from a variety of people in a variety of roles. This document outlines key action steps that instructional staff--including teachers, paraprofessionals, and others in the classroom who provide instruction or assistance--can take to support school climate improvements. Key action steps are provided…

School Climate Improvement Action Guide for District Leaders. School Climate Improvement Resource Package

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, 2017

2017-01-01

Improving school climate takes time and commitment from a variety of people in a variety of roles. This document outlines key action steps that district leaders--including superintendents, assistant superintendents, directors of student support services, or others--can take to support school climate improvements. Key action steps are provided for…

Measuring School Climate: Using Existing Data Tools on Climate and Effectiveness to Inform School Organizational Health

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Durham, Rachel E.; Bettencourt, Amie; Connolly, Faith

2014-01-01

Despite--or perhaps due to--the lack of consensus on its definition, there is abundant interest in and research on school climate. Researchers have determined that improving school climate is one way to increase academic achievement, school safety, school completion, teacher retention, healthy social interactions, and student well-being (Cohen,…

Working While in Middle School: Student Perceptions of School Climate & Connectedness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Sabrena

2016-01-01

Does working during the school year result in lowered perceptions of school climate and connectedness for middle school students? According to outcomes from a Rocky Mountain Region School District's (RMRSD) school climate survey, 20% of their middle school student population works during the school year. Existing literature on youth employment…

Opinions and knowledge about climate change science in high school students.

PubMed

Harker-Schuch, Inez; Bugge-Henriksen, Christian

2013-10-01

This study investigates the influence of knowledge on opinions about climate change in the emerging adults' age group (16-17 years). Furthermore, the effects of a lecture in climate change science on knowledge and opinions were assessed. A survey was conducted in Austria and Denmark on 188 students in national and international schools before and after a lecture in climate change science. The results show that knowledge about climate change science significantly affects opinions about climate change. Students with a higher number of correct answers are more likely to have the opinion that humans are causing climate change and that both individuals and governments are responsible for addressing climate change. The lecture in climate change science significantly improved knowledge development but did not affect opinions. Knowledge was improved by 11 % after the lecture. However, the percentage of correct answers was still below 60 % indicating an urgent need for improving climate change science education.

School Climate: Research, Policy, Practice, and Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Jonathan; McCabe, Libby; Michelli, Nicholas M.; Pickeral, Terry

2009-01-01

Background/Context: Educators have written about and studied school climate for 100 years. School climate refers to the quality and character of school life. School climate is based on patterns of people's experiences of school life and reflects norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teaching and learning practices, and organizational…

Measuring School Climate: Questions and Considerations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Bruce L.; McGrail, Janet

School climate is an elusive but powerful concept that has captured the attention of both researchers and practitioners, but choosing an instrument to assess climate can be very complicated. This monograph accordingly discusses four basic issues that should be considered prior to selecting an instrument to measure school climate: purpose, choice…

Using transformational change to improve organizational culture and climate in a school of nursing.

PubMed

Springer, Pamela J; Clark, Cynthia M; Strohfus, Pamela; Belcheir, Marcia

2012-02-01

A positive organizational culture and climate is closely associated with an affirming workplace and job satisfaction. Especially during a time of faculty shortages, academic leaders need to be cognizant of the culture and climate in schools of nursing. The culture of an organization affects employees, systems, and processes, and if the culture becomes problematic, transformational leadership is essential to create change. The purpose of this article is to describe an 8-year journey to change the culture and climate of a school of nursing from one of dissatisfaction and distrust to one of high employee satisfaction and trust. Kotter's model for transformational change was used to frame a longitudinal study using the Cultural and Climate Assessment Scale to transform the organizational culture and climate of a school of nursing. Copyright 2012, SLACK Incorporated.

Inequalities in School Climate in California

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jain, Sonia; Cohen, Alison K.; Huang, Kevin; Hanson, Thomas L.; Austin, Gregory

2015-01-01

Purpose: School climate, or the physical and social conditions of the learning environment, has implications for academic achievement. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/Methodology/Approach: The authors examine how school climate varies by school-level characteristics in California using administrative data and the California School…

A Safe School Climate: A Systemic Approach and the School Counselor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hernandez, Thomas J.; Seem, Susan R.

2004-01-01

The climate of the school is central to the educational mission of a school (Anderson, 1998; Sherman et al., 1997; Jenkins, 1997; Lockwood, 1997). Anderson surveyed recent school safety research and found that altering a school's internal climate can have a significant positive effect on the feeling of safety in the school community. Gottfredson…

Improvement of School Climate.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sierra Sands Unified School District, Ridgecrest, CA.

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: As a part of its School Improvement Program, James Monroe Junior High School planned to improve its school climate. Since the physical school environment was devoid of landscaping and did not provide places for student socialization, all interested groups (PTSA, student council, students, staff, and…

Catholic School Leadership: School Climate and Culture and the Influence on Principal Satisfaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beckley, Gary M.

2012-01-01

Today's Catholic educators face a very different world, creating a change in the role and responsibility of the principal. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent the culture and climate affect satisfaction in the principal's role that warrants becoming and remaining a principal in today's Catholic schools. This…

Transforming School Climate: Educational and Psychoanalytic Perspectives: Introduction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Jonathan

2009-01-01

School climate refers to the character and quality of school life. It is based on these patterns and reflects norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teaching, learning, leadership practices, and organizational structures. School climate is at the nexus of individual and group experience. School climate is based on the individual's…

Reducing School Violence: School-Based Curricular Programs and School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greene, Michael B.

2008-01-01

This article examines two different, but interrelated approaches to reduce school violence: school-based curricular programs and efforts to change school climate. The state of the research for each is reviewed and the relationship between them is explored.

Elementary Student Perceptions of School Climate and Associations with Individual and School Factors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

La Salle, Tamika P.; Zabek, Faith; Meyers, Joel

2016-01-01

School climate has increasingly been recognized as an essential component of school improvement owing to the established associations between a positive school climate and academic outcomes for students. Our study examines associations among a brief measure of school climate assessing elementary student perceptions and the College and Career Ready…

Authoritative School Climate and High School Dropout Rates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jia, Yuane; Konold, Timothy R.; Cornell, Dewey

2016-01-01

This study tested the association between school-wide measures of an authoritative school climate and high school dropout rates in a statewide sample of 315 high schools. Regression models at the school level of analysis used teacher and student measures of disciplinary structure, student support, and academic expectations to predict overall high…

Measurement and structural relations of an authoritative school climate model: A multi-level latent variable investigation.

PubMed

Konold, Timothy R; Cornell, Dewey

2015-12-01

This study tested a conceptual model of school climate in which two key elements of an authoritative school, structure and support variables, are associated with student engagement in school and lower levels of peer aggression. Multilevel multivariate structural modeling was conducted in a statewide sample of 48,027 students in 323 public high schools who completed the Authoritative School Climate Survey. As hypothesized, two measures of structure (Disciplinary Structure and Academic Expectations) and two measures of support (Respect for Students and Willingness to Seek Help) were associated with higher student engagement (Affective Engagement and Cognitive Engagement) and lower peer aggression (Prevalence of Teasing and Bullying) on both student and school levels of analysis, controlling for the effects of school demographics (school size, percentage of minority students, and percentage of low income students). These results support the extension of authoritative school climate model to high school and guide further research on the conditions for a positive school climate. Copyright © 2015 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measuring and Improving School Climate. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Madoff, Marjorie; Genova, William

A school climate project was initiated in three vocational training schools in Connecticut. Within each of the schools, a school climate team was established with eight-twelve representative administrator, teacher, student, and parent members. This team, with the support of on-going training, conducted a survey of approximately 400 students and…

Advocating for Safe Schools, Positive School Climate, and Comprehensive Mental Health Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cowan, Katherine C.; Vaillancourt, Kelly

2013-01-01

The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, CT (USA) has brought the conversation about how to reduce violence, make schools safer, improve school climate, and increase access to mental health services to the forefront of the national conversation. Advocating for comprehensive initiatives to address school safety, school climate, and…

School climate: perceptual differences between students, parents, and school staff

PubMed Central

Ramsey, Christine M.; Spira, Adam P.; Parisi, Jeanine M.; Rebok, George W.

2016-01-01

Research suggests that school climate can have a great impact on student, teacher, and school outcomes. However, it is often assessed as a summary measure, without taking into account multiple perspectives (student, teacher, parent) or examining subdimensions within the broader construct. In this study, we assessed school climate from the perspective of students, staff, and parents within a large, urban school district using multilevel modeling techniques to examine within- and between-school variance. After adjusting for school-level demographic characteristics, students reported worse perceptions of safety and connectedness compared to both parent and staff ratings (all p < 0.05). Parents gave the lowest ratings of parental involvement, and staff gave the lowest ratings of academic emphasis (ps < 0.05). Findings demonstrate the importance of considering the type of informant when evaluating climate ratings within a school. Understanding how perceptions differ between informants can inform interventions to improve perceptions and prevent adverse outcomes. PMID:28642631

School climate: perceptual differences between students, parents, and school staff.

PubMed

Ramsey, Christine M; Spira, Adam P; Parisi, Jeanine M; Rebok, George W

2016-01-01

Research suggests that school climate can have a great impact on student, teacher, and school outcomes. However, it is often assessed as a summary measure, without taking into account multiple perspectives (student, teacher, parent) or examining subdimensions within the broader construct. In this study, we assessed school climate from the perspective of students, staff, and parents within a large, urban school district using multilevel modeling techniques to examine within- and between-school variance. After adjusting for school-level demographic characteristics, students reported worse perceptions of safety and connectedness compared to both parent and staff ratings (all p < 0.05). Parents gave the lowest ratings of parental involvement , and staff gave the lowest ratings of academic emphasis ( p s < 0.05). Findings demonstrate the importance of considering the type of informant when evaluating climate ratings within a school. Understanding how perceptions differ between informants can inform interventions to improve perceptions and prevent adverse outcomes.

Educators' Perceptions of School Climate and Health in Selected Primary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pretorius, Stephanus; de Villiers, Elsabe

2009-01-01

The aims in this research were to determine the perceptions of school climate held by educators of primary schools in the southern Cape. Six primary schools with a staff complement of 178 educators participated in the investigation. Two instruments were used: the Organisational Climate Description Questionnaire Rutgers Elementary (OCDQ-RE) and…

Bullying and School Climate: Associations and Group Differences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Biernbaum, Mark A.; Lotyczewski, Bohdan S.

2015-01-01

Bullying is an international public health problem that school climate could help prevent or promote. The present paper contains an analysis of an anonymous school climate survey, completed by 9554 students, in grades 5-12 (response rate 87%). Links in the literature between school climate and bullying lack specificity. We examined associations…

Impact of Experience Corps(®) participation on school climate.

PubMed

Parisi, Jeanine M; Ramsey, Christine M; Carlson, Michelle C; Xue, Qian-Li; Huang, Jin; Romani, William A; McGill, Sylvia; Seeman, Teresa E; Tanner, Elizabeth K; Barron, Jeremy; Tan, Erwin J; Gruenewald, Tara L; Diibor, Ike; Fried, Linda P; Rebok, George W

2015-07-01

We examined the impact of the Experience Corps(®) (EC) program on school climate within Baltimore City public elementary schools. In this program, teams of older adult volunteers were placed in high intensity (>15 h per week), meaningful roles in public elementary schools, to improve the educational outcomes of children as well as the health and well-being of volunteers. During the first year of EC participation, school climate was perceived more favorably among staff and students in EC schools as compared to those in comparison schools. However, with a few notable exceptions, perceived school climate did not differ for staff or students in intervention and comparison schools during the second year of exposure to the EC program. These findings suggest that perceptions of school climate may be altered by introducing a new program into elementary schools; however, research examining how perceptions of school climate are impacted over a longer period is warranted.

Impact of Experience Corps® Participation on School Climate

PubMed Central

Parisi, Jeanine M.; Ramsey, Christine M.; Carlson, Michelle C.; Xue, Qian-Li; Huang, Jin; Romani, William A.; McGill, Sylvia; Seeman, Teresa E.; Tanner, Elizabeth K.; Barron, Jeremy; Tan, Erwin; Gruenewald, Tara L.; Diibor, Ike; Fried, Linda P.; Rebok, George W.

2015-01-01

We examined the impact of the Experience Corps® (EC) program on school climate within Baltimore City public elementary schools. In this program, teams of older adult volunteers were placed in high intensity (>15 hours per week), meaningful roles in public elementary schools, to improve the educational outcomes of children as well as the health and well-being of volunteers. During the first year of EC participation, school climate was perceived more favorably among staff and students in EC schools as compared to those in comparison schools. However, with a few notable exceptions, perceived school climate did not differ for staff or students in intervention and comparison schools during the second year of exposure to the EC program. These findings suggest that perceptions of school climate may be altered by introducing a new program into elementary schools; however, research examining how perceptions of school climate are impacted over a longer period is warranted. PMID:25708453

Safe Schools? Transgender Youth's School Experiences and Perceptions of School Climate.

PubMed

Day, Jack K; Perez-Brumer, Amaya; Russell, Stephen T

2018-06-01

The magnitude of gender identity-related disparities in school-based outcomes is unknown because of a lack of representative studies that include measures of gender identity. By utilizing a representative sample generalizable to a broader population, this study elucidates the size of gender identity-related disparities, independent of sexual orientation, in school experiences associated with school connectedness and perceptions of school climate. Additionally, the inclusion of and comparison to results of a large non-representative sample allows for more direct comparisons to previous studies of the school experiences of transgender youth. The analyses in this study primarily draw on a sample of 31,896 youth representative of the middle and high school population in California who participated in the 2013-2015 California Student Survey (a subsample of the California Healthy Kids Survey, which includes the largest known sample of transgender youth). Over half the sample identified their sex as female (51.3%), and 398 identified as transgender (1.0%). The sample was racially and ethnically diverse: 30.7% identified as multiracial, 33.0% as White, 11.1% as Asian, 7.4% as Black, and 52.9% as Hispanic. Findings from multilevel analyses show that relative to non-transgender youth, transgender youth were more likely to be truant from school, to experience victimization and bias-based bullying, and to report more negative perceptions of school climate, though did not differ in self-reported grades. The findings have implications for improving school policies and practices to create safer and more supportive school climates for all youth.

Peer Victimization and Authoritative School Climate: A Multilevel Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cornell, Dewey; Shukla, Kathan; Konold, Timothy

2015-01-01

School climate is widely recognized as an important influence on peer victimization in schools. The purpose of this study is to examine how authoritative school climate theory provides a framework for conceptualizing 2 key features of school climate--disciplinary structure and student support--that are associated with 3 measures of peer…

School Climate and Restructuring for Low-Achieving Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smey-Richman, Barbara

Although analogous and vague definitions of school climate may help in determining whether low-achieving students are experiencing a more positive or negative school climate, more clarity is needed to render the climate construct more observable, measurable, and malleable. Tagiuri conceptualizes climate as the total environmental quality within an…

Relationships between Character Education and School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karaburk, Hasan

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between character education and school climate based on the lived experiences and beliefs of teachers. The research was conducted in a public middle school to explore understandings and beliefs of teachers about character education and its perceived impact on school climate. Social…

A Review of School Climate Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thapa, Amrit; Cohen, Jonathan; Guffey, Shawn; Higgins-D'Alessandro, Ann

2013-01-01

For more than a century, there has been a growing interest in school climate. Recently, the U.S. Department of Education, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Institute for Educational Sciences, a growing number of State Departments of Education, foreign educational ministries, and UNICEF have focused on school climate reform as an…

School Climate in Middle Schools: A Cultural Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schneider, Stephanie H.; Duran, Lauren

2010-01-01

In 2007-08 and 2008-09, 2,500 randomly-selected middle school students completed an annual survey on school climate and character development. In examining differences based upon grade, gender, race/ethnicity, school, and length of program participation, significant differences were found for all but length of program participation. Responses of…

December 2012 Policy Update: School Climate and Bully Prevention Trends State-by-State Assessment. School Climate Brief, Number 6

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bellizio, Dan

2012-01-01

This December 2012 Brief updates NSCC's 2011 report "State Policies on School Climate and Bully Prevention Efforts: Challenges and Opportunities for Deepening State Policy Support for Safe and Civil School"s (www.schoolclimate.org/climate/papers-briefs.php). This Brief provides a summary of State level: (1) anti-bullying legislation; (2)…

Charter School Discipline: Examples of Policies and School Climate Efforts from the Field

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kern, Nora; Kim, Suzie

2016-01-01

Students need a safe and supportive school environment to maximize their academic and social-emotional learning potential. A school's discipline policies and practices directly impact school climate and student achievement. Together, discipline policies and positive school climate efforts can reinforce behavioral expectations and ensure student…

Authoritative School Climate, Aggression toward Teachers, and Teacher Distress in Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berg, Juliette K.; Cornell, Dewey

2016-01-01

Aggression toward teachers is linked to burnout and disengagement from teaching, but a positive school climate may reduce aggression and associated teacher distress. Using authoritative school climate theory, the study examined whether schools with high disciplinary structure and student support were associated with less aggression and less…

Evaluating Changes in Climate Literacy among Middle and High School Students who Participate in Climate Change Education Modules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeWaters, J.; Powers, S.; Dhaniyala, S.; Small, M.

2012-12-01

Middle school (MS) and high school (HS) teachers have developed and taught instructional modules that were created through their participation in Clarkson University's NASA-funded Project-Based Global Climate Change Education project. A quantitative survey was developed to help evaluate the project's impact on students' climate literacy, which includes content knowledge as well as affective and behavioral attributes. Content objectives were guided primarily by the 2009 document, Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Sciences. The survey was developed according to established psychometric principles and methodologies in the sociological and educational sciences which involved developing and evaluating a pool of survey items, adapted primarily from existing climate surveys and questionnaires; preparing, administering, and evaluating two rounds of pilot tests; and preparing a final instrument with revisions informed by both pilot assessments. The resulting survey contains three separate subscales: cognitive, affective, and behavioral, with five self-efficacy items embedded within the affective subscale. Cognitive items use a multiple choice format with one correct response; non-cognitive items use a 5-point Likert-type scale with options generally ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree" (affective), or "almost always" to "hardly ever" (behavioral). Three versions of the survey were developed and administered using an on-line Zoomerang™ platform to college students/adults; HS students; and MS students, respectively. Instrument validity was supported by using items drawn from existing surveys, by reviewing/applying prior research in climate literacy, and through comparative age-group analysis. The internal consistency reliability of each subscale, as measured by Cronbach's alpha, ranges from 0.78-0.86 (cognitive), 0.87-0.89 (affective) and 0.84-0.85 (behavioral), all satisfying generally accepted criteria for internal reliability of

Applying Corporate Climate Principles to Dental School Operations.

PubMed

Robinson, Michelle A; Reddy, Michael S

2016-12-01

Decades of research have shown that organizational climate has the potential to form the basis of workplace operations and impact an organization's performance. Culture is related to climate but is not the same. "Culture" is the broader term, defining how things are done in an organization, while "climate" is a component of culture that describes how people perceive their environment. Climate can be changed but requires substantial effort over time by management and the workforce. Interest has recently grown in culture and climate in dental education due to the humanistic culture accreditation standard. The aim of this study was to use corporate climate principles to examine how organizational culture and, subsequently, workplace operations can be improved through specific strategic efforts in a U.S. dental school. The school's parent institution initiated a climate survey that the dental school used with qualitative culture data to drive strategic planning and change in the school. Administration of the same survey to faculty and staff members three times over a six-year period showed significant changes to the school's climate occurred as a new strategic plan was implemented that focused on reforming areas of weakness. Concentrated efforts in key areas in the strategic plan resulted in measurable improvements in climate perception. The study discovered that culture was an area previously overlooked but explicitly linked to the success of the organization.

Multilevel Multi-Informant Structure of the Authoritative School Climate Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Konold, Timothy; Cornell, Dewey; Huang, Francis; Meyer, Patrick; Lacey, Anna; Nekvasil, Erin; Heilbrun, Anna; Shukla, Kathan

2014-01-01

The Authoritative School Climate Survey was designed to provide schools with a brief assessment of 2 key characteristics of school climate--disciplinary structure and student support--that are hypothesized to influence 2 important school climate outcomes--student engagement and prevalence of teasing and bullying in school. The factor structure of…

Principals' Response to Change in Schools and Its Effect on School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Busch, Steve; Johnson, Shirley; Robles-Piña, Rebecca; Slate, John R.

2009-01-01

In this study, the researchers examined principal behaviors related with change in school climate. That is, the manner in which principals managed change within their schools and the impact of these change behaviors on the school climate was investigated. Through use of the Leadership Profile (Johnson, 2003) and the Organizational Health Inventory…

School Climate Improvement Action Guide for Noninstructional Staff. School Climate Improvement Resource Package

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, 2017

2017-01-01

Improving school climate takes time and commitment from a variety of people in a variety of roles. This document outlines key action steps that noninstructional staff--including guidance counselors, social workers, school psychologists, office staff, bus drivers, maintenance and facility staff, and food service staff--can take to support school…

The role of principal in optimizing school climate in primary schools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murtedjo; Suharningsih

2018-01-01

This article was written based on the occurrence of elementary school changes that never counted because of the low quality, became the school of choice of the surrounding community with the many national achievements ever achieved. This article is based on research data conducted in primary schools. In this paper focused on the role of school principals in an effort to optimize school climate. To describe the principal’s role in optimizing school climate using a qualitative approach to the design of Multi-Site Study. The appointment of the informant was done by snowball technique. Data collection through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and documentation. Data credibility checking uses triangulation techniques, member checks, and peer discussions. Auditability is performed by the auditor. The collected data is analyzed by site analysis and cross-site analysis. The result of the research shows that the principal in optimizing the conducive school climate by creating the physical condition of the school and the socio-emotional condition is pleasant, so that the teachers in implementing the learning process become passionate, happy learners which ultimately improve their learning achievement and can improve the school quality.

Measuring school climate in high schools: a focus on safety, engagement, and the environment.

PubMed

Bradshaw, Catherine P; Waasdorp, Tracy E; Debnam, Katrina J; Johnson, Sarah Lindstrom

2014-09-01

School climate has been linked to multiple student behavioral, academic, health, and social-emotional outcomes. The US Department of Education (USDOE) developed a 3-factor model of school climate comprised of safety, engagement, and environment. This article examines the factor structure and measurement invariance of the USDOE model. Drawing upon 2 consecutive waves of data from over 25,000 high school students (46% minority), a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses examined the fit of the Maryland Safe and Supportive Schools Climate Survey with the USDOE model. The results indicated adequate model fit with the theorized 3-factor model of school climate, which included 13 subdomains: safety (perceived safety, bullying and aggression, and drug use); engagement (connection to teachers, student connectedness, academic engagement, school connectedness, equity, and parent engagement); environment (rules and consequences, physical comfort, and support, disorder). We also found consistent measurement invariance with regard to student sex, grade level, and ethnicity. School-level interclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.04 to .10 for the scales. Findings supported the USDOE 3-factor model of school climate and suggest measurement invariance and high internal consistency of the 3 scales and 13 subdomains. These results suggest the 56-item measure may be a potentially efficient, yet comprehensive measure of school climate. © 2014, American School Health Association.

Assessment of High-school Students Engaged in the EarthLabs Climate Modules using the Climate Concept Inventory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNeal, K.; Libarkin, J. C.; Ledley, T. S.; Gold, A. U.; Lynds, S. E.; Haddad, N.; Ellins, K.; Dunlap, C.; Bardar, E. W.; Youngman, E.

2015-12-01

Instructors must have on hand appropriate assessments that align with their teaching and learning goals in order to provide evidence of student learning. We have worked with curriculum developers and scientists to develop the Climate Concept Inventory (CCI), which meets goals of the EarthLabs Climate on-line curriculum. The developed concept inventory includes 19 content-driven multiple choice questions, six affective-based multiple choice questions, one confidence question, three open-ended questions, and eight demographic questions. Our analysis of the instrument applies item response theory and uses item characteristic curves. We have assessed over 500 students in nearly twenty high school classrooms in Mississippi and Texas that have engaged in the implementation of the EarthLabs curriculum and completed the CCI. Results indicate that students had pre-post gains on 9 out of 10 of the content-based multiple choice questions with positive gains in answer choice selection ranging from 1.72% to 42%. Students significantly reported increased confidence with 15% more students reporting that they were either very or fairly confident with their answers. Of the six affective questions posed, 5 out of 6 showed significant shifts towards gains in knowledge, awareness, and information about Earth's climate system. The research has resulted in a robust and validated climate concept inventory for use with advanced high school students, where we have been able to apply its use within the EarthLabs project.

CEC's Policy on Safe and Positive School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Council for Exceptional Children (NJ3), 2008

2008-01-01

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) recognizes the important impact a safe and positive school climate has on the personal development and academic achievement of all students. Research has shown that schools implementing supportive and positive school climate strategies are more successful in creating environments conducive to learning. As…

Facilitators to promoting health in schools: is school health climate the key?

PubMed

Lucarelli, Jennifer F; Alaimo, Katherine; Mang, Ellen; Martin, Caroline; Miles, Richard; Bailey, Deborah; Kelleher, Deanne K; Drzal, Nicholas B; Liu, Hui

2014-02-01

Schools can promote healthy eating in adolescents. This study used a qualitative approach to examine barriers and facilitators to healthy eating in schools. Case studies were conducted with 8 low-income Michigan middle schools. Interviews were conducted with 1 administrator, the food service director, and 1 member of the coordinated school health team at each school. Barriers included budgetary constraints leading to low prioritization of health initiatives; availability of unhealthy competitive foods; and perceptions that students would not eat healthy foods. Schools had made improvements to foods and increased nutrition education. Support from administrators, teamwork among staff, and acknowledging student preferences facilitated positive changes. Schools with a key set of characteristics, (presence of a coordinated school health team, nutrition policies, and a school health champion) made more improvements. The set of key characteristics identified in successful schools may represent a school's health climate. While models of school climate have been utilized in the educational field in relation to academic outcomes, a health-specific model of school climate would be useful in guiding school health practitioners and researchers and may improve the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving student dietary intake and other health behaviors. © 2014, American School Health Association.

Differences among Teachers' Perceptions of School Climate: Does Support for the Local Teacher Union Make a Difference?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffith, Jason S.

2009-01-01

Although some school improvement literature has suggested that schools will improve when unions are removed from the school system, unions have rarely been isolated in the research. This study involved a mixed method case study approach to explore whether support of the local teacher union affected perceptions of school climate, as measured by the…

Perceived school climate, academic well-being and school-aged children's self-rated health: a mediator analysis.

PubMed

Rathmann, Katharina; Herke, Max; Heilmann, Kristina; Kinnunen, Jaana M; Rimpelä, Arja; Hurrelmann, Klaus; Richter, Matthias

2018-06-11

Schools are crucial settings for young people's development. Rare studies have examined the impact of perceived school-climate and academic well-being on young people's self-rated health in joint analyses. This study focuses on the role of perceived school-climate and academic well-being for young people's self-rated health and examines whether school climate is mediated by indicators of academic well-being. Data were obtained from the German National Educational Panel Study, including seventh grade students (n = 6838) aged 11-12, nested in 710 classes within 277 schools. Indicators of school climate (teacher control, demands, autonomy, interaction, goal setting and orientation, teaching quality) and academic well-being (satisfaction with school, helplessness in major school subjects) were reported from students. Multilevel modelling was used to analyze the relative importance of perceived school-climate and academic well-being on school-aged children's self-rated health. Results showed that academic well-being is strongly related to self-rated health. The better students perceive their academic well-being, the lower the likelihood of poor self-rated health. In contrast, indicators of perceived school climate are only indirectly related to self-rated health, mediated by academic well-being or are not at all associated with self-rated health. This study suggests that school climate is important for academic well-being but not as important for students' self-rated health as academic well-being. Health promotion initiatives in schools have to ensure that school climate serves to enhance students' academic well-being to avoid health problems in the long-run.

Assessing School and Classroom Climate. A Consumer's Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arter, Judith A.

School and classroom climate is often cited in effective schools research as being important for student achievement. This consumer guide is intended to help educators evaluate their own educational climate by providing reviews and descriptions of the major tests and surveys used to assess climate. Section 2 presents reasons for examining school…

Relationships between bullying, school climate, and student risk behaviors.

PubMed

Klein, Jennifer; Cornell, Dewey; Konold, Timothy

2012-09-01

This study examined whether characteristics of a positive school climate were associated with lower student risk behavior in a sample of 3,687 high school students who completed the School Climate Bullying Survey and questions about risk behavior from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBS). Confirmatory factor analyses established fit for 20 items with three hypothesized school climate scales measuring (1) prevalence of bullying and teasing; (2) aggressive attitudes; and (3) student willingness to seek help. Structural equation modeling established the relationship of these measures with student reports of risk behavior. Multigroup analyses identified differential effects across gender and race. A positive school climate could be an important protective factor in preventing student risk behavior.

Bullying victimization and student engagement in elementary, middle, and high schools: Moderating role of school climate.

PubMed

Yang, Chunyan; Sharkey, Jill D; Reed, Lauren A; Chen, Chun; Dowdy, Erin

2018-03-01

Bullying is the most common form of school violence and is associated with a range of negative outcomes, including traumatic responses. This study used hierarchical linear modeling to examine the multilevel moderating effects of school climate and school level (i.e., elementary, middle, and high schools) on the association between bullying victimization and student engagement. Participants included 25,896 students in 4th to 12th grades from 114 schools. Results indicated that, after controlling for student and school demographic factors, positive school climate was associated with higher behavioral/cognitive and emotional engagement of students across all grades. This highlights the critical and fundamental role of positive school climate in bullying prevention and intervention, among students across all grade levels, including those with frequent bullying victimization experience. Results also showed that negative associations between student-level bullying victimization and engagement were intensified in more positive school climates. This finding suggests that, in comparison with students in schools with less positive school climates, the engagement of bullying victims in schools with a more positive school climate might be more negatively influenced by their victimization experience. Additionally, the relation between student-level bullying victimization and emotional engagement was significantly different across middle and high schools. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The Association of School Climate, Depression Literacy, and Mental Health Stigma among High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Townsend, Lisa; Musci, Rashelle; Stuart, Elizabeth; Ruble, Anne; Beaudry, Mary B.; Schweizer, Barbara; Owen, Megan; Goode, Carly; Johnson, Sarah L.; Bradshaw, Catherine; Wilcox, Holly; Swartz, Karen

2017-01-01

Background: Although school climate is linked with youth educational, socioemotional, behavioral, and health outcomes, there has been limited research on the association between school climate and mental health education efforts. We explored whether school climate was associated with students' depression literacy and mental health stigma beliefs.…

Testing the Causal Links between School Climate, School Violence, and School Academic Performance: A Cross-Lagged Panel Autoregressive Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benbenishty, Rami; Astor, Ron Avi; Roziner, Ilan; Wrabel, Stephani L.

2016-01-01

The present study explores the causal link between school climate, school violence, and a school's general academic performance over time using a school-level, cross-lagged panel autoregressive modeling design. We hypothesized that reductions in school violence and climate improvement would lead to schools' overall improved academic performance.…

How school climate relates to chronic absence: A multi-level latent profile analysis.

PubMed

Van Eck, Kathryn; Johnson, Stacy R; Bettencourt, Amie; Johnson, Sarah Lindstrom

2017-04-01

Chronic absence is a significant problem in schools. School climate may play an important role in influencing chronic absence rates among schools, yet little research has evaluated how school climate constructs relate to chronic absence. Using multilevel latent profile analysis, we evaluated how profiles of student perceptions of school climate at both the student and school level differentiated school-level rates of chronic absence. Participants included 25,776 middle and high school students from 106 schools who completed a district administered school climate survey. Students attended schools in a large urban school district where 89% of 6th through 12th grade students were African-American and 61% were eligible for the federally subsidized school meals program. Three student-level profiles of perceptions of school climate emerged that corresponded to "positive," "moderate," and "negative" climate. Two predominant patterns regarding the distribution of these profiles within schools emerged that corresponded to the two school-level profiles of "marginal climate" and "climate challenged" schools. Students reporting "moderate" and "negative" climate in their schools were more likely to attend schools with higher chronic absence rates than students reporting that their school had "positive" climate. Likewise, "climate challenged" schools had significantly higher chronic absence rates than "marginal climate" schools. These results suggest that school climate shares an important relation with chronic absence among adolescent students attending urban schools. Implications for prevention and intervention programs are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Facilitators to Promoting Health in Schools: Is School Health Climate the Key?*

PubMed Central

Lucarelli, Jennifer F.; Alaimo, Katherine; Mang, Ellen; Martin, Caroline; Miles, Richard; Bailey, Deborah; Kelleher, Deanne K.; Drzal, Nicholas B.; Liu, Hui

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND Schools can promote healthy eating in adolescents. This study used a qualitative approach to examine barriers and facilitators to healthy eating in schools. METHODS Case studies were conducted with 8 low-income Michigan middle schools. Interviews were conducted with 1 administrator, the food service director, and 1 member of the coordinated school health team at each school. RESULTS Barriers included budgetary constraints leading to low prioritization of health initiatives; availability of unhealthy competitive foods; and perceptions that students would not eat healthy foods. Schools had made improvements to foods and increased nutrition education. Support from administrators, teamwork among staff, and acknowledging student preferences facilitated positive changes. Schools with a key set of characteristics, (presence of a coordinated school health team, nutrition policies, and a school health champion) made more improvements. CONCLUSIONS The set of key characteristics identified in successful schools may represent a school’s health climate. While models of school climate have been utilized in the educational field in relation to academic outcomes, a health-specific model of school climate would be useful in guiding school health practitioners and researchers and may improve the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving student dietary intake and other health behaviors. PMID:25099428

The Influence of School Culture and School Climate on Violence in Schools of the Eastern Cape Province

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barnes, Kalie; Brynard, Susette; de Wet, Corene

2012-01-01

This article reports on research undertaken about the influence of school culture and school climate on violence at schools in the Eastern Cape. An adapted California School Climate and Survey-Short Form (CSCSS-SF), which was used as the data-collection instrument, was completed by 900 Grade 10 to 12 learners. With the assistance of Pearson's…

A Brief Measure of Adolescent Perceptions of School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Nick; La Salle, Tamika; Ashby, Jeffrey S.; Meyers, Joel

2014-01-01

Student perceptions of school climate represent the ways students feel about the school environment. These include perceptions regarding safety, teaching and learning, and relationships within the school. It has been found that student perceptions of school climate are positively correlated with academic achievement (Brookover et al., 1978), and…

The Development of a New Comprehensive Measure of School Climate and Associations with School Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maier, Christopher J.

2017-01-01

A positive school climate has been related to increase in student achievement, teacher satisfaction, and teacher retention. One of the most influential aspects of developing a positive school climate hinges on principal leadership style. The Development of a New Comprehensive Measure of School Climate assesses six key areas related to school…

Does perceived teacher affective support matter for middle school students in mathematics classrooms?

PubMed

Sakiz, Gonul; Pape, Stephen J; Hoy, Anita Woolfolk

2012-04-01

The purpose of the present study was to explore the importance of perceived teacher affective support in relation to sense of belonging, academic enjoyment, academic hopelessness, academic self-efficacy, and academic effort in middle school mathematics classrooms. A self-report survey was administered to 317 seventh- and eighth-grade students in 5 public middle schools. Structural equation modeling indicated significant associations between perceived teacher affective support and middle school students' motivational, emotional, and behavioral outcomes. The structural model explained a significant proportion of variance in students' sense of belonging (42%), academic enjoyment (43%), self-efficacy beliefs (43%), academic hopelessness (18%), and academic effort (32%) in mathematics classrooms. In addition to providing the basis for a concise new measure of perceived teacher affective support, these findings point to the importance of students' perceptions of the affective climate within learning environments for promoting academic enjoyment, academic self-efficacy, and academic effort in mathematics. Copyright © 2011 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Positive School Climate: What It Looks Like and How It Happens. Nurturing Positive School Climate for Student Learning and Professional Growth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Tami Kopischke; Connolly, Faith; Pryseski, Charlene

2014-01-01

The term "school climate" has been around for more than a hundred years to explore the idea of school environmental or contextual factors that might have an impact on student learning and academic success. During the past three decades there has been growing research to support the importance of a positive school climate in promoting…

The Critical Role of School Climate in Effective Bullying Prevention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Cixin; Berry, Brandi; Swearer, Susan M.

2013-01-01

Research has shown a negative association between positive school climate and bullying behavior. This article reviews research on school climate and bullying behavior and proposes that an unhealthy and unsupportive school climate (e.g., negative relationship between teachers and students, positive attitudes towards bullying) provides a social…

The Association of School Climate, Depression Literacy, and Mental Health Stigma Among High School Students.

PubMed

Townsend, Lisa; Musci, Rashelle; Stuart, Elizabeth; Ruble, Anne; Beaudry, Mary B; Schweizer, Barbara; Owen, Megan; Goode, Carly; Johnson, Sarah L; Bradshaw, Catherine; Wilcox, Holly; Swartz, Karen

2017-08-01

Although school climate is linked with youth educational, socioemotional, behavioral, and health outcomes, there has been limited research on the association between school climate and mental health education efforts. We explored whether school climate was associated with students' depression literacy and mental health stigma beliefs. Data were combined from 2 studies: the Maryland Safe Supportive Schools Project and a randomized controlled trial of the Adolescent Depression Awareness Program. Five high schools participated in both studies, allowing examination of depression literacy and stigma measures from 500 9th and 10th graders. Multilevel models examined the relationship between school-level school climate characteristics and student-level depression literacy and mental health stigma scores. Overall school climate was positively associated with depression literacy (odds ratio [OR] = 2.78, p < .001) and negatively associated with stigma (Est. = -3.822, p = .001). Subscales of engagement (OR = 5.30, p < .001) and environment were positively associated with depression literacy (OR = 2.01, p < .001) and negatively associated with stigma (Est. = -6.610, p < .001), (Est. = -2.742, p < .001). Positive school climate was associated with greater odds of depression literacy and endorsement of fewer stigmatizing beliefs among students. Our findings raise awareness regarding aspects of the school environment that may facilitate or inhibit students' recognition of depression and subsequent treatment-seeking. © 2017, American School Health Association.

Multilevel multi-informant structure of the authoritative school climate survey.

PubMed

Konold, Timothy; Cornell, Dewey; Huang, Francis; Meyer, Patrick; Lacey, Anna; Nekvasil, Erin; Heilbrun, Anna; Shukla, Kathan

2014-09-01

The Authoritative School Climate Survey was designed to provide schools with a brief assessment of 2 key characteristics of school climate--disciplinary structure and student support--that are hypothesized to influence 2 important school climate outcomes--student engagement and prevalence of teasing and bullying in school. The factor structure of these 4 constructs was examined with exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses in a statewide sample of 39,364 students (Grades 7 and 8) attending 423 schools. Notably, the analyses used a multilevel structural approach to model the nesting of students in schools for purposes of evaluating factor structure, demonstrating convergent and concurrent validity and gauging the structural invariance of concurrent validity coefficients across gender. These findings provide schools with a core group of school climate measures guided by authoritative discipline theory. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Promoting an equitable and supportive school climate in high schools: the role of school organizational health and staff burnout.

PubMed

Bottiani, Jessika H; Bradshaw, Catherine P; Mendelson, Tamar

2014-12-01

In response to persistent racial disparities in academic and behavioral outcomes between Black and White students, equitable school climate has drawn attention as a potential target for school reform. This study examined differences in Black and White students' experiences of school climate and explored whether indicators of school organizational health and staff burnout moderated differences in students' school experiences by race. Utilizing hierarchical linear modeling with a sample of 18,397 Black students (n=6228) and White students (n=12,169) and 2391 school staff in 53 schools, we found a consistent pattern of racial inequalities, such that Black students reported less positive experiences than White students across three indicators of school climate (caring γ=-0.08, p<.001; equity γ=-0.05, p=.007; and engagement γ=-0.05, p<.001). In addition, we found significant, positive associations between aggregated staff-report of school organizational health and student-reported school climate (e.g., staff affiliation and student-perceived equity, γ=0.07, p<.001). Surprisingly, a number of school organizational health indicators were more strongly associated with positive perceptions of school climate among White students than Black students, translating into greater racial disparities in perceived school climate at schools with greater organizational health (e.g., supportive leadership by race on student-perceived engagement, γ=-0.03, p=.042). We also found negative associations between staff-reported burnout and students' experience of equity, such that the racial gap was smaller in schools with high ratings of burnout (γ=0.04, p=.002). These findings have implications for educators and education researchers interested in promoting school social contexts that equitably support student engagement and success. Copyright © 2014 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Student Perceptions of School Climate as Predictors of Office Discipline Referrals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gage, Nicholas A.; Larson, Alvin; Sugai, George; Chafouleas, Sandra M.

2016-01-01

Research indicates that school climate influences students' academic, social, and behavioral outcomes. Therefore, improving school climate provides a promising avenue for preventing academic, social, and behavioral difficulties. Research has examined school-level measurement of school climate, but few studies have examined student-level responses…

Improving School Climate Is Everybody's Business. City-Neighborhood Schools Initiative.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yanoff, Shelly D.; Collings, Kelley; Jordon, Aldustus; Fynes, Steven E.; Page-Gaither, Melania; Ruiz, Luz; Correll, Audrey; James, Cecilia

Responding to concerns expressed by state legislators, teacher union leadership, the Philadelphia school district, parents, children, and school staff, the Philadelphia Citizens for children and Youth (PCCY) and the Alliance Organizing Project identified perceptions of the current climate in the city's schools and obtained suggestions for…

School Climate: An Essential Component of a Comprehensive School Safety Plan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stark, Heidi

2017-01-01

The intentional assessment and management of school climate is an essential component of a comprehensive school safety plan. The value of this preventive aspect of school safety is often diminished as schools invest resources in physical security measures as a narrowly focused effort to increase school safety (Addington, 2009). This dissertation…

The physical activity climate in Minnesota middle and high schools.

PubMed

Samuelson, Anne; Lytle, Leslie; Pasch, Keryn; Farbakhsh, Kian; Moe, Stacey; Sirard, John Ronald

2010-11-01

This article describes policies, practices, and facilities that form the physical activity climate in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota metro area middle and high schools and examines how the physical activity climate varies by school characteristics, including public/private, school location and grade level. Surveys examining school physical activity practices, policies and environment were administered to principals and physical education department heads from 115 middle and high schools participating in the Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer-Identifying Determinants of Eating and Activity (TREC-IDEA) study. While some supportive practices were highly prevalent in the schools studied (such as prohibiting substitution of other classes for physical education); other practices were less common (such as providing opportunity for intramural (noncompetitive) sports). Public schools vs. private schools and schools with a larger school enrollment were more likely to have a school climate supportive of physical activity. Although schools reported elements of positive physical activity climates, discrepancies exist by school characteristics. Of note, public schools were more than twice as likely as private schools to have supportive physical activity environments. Establishing more consistent physical activity expectations and funding at the state and national level is necessary to increase regular school physical activity.

Using Organization Development To Improve School Climate. Report No. 17.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gottfredson, Gary D.; Gottfredson, Denise C.

This paper presents and illustrates some principles for organizational development approaches to improving school climate. It discusses a specific structure for facilitating school improvement entitled Program Development Evaluation, and it illustrates the use of school climate assessments for school diagnosis and the evaluation of improvement…

Authoritative School Climate and Suspension Rates in Middle Schools: Implications for Reducing the Racial Disparity in School Discipline

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heilbrun, Anna; Cornell, Dewey; Konold, Timothy

2018-01-01

The overuse of school suspensions has been linked to a host of negative outcomes, including racial disparities in discipline. School climate initiatives have shown promise in reducing these disparities. The present study used the Authoritative School Climate Survey--which measures disciplinary structure and student support as key measures of…

The moderating effects of school climate on bullying prevention efforts.

PubMed

Low, Sabina; Van Ryzin, Mark

2014-09-01

Bullying prevention efforts have yielded mixed effects over the last 20 years. Program effectiveness is driven by a number of factors (e.g., program elements and implementation), but there remains a dearth of understanding regarding the role of school climate on the impact of bullying prevention programs. This gap is surprising, given research suggesting that bullying problems and climate are strongly related. The current study examines the moderating role of school climate on the impacts of a stand-alone bullying prevention curriculum. In addition, the current study examined 2 different dimensions of school climate across both student and staff perceptions. Data for this study were derived from a Steps to Respect (STR) randomized efficacy trial that was conducted in 33 elementary schools over a 1-year period. Schools were randomly assigned to intervention or wait-listed control condition. Outcome measures (pre-to-post) were obtained from (a) all school staff, (b) a randomly selected subset of 3rd-5th grade teachers in each school, and (c) all students in classrooms of selected teachers. Multilevel analyses revealed that psychosocial climate was strongly related to reductions in bullying-related attitudes and behaviors. Intervention status yielded only 1 significant main effect, although, STR schools with positive psychosocial climate at baseline had less victimization at posttest. Policies/administrative commitment to bullying were related to reduced perpetration among all schools. Findings suggest positive psychosocial climate (from both staff and student perspective) plays a foundational role in bullying prevention, and can optimize effects of stand-alone programs. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Toward a Knowledge Base for School Climate in Cyprus's Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pashiardis, Georgia

2008-01-01

Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to explore and analyze secondary school students' (8th grade) perceptions about school climate in three areas, namely: the physical environment of the school, the social environment and the learning environment Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire, which was designed and pilot-tested around the…

Gauging the System: Trends in School Climate Measurement and Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Malley, Meagan; Katz, Kristin; Renshaw, Tyler L.; Furlong, Michael J.

2011-01-01

Researchers and educators are giving increasing scrutiny to systems-level constructs that contribute to safe, supportive, and effective schools, including school climate. School climate is a multifaceted construct that is commonly conceptualized as school community members' subjective experiences of the structural and contextual elements of a…

Perceptions of School Climate and Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barkley, Brian; Lee, David; Eadens, Daniel

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between Leader in Me schools teachers' perceptions of culture, climate, and discipline referrals during the 2010-11 school year. Primary data were obtained from 172 teacher-reported surveys, from nine schools in three districts in Florida and Mississippi. A MANOVA analysis was used to…

Middle School Improvement and Reform: Development and Validation of a School-Level Assessment of Climate, Cultural Pluralism, and School Safety.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brand, Stephen; Felner, Robert; Shim, Minsuk; Seitsinger, Anne; Dumas, Thaddeus

2003-01-01

Examines the structure of perceived school climate and the relationship of climate dimensions to adaptation of students who attend middle-grade-level schools. The climate scales exhibited a stable dimensional structure, high levels of internal consistency, and moderate levels of stability. Ratings of multiple climate dimensions were associated…

An Investigation of Students' Perceptions about Democratic School Climate and Sense of Community in School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karakus, Memet

2017-01-01

This study aims to investigate students' perceptions about democratic school climate and sense of community in school. In line with this purpose, it aims to find answers to the following questions: How democratic do students find the school climate? What is students' sense of belonging level at school? What is the academic success level of…

Measuring School Climate: An Overview of Measurement Scales

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kohl, Diane; Recchia, Sophie; Steffgen, Georges

2013-01-01

Background: School climate is a heterogeneous concept with a multitude of standardised and validated instruments available to measure it. Purpose: This overview of measurement scales aims to provide researchers with short summaries of some of the self-report instruments in existence, especially in relation to the link between school climate and…

Authoritative school climate, aggression toward teachers, and teacher distress in middle school.

PubMed

Berg, Juliette K; Cornell, Dewey

2016-03-01

Aggression toward teachers is linked to burnout and disengagement from teaching, but a positive school climate may reduce aggression and associated teacher distress. Using authoritative school climate theory, the study examined whether schools with high disciplinary structure and student support were associated with less aggression and less distress. The sample of 9,134 teachers in 389 middle schools came from the Virginia Secondary School Climate Survey, a statewide survey administered to all public schools with 7th and 8th grade enrollment. The majority of teachers (75%) were female. More than half (53%) reported that they had more than 10 years of teaching experience; 23% reported 6 to 10 years; 24% reported 1 to 5 years. Students reported on the degree to which their schools were structured and supportive. Teachers reported on their experiences of aggression by students, their level of distress, and their feelings of safety. Staff-related infractions computed from Department of Education records were also used. Multilevel modeling revealed that teachers in authoritative schools experienced less aggression and felt safer and less distressed. Lower aggression by students mediated the association between more authoritative schools and lower distress such that more structured and supportive schools had greater teacher safety and, in turn, less distress. The findings support the idea that more structured and supportive schools relate to greater safety for teachers and, in turn, less distress. Research limitations and implications for practice are discussed. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Assessing Climate Misconceptions of Middle School Learners and Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahagian, D. L.; Anastasio, D. J.; Bodzin, A.; Cirucci, L.; Bressler, D.; Dempsey, C.; Peffer, T.

2012-12-01

Middle School students and their teachers are among the many populations in the U.S. with misconceptions regarding the science or even reality of climate change. Teaching climate change science in schools is of paramount importance since all school-age children will eventually assume responsibility for the management and policy-making decisions of our planet. The recently published Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012) emphasizes the importance of students understanding global climate change and its impacts on society. A preliminary assessment of over a thousand urban middles school students found the following from pretests prior to a climate literacy curriculum: - Do not understand that climate occurs on a time scale of decades (most think it is weeks or months) -Do not know the main atmospheric contributors to global warming -Do not understand the role of greenhouse gases as major contributors to increasing Earth's surface temperature -Do not understand the role of water vapor to trap heat and add to the greenhouse effect -Cannot identify some of the human activities that increase the amount of CO2 -Cannot identify sources of carbon emissions produced by US citizens -Cannot describe human activities that are causing the long-term increase of carbon -dioxide levels over the last 100 years -Cannot describe carbon reduction strategies that are feasible for lowering the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere To address the lack of a well-designed middle school science climate change curriculum that can be used to help teachers promote the teaching and learning of important climate change concepts, we developed a 20-day Environmental Literacy and Inquiry (ELI): Climate Change curriculum in partnership with a local school district. Comprehension increased significantly from pre- to post-test after enactment of the ELI curriculum in the classrooms. This work is part of an ongoing systemic curriculum reform initiative to promote (1

Perceptions of School Climate as a Function of Bullying Involvement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nickerson, Amanda B.; Singleton, Demian; Schnurr, Britton; Collen, Mary Helen

2014-01-01

From a social-ecological perspective, bullying exists within the larger context of school climate. In this study, 2,240 middle and high school students participated in a districtwide effort to assess the prevalence and effects of bullying and cyberbullying, as well as perceptions of school climate. Students reported positive school climate…

School Climate Reports from Norwegian Teachers: A Methodological and Substantive Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kallestad, Jan Helge; Olweus, Dan; Alsaker, Francoise

1998-01-01

Explores methodological and substantive issues relating to school climate, using a dataset derived from 42 Norwegian schools at two points of time and a standard definition of organizational climate. Identifies and analyzes four school-climate dimensions. Three dimensions (collegial communication, orientation to change, and teacher influence over…

The social construction of communication climate: An analysis of at-risk students in alternative high school

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Souza, Tasha Jean

1998-12-01

Alternative high schools affect more potential high school dropouts than any other school or program and are designed to meet the needs of students who have had difficulty in conventional schools. This study examines the communication climate and constructions of caring in an alternative school for at-risk students by using a qualitative analysis grounded in the theoretical perspective of social constructionism. Observations and interviews were conducted over a six month time period. The first two chapters provide a review of literature and a detailed account of the methods used to conduct the study. Chapter Three describes the socially constructed nature of the school and the participants and the dialectical tensions of communication climate revealed from the analysis. The six dialectical tensions of communication climate are: (1) freedom/restraint, (2) disengagement/engagement, (3) personal communication/impersonal communication, (4) disconfirmation/confirmation, (5) equality/inequality, and (6) ambiguity/clarity. Although the school climate is comprised of each of these tensions, the data suggest that the interaction within the majority of classes created some common characteristics of the general communication climate at the school and can be characterized as one of freedom, disengagement, personal communication, disconfirmation, equality, and ambiguity. Chapter Four describes how caring was constructed and communicated. Although some students perceived some teachers as caring about students and about student learning, half of the students interviewed thought they were not learning or not learning much. Finally, Chapter Five provides a summary of the findings and a discussion of the results. The results of this study contribute to an understanding of the social construction of communication climate and caring in general, and within an alternative school for at-risk students, in specific. The results contribute to the understanding of the complexity of the

Correlational Analysis of Servant Leadership and School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Black, Glenda Lee

2010-01-01

The purpose of this mixed-method research study was to determine the extent that servant leadership was correlated with perceptions of school climate to identify whether there was a relationship between principals' and teachers' perceived practice of servant leadership and of school climate. The study employed a mixed-method approach by first…

The Impact of School Climate and School Identification on Academic Achievement: Multilevel Modeling with Student and Teacher Data

PubMed Central

Maxwell, Sophie; Reynolds, Katherine J.; Lee, Eunro; Subasic, Emina; Bromhead, David

2017-01-01

School climate is a leading factor in explaining student learning and achievement. Less work has explored the impact of both staff and student perceptions of school climate raising interesting questions about whether staff school climate experiences can add “value” to students' achievement. In the current research, multiple sources were integrated into a multilevel model, including staff self-reports, student self-reports, objective school records of academic achievement, and socio-economic demographics. Achievement was assessed using a national literacy and numeracy tests (N = 760 staff and 2,257 students from 17 secondary schools). In addition, guided by the “social identity approach,” school identification is investigated as a possible psychological mechanism to explain the relationship between school climate and achievement. In line with predictions, results show that students' perceptions of school climate significantly explain writing and numeracy achievement and this effect is mediated by students' psychological identification with the school. Furthermore, staff perceptions of school climate explain students' achievement on numeracy, writing and reading tests (while accounting for students' responses). However, staff's school identification did not play a significant role. Implications of these findings for organizational, social, and educational research are discussed. PMID:29259564

The Impact of School Climate and School Identification on Academic Achievement: Multilevel Modeling with Student and Teacher Data.

PubMed

Maxwell, Sophie; Reynolds, Katherine J; Lee, Eunro; Subasic, Emina; Bromhead, David

2017-01-01

School climate is a leading factor in explaining student learning and achievement. Less work has explored the impact of both staff and student perceptions of school climate raising interesting questions about whether staff school climate experiences can add "value" to students' achievement. In the current research, multiple sources were integrated into a multilevel model, including staff self-reports, student self-reports, objective school records of academic achievement, and socio-economic demographics. Achievement was assessed using a national literacy and numeracy tests ( N = 760 staff and 2,257 students from 17 secondary schools). In addition, guided by the "social identity approach," school identification is investigated as a possible psychological mechanism to explain the relationship between school climate and achievement. In line with predictions, results show that students' perceptions of school climate significantly explain writing and numeracy achievement and this effect is mediated by students' psychological identification with the school. Furthermore, staff perceptions of school climate explain students' achievement on numeracy, writing and reading tests (while accounting for students' responses). However, staff's school identification did not play a significant role. Implications of these findings for organizational, social, and educational research are discussed.

Examining the Relationship Between School Climate and Peer Victimization Among Students in Military-Connected Public Schools.

PubMed

De Pedro, Kris Tunac; Astor, Ron Avi; Gilreath, Tamika; Benbenishty, Rami; Berkowitz, Ruth

2016-01-01

In the Iraq and Afghanistan war context, studies have found that military-connected youth- youth with parents and/or siblings serving in the military-have higher rates of school victimization than their nonmilitary-connected peers. A positive school climate-where students perceive high levels of school connectedness, caring relationships and high expectations from adults, and meaningful participation-is associated with lower rates of victimization in secondary public schools. Based on a survey of 7th, 9th, and 11th grade students (N =14,493) enrolled in 6 military-connected school districts (districts that have a significant proportion of military-connected students), this study explores victimization rates and the role of school climate, deployment, and school transitions in the victimization of military-connected students and their civilian peers. The findings indicate that deployment and school transitions were significant predictors of physical violence and nonphysical victimization. In addition, multiple school climate factors were significantly associated with physical violence and nonphysical victimization. The authors conclude with a discussion of future directions for research on school climate, victimization, and military-connected youth.

School climate, family structure, and academic achievement: a study of moderation effects.

PubMed

O'Malley, Meagan; Voight, Adam; Renshaw, Tyler L; Eklund, Katie

2015-03-01

School climate has been lauded for its relationship to a host of desirable academic, behavioral, and social-emotional outcomes for youth. The present study tested the hypothesis that school climate counteracts youths' home-school risk by examining the moderating effects of students' school climate perceptions on the relationship between family structure (i.e., two-parent, one-parent, foster-care, and homeless households), and academic performance (i.e., self-reported [grade point average] GPA). The present sample consisted of 902 California public high schools, including responses from over 490,000 students in Grades 9 and 11. Results indicated that, regardless of family structure, students with more positive school climate perceptions self-reported higher GPAs. Youths with two-parent, one-parent, and homeless family structures displayed stepwise, linear improvements in self-reported GPA as perceptions of climate improved. Foster-care students' positive school climate perceptions had a weaker effect on their self-reported GPA compared with students living in other family structures. A unique curvilinear trend was found for homeless students, as the relationship between their school climate perceptions and self-reported GPA was stronger at lower levels. Overall, the moderation effect of positive school climate perceptions on self-reported GPA was strongest for homeless youth and youth from one-parent homes, suggesting that school climate has a protective effect for students living in these family structures. A protective effect was not found for youth in foster-care. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Parent, Student, and Teacher Perceptions of School Climate at Suburban High

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steiner, Cory J.

2009-01-01

School climate has a major impact on the school setting. In order to manage climate, it is essential to assess and understand the perceptions of teachers, students, and parents. This study identified the differences between teachers, students, and parents relative to their perceptions concerning school climate at Suburban High. The instrument…

School climate and adolescent drug use: mediating effects of violence victimization in the urban high school context.

PubMed

Reid, Robert J; Andrew Peterson, N; Hughey, Joseph; Garcia-Reid, Pauline

2006-05-01

This study tested the mediating effects of violence victimization in the relationship between school climate and adolescent drug use. The hypothesized path model fit data collected from a probability sample of urban high school students (N=586) participating in an evaluation of a violence prevention program funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Findings indicated that the lack of enforcement of school rules and the presence of unsafe places in and around the school influenced adolescent drug use directly and indirectly through their effects on violence victimization.Editors' Strategic Implications: This research confirms the importance of the environment as a contributor to violence victimization. Violence victimization is obviously of concern in its own right, but in addition, these data indicate that it also contributes to adolescent drug use. School administrators should be aware that unsafe places in schools and the failure to enforce school rules may affect such victimization and drug use.

The Relationship Between School Climate and Implementation of an Innovation in Elementary Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, I. Phillip; Kasten, Katherine

As part of a larger project on studies of implementation, specifically of Individually Guided Education (IGE), this paper describes the preliminary results of research on school climate, an important factor in retarding or promoting change. A review of the literature on school climate includes a description of Likert and Likert's Profile of a…

Associations between LGBTQ-affirmative school climate and adolescent drinking behaviors.

PubMed

Coulter, Robert W S; Birkett, Michelle; Corliss, Heather L; Hatzenbuehler, Mark L; Mustanski, Brian; Stall, Ron D

2016-04-01

We investigated whether adolescents drank alcohol less frequently if they lived in jurisdictions with school climates that were more affirmative of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) individuals. Data from the 2010 School Health Profile survey, which measured LGBTQ school climate (e.g., percentage of schools with safe spaces and gay-straight alliances), were linked with pooled data from the 2005 and 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which measured sexual orientation identity, demographics, and alcohol use (number of drinking days, drinking days at school, and heavy episodic drinking days) in 8 jurisdictions. Two-level Poisson models tested the associations between school climate and alcohol use for each sexual-orientation subgroup. Living in jurisdictions with more (versus less) affirmative LGBTQ school climates was significantly associated with: fewer heavy episodic drinking days for gay/lesbian (incidence-rate ratio [IRR]=0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.56, 0.87; p=0.001) and heterosexual (IRR=0.80; 95% CI: 0.76, 0.83; p<0.001) adolescents; and fewer drinking days at school for adolescents unsure of their sexual orientation (IRR=0.57; 95% CI: 0.35, 0.93; p=0.024). Fostering LGBTQ-affirmative school climates may reduce certain drinking behaviors for gay/lesbian adolescents, heterosexual adolescents, and adolescents unsure of their sexual orientation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Associations between LGBTQ-Affirmative School Climate and Adolescent Drinking Behaviors

PubMed Central

Coulter, Robert W.S.; Birkett, Michelle; Corliss, Heather L.; Hatzenbuehler, Mark L.; Mustanski, Brian; Stall, Ron D.

2016-01-01

Background We investigated whether adolescents drank alcohol less frequently if they lived in jurisdictions with school climates that were more affirmative of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) individuals. Methods Data from the 2010 School Health Profile survey, which measured LGBTQ school climate (e.g., percentage of schools with safe spaces and gay-straight alliances), were linked with pooled data from the 2005 and 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which measured sexual orientation identity, demographics, and alcohol use (number of drinking days, drinking days at school, and heavy episodic drinking days) in 8 jurisdictions. Two-level Poisson models tested the associations between school climate and alcohol use for each sexual-orientation subgroup. Results Living in jurisdictions with more (versus less) affirmative LGBTQ school climates was significantly associated with: fewer heavy episodic drinking days for gay/lesbian (incidence-rate ratio [IRR]=0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.56, 0.87; p=0.001) and heterosexual (IRR=0.80; 95% CI: 0.76, 0.83; p<0.001) adolescents; and fewer drinking days at school for adolescents unsure of their sexual orientation (IRR=0.57; 95% CI: 0.35, 0.93; p=0.024). Conclusions Fostering LGBTQ-affirmative school climates may reduce some drinking behaviors for gay/lesbian adolescents, heterosexual adolescents, and adolescents unsure of their sexual orientation. PMID:26946989

School Climate as a Predictor of Incivility and Bullying among Public School Employees: A Multilevel Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powell, Joshua E.; Powell, Anna L.; Petrosko, Joseph M.

2015-01-01

We surveyed public school educators on the workplace incivility and workplace bullying they experienced and obtained their ratings of the organizational climate of the school. We used multilevel modeling to determine the effects of individual-level and school-level predictors. Ratings of school climate were significantly related to incivility and…

School Climate: The Controllable and the Uncontrollable

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sulak, Tracey N.

2018-01-01

A positive school climate impacts students by promoting positive relations among students, staff and faculty of the school. The current study used latent class analysis and multinomial regression with R3STEP to analyse patterns of negative behaviours in schools and test the association of these patterns with structural variables like school size,…

A Safer Place? LGBT Educators, School Climate, and Implications for Administrators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, Tiffany E.; Smith, Nancy J.

2015-01-01

Over an 8-year span, two survey studies were conducted to analyze LGBT -teachers' perceptions of their school climate and the impact of school leaders on that climate. This article presents nonparametric, descriptive, and qualitative results of the National Survey of Educators' Perceptions of School Climate 2011 compared with survey results from…

Authoritative School Climate, Number of Parents at Home, and Academic Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Francis L.; Eklund, Katie; Cornell, Dewey G.

2017-01-01

School climate is widely recognized as an important factor in promoting student academic achievement. The current study investigated the hypothesis that a demanding and supportive school climate, based on authoritative school climate theory, would serve as a protective factor for students living with 1 or no parents at home. Using a statewide…

Differences in school climate and student engagement in China and the United States.

PubMed

Bear, George G; Yang, Chunyan; Chen, Dandan; He, Xianyou; Xie, Jia-Shu; Huang, Xishan

2018-06-01

The purpose of this study was to examine differences between American and Chinese students in their perceptions of school climate and engagement in school, and in the relation between school climate and engagement. Confirmatory factor analyses were used to support the factor structure and measurement invariance of the two measures administered: The Delaware School Climate Survey-Student and the Delaware Student Engagement Scale. Differences in latent means were tested, and differences in relations between variables were examined using multilevel hierarchical linear modeling. Participants consisted of 3,176 Chinese and 4,085 American students, Grades 3-5, 7-8, and 10-12. Chinese students perceived school climate more favorably than American students, particularly beyond elementary school. Findings were more complex for student engagement. In elementary school, American students reported greater cognitive-behavioral and emotional engagement, and especially the former. In middle school and high school, Chinese students reported greater emotional engagement; however, no significant differences were found for cognitive-behavioral engagement. Most intriguing were results of multilevel hierarchical modeling that examined associations between school climate and student engagement: They were significant in American schools but not Chinese schools. Chinese students, compared with American students, perceived the climate of their schools more favorably, especially after elementary school. However, among Chinese students, their perceptions of school climate were unrelated to their self-reported engagement in school-school climate did not seem to matter as much. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

School Climate, Family Structure, and Academic Achievement: A Study of Moderation Effects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Malley, Meagan; Voight, Adam; Renshaw, Tyler L.; Eklund, Katie

2015-01-01

School climate has been lauded for its relationship to a host of desirable academic, behavioral, and social-emotional outcomes for youth. The present study tested the hypothesis that school climate counteracts youths' home-school risk by examining the moderating effects of students' school climate perceptions on the relationship between family…

Total Quality Management (TQM) Practices and School Climate amongst High, Average and Low Performance Secondary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ismail, Siti Noor

2014-01-01

Purpose: This study attempted to determine whether the dimensions of TQM practices are predictors of school climate. It aimed to identify the level of TQM practices and school climate in three different categories of schools, namely high, average and low performance schools. The study also sought to examine which dimensions of TQM practices…

The Relationship between Perceptions of School Climate and Student Achievement in Schools That Use Jostens' Renaissance Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coyne, Amy Yarborough

2012-01-01

Each school has unique attributes and a personality that gives the school a distinct climate. Psychological qualities that schools possess might include trust, collaboration, cooperation, teaching attributes, expectations, community involvement, and engagement (Rhodes, Camic, Milburn, & Lowe, 2009). Given information regarding school climate,…

The Meriden School Climate Survey-Student Version: Preliminary Evidence of Reliability and Validity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gage, Nicholas A.; Larson, Alvin; Chafouleas, Sandra M.

2016-01-01

School climate has been linked with myriad positive student outcomes and the measurement of school climate is widely advocated at the national and state level. However, districts have little guidance about how to define and measure school climate. This study examines the psychometric properties of a district-developed school climate measure that…

The Principal's Role in Setting School Climate (for School Improvement).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hall, Gene E.

Given that principals play a role in setting school climate, this paper focuses on how this actually happens. First, the paper explores different criteria and variables as possible frameworks for defining the term "climate." This task is complicated by problems in identifying consensus findings due to weak variable definitions and lack…

Climate Change: Creating an Integrated Framework for Improving School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alliance for Excellent Education, 2013

2013-01-01

This report from the Alliance finds that schools that struggle most with providing a positive school climate more often disproportionately serve students of color and low-income students. It also confirms that students of color and students from low-income families are less likely to have access to rigorous course work and experienced teachers,…

Principal-Counselor Collaboration and School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rock, Wendy D.; Remley, Theodore P.; Range, Lillian M.

2017-01-01

Examining whether principal-counselor collaboration and school climate were related, researchers sent 4,193 surveys to high school counselors in the United States and received 419 responses. As principal-counselor collaboration increased, there were increases in counselors viewing the principal as supportive, the teachers as regarding one another…

Transformational Leadership Related to School Climate: A Multi-Level Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCarley, Troy A.; Peters, Michelle L.; Decman, John M.

2016-01-01

Across the nation, quality leadership and positive school climate are critical to the success of every principal, student, and school. As a result, this study examined the relationship between teacher perceptions of the degree to which a principal displays the factors of transformational leadership and the perceived school climate. A purposeful…

Climate Change and Schools: Environmental Hazards and Resiliency

PubMed Central

Stewart, James; Galvez, Maida P.

2017-01-01

The changing climate is creating additional challenges in maintaining a healthy school environment in the United States (U.S.) where over 50 million people, mostly children, spend approximately a third of their waking hours. Chronic low prioritization of funds and resources to support environmental health in schools and lack of clear regulatory oversight in the U.S. undergird the new risks from climate change. We illustrate the extent of risk and the variation in vulnerability by geographic region, in the context of sparse systematically collected and comparable data particularly about school infrastructure. Additionally, we frame different resilience building initiatives, focusing on interventions that target root causes, or social determinants of health. Disaster response and recovery are also framed as resilience building efforts. Examples from U.S. Federal Region 2 (New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and nationally are used to illustrate these concepts. We conclude that better surveillance, more research, and increased federal and state oversight of environmental factors in schools (specific to climate risks) is necessary, as exposures result in short- and long term negative health effects and climate change risks will increase over time. PMID:29144432

The School Climate-Student Achievement Connection: If We Want Achievement Gains, We Need to Begin by Improving the Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shindler, John; Jones, Albert; Williams, A. Dee; Taylor, Clint; Cardenas, Hermenia

2016-01-01

This study examined the relationship between school climate and student achievement ratings in urban school districts in five states (N = 230). Many educators view school climate and student achievement as separate considerations. However the results of this study suggest that climate and student achievement were highly related. In fact, the…

School Climate that Promotes Student Voice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elias, Maurice J.

2010-01-01

All over the world, educators are recognizing that creating a school culture and climate that genuinely engages and supports all students is essential to increasing students' achievement and preventing students from dropping out. Research supports the view that schools must encourage students to express themselves--clearly and often--and be places…

The Assessment of Organisational Climate in Bedouin Arab Schools in Israel.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abu-Saad, Ismael

1995-01-01

Summarizes results of a study designed to identify organizational climate factors in Israel's 29 Bedouin Arab elementary schools and to explore their relation to certain teacher and school-level variables, including sex, educational level, tenure, teachers' origin, school type, and school size. The most important organizational climate factor was…

The role of school organizational climate in occupational stress among secondary school teachers in Tehran.

PubMed

Ahghar, Ghodsy

2008-01-01

This paper aims at studying the influence of the organizational climate of a school on the occupational stress of the teachers. The study population were all secondary schools teachers in Tehran in 2007. Using a multi-stage random sampling method, a sample volume of 220 people was determined using the Cochran formula. Two main instruments were used to measure the study variables: a 27-item questionnaire on organizational climate (four scales: open, engaged, disengaged and closed organizational climate, and a 53-item occupational stress questionnaire by Vingerhoets, employing 11 scales: Skill Discretion, Decision Authority, Task Control, Work and Time Pressure, Role Ambiguity, Physical Exertion, Hazardous Exposure, Job Insecurity, Lack of Meaningfulness, Social Support from Supervisor and Social Support from Coworkers. The frequency, percentage, and mean values were calculated and a stepwise regression analysis was performed to evaluate the statistical significance of the findings. The study results revealed that: (a) 40.02% of secondary school teachers experience occupational stress at a moderate or higher level; (b) the rate of occupational stress among teachers can be predicted. using the scores on the school organizational climate; this predictability is highest for the open climate and gradually decreases through the engaged, and disengaged to the closed climate; (c) among the teachers working in the disengaged and closed climate, the rate of occupational stress significantly exceeds that recorded among the teachers working in the open climate.

Measuring School Climate in High Schools: A Focus on Safety, Engagement, and the Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bradshaw, Catherine P.; Waasdorp, Tracy E.; Debnam, Katrina J.; Johnson, Sarah Lindstrom

2014-01-01

Background: School climate has been linked to multiple student behavioral, academic, health, and social-emotional outcomes. The US Department of Education (USDOE) developed a 3-factor model of school climate comprised of safety, engagement, and environment. This article examines the factor structure and measurement invariance of the USDOE model.…

School Climate and Bullying Victimization: A Latent Class Growth Model Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gage, Nicholas A.; Prykanowski, Debra A.; Larson, Alvin

2014-01-01

Researchers investigating school-level approaches for bullying prevention are beginning to discuss and target school climate as a construct that (a) may predict prevalence and (b) be an avenue for school-wide intervention efforts (i.e., increasing positive school climate). Although promising, research has not fully examined and established the…

The Longitudinal Impact of a Universal School-Based Social-Emotional and Literacy Intervention on Classroom Climate and Teacher Processes and Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Joshua L.; Jones, Stephanie M.; Aber, J. Lawrence

2010-01-01

This presentation capitalizes on a three-year, longitudinal, school-randomized trial of the 4Rs Program, a comprehensive, school-based social-emotional and literacy program for elementary schools, to test intervention induced changes in features of classroom climate and key dimensions of teacher affective and pedagogical processes and practices…

Schools of the Pacific rainfall climate experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Postawko, S. E.; Morrissey, M. L.; Taylor, G. J.; Mouginis-Mark, P.

1993-01-01

The SPaRCE program is a cooperative rainfall climate field project involving high school and college level students and teachers from various Pacific island and atoll nations. The goals of the SPaRCE program are: (1) to foster interest and increase understanding among Pacific-area students and teachers of climate and climate change; (2) to educate the students and teachers as to the importance of rainfall in the Pacific area to climate studies; (3) to provide the students and teachers an opportunity of making a major contribution to the global climate research effort by collecting and analyzing Pacific rainfall data; and (4) to incorporate collected rainfall observations into a comprehensive Pacific daily rainfall data base to be used for climate research purposes. Schools participating in SPaRCE have received standard raingauges with which to measure rainfall at their sites. Students learned to site and use their raingauges by viewing a video produced at the University of Oklahoma. Four more videos will be produced which will include information on Earth's atmosphere, global climate and climate change, regional climate and implications of climate change, and how to analyze and use the rainfall data they are collecting. The videos are accompanied by workbooks which summarize the main points of each video, and contain concrete learning activities to help the student better understand climate and climate change. Following each video, interactive sessions are held with the students using the PEACESAT (Pan-Pacific Education And Communication Experiments by Satellite) satellite radio communication system.

How Students' Perceptions of the School Climate Influence Their Choice to Upstand, Bystand, or Join Perpetrators of Bullying

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferráns, Silvia Diazgranados; Selman, Robert L.

2014-01-01

The authors of this article, Silvia Diazgranados Ferráns and Robert Selman, use an emergent framework to explore how the rules of the school culture at different perceived school climates affect early adolescents' decisions to upstand, bystand, or join the perpetrators when they witness peer aggression and bullying. Through a grounded theory…

Moderation, mediation - or even both? School climate and the association between peer and adolescent alcohol use.

PubMed

Tomczyk, Samuel; Isensee, Barbara; Hanewinkel, Reiner

2015-12-01

Ample studies discuss the enhancing effects of peer drinking on student alcohol use. In addition, there is vast research on school climate impact on student alcohol use. Though these two areas are intertwined for most young adolescents, it is heretofore not completely clear, in what way these characteristics functionally interact and affect drinking behavior. In a longitudinal study, we analyzed a sample of 2490 German adolescents (Mage=13.32, SD=0.57, range=8-13) from 5th (fall 2010) to 8th (fall 2013) grade. We discerned mediating (class climate) and moderating (school organization variables) functions of school on the association between peer and adolescent alcohol use, and finally combined them in direct effect moderated mediation models for a variety of outcomes (lifetime alcohol use, frequency and amount of drinking, binge drinking), adjusting for possible confounders. Class climate mediated a small significant part of the association between peer and adolescent alcohol use (1.8-2.4%), with the exception of lifetime drinking. Student-teacher ratio and percentage of at-risk students significantly moderated the peer-adolescent association, with the latter having an enhancing and the first having a buffering effect. School life serves as an important context of adolescent development and as such, seems to have direct and indirect effects on behavior and health. Future research should pay attention to differentiating effects of school climate and include both forms of operationalization when analyzing school effects on student behavior. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Playing Fair: The Contribution of High-Functioning Recess to Overall School Climate in Low-Income Elementary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

London, Rebecca A.; Westrich, Lisa; Stokes-Guinan, Katie; McLaughlin, Milbrey

2015-01-01

Background: Recess is a part of the elementary school day with strong implications for school climate. Positive school climate has been linked to a host of favorable student outcomes, from attendance to achievement. We examine 6 low-income elementary schools' experiences implementing a recess-based program designed to provide safe, healthy,…

Adolescent cybervictimization - Who they turn to and their perceived school climate.

PubMed

Veiga Simão, A M; Ferreira, P Costa; Freire, I; Caetano, A P; Martins, M J; Vieira, C

2017-07-01

The purpose of this study was to understand how adolescent cybervictims perceive their school climate and whether telling school community members, such as teachers, play a significant role in these perceptions. Another objective was to understand whether age and gender played a significant role in the relation between whom cybervictims told and their perceived school climate. The Cybervictims Scale for Adolescents and Children and the Perceived School Climate Scale were applied to 3525 Portuguese students of whom 218 were cybervictims attending 6th, 8th , and 11th grades. Results showed that even though adolescent cybervictims reported cybervictimization more to friends and parents, those who told teachers about their experience, tended to report more positive perceptions of their school climate. Gender and age did not play a significant role in the relationship between cybervictimization and perceived school climate. Implications of the findings are discussed with regards to the role of teachers and in-service training in preventing cyberbullying. Copyright © 2017 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Humor Climate of the Primary Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sahin, Ahmet

2018-01-01

The aim of this study is to determine the opinions primary school administrators and teachers on humor climates in primary schools. The study was modeled as a convergent parallel design, one of the mixed methods. The data gathered from 253 administrator questionnaires, and 651 teacher questionnaires was evaluated for the quantitative part of the…

Violence and Disorder, School Climate, and PBIS: The Relationship among School Climate, Student Outcomes, and the Use of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eacho, Thomas Christopher

2013-01-01

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between school climate and student outcome variables. The secondary purpose was to examine the relationship between the use of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and the same student outcome variables. Variables depicting student perceptions of school climate,…

School climate and bullying victimization: a latent class growth model analysis.

PubMed

Gage, Nicholas A; Prykanowski, Debra A; Larson, Alvin

2014-09-01

Researchers investigating school-level approaches for bullying prevention are beginning to discuss and target school climate as a construct that (a) may predict prevalence and (b) be an avenue for school-wide intervention efforts (i.e., increasing positive school climate). Although promising, research has not fully examined and established the social-ecological link between school climate factors and bullying/peer aggression. To address this gap, we examined the association between school climate factors and bullying victimization for 4,742 students in Grades 3-12 across 3 school years in a large, very diverse urban school district using latent class growth modeling. Across 3 different models (elementary, secondary, and transition to middle school), a 3-class model was identified, which included students at high-risk for bullying victimization. Results indicated that, for all students, respect for diversity and student differences (e.g., racial diversity) predicted within-class decreases in reports of bullying. High-risk elementary students reported that adult support in school was a significant predictor of within-class reduction of bullying, and high-risk secondary students report peer support as a significant predictor of within-class reduction of bullying. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Motivation, Engagement, and Social Climate: An International Study of Boarding Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Andrew J.; Papworth, Brad; Ginns, Paul; Malmberg, Lars-Erik

2016-01-01

Most educational climate research is conducted among (day school) students who spend the bulk of their young lives outside of school, potentially limiting the amount of climate variance that can be captured. Boarding school students, on the other hand, spend much of their lives at school and thus offer a potentially unique perspective on…

The Assessment of School Climate: Review and Appraisal of Published Student-Report Measures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramelow, Daniela; Currie, Dorothy; Felder-Puig, Rosemarie

2015-01-01

School climate measurement is a long-standing topic in educational research. This review article provides an overview and appraisal of school climate measures published between 2003 and 2013 in scientific journals. A search for published school climate instruments for secondary school students was made in three databases. Twelve articles meeting…

School Climate Assessment Programs. Technical Assistance Bulletin 38.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National School Resource Network, Washington, DC.

Numerous studies indicate that climate, the prevailing "feeling" of the environment, not only contributes to behavioral and situational outcomes, but that climate can be changed to help bring about the behaviors and outcomes desired. Researchers have identified characteristics of positive school climates and ways of determining the presence or…

Positive school climate is associated with lower body mass index percentile among urban preadolescents.

PubMed

Gilstad-Hayden, Kathryn; Carroll-Scott, Amy; Rosenthal, Lisa; Peters, Susan M; McCaslin, Catherine; Ickovics, Jeannette R

2014-08-01

Schools are an important environmental context in children's lives and are part of the complex web of factors that contribute to childhood obesity. Increasingly, attention has been placed on the importance of school climate (connectedness, academic standards, engagement, and student autonomy) as 1 domain of school environment beyond health policies and education that may have implications for student health outcomes. The purpose of this study is to examine the association of school climate with body mass index (BMI) among urban preadolescents. Health surveys and physical measures were collected among fifth- and sixth-grade students from 12 randomly selected public schools in a small New England city. School climate surveys were completed district-wide by students and teachers. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test the association between students' BMI and schools' climate scores. After controlling for potentially confounding individual-level characteristics, a 1-unit increase in school climate score (indicating more positive climate) was associated with a 7-point decrease in students' BMI percentile. Positive school climate is associated with lower student BMI percentile. More research is needed to understand the mechanisms behind this relationship and to explore whether interventions promoting positive school climate can effectively prevent and/or reduce obesity. © 2014, American School Health Association.

Commentaries on the National School Climate Standards. Benchmarks to Promote Effective Teaching, Learning and Comprehensive School Improvement. School Climate Brief, Number 2

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National School Climate Center, 2010

2010-01-01

The majority of Americans have a shared vision that K-12 education needs to support children's ability to love, work and participate effectively in a democratic society. The National School Climate Center, a growing number of State Departments of Education and recently, the United States Department of Education believe that when school communities…

Tracking Middle Grades Climate Data to Inform School Change. REL West Research Digest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Regional Educational Laboratory West, 2015

2015-01-01

A growing body of research shows that positive school climate is a key lever for students' academic and social development and success. This research digest shows how an alliance of California schools and districts, school climate experts, and state education agency personnel have teamed up to use school climate data to drive a continuous cycle of…

Using Data for School Change: The Discipline Equity Audit and School Climate Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gullo, Gina Laura

2018-01-01

Using data effectively is a critical skill for the modern school leaders. This case presents a school district where local interest groups are demanding changes regarding school safety and inclusion. Students have the opportunity to respond to a disciplinary equity audit and school climate survey. While interpreting and using data in a meaningful…

Relationships among School Climate, School Safety, and Student Achievement and Well-Being: A Review of the Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kutsyuruba, Benjamin; Klinger, Don A.; Hussain, Alicia

2015-01-01

School climate, safety and well-being of students are important antecedents of academic achievement. However, school members do not necessarily experience school climate in the same way; rather, their subjective perceptions of the environment and personal characteristics influence individual outcomes and behaviours. Therefore, a closer look at the…

STRUCTURAL AND AFFECTIVE ASPECTS OF CLASSROOM CLIMATE.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

WALBERG, HERBERT J.

USING THE CLASSROOM AS THE UNIT OF ANALYSIS A 25 PERCENT RANDOM SAMPLE OF STUDENTS IN 72 CLASSES FROM ALL PARTS OF THE COUNTRY TOOK THE CLASSROOM CLIMATE QUESTIONNAIRE IN ORDER TO INVESTIGATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRUCTURAL (ORGANIZATIONAL) AND AFFECTIVE (PERSONAL INTERACTION BETWEEN GROUP MEMBERS) DIMENSIONS OF GROUP CLIMATE. REGRESSION AND…

School climate factors contributing to student and faculty perceptions of safety in select Arizona schools.

PubMed

Bosworth, Kris; Ford, Lysbeth; Hernandaz, Diley

2011-04-01

To ensure that schools are safe places where students can learn, researchers and educators must understand student and faculty safety concerns. This study examines student and teacher perceptions of school safety. Twenty-two focus groups with students and faculty were conducted in 11 secondary schools. Schools were selected from a stratified sample to vary in location, proximity to Indian reservations, size, and type. The data analysis was based on grounded theory. In 9 of 11 schools, neither faculty nor students voiced overwhelming concerns about safety. When asked what makes school safe, students tended to report physical security features. School climate and staff actions also increased feelings of safety. Faculty reported that relationships and climate are key factors in making schools safe. High student performance on standardized tests does not buffer students from unsafe behavior, nor does living in a dangerous neighborhood necessarily lead to more drug use or violence within school walls. School climate seemed to explain the difference between schools in which students and faculty reported higher versus lower levels of violence and alcohol and other drug use. The findings raise provocative questions about school safety and provide insight into elements that lead to perceptions of safety. Some schools have transcended issues of location and neighborhood to provide an environment perceived as safe. Further study of those schools could provide insights for policy makers, program planners, and educational leaders. © 2011, American School Health Association.

Examining Reciprocal Influences Among Family Climate, School Attachment, and Academic Self-Regulation: Implications for School Success

PubMed Central

Xia, Mengya; Fosco, Gregory M.; Feinberg, Mark E.

2015-01-01

Guided by family systems and ecological theories, this study examined the multi-contextual implications of family, school, and individual domains for adolescents' school success. The first goal of this study was to examine reciprocal influences among family climate, school attachment, and academic self-regulation (ASR) during the middle school years. The second goal was to test the relative impact of each of these domains on adolescents' school adjustment and academic achievement after the transition to high school. We applied a cross-lag structural equation modeling approach to longitudinal data from 979 6th grade students and their families, followed over five measurement occasions, from 6th through 9th grade. Controlling for family income, parent education, and adolescent gender, the results revealed reciprocal relationships between the family climate and school attachment over time; both of these factors were related to increases in ASR over time. In turn, ASR was a robust predictor of academic success, with unique associations with school adjustment and academic achievement. Family climate and school adjustment had modest to marginal associations with school adjustment, and no association with academic achievement. Applications of these findings for family-school interventions are discussed. PMID:26376426

The Effects of School Administration Self-Efficacy on School Climate and Student Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Brian R.

2013-01-01

The purpose of the study was to determine if there are significant relationships between the efficacies of the school principal, the climate of the school, and student achievement. Five schools within a small rural school district participated in this study. The principals completed the Principal Sense of Efficacy Scale, while the teachers at the…

Impact of Function, Experience, and Training of School District Police on School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Denham, Magdalena

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the impact that function, experience, and training of Independent School District School Resource Officers (ISD SROs) have on school climate. The participants were ISD SROs (n = 172) and teachers (n = 162) located in middle and high schools in Texas. Method: The Role of Law…

Functions of parental involvement and effects of school climate on bullying behaviors among South Korean middle school students.

PubMed

Lee, Chang-Hun; Song, Juyoung

2012-08-01

This study uses an ecological systems theory to understand bullying behavior. Emphasis is given to overcome limitations found in the literature, such as very little empirical research on functions of parental involvement and the impacts of school climate on bullying as an outcome variable. Two functions of parental involvement investigated are (a) bridging the negative experiences within the family with bullying behaviors at schools, and (b) influencing school climate. Bullying behaviors were measured by a modified Korean version of Olweus' bully/victim questionnaire (reliability range: .78-.84) from 1,238 randomly selected Korean middle school students in 2007. Findings from structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses showed that (a) individual traits are one of the most important influence on bullying, (b) negative experiences in the family do not have direct influence on bullying behaviors at school, (c) parental involvement influences school climate, and (d) positive school climate was negatively related to bullying behaviors.

State Policies on School Climate and Bully Prevention Efforts: Challenges and Opportunities for Deepening State Policy Support for Safe and Civil Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piscatelli, Jennifer; Lee, Chiqueena

2011-01-01

The National School Climate Center (NSCC) completed a 50-state policy scan on state school climate and anti-bullying policies to better understand the current state policy infrastructure supporting the development of positive school climates. This policy brief examines the current status of school climate and anti-bullying policies in each state,…

The Relations of a School's Organizational Climate to Adolescents' School Bond in Racially Diverse Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Min, Sookweon

2016-01-01

This study explores the extent to which a high school's organizational contexts and individual students' characteristics are related to adolescents' school bond in multiracial schools. It first examines how the racial heterogeneity of a school is associated with the levels of students' school bond, and then explores the roles school climate plays…

Positive School Climate Is Associated With Lower Body Mass Index Percentile Among Urban Preadolescents

PubMed Central

Gilstad-Hayden, Kathryn; Carroll-Scott, Amy; Rosenthal, Lisa; Peters, Susan M.; McCaslin, Catherine; Ickovics, Jeannette R.

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND Schools are an important environmental context in children’s lives and are part of the complex web of factors that contribute to childhood obesity. Increasingly, attention has been placed on the importance of school climate (connectedness, academic standards, engagement, and student autonomy) as 1 domain of school environment beyond health policies and education that may have implications for student health outcomes. The purpose of this study is to examine the association of school climate with body mass index (BMI) among urban preadolescents. METHODS Health surveys and physical measures were collected among fifth- and sixth-grade students from 12 randomly selected public schools in a small New England city. School climate surveys were completed district-wide by students and teachers. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test the association between students’ BMI and schools’ climate scores. RESULTS After controlling for potentially confounding individual-level characteristics, a 1-unit increase in school climate score (indicating more positive climate) was associated with a 7-point decrease in students’ BMI percentile. CONCLUSIONS Positive school climate is associated with lower student BMI percentile. More research is needed to understand the mechanisms behind this relationship and to explore whether interventions promoting positive school climate can effectively prevent and/or reduce obesity. PMID:25040118

How does climate warming affect plant-pollinator interactions?

PubMed

Hegland, Stein Joar; Nielsen, Anders; Lázaro, Amparo; Bjerknes, Anne-Line; Totland, Ørjan

2009-02-01

Climate warming affects the phenology, local abundance and large-scale distribution of plants and pollinators. Despite this, there is still limited knowledge of how elevated temperatures affect plant-pollinator mutualisms and how changed availability of mutualistic partners influences the persistence of interacting species. Here we review the evidence of climate warming effects on plants and pollinators and discuss how their interactions may be affected by increased temperatures. The onset of flowering in plants and first appearance dates of pollinators in several cases appear to advance linearly in response to recent temperature increases. Phenological responses to climate warming may therefore occur at parallel magnitudes in plants and pollinators, although considerable variation in responses across species should be expected. Despite the overall similarities in responses, a few studies have shown that climate warming may generate temporal mismatches among the mutualistic partners. Mismatches in pollination interactions are still rarely explored and their demographic consequences are largely unknown. Studies on multi-species plant-pollinator assemblages indicate that the overall structure of pollination networks probably are robust against perturbations caused by climate warming. We suggest potential ways of studying warming-caused mismatches and their consequences for plant-pollinator interactions, and highlight the strengths and limitations of such approaches.

Neighborhood crime and school climate as predictors of elementary school academic quality: a cross-lagged panel analysis.

PubMed

McCoy, Dana Charles; Roy, Amanda L; Sirkman, Gabriel M

2013-09-01

Past research has found negative relationships between neighborhood structural disadvantage and students' academic outcomes. Comparatively little work has evaluated the associations between characteristics of neighborhoods and schools themselves. This study explored the longitudinal, reciprocal relationships between neighborhood crime and school-level academic achievement within 500 urban schools. Results revealed that higher neighborhood crime (and particularly violent crime) predicted decreases in school academic achievement across time. School climate emerged as one possible mechanism within this relationship, with higher neighborhood crime predicting decreases in socioemotional learning and safety, but not academic rigor. All three dimensions of school climate were predictive of changes in academic achievement. Although this research supports a primarily unidirectional hypothesis of neighborhoods' impacts on embedded settings, additional work is needed to understand these relationships using additional conceptualizations of neighborhood climate.

Associations between School Climate, Suicidal Thoughts, and Behaviors and Ethnicity among Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

La Salle, Tamika P.; Wang, Cixin; Parris, Leandra; Brown, Jacqueline A.

2017-01-01

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the relationships between suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs), school climate, and student demographics among middle school students. The study was conducted with a sample of 152,191 middle school students across 607 schools within 182 school districts in a southeastern state. Results support…

Students' Perceptions of School Climate in the U.S. and China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Chunyan; Bear, George G.; Chen, Fang Fang; Zhang, Wei; Blank, Jessica C.; Huang, Xishan

2013-01-01

Although the construct of student climate has been studied extensively in the United States, we know little about how school climate is perceived in other countries. With large class sizes yet higher academic achievement and less disruptive and aggressive student behaviors, schools in China present a contrast to many schools in the United States.…

School adjustment in sixth graders: parenting transitions, family climate, and peer norm effects.

PubMed

Kurdek, L A; Fine, M A; Sinclair, R J

1995-04-01

This study examined whether sixth graders' (mean age = 11.86 years) adjustment to the school context (assessed by grades, achievement scores, and disruptive behavior) was affected by factors from both the family context (represented by students' reports of the number of parenting transitions experienced as well as current levels of supervision, acceptance, autonomy granting, and conflict in the family) and the peer context (represented by students' perceptions of peer norms supporting academic excellence). School adjustment was related to the number of parenting transitions experienced, family climate, and peer norms as well as to higher-order relations involving family climate and peer norms such that (a) high grade point averages occurred at only moderate levels of family supervision, (b) achievement scores were positively related to supervision at only low levels of family autonomy granting, and (c) grade point average was positively related to peer norms at only high levels of family acceptance.

Examining reciprocal influences among family climate, school attachment, and academic self-regulation: Implications for school success.

PubMed

Xia, Mengya; Fosco, Gregory M; Feinberg, Mark E

2016-06-01

Guided by family systems and ecological theories, this study examined the multicontextual implications of family, school, and individual domains for adolescents' school success. The first goal of this study was to examine reciprocal influences among family climate, school attachment, and academic self-regulation (ASR) during the middle school years. The second goal was to test the relative impact of each of these domains on adolescents' school adjustment and academic achievement after the transition to high school. We applied a cross-lag structural equation modeling approach to longitudinal data from 979 students in the 6th grade and their families, followed over 5 measurement occasions, from 6th through 9th grade. Controlling for family income, parent education, and adolescent gender, the results revealed reciprocal relationships between the family climate and school attachment over time; both of these factors were related to increases in ASR over time. In turn, ASR was a robust predictor of academic success, with unique associations with school adjustment and academic achievement. Family climate and school adjustment had modest to marginal associations with school adjustment, and no association with academic achievement. Applications of these findings for family school interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

School Climate Factors in Selected Full-Service and Traditional Elementary Schools in a Southeastern City: Contrasts and Comparisons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cornwill, William L.; Parks, Alicia L.

2007-01-01

This exploratory comparison of traditional and full-service schools' climates is an initial step in determining their differences. The authors established whether selected full-service and traditional elementary schools differ on five school climate factors indicating the student and teacher body composition, the students' socioeconomic status,…

Taking a Strengths-Based Focus Improves School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tschannen-Moran, Megan; Tschannen-Moran, Bob

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to learn whether focusing on strengths through appreciative inquiry would be related to measurable changes in school climate and trust within a small urban school district. The district studied was a beleaguered, underperforming school district in the Midwest Rust Belt. Through an appreciative inquiry initiative, the…

Examining the Relationship between Principal Leadership and School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lane, Eric S.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the relationship between transformative school principal leadership and school climate. The population of this study consisted of two middle schools with grades ranging from six through eight and one high school with grades ranging from nine through twelve. These schools are within the state of…

The Resilient Schools Consortium (RiSC): Linking Climate Literacy, Resilience Thinking and Service Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Branco, B. F.; Fano, E.; Adams, J.; Shon, L.; Zimmermann, A.; Sioux, H.; Gillis, A.

2017-12-01

Public schools and youth voices are largely absent from climate resilience planning and projects in New York City. Additionally, research shows that U.S. science teachers' understanding of climate science is lacking, hence there is not only an urgent need to train and support teachers on both the science and pedagogy of climate change, but to link climate literacy, resilience thinking and service learning in K-12 education. However, research on participation of students and teachers in authentic, civic-oriented experiences points to increased engagement and learning outcomes in science. The Resilient Schools Consortium (RiSC) Project will address all these needs through an afterschool program in six coastal Brooklyn schools that engages teachers and urban youth (grades 6-12), in school and community climate resilience assessment and project design. The RiSC climate curriculum, co-designed by New York City school teachers with Brooklyn College, the National Wildlife Federation, New York Sea Grant and the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay, will begin by helping students to understand the difference between climate and weather. The curriculum makes extensive use of existing resources such as NOAA's Digital Coast and the Coastal Resilience Mapping Portal. Through a series of four modules over two school years, the six RiSC teams will; 1. explore and understand the human-induced drivers of climate change and, particularly, the significant climate and extreme weather related risks to their schools and surrounding communities; 2. complete a climate vulnerability assessment within the school and the community that is aligned to OneNYC - the city's resilience planning document; 3. design and execute a school-based resilience project; and 4. propose resilience guidelines for NYC Department of Education schools. At the end of each school year, the six RiSC teams will convene a RiSC summit with city officials and resilience practitioners to share ideas and

The Trajectories of Adolescents’ Perceptions of School Climate, Deviant Peer Affiliation, and Behavioral Problems During the Middle School Years

PubMed Central

Wang, Ming-Te; Dishion, Thomas J.

2012-01-01

This longitudinal study examined trajectories of change in adolescents’ perceptions of four dimensions of school climate (academic support, behavior management, teacher social support, peer social support) and the effects of such trajectories on adolescent problem behaviors. We also tested whether school climate moderated the associations between deviant peer affiliation and adolescent problem behaviors. The 1,030 participating adolescents from 8 schools were followed from 6th through 8th grades (54% female; 76% European American). Findings indicated that all the dimensions of school climate declined and behavioral problems and deviant peer affiliation increased. Declines in each of the dimensions were associated with increases in behavioral problems. The prediction of problem behavior from peer affiliation was moderated by adolescents’ perceptions of school climate. PMID:22822296

School Practices to Foster LGBT-Supportive Climate: Associations with Adolescent Bullying Involvement.

PubMed

Gower, Amy L; Forster, Myriam; Gloppen, Kari; Johnson, Abigail Z; Eisenberg, Marla E; Connett, John E; Borowsky, Iris W

2017-10-14

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth experience disproportionate rates of bullying compared to their heterosexual peers. Schools are well-positioned to address these disparities by creating supportive school climates for LGBT youth, but more research is needed to examine the variety of practices and professional development opportunities put in place to this end. The current study examines how school practices to create supportive LGBT student climate relate to student reports of bullying. Student-level data come from the 2013 Minnesota Student Survey, a state-wide survey of risk and protective factors. Ninth and eleventh grade students (N = 31,183) reported on frequency of physical and relational bullying victimization and perpetration and sexual orientation-based harassment. School administrators reported on six practices related to creating supportive LGBT school climate (N = 103 schools): having a point person for LGBT student issues, displaying sexual orientation-specific content, having a gay-straight alliance, discussing bullying based on sexual orientation, and providing professional development around LGBT inclusion and LGBT student issues. An index was created to indicate how many practices each school used (M = 2.45; SD = 1.76). Multilevel logistic regressions indicated that students attending schools with more supportive LGBT climates reported lower odds of relational bullying victimization, physical bullying perpetration, and sexual orientation-based harassment compared to students in schools with less supportive LGBT climates. Sexual orientation did not moderate these relations, indicating that LGBT-supportive practices may be protective for all students, regardless of their sexual orientation. Findings support school-wide efforts to create supportive climates for LGBQ youth as part of a larger bullying prevention strategy.

The Positive Role of School Climate on School Victimization, Depression, and Suicidal Ideation among School-Attending Homeless Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Hadass; Benbenishty, Rami; Astor, Ron Avi; Rice, Eric

2018-01-01

Although homeless youth face a higher risk of victimization and mental health problems, little is known about school victimization and mental health outcomes for school-attending homeless youth. This study examined the relationship between school climate and school-related victimization and mental health problems among homeless youth. Multivariate…

A Psychometric Evaluation of a Revised School Climate Teacher Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Ying; Ding, Cody; Berkowitz, Marvin W.; Bier, Melinda C.

2014-01-01

The concept of school climate has been an important topic for education and it has been studied extensively over the past several decades. One of the challenges in such a research effort is to develop instruments that effectively and efficiently measure the construct. Literature has documented a number of school climate instruments, most of which…

Authoritative school climate, number of parents at home, and academic achievement.

PubMed

Huang, Francis L; Eklund, Katie; Cornell, Dewey G

2017-12-01

School climate is widely recognized as an important factor in promoting student academic achievement. The current study investigated the hypothesis that a demanding and supportive school climate, based on authoritative school climate theory, would serve as a protective factor for students living with 1 or no parents at home. Using a statewide sample of 56,508 middle school students from 415 public schools in 1 state, results indicated that student perceptions of disciplinary structure, academic demandingness, and student support all had positive associations with student self-reported grade point average (GPA). In addition, findings showed that academic expectations and student support were more highly associated with GPA for students not living with any parent. Implications for policy and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Do School Facilities Affect Academic Outcomes?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schneider, Mark

This review explores which facility attributes affect academic outcomes the most and in what manner and degree. The research is examined in six categories: indoor air quality, ventilation, and thermal comfort; lighting; acoustics; building age and quality; school size; and class size. The review concludes that school facilities affect learning.…

The Graduate School of Climate Sciences, University of Bern

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, L.

2012-04-01

The Graduate School of Climate Sciences, University of Bern, offers a specialised M.Sc. and a Ph.D. study programme in climate sciences. The graduate school has a highly interdisciplinary profile involving not only natural sciences, but also humanities/history, economics and law. The ten participating institutes with a total of 45 academics provide expertise in long-term climate variability, climate modelling, climate reconstruction, predictability of the future climate and extreme events, the impact of climate change on ecosystems and climate risks for society and economy. The graduate school is fully compliant with the Bologna Accords and collaborates closely with the sister institution C2SM at ETH Zurich by, e.g., jointly organised lectures. There are currently 23 master and 37 doctoral students in the programme. These originate from the University of Bern (28 %), from other Swiss universities (30 %) and from foreign universities (42 %). Comprehensive information about the Graduate School of Climate Sciences is available at http://www.climatestudies.unibe.ch . The M.Sc. in Climate Sciences programme (120 ECTS credits) is designed to attract students from all disciplines in natural sciences and offers them a tailor-made curriculum to reach their career aspirations. The students make their own course selection according to their profile envisaged (specialised versus broad education) and ideally already guided by a job perspective. Selecting the courses and the topic of the master thesis they specialise in one of five fields: climate and earth system science; atmospheric science; economics; economic, social and environmental history; statistics. Several courses are organised jointly with public authorities and the private industry, e.g. from experts working in the insurance business, in weather forecasting or in environmental pollution control. This provides the students hands-on experience and contacts to future employers. The master thesis (60 ECTS) involves the

Critical Climate: Relations among Sexual Harassment, Climate, and Outcomes for High School Girls and Boys

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ormerod, Alayne J.; Collinsworth, Linda L.; Perry, Leigh Ann

2008-01-01

This study examined the relationships among peer-to-peer sexual harassment, school climate, adult-to-student harassment, and outcomes (psychological and physical well-being; school withdrawal and safety) for high school girls (n = 310) and boys (n = 259) recruited from seven public high schools in a Midwestern state. More frequent, severe peer…

The Role of Neighborhood Context and School Climate in School-Level Academic Achievement.

PubMed

Ruiz, Linda D; McMahon, Susan D; Jason, Leonard A

2018-06-01

In recent years, the quality of education available to children has become increasingly dependent on the social and economic demographics of neighborhoods in which the children live. This study assesses the role of community violence in explaining the relation between socio-economic status (SES) and academic outcomes and the potential of positive school climate to promote academic achievement. With a sample of 297 Chicago public elementary schools, we examine community-level and school-level data and use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping to illustrate how school academic achievement coincides with neighborhood economics and crime statistics. Results support the hypothesized mediation, such that lower SES was associated with lower academic achievement, and violent crime partially mediated this relation. School climate was positively associated with academic achievement, and student safety significantly moderated the relation between SES and academic achievement. Implications for theory, research, and intervention are discussed. © Society for Community Research and Action 2018.

Protective School Climates and Reduced Risk for Suicide Ideation in Sexual Minority Youths

PubMed Central

Birkett, Michelle; Van Wagenen, Aimee; Meyer, Ilan H.

2014-01-01

Objectives. We examined whether sexual minority students living in states and cities with more protective school climates were at lower risk of suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts. Methods. Data on sexual orientation and past-year suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts were from the pooled 2005 and 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Surveys from 8 states and cities. We derived data on school climates that protected sexual minority students (e.g., percentage of schools with safe spaces and Gay–Straight Alliances) from the 2010 School Health Profile Survey, compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Results. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual students living in states and cities with more protective school climates reported fewer past-year suicidal thoughts than those living in states and cities with less protective climates (lesbians and gays: odds ratio [OR] = 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.47, 0.99; bisexuals: OR = 0.81; 95% CI = 0.66, 0.99). Results were robust to adjustment for potential state-level confounders. Sexual orientation disparities in suicidal thoughts were nearly eliminated in states and cities with the most protective school climates. Conclusions. School climates that protect sexual minority students may reduce their risk of suicidal thoughts. PMID:24328634

Using Children's Drawings to Examine Student Perspectives of Classroom Climate in a School-within-a-School Elementary School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farmer, Jennie L.; Spearman, Mindy; Qian, Meihua; Leonard, Alison E.; Rosenblith, Suzanne

2018-01-01

This study examines student perceptions of classroom climate at a school-within-a-school (SWAS) elementary school located in the southeastern United States. The elementary school contains a school for students identified as highly gifted within a neighborhood school. Researchers utilized drawings to determine students' perceptions of their…

Understanding the Association Between School Climate and Future Orientation.

PubMed

Lindstrom Johnson, Sarah; Pas, Elise; Bradshaw, Catherine P

2016-08-01

Promoting students' future orientation is inherently a goal of the educational system. Recently, it has received more explicit attention given the increased focus on career readiness. This study aimed to examine the association between school climate and adolescents' report of future orientation using data from youth (N = 27,698; 49.4 % female) across 58 high schools. Three-level hierarchical linear models indicated that perceptions of available emotional and service supports, rules and consequences, and parent engagement were positively related to adolescents' future orientation. Additionally, the school-level average future orientation was significantly related to individuals' future orientation, indicating a potential influence of contextual effects on this construct. Taken together, these findings suggest that interventions targeting school climate may hold promise for promoting future orientation.

Student drug testing and positive school climates: testing the relation between two school characteristics and drug use behavior in a longitudinal study.

PubMed

Sznitman, Sharon R; Romer, Daniel

2014-01-01

Fostering positive school climates and student drug testing have been separately proposed as strategies to reduce student drug use in high schools. To assess the promise of these strategies, the present research examined whether positive school climates and/or student drug testing successfully predicted changes in youth substance use over a 1-year follow-up. Two waves of panel data from a sample of 361 high school students, assessed 1 year apart, were analyzed. Changes in reported initiation and escalation in frequency of alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use as a function of perceived student drug testing and positive school climates were analyzed, while we held constant prior substance use. Perceived student drug testing was not associated with changes in substance use, whereas perceived positive school climates were associated with a reduction in cigarette and marijuana initiation and a reduction in escalation of frequency of cigarette use at 1-year follow-up. However, perceived positive school climates were not associated with a reduction in alcohol use. Student drug testing appears to be less associated with substance use than positive school climates. Nevertheless, even favorable school climates may not be able to influence the use of alcohol, which appears to be quite normative in this age group.

Measuring Inviting School Climate: A Case Study of a Public Primary School in an Urban Low Socioeconomic Setting in Kenya

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Okaya, Tom Mboya; Horne, Marj; Lamig, Madeleine; Smith, Kenneth H.

2013-01-01

The present study utilized the Inviting School Survey-Revised (ISS-R) (Smith, 2005b, 2013) based on Invitational Theory and Practice (Purkey & Novak, 2008) to examine the school climate of a public primary school in a low urban socio-economic setting in Kenya. School climate was defined as the perceptions of primary school teachers and pupils…

School Climate and Student Absenteeism and Internalizing and Externalizing Behavioral Problems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hendron, Marisa; Kearney, Christopher A.

2016-01-01

This study examined whether school climate variables were directly and inversely related to absenteeism severity and key symptoms of psychopathology among youths specifically referred for problematic attendance (N = 398). Adolescents in our sample completed the School Climate Survey Revised Edition, which measured sharing of resources, order and…

School Climate, Peer Victimization, and Academic Achievement: Results from a Multi-Informant Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Weijun; Vaillancourt, Tracy; Brittain, Heather L.; McDougall, Patricia; Krygsman, Amanda; Smith, David; Cunningham, Charles E.; Haltigan, J. D.; Hymel, Shelley

2014-01-01

School-level school climate was examined in relation to self-reported peer victimization and teacher-rated academic achievement (grade point average; GPA). Participants included a sample of 1,023 fifth-grade children nested within 50 schools. Associations between peer victimization, school climate, and GPA were examined using multilevel modeling,…

Teachers' Perceptions of Principals' Motivating Language and Public School Climates in Kuwait

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alqahtani, Abdulmuhsen Ayedh

2015-01-01

Research has shown that the overall climate in a school can encourage or deter learning. One significant factor promoting a positive climate is the use of motivational language by school leaders. This article presents empirical evidence of teachers' perceptions of motivational language used by school principals and the effects of this language on…

Local Communities and Schools Tackling Sustainability and Climate Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flowers, Rick; Chodkiewicz, Andrew

2009-01-01

Local communities and their schools remain key sites for actions tackling issues of sustainability and climate change. A government-funded environmental education initiative, the Australian Sustainable Schools Initiative (AuSSI), working together with state based Sustainable Schools Programs (SSP), has the ability to support the development of…

Teaching climate change: Pressures and practice in the middle school science classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crayne, Jennifer A.

What are middle school science teachers teaching their students about climate change? And why? This qualitative study examined the experience of middle school science teachers from western Oregon, finding that while participating teachers accept the science of climate change and express concern about it, many teachers are reluctant to make the topic a priority in their classrooms. When they do include the subject, teachers frequently address "both sides." They also report that students have persistent doubts and misconceptions about climate change. What accounts for these trends? I argue that the way teachers address climate change is a result of complex interactions between structural pressures, emotional pressures, and cultural pressures. I conclude that, in order to promote the inclusion of sound climate science instruction in public schools, advocates of climate change education need to address challenges at all these levels: structural, emotional, and cultural.

School Bullying in Urban China: Prevalence and Correlation with School Climate.

PubMed

Han, Ziqiang; Zhang, Guirong; Zhang, Haibo

2017-09-25

School violence and bullying in China is under investigated, though it has become a national concern recently. Using updated national representative survey data collected in 2016 from seven provinces across China, covering students from all pre-college school types (primary, middle, high and vocational schools), this paper analyzes the prevalence of school bullying and the correlation with several school attributes. The incidences of reported bullying, bullying others and witnessing bullying are 26.10%, 9.03% and 28.90%, respectively. Primary school students are more likely to be involved in bullying behaviors. Students from elite schools (leading schools) are also more likely to be involved. Relation with teachers, relation with peers and perceived academic achievement are protective factors. Being a boy is the only significant predictor of school bullying among the family and demographic characteristics used. The results highlight the importance of school climate on preventing school violence and bullying, and a whole-school intervention approach is needed for future intervention.

School Bullying in Urban China: Prevalence and Correlation with School Climate

PubMed Central

Han, Ziqiang; Zhang, Guirong; Zhang, Haibo

2017-01-01

School violence and bullying in China is under investigated, though it has become a national concern recently. Using updated national representative survey data collected in 2016 from seven provinces across China, covering students from all pre-college school types (primary, middle, high and vocational schools), this paper analyzes the prevalence of school bullying and the correlation with several school attributes. The incidences of reported bullying, bullying others and witnessing bullying are 26.10%, 9.03% and 28.90%, respectively. Primary school students are more likely to be involved in bullying behaviors. Students from elite schools (leading schools) are also more likely to be involved. Relation with teachers, relation with peers and perceived academic achievement are protective factors. Being a boy is the only significant predictor of school bullying among the family and demographic characteristics used. The results highlight the importance of school climate on preventing school violence and bullying, and a whole-school intervention approach is needed for future intervention. PMID:28946682

The Direct and Moderating Role of School Interpersonal Climate on Children's Academic Outcomes in the Context of Whole-School, Social-Emotional Learning Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berg, Juliette K.; Aber, J. Lawrence

2015-01-01

A positive school climate is characterized by a supportive, orderly, and fair interpersonal climate. Children's perceptions of interpersonal climate and school safety are associated with several academic and behavioral adjustment outcomes. The current study has two goals: (1) to better understand the contribution of school interpersonal climate to…

Transformational Leadership Related to School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCarley, Troy A.

2012-01-01

This study examined the relationship between teacher perceptions of the degree to which a principal displays the factors of transformational leadership (idealized attributes, idealized behaviors, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulations, and individual considerations) and the perceived school climate (supportive principal behavior,…

The Development and Validation of the Ethical Climate Index for Middle and High Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schulte, Laura E.; Thompson, Franklin; Talbott, Jeanie; Luther, Ann; Garcia, Michelle; Blanchard, Shirley; Conway, Laraine; Mueller, Melanie

2002-01-01

Describes the School Ethical Climate Index (SECI), an instrument to measure the ethical climate of a school. The SECI could be used in school districts to assess areas for school improvement and thereby help reduce school disorder and violence. (Contains 4 tables and 39 references.) (Author/WFA)

Differences in Assessments of Organizational School Climate between Teachers and Adminsitrators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duff, Brandy Kinlaw

2013-01-01

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the organizational school climate perceptions of teachers and principals and to ascertain the extent to which their perceptions differed. This causal comparative study used the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire for Elementary Schools (OCDQ-RE) as the survey instrument for data…

Examining the Relationship between Teacher Leadership and School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kilinc, Ali Çagatay

2014-01-01

Teacher leadership has recently become the centre of educational research on improving educational practices. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between primary school teachers' perceptions of school climate and teacher leadership. The study sample consisted of 259 primary school teachers who participated in an educational…

Successfully Integrating Climate Change Education into School System Curriculum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scallion, M.

2017-12-01

Maryland's Eastern Shore is threatened by climate change driven sea level rise. By working with school systems, rather than just with individual teachers, educators can gain access to an entire grade level of students, assuring that all students, regardless of socioeconomic background or prior coursework have an opportunity to explore the climate issue and be part of crafting community level solutions for their communities. We will address the benefits of working with school system partners to achieve a successful integration of in-school and outdoor learning by making teachers and administrators part of the process. We will explore how, through the Maryland and Delaware Climate Change Education, Assessment, and Research Project, teachers, content supervisors and informal educators worked together to create a climate curriculum with local context that effectively meets Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. Over the course of several weeks during the year, students engage in a series of in-class and field activities directly correlated with their science curriculum. Wetlands and birds are used as examples of the local wildlife and habitat being impacted by climate change. Through these lessons led by Pickering Creek Audubon Center educators and strengthened by material covered by classroom teachers, students get a thorough introduction to the mechanism of climate change, local impacts of climate change on habitats and wildlife, and actions they can take as a community to mitigate the effects of climate change. The project concludes with a habitat and carbon stewardship project that gives students and teachers a sense of hope as they tackle this big issue on a local scale. We'll explore how the MADE-CLEAR Informal Climate Change Education (ICCE) Community of Practice supports Delaware and Maryland environmental educators in collaboratively learning and expanding their programming on the complex issue of climate change. Participants will learn how to

Public School Uniforms: Effect on Perceptions of Gang Presence, School Climate, and Student Self-Perceptions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wade, Kathleen Kiley; Stafford, Mary E.

2003-01-01

Examined the relationship between public school uniforms and student self-worth and student and staff perceptions of gang presence and school climate. Surveys of middle school students and teachers indicated that although students' perceptions did not vary across uniform policy, teachers from schools with uniform policies perceived lower levels of…

The Relationship Between School Climate and Mental and Emotional Wellbeing Over the Transition from Primary to Secondary School.

PubMed

Lester, Leanne; Cross, Donna

School climate has often been described as the "quality and character of school life", including both social and physical aspects of the school, that can positively promote behaviour, school achievement, and the social and emotional development of students. The current study examined the relationship between students' mental and emotional wellbeing and factors pertaining to school climate, focussing on the domains of safety, social relationships and school connectedness, during the last year of their primary schooling (age 11-12 years) and their first 2 years of secondary school. Data was collected using a self-completion questionnaire, four times over 3 years from 1800 students' aged 11-14 years. Multilevel modelling was used to determine the strongest school climate predictor of students' mental and emotional wellbeing at each time point. In the last year of primary school, peer support was the strongest protective predictor of wellbeing, while feeling less connected and less safe at school predicted mental wellbeing. Feeling safe at school was the strongest protective factor for student wellbeing in the first year of secondary school. In the second year of secondary school, peer support was the strongest protective factor for mental wellbeing, while feeling safe at school, feeling connected to school and having support from peers were predictive of emotional wellbeing. School climate factors of feeling safe at school, feeling connected to school, and peer support are all protective of mental and emotional wellbeing over the transition period while connectedness to teachers is protective of emotional wellbeing. Primary school appears to be an important time to establish quality connections to peers who have a powerful role in providing support for one another before the transition to secondary school. However, school policies and practices promoting safety and encouraging and enabling connectedness are important during the first years of secondary school

The Impact of an Economically Disadvantaged Student Population on School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Null, Curtis F.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between student poverty levels, defined by the number of students identified as economically disadvantaged by qualifying for free and reduced lunch and school climate. The literature review examined school climate and culture, effects of student socioeconomic (SES) status on education,…

Communities, Students, Schools, and School Crime: A Confirmatory Study of Crime in U.S. High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Greg

2008-01-01

This study investigates how community characteristics, student background, school climate, and zero-tolerance policies interact to affect school crime. The study articulates and fits a school crime model to 712 high schools participating in the 2000 School Survey on Crime and Safety, confirming that school location and student socioeconomic status…

A Review and Analysis of Selected School Climate Measures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olsen, Jacob; Preston, Angela I.; Algozzine, Bob; Algozzine, Kate; Cusumano, Dale

2018-01-01

Although it is widely agreed that there is no universally accepted definition for school climate, most professionals ground it in shared beliefs, values, and attitudes reflecting the quality and character of life in schools. In this article, we review and analyze measures accessible to school personnel charged with documenting and monitoring…

Evaluation of the Alliance for Climate Education's national high school edutainment program (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lappe, M.; Flora, J.; Saphir, M.; Roser-Renouf, C.; Maibach, E.; Leiserowitz, A.

2013-12-01

The Alliance for Climate Education educates high school students on the science of climate change and inspires them to create effective solutions. Since 2009, ACE has reached over 1.6 million students nationwide with its multi media assembly presentation. In this paper, we evaluate the climate science knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, behavior and communication impact of the ACE Assembly program in a random sample of 49 schools (from population of 779) and a panel of 1,241 high school students. Pre and post assembly surveys composed of questions from the Global Warming Six Americas segmentation and intervention specific questions were administered in classrooms. We demonstrate that exposure to climate science in an engaging edutainment format changes youths' beliefs, involvement, and behavior positively and moves them to more climate science literate audience segments. The net impact of scaled and engaging programs for youth could be a population shift in climate science literacy and positive engagement in the issue of climate change. In addition, such programs can empower youth for deeper engagement in school programs, personal action, political and consumer advocacy.

School Climate and the Effectiveness of Teacher Appraisal in Hong Kong Self-Managing Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mo, Kim Wan

In Hong Kong there has been a move toward greater self-management in schools. The government has supported the School Management Initiatives scheme and has stated that the management system calls for teacher appraisal as one of its internal quality assurance mechanisms. This study examined the relationship between dimensions of school climate and…

Urban Youth and Schooling: The Effect of School Climate on Student Disengagement and Dropout.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pellerin, Lisa A.

This study investigated the effects of schools' academic and disciplinary climates on student disengagement and dropping out, noting whether these effects varied by race/ethnic group. Data came from the High School Effectiveness Study (HSES), which allows contextual analysis of urban youth in their high schools, and the Common Core of Data, from…

Recognizing Community Voice and a Youth-Led School-Community Partnership in the School Climate Improvement Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ice, Megan; Thapa, Amrit; Cohen, Jonathan

2015-01-01

A growing body of school improvement research suggests that engaging all members of the school community, including community members and leaders, provides an essential foundation to successful school improvement efforts. School climate surveys to date tend to recognize student, parent/guardian, and school personnel voice but not the voice of…

Organizational Climate for Change in Schools: Towards Definition and Measurement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGeown, Vincent

1979-01-01

Suggests a socio-psychological approach to the definition and measurement of school organizational climate for change. The measurement instrument, the Organizational Climate for Change Questionnaire, is described. (Author/DB)

Longitudinal Relations Among Positivity, Perceived Positive School Climate, and Prosocial Behavior in Colombian Adolescents.

PubMed

Luengo Kanacri, Bernadette P; Eisenberg, Nancy; Thartori, Eriona; Pastorelli, Concetta; Uribe Tirado, Liliana M; Gerbino, Maria; Caprara, Gian V

2017-07-01

Bidirectional relations among adolescents' positivity, perceived positive school climate, and prosocial behavior were examined in Colombian youth. Also, the role of a positive school climate in mediating the relation of positivity to prosocial behaviors was tested. Adolescents (N = 151; M age of child in Wave 1 = 12.68, SD = 1.06; 58.9% male) and their parents (N = 127) provided data in two waves (9 months apart). A model of bidirectional relations between positivity and perceived positive school climate emerged. In addition, adolescents with higher levels of perceived positive school climate at age 12 showed higher levels of prosocial behaviors in the following year. Positive school climate related positivity to adolescents' prosocial behavior over time. © 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Relationships Among Student, Staff, and Administrative Measures of School Climate and Student Health and Academic Outcomes.

PubMed

Gase, Lauren N; Gomez, Louis M; Kuo, Tony; Glenn, Beth A; Inkelas, Moira; Ponce, Ninez A

2017-05-01

School climate is an integral part of a comprehensive approach to improving the well-being of students; however, little is known about the relationships between its different domains and measures. We examined the relationships between student, staff, and administrative measures of school climate to understand the extent to which they were related to each other and student outcomes. The sample included 33,572 secondary school students from 121 schools in Los Angeles County during the 2014-2015 academic year. A multilevel regression model was constructed to examine the association between the domains and measures of school climate and 5 outcomes of student well-being: depressive symptoms or suicidal ideation, tobacco use, alcohol use, marijuana use, and grades. Student, staff, and administrative measures of school climate were weakly correlated. Strong associations were found between student outcomes and student reports of engagement and safety, while school staff reports and administrative measures of school climate showed limited associations with student outcomes. As schools seek to measure and implement interventions aimed at improving school climate, consideration should be given to grounding these efforts in a multidimensional conceptualization of climate that values student perspectives and includes elements of both engagement and safety. © 2017, American School Health Association.

School climate and physical adolescent relationship abuse: Differences by sex, socioeconomic status, and bullying.

PubMed

Jain, Sonia; Cohen, Alison K; Paglisotti, Taylor; Subramanyam, Malavika A; Chopel, Alison; Miller, Elizabeth

2018-07-01

Little is known about the association between school climate and adolescent relationship abuse (ARA). We used 2011-2012 data from surveys of California public school students (in the United States of America) who were in a dating relationship in the last year (n = 112 378) to quantify the association between different school climate constructs and physical ARA. Fifty-two percent of students were female, and all students were in 9th or 11th grade (approximately ages 14-17). Over 11% of students reported experiencing physical ARA in the last year. Increased school connectedness, meaningful opportunities for participation, perceived safety, and caring relationships with adults at school were each significantly associated with lower odds of physical ARA. Increased violence victimization and school-level bullying victimization were associated with higher odds of physical ARA. These school climate-ARA associations were significantly moderated by student sex, school socioeconomic status, and school-level bullying victimization. School climate interventions may have spillover benefits for ARA prevention. Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Defending climate science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Showstack, Randy

2012-01-01

The National Center for Science Education (NCSE), which has long been in the lead in defending the teaching of evolution in public schools, has expanded its core mission to include defending climate science, the organization announced in January. “We consider climate change a critical issue in our own mission to protect the integrity of science education,” said NSCE executive director Eugenie Scott. “Climate affects everyone, and the decisions we make today will affect generations to come. We need to teach kids now about the realities of global warming and climate change so that they're prepared to make informed, intelligent decisions in the future.”

Investigating Associations between School Climate and Bullying in Secondary Schools: Multilevel Contextual Effects Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Konishi, Chiaki; Miyazaki, Yasuo; Hymel, Shelley; Waterhouse, Terry

2017-01-01

This study examined how student reports of bullying were related to different dimensions of school climate, at both the school and the student levels, using a contextual effects model in a two-level multilevel modeling framework. Participants included 48,874 secondary students (grades 8 to 12; 24,244 girls) from 76 schools in Western Canada.…

School climate and continuity of adolescent personality disorder symptoms.

PubMed

Kasen, Stephanie; Cohen, Patricia; Chen, Henian; Johnson, Jeffrey G; Crawford, Thomas N

2009-12-01

Schools are key social contexts for shaping development and behavior in youths; yet, little is known of their influence on adolescent personality disturbance. A community-based sample of 592 adolescents was assessed for family and school experiences, Axis I psychiatric disorders, and Axis II personality disorder (PD) symptoms, and followed into young adulthood. Multiple regression analysis was used to estimate associations between adolescent-reported school climate and young adult PD symptoms independent of age, sex, family socioeconomic status; childhood maltreatment; Axis I disorder, PD symptoms, academic grades, and parental punishment in adolescence; and four dimensions of school climate. Schools characterized as high in learning focus were related to cluster B (antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic PD) symptom declines, whereas schools characterized as high in opportunities for student autonomy were related to cluster A (paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal PD) symptom declines. In contrast, schools characterized as conflictual or supporting interpersonal informality/familiarity among students and teachers were related to increases in cluster A symptoms and cluster C (avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive PD) symptoms. Schools may exert both positive and negative influences on continuity of adolescent personality disturbance. The role of the school in guiding young people toward more favorable developmental pathways and alleviating personality disturbance is discussed.

In-School Sustainability Action: Climate Clever Energy Savers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buchanan, John; Schuck, Sandy; Aubusson, Peter

2016-01-01

The mandate for living sustainably is becoming increasingly urgent. This article reports on the Climate Clever Energy Savers (CCES) Program, a student-centred, problem- and project-based program in New South Wales, Australia, aimed at enabling school students to identify ways of reducing their schools' electricity consumption and costs. As part of…

Relationships between School Climate, Bullying and Delinquent Behaviours

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aldridge, Jill M.; McChesney, Katrina; Afari, Ernest

2018-01-01

Given that schools are, potentially, powerful sites for influencing adolescent behaviour, it is important that there is greater understanding of the psychosocial aspects of the school climate that can be leveraged for this purpose. The research reported in this article used structural equation modelling (with data from a sample of 6120 students at…

A multilevel examination of affective job insecurity climate on safety outcomes.

PubMed

Jiang, Lixin; Probst, Tahira M

2016-07-01

Previous research has established a causal link between individual perceptions of job insecurity and safety outcomes. However, whether job insecurity climate is associated with safety outcomes has not been studied. The purpose of the current study was to explore the main and cross-level interaction effects of affective job insecurity climate on safety outcomes, including behavioral safety compliance, reporting attitudes, workplace injuries, experienced safety events, unreported safety events, and accident underreporting, beyond individual affective job insecurity. With 171 employees nested in 40 workgroups, multilevel analyses revealed that the negative impacts of individual affective job insecurity on safety outcomes are exacerbated when they occur in a climate of high affective job insecurity. These results are interpreted in light of safety management efforts and suggest that efforts to create a secure climate within one's workgroup may reap safety-related benefits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The Relationship between Perceived School Climate and the Adolescents' Adherence to Humanitarian Values

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turhan, Muhammed; Akgül, Tülin

2017-01-01

This study investigates the relationship between students' perception of school climate and their adherence to humanitarian values. To this end, the study group consisted of 1094 students in 21 secondary schools in Elazig province of Turkey. The "School Climate Scale," developed by Çalik and Kurt, and the "Humanitarian Values…

Differences in School Climate and Student Engagement in China and the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bear, George G.; Yang, Chunyan; Chen, Dandan; He, Xianyou; Xie, Jia-Shu; Huang, Xishan

2018-01-01

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine differences between American and Chinese students in their perceptions of school climate and engagement in school, and in the relation between school climate and engagement. Method: Confirmatory factor analyses were used to support the factor structure and measurement invariance of the two…

Relationships between Student, Staff, and Administrative Measures of School Climate and Student Health and Academic Outcomes

PubMed Central

Gase, Lauren Nichol; Gomez, Louis M.; Kuo, Tony; Glenn, Beth A.; Inkelas, Moira; Ponce, Ninez A.

2018-01-01

BACKGROUND School climate is an integral part of a comprehensive approach to improving the wellbeing of students; however, little is known about the relationships between its different domains and measures. This study examined the relationships between student, staff, and administrative measures of school climate in order to understand the extent to which they were related to each other and student outcomes. METHODS The sample included 33,572 secondary school students from 121 schools in Los Angeles County during the 2014–2015 academic year. A multilevel regression model was constructed to examine the association between the domains and measures of school climate and five outcomes of student wellbeing: depressive symptoms or suicidal ideation, tobacco use, alcohol use, marijuana use, and grades. RESULTS Student, staff, and administrative measures of school climate were weakly correlated. Strong associations were found between student outcomes and student reports of engagement and safety, while school staff reports and administrative measures of school climate showed limited associations with student outcomes. CONCLUSIONS As schools seek to measure and implement interventions aimed at improving school climate, consideration should be given to grounding these efforts in a multi-dimensional conceptualization of climate that values student perspectives and includes elements of both engagement and safety. PMID:28382671

Students' Perceptions of School Climate as Determinants of Wellbeing, Resilience and Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aldridge, Jill M.; Fraser, Barry J.; Fozdar, Farida; Ala'i, Kate; Earnest, Jaya; Afari, Ernest

2016-01-01

This study examined the relations between school climate variables and students' feeling of wellbeing, life satisfaction, ethnic identity, moral identity and resilience. Furthermore, the study also examined the interrelationships between these five outcome variables. Six aspects of the school climate were measured: teacher support, peer…

An Investigation of the Relationship between the Components of School Climate and Leadership Behaviors on Student Achievement: Urban School Districts in the Mid-Atlantic Region

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collins, Karmen J.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the relationship between the components of school climate and leadership behaviors on student achievement in an urban school district in the mid-atlantic region. School climate and leadership behaviors for the participating school districts was determined by the School Climate Survey (Corner…

The Impact of Leadership Involvement in Enhancing High School Climate and Reducing Bullying: An Exploratory Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bosworth, Kris; Garcia, Rafael; Judkins, Maryann; Saliba, Mark

2018-01-01

Bullying in secondary schools is a serious concern for educators and parents. The relationship between bullying and school climate has been identified and strategies to improve school climate are available. The importance of leadership in shaping school climate has been well documented. This exploratory study explores the role of leadership in…

Multilevel Factor Structure and Concurrent Validity of the Teacher Version of the Authoritative School Climate Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Francis L.; Cornell, Dewey G.; Konold, Timothy; Meyer, Joseph P.; Lacey, Anna; Nekvasil, Erin K.; Heilbrun, Anna; Shukla, Kathan D.

2015-01-01

Background: School climate is well recognized as an important influence on student behavior and adjustment to school, but there is a need for theory-guided measures that make use of teacher perspectives. Authoritative school climate theory hypothesizes that a positive school climate is characterized by high levels of disciplinary structure and…

Does Leadership Matter?: The Relationship of School Leadership to a Safe School Climate, Bullying, and Fighting in Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leff, Jonathan M.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there is a relationship between transformational principal leadership style, a safe school climate, and school safety (specifically, the number of reported fights and reported bullying incidents) in Broward County, Florida's middle schools. This study also investigated if a relationship…

Will climate change affect insect pheromonal communication?

PubMed

Boullis, Antoine; Detrain, Claire; Francis, Frédéric; Verheggen, François J

2016-10-01

Understanding how climate change will affect species interactions is a challenge for all branches of ecology. We have only limited understanding of how increasing temperature and atmospheric CO 2 and O 3 levels will affect pheromone-mediated communication among insects. Based on the existing literature, we suggest that the entire process of pheromonal communication, from production to behavioural response, is likely to be impacted by increases in temperature and modifications to atmospheric CO 2 and O 3 levels. We argue that insect species relying on long-range chemical signals will be most impacted, because these signals will likely suffer from longer exposure to oxidative gases during dispersal. We provide future directions for research programmes investigating the consequences of climate change on insect pheromonal communication. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Student Background, School Climate, School Disorder, and Student Achievement: An Empirical Study of New York City's Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Greg; Weikart, Lynne A.

2008-01-01

This study develops and tests a school disorder and student achievement model based upon the school climate framework. The model was fitted to 212 New York City middle schools using the Structural Equations Modeling Analysis method. The analysis shows that the model fits the data well based upon test statistics and goodness of fit indices. The…

Predicting Teacher Commitment: The Impact of School Climate and Social-Emotional Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collie, Rebecca J.; Shapka, Jennifer D.; Perry, Nancy E.

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate whether school climate and social-emotional learning impact teacher commitment. The sample included 664 public schoolteachers from British Columbia and Ontario in Canada. Participants completed an online questionnaire about teacher commitment, school climate, and social-emotional learning. Binary logistic…

Relationships between School Climate and Adolescent Students' Self-Reports of Ethnic and Moral Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aldridge, Jill M.; Ala'i, Kate G.; Fraser, Barry J.

2016-01-01

This article reports research into associations between students' perceptions of the school climate and self-reports of ethnic and moral identity in high schools in Western Australia. An instrument was developed to assess students' perceptions of their school climate (as a means of monitoring and guiding schools as they are challenged to become…

Bullying Victimization and Student Engagement in Elementary, Middle, and High Schools: Moderating Role of School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Chunyan; Sharkey, Jill D.; Reed, Lauren A.; Chen, Chun; Dowdy, Erin

2018-01-01

Bullying is the most common form of school violence and is associated with a range of negative outcomes, including traumatic responses. This study used hierarchical linear modeling to examine the multilevel moderating effects of school climate and school level (i.e., elementary, middle, and high schools) on the association between bullying…

The social environment of schools and adolescent nutrition: associations between the school nutrition climate and adolescents' eating behaviors and body mass index.

PubMed

Cvjetan, Branko; Utter, Jennifer; Robinson, Elizabeth; Denny, Simon

2014-10-01

The aim of this study was to determine the association between the school nutrition climate and students' eating behaviors and body mass index (BMI). Data were collected as part of Youth'07, a nationally representative health survey of high school students in New Zealand. Overall, 9107 randomly selected students from 96 randomly selected schools participated. School-level measures were created by aggregating students' reports within schools. Analyses were conducted using multilevel modeling, accounting for student-level characteristics. There was a positive association between the school nutrition climate and students' consumption of fruits and vegetables. This relationship was statistically significant after controlling for the background characteristics of students. There were no associations between the school nutrition climate and students' junk food consumption or BMI. The school nutrition climate appears to have a positive influence on adolescents' healthy eating behaviors (fruit and vegetable intake), but a limited effect on unhealthy eating behaviors and ultimately body weight. This may reflect the pervasiveness of junk food in the environments of adolescents outside of school and the difficulty in limiting its consumption. © 2014, American School Health Association.

Classroom Climate and Students' Goal Structures in High-School Biology Classrooms in Kenya

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mucherah, Winnie

2008-01-01

This study examined classroom climate and student goal structures in high-school biology classrooms in Kenya. Participants included 891 students and their teachers in Grades 10 and 11 from two same-sex boarding schools--one for boys and the other for girls. School differences were found on all classroom climate aspects except teacher support and…

Relationships among Servant Leadership, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, and School Climate in Alabama High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dixon, David L.

2013-01-01

This study examined the relationship between servant leadership of the principal with Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) and school climate. Servant leadership, a leadership behavior that emphasizes personal growth of followers, has a useful research history in business but limited exposure in public schools. Organizational Citizenship…

In the Face of Anti-LGBQ Behaviour: Saskatchewan High School Students' Perceptions of School Climate and Consequential Impact

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrison, Melanie A.; Jewell, Lisa; McCutcheon, Jessica; Cochrane, Donald B.

2014-01-01

In Canada, there is a dearth of research on school climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) students. Using social networking, 60 students from high schools in Saskatchewan participated in a climate survey. Results indicated that anti-LGBQ speech was widespread, as were other forms of harassment. The more victimization that was…

School Climate of Educational Institutions: Design and Validation of a Diagnostic Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Becerra, Sandra

2016-01-01

School climate is recognized as a relevant factor for the improvement of educative processes, favoring the administrative processes and optimum school performance. The present article is the result of a quantitative research model which had the objective of psychometrically designing and validating a scale to diagnose the organizational climate of…

Leadership Study in Hawaii--How Characteristics of Principals Affect the Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Araki, Charles T.

1982-01-01

Public and private school teachers in Hawaii were surveyed to obtain their perceptions of school organizational climate and principal leadership characteristics. In addition, data regarding the impact of school socioeconomic status and sex differences on leadership behavior were gathered and analyzed. (Author/MLF)

Can Schools Engage Students? Multiple Perspectives, Multidimensional School Climate Research in England and Ireland

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sampermans, Dorien; Isac, Maria Magdalena; Claes, Ellen

2018-01-01

Purpose: This article assesses how different aspects of the school climate relate to students' intended future electoral engagement. Until now, political socialization researchers found evidence for a relation between formal citizenship education in school and students' participation levels. There is less consensus, however, in how multiple…

Heteronormativity, School Climates, and Perceived Safety for Gender Nonconforming Peers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toomey, Russell B.; McGuire, Jenifer K.; Russell, Stephen T.

2012-01-01

Students' perceptions of their school climates are associated with psychosocial and academic adjustment. The present study examined the role of school strategies to promote safety in predicting students' perceptions of safety for gender nonconforming peers among 1415 students in 28 high schools. Using multilevel modeling techniques, we examined…

The Effects of School Culture and Climate on Student Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MacNeil, Angus J.; Prater, Doris L.; Busch, Steve

2009-01-01

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether Exemplary, Recognized and Acceptable schools differ in their school climates, as measured by the 10 dimensions of the Organizational Health Inventory. Significant differences were found on all 10 dimensions of the Organizational Health Inventory, with Exemplary schools out-performing Acceptable…

The Trajectories of Adolescents' Perceptions of School Climate, Deviant Peer Affiliation, and Behavioral Problems during the Middle School Years

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Ming-Te; Dishion, Thomas J.

2012-01-01

This longitudinal study examined trajectories of change in adolescents' perceptions of four dimensions of school climate (academic support, behavior management, teacher social support, and peer social support) and the effects of such trajectories on adolescent problem behaviors. We also tested whether school climate moderated the associations…

The Effects of School-Wide Positive Behavior Support on Middle School Climate and Student Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caldarella, Paul; Shatzer, Ryan H.; Gray, Kristy M.; Young, K. Richard; Young, Ellie L.

2011-01-01

This study investigated the effects of school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) on middle school climate and student outcomes. Data consisted of more than 300 teacher responses and 10,000 student responses in two middle schools in the western United States. This study used a quasi-experimental (non-equivalent two-group, pretest-posttest)…

Changes in School Climate in a Long-Term Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kallestad, Jan Helge

2010-01-01

In a previous report five school climate instruments were explored (1983 and 1985), and four scales were regarded as meaningful climate measures according to suggested criteria. These scales were re-inspected in the present study (1997 and 1998) by analyses of internal consistency, estimates of reliability (unit and aggregated reliability), and…

The Relationships between Teachers' Perceptions of Principal Leadership and Teachers' Perceptions of School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pulleyn, Janet L.

2012-01-01

This research considered relationships among teachers' perceptions of principal leadership and teachers' perceptions of school climate by using the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) survey and the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (Revised) for Middle Schools (OCDQ-RM) survey. Teachers from six middle schools in the same district…

Perceived School Climate and Chinese Adolescents' Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Attempts: The Mediating Role of Sleep Quality.

PubMed

Li, Dongping; Bao, Zhenzhou; Li, Xian; Wang, Yanhui

2016-02-01

School factors play important roles in adolescent suicide. However, little is known about how school climate is associated with adolescent suicide. This study examined the relationship between perceived school climate and adolescent suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, and whether these relations were explained by adolescent sleep quality. A total of 1529 Chinese adolescents (mean age = 14.74 years; 52% boys) participated in the study. They provided self-report data on control variables, perceived school climate, sleep quality, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts. After controlling for sex, age, family structure, socioeconomic status, and parent-adolescent attachment, we found that perceived school climate negatively predicted adolescent suicidal ideation (odds ratio [OR] = 0.66, p < .001) and suicide attempts (OR = 0.72, p < .001). Moreover, perceived school climate positively predicated adolescent sleep quality (β = 0.13, p < .001), which in turn, negatively predicted adolescent suicidal ideation (OR = 0.75, p < .001) and suicide attempts (OR = 0.76, p < .001). These findings, although cross-sectional, indicate that perceived school climate plays an important role in adolescent suicidality. Moreover, the relation between perceived school climate and adolescent suicidality was largely mediated by adolescent sleep quality. © 2016, American School Health Association.

School Social Climate and Generalized Peer Perception in Traditional and Cyberbullying Status

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bayar, Yusuf; Ucanok, Zehra

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were any differences in perceptions of school social climate and peers in terms of bullying status, and to investigate the psychometric properties of the School Social Climate and Generalized Peer Perception Scales. The students participated from six different cities in Turkey were in…

Effect of the good school toolkit on school staff mental health, sense of job satisfaction and perceptions of school climate: Secondary analysis of a cluster randomised trial.

PubMed

Kayiwa, Joshua; Clarke, Kelly; Knight, Louise; Allen, Elizabeth; Walakira, Eddy; Namy, Sophie; Merrill, Katherine G; Naker, Dipak; Devries, Karen

2017-08-01

The Good School Toolkit, a complex behavioural intervention delivered in Ugandan primary schools, has been shown to reduce school staff-perpetrated physical violence against students. We aimed to assess the effect of this intervention on staff members' mental health, sense of job satisfaction and perception of school climate. We analysed data from a cluster-randomised trial administered in 42 primary schools in Luwero district, Uganda. The trial was comprised of cross-sectional baseline (June/July 2012) and endline (June/July 2014) surveys among staff and students. Twenty-one schools were randomly selected to receive the Toolkit, whilst 21 schools constituted a wait-listed control group. We generated composite measures to assess staff members' perceptions of the school climate and job satisfaction. The trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01678846). No schools dropped out of the study and all 591 staff members who completed the endline survey were included in the analysis. Staff in schools receiving the Toolkit had more positive perspectives of their school climate compared to staff in control schools (difference in mean scores 2.19, 95% Confidence Interval 0.92, 3.39). We did not find any significant differences for job satisfaction and mental health. In conclusion, interventions like the Good School Toolkit that reduce physical violence by school staff against students can improve staff perceptions of the school climate, and could help to build more positive working and learning environments in Ugandan schools. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Influence of Classroom and School Climate on Teacher Perceptions of Student Problem Behavior

PubMed Central

O’Brennan, Lindsey M.; Bradshaw, Catherine P.; Furlong, Michael J.

2014-01-01

Reducing student problem behavior remains a leading concern for school staff, as disruptive and aggressive behavior interferes with student achievement and the school climate. However, the multi-systemic nature of schools makes it difficult for researchers and practitioners to identify factors influencing to students’ behavior. The current study examined student problem behavior through an ecological lens by taking into account individual (e.g., gender, ethnicity, prosocial behavior), classroom (e.g., class size, average classroom behavior), and school-level factors (e.g., location, school climate). Using data from 37 elementary schools, 467 classrooms, and 8,750 students, a series of hierarchical linear models was tested. Multilevel analyses revealed that while individual student characteristics had the largest influence on problem behavior, average prosocial behavior and concentration problems of students within the classroom, as well as teacher perceptions of the school climate significantly related to how students behaved. These findings support the use of classroom-based intervention programs to reduce student problem behavior. PMID:25346779

The Effects of Teacher Perceptions of Administrative Support, School Climate, and Academic Success in Urban Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Lakishia N.

2015-01-01

Teacher turnover refers to major changes in teachers' assignments from one school year to the next. Past research has given an overview of several factors of teacher turnover. These factors include the school environment, teacher collaborative efforts, administrative support, school climate, location, salary, classroom management, academic…

Five Climate Control Techniques for Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Maurice J.

1963-01-01

There are many reasons for air-conditioning schools and among them are--(1) the improvement of learning and teaching efficiency, (2) effective use of the educational plant for a greater part of the year, and (3) more efficient use of space through compact building design. Five climate control techniques are cited as providing optimum…

Improving School Climate to Reduce Bullying

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, David

2012-01-01

Bullying harms kids in nearly every way imaginable. It disrupts their learning; it causes them to suffer anxiety and depression; and it undermines their feelings of safety and connection to school. New understandings of bullying are based on relationships and connect directly to the growing appreciation of the role of the social climate within…

The Influence of Effortful Control and Empathy on Perception of School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zorza, Juan P.; Marino, Julián; Mesas, Alberto Acosta

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the predictive power of effortful control (EC) and empathy for perception of school climate. Self-report measures of EC, dispositional empathy, and perception of school climate were obtained for 398 students (204 females) aged 12 to 13. Sociometric status was peer-evaluated, and academic achievement was…

[Psychometric examination of the School Social Climate Questionnaire in Chileans students].

PubMed

Guerra Vio, Cristóbal; Castro Arancibia, Lorena; Vargas Castro, Judith

2011-02-01

The School Social Climate Questionnaire (CECSCE) was adapted and applied. Subsequently, its psychometric proprieties were analyzed. The 1075 Chilean students who participated were assessed with the CECSCE and the School Violence Scale. The results showed that the CECSCE has a bifactorial structure, although there was also the possibility of a unifactorial structure. The CECSCE achieved satisfactory reliability and homogeneity indexes. The CECSCES scores were inversely related to the school violence rate. Lastly, differences by gender and educational level were analyzed. Given that there are differences in school climate perceptions in favor of girls, Chilean standards are presented in percentiles by gender. It can therefore be concluded that the CECSCE is sufficiently valid and reliable to be applied in Chile.

The Relationships among School Types, Teacher Efficacy Beliefs, and Academic Climate: Perspective from Asian Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chong, Wan Har; Klassen, Robert M.; Huan, Vivien S.; Wong, Isabella; Kates, Allison Diane

2010-01-01

The authors explored how prior student achievement, through school types, predicted teacher self- and collective efficacy and perceived academic climate of 222 middle school teachers in Singapore. Teachers assigned to high-track and regular middle schools differed in their perception of self- and collective efficacy to promote organizational…

The Impact of School Climate on the Achievement of Elementary School Students Who Are Economically Disadvantaged a Quantitative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smallwood, Gina W.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this research was to explore the impact of school climate on the achievement of third and fourth grade students who are economically disadvantaged in Mathematics and Reading/Language Arts. Students' perception of school climate was studied using the "Tripod Survey" variables of a caring, captivating, and academically…

How school can teach civic engagement besides civic education: The role of democratic school climate.

PubMed

Lenzi, Michela; Vieno, Alessio; Sharkey, Jill; Mayworm, Ashley; Scacchi, Luca; Pastore, Massimiliano; Santinello, Massimo

2014-12-01

Civic engagement, defined as involvement in community life, is influenced by reciprocal relationships between individuals and contexts and is a key factor that contributes to positive youth development. The present study evaluates a theoretical model linking perceived democratic school climate with adolescent civic engagement (operationalized as civic responsibility and intentions for future participation), taking into account the mediating role of civic discussions and perceived fairness at school. Participants were 403 adolescents (47.9 % male) ranging in age from 11 to 15 years old (mean age = 13.6). Path analysis results partially validated the proposed theoretical model. Higher levels of democratic school climate were associated with higher levels of adolescent civic responsibility; the association was fully mediated by civic discussions and perceived fairness at school. Adolescents' civic responsibility, then, was positively associated with a stronger intention to participate in the civic domain in the future.

The Impact of Visual Impairment on Perceived School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schade, Benjamin; Larwin, Karen H.

2015-01-01

The current investigation examines whether visual impairment has an impact on a student's perception of the school climate. Using a large national sample of high school students, perceptions were examined for students with vision impairment relative to students with no visual impairments. Three factors were examined: self-reported level of…

Self-Regulatory Climate: A Positive Attribute of Public Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Curt M.; Ware, Jordan K.; Miskell, Ryan C.; Forsyth, Patrick B.

2016-01-01

This study contributes to the development of a positive framework for effective public schools in 2 ways. First, it advances the construct self-regulatory climate as consisting of 3 generative school norms--collective faculty trust in students, collective student trust in teachers, and student-perceived academic emphasis. The authors argue these…

Creating a Positive School Climate at the Junior High Level.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Licata, Vincent F.

One of the seven correlates of an effective school, as identified by the Effective Schools Research, is a positive school climate: a positive attitude on the part of the entire staff and student body exhibited through overt behavior that creates a warm, orderly learning environment. Development of such an environment depends upon: (1) strong…

Climatic and weather factors affecting fire occurrence and behavior

Treesearch

Randall P. Benson; John O. Roads; David R. Weise

2009-01-01

Weather and climate have a profound influence on wildland fire ignition potential, fire behavior, and fire severity. Local weather and climate are affected by large-scale patterns of winds over the hemispheres that predispose wildland fuels to fire. The characteristics of wildland fuels, especially the moisture content, ultimately determine fire behavior and the impact...

A Cultural-Ecological Model of School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

La Salle, Tamika P.; Meyers, Joel; Varjas, Kristen; Roach, Andrew

2015-01-01

School climate has been established as an important construct to measure because of its connections to student psychological, social, and academic outcomes (Anderson, 1982; Koth, Bradshaw, & Leaf, 2008; Kuperminc, Leadbeater, Emmons, & Blatt, 1997). Prior research has also established relationships between student perceptions of school…

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Perceptions of School Climate and Its Association with Student Engagement and Peer Aggression.

PubMed

Konold, Timothy; Cornell, Dewey; Shukla, Kathan; Huang, Francis

2017-06-01

Research indicates that a positive school climate is associated with higher levels of student engagement and lower rates of peer aggression. However, less attention has been given to whether such findings are consistent across racial/ethnic groups. The current study examined whether Black, Hispanic, and White high school students differed in their perceptions of school climate, student engagement, and peer aggression as measured by the Authoritative School Climate survey. In addition, the study tested whether the associations between school climate and both student engagement and peer aggression varied as a function of racial/ethnic group. The sample consisted of 48,027 students in grades 9-12 (51.4 % female; 17.9 % Black, 10.5 % Hispanic, 56.7 % White, and 14.9 % other) attending 323 high schools. Regression models that contrasted racial/ethnic groups controlled for the nesting of students within schools and used student covariates of parent education, student gender, and percentage of schoolmates sharing the same race/ethnicity, as well as school covariates of school size and school percentage of students eligible for free- or reduced-price meals. Perceptions of school climate differed between Black and White groups, but not between Hispanic and White groups. However, race/ethnicity did not moderate the associations between school climate and either engagement or peer aggression. Although correlational and cross-sectional in nature, these results are consistent with the conclusion that a positive school climate holds similar benefits of promoting student engagement and reducing victimization experiences across Black, Hispanic, and White groups.

School Climate and Exposure to Bullying: A Multilevel Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Låftman, Sara Brolin; Östberg, Viveca; Modin, Bitte

2017-01-01

This study investigates associations between aspects of school climate, measured by students' assessments aggregated to the class level, and exposure to bullying, measured at the individual level. The data were derived from the Stockholm School Survey of 2006-2010 with information from 16,418 ninth-grade students (aged 15-16 years) distributed…

Improving School Climate & Culture. AASA Critical Issues Report No. 27.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonder, Peggy Odell; Hymes, Donald, Ed.

Climate and culture are inherent in the life of every organization, including schools. They are difficult to define and even more difficult to change, yet any reform effort must address them first if it is to succeed. This report helps school leaders understand these crucial factors and measure their influences on the school. It offers various…

Large-scale climatic anomalies affect marine predator foraging behaviour and demography.

PubMed

Bost, Charles A; Cotté, Cedric; Terray, Pascal; Barbraud, Christophe; Bon, Cécile; Delord, Karine; Gimenez, Olivier; Handrich, Yves; Naito, Yasuhiko; Guinet, Christophe; Weimerskirch, Henri

2015-10-27

Determining the links between the behavioural and population responses of wild species to environmental variations is critical for understanding the impact of climate variability on ecosystems. Using long-term data sets, we show how large-scale climatic anomalies in the Southern Hemisphere affect the foraging behaviour and population dynamics of a key marine predator, the king penguin. When large-scale subtropical dipole events occur simultaneously in both subtropical Southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans, they generate tropical anomalies that shift the foraging zone southward. Consequently the distances that penguins foraged from the colony and their feeding depths increased and the population size decreased. This represents an example of a robust and fast impact of large-scale climatic anomalies affecting a marine predator through changes in its at-sea behaviour and demography, despite lack of information on prey availability. Our results highlight a possible behavioural mechanism through which climate variability may affect population processes.

Large-scale climatic anomalies affect marine predator foraging behaviour and demography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bost, Charles A.; Cotté, Cedric; Terray, Pascal; Barbraud, Christophe; Bon, Cécile; Delord, Karine; Gimenez, Olivier; Handrich, Yves; Naito, Yasuhiko; Guinet, Christophe; Weimerskirch, Henri

2015-10-01

Determining the links between the behavioural and population responses of wild species to environmental variations is critical for understanding the impact of climate variability on ecosystems. Using long-term data sets, we show how large-scale climatic anomalies in the Southern Hemisphere affect the foraging behaviour and population dynamics of a key marine predator, the king penguin. When large-scale subtropical dipole events occur simultaneously in both subtropical Southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans, they generate tropical anomalies that shift the foraging zone southward. Consequently the distances that penguins foraged from the colony and their feeding depths increased and the population size decreased. This represents an example of a robust and fast impact of large-scale climatic anomalies affecting a marine predator through changes in its at-sea behaviour and demography, despite lack of information on prey availability. Our results highlight a possible behavioural mechanism through which climate variability may affect population processes.

Landscape fragmentation affects responses of avian communities to climate change.

PubMed

Jarzyna, Marta A; Porter, William F; Maurer, Brian A; Zuckerberg, Benjamin; Finley, Andrew O

2015-08-01

Forecasting the consequences of climate change is contingent upon our understanding of the relationship between biodiversity patterns and climatic variability. While the impacts of climate change on individual species have been well-documented, there is a paucity of studies on climate-mediated changes in community dynamics. Our objectives were to investigate the relationship between temporal turnover in avian biodiversity and changes in climatic conditions and to assess the role of landscape fragmentation in affecting this relationship. We hypothesized that community turnover would be highest in regions experiencing the most pronounced changes in climate and that these patterns would be reduced in human-dominated landscapes. To test this hypothesis, we quantified temporal turnover in avian communities over a 20-year period using data from the New York State Breeding Atlases collected during 1980-1985 and 2000-2005. We applied Bayesian spatially varying intercept models to evaluate the relationship between temporal turnover and temporal trends in climatic conditions and landscape fragmentation. We found that models including interaction terms between climate change and landscape fragmentation were superior to models without the interaction terms, suggesting that the relationship between avian community turnover and changes in climatic conditions was affected by the level of landscape fragmentation. Specifically, we found weaker associations between temporal turnover and climatic change in regions with prevalent habitat fragmentation. We suggest that avian communities in fragmented landscapes are more robust to climate change than communities found in contiguous habitats because they are comprised of species with wider thermal niches and thus are less susceptible to shifts in climatic variability. We conclude that highly fragmented regions are likely to undergo less pronounced changes in composition and structure of faunal communities as a result of climate change

Are You Being Served? The Relationship between School Climate for Service and Teachers' Engagement, Satisfaction, and Intention to Leave: A Moderated Mediation Model.

PubMed

Eldor, Liat; Shoshani, Anat

2017-05-19

The notion of service has been receiving increasing attention in organizational psychology literature in recent years, due to the client-oriented managerial movement. Yet, little to no attention has been paid to the service notion in educational psychology despite its high relevance to educational settings, given the pressure to be more service-oriented and possess a client-focused state of mind. The present study explores the notion of service in school domains by examining the joint effects of climate for service and the internal service in schools on teachers' work attitudes: work engagement, job satisfaction, and intention to leave their work. The notion of climate for service emphasizes the school's attitude of teachers as service providers to its clients (students and their parents); internal climate emphasizes the school's attitude of providing service to its teaching staff. The study was conducted via a sample of 423 teachers from 30 different schools in Israel. We hypothesized that the indirect relationship between the climate for service and teachers' job satisfaction and intention to leave work would be mediated by teacher work engagement. Our findings supported this hypothesis. Moreover, this indirect relationship via teacher work engagement was demonstrated most strongly when the internal service quality received was high, providing teachers with the capability to deliver what the service climate motivates them to do. Therefore, service-oriented resources-both climate for service and internal service-may be crucial in affecting teachers work attitudes and should be specifically targeted by principals and other educational decision makers.

Authoritative School Climate and High School Student Risk Behavior: A Cross-sectional Multi-level Analysis of Student Self-Reports.

PubMed

Cornell, Dewey; Huang, Francis

2016-11-01

Many adolescents engage in risk behaviors such as substance use and aggression that jeopardize their healthy development. This study tested the hypothesis that an authoritative school climate characterized by strict but fair discipline and supportive teacher-student relationships is conducive to lower risk behavior for high school students. Multilevel logistic regression models were used to analyze cross-sectional, student-report survey data from a statewide sample of 47,888 students (50.6 % female) in 319 high schools. The students included ninth (26.6 %), tenth (25.5 %), eleventh (24.1 %) and twelfth (23.8 %) grade with a racial/ethnic breakdown of 52.2 % White, 18.0 % Black, 13.1 % Hispanic, 5.9 % Asian, and 10.8 % reporting another or two or more race/ethnicities. Schools with an authoritative school climate had lower levels of student-reported alcohol and marijuana use; bullying, fighting, and weapon carrying at school; interest in gang membership; and suicidal thoughts and behavior. These results controlled for demographic variables of student gender, race, grade, and parent education level as well as school size, percentage of minority students, and percentage of low income students. Overall, these findings add new evidence that an authoritative school climate is associated with positive student outcomes.

Relationship between the Quality of Educational Facilities, School Climate, and School Safety of High School Tenth Graders in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bell, Darnell Brushawn

2011-01-01

The purpose of the study was to understand the relationships among facility conditions, school climate, and school safety of high school tenth graders in the United States. Previous research on the quality of educational facilities influence on student achievement has varied. Recent research has suggested that the quality of educational facilities…

Enabling School Structures, Trust, and Collective Efficacy in Private International Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gray, Julie A.; Summers, Robert

2016-01-01

This article explores the role of enabling school structures, collegial trust, and collective efficacy in 15 pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade international, private schools in South and Central America and Mexico. While most of these schools shared an "American" curriculum the local culture and school norms affected the climate of the…

Interplay among School Climate, Gender, Attitude toward Mathematics, and Mathematics Performance of Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choi, Namok; Chang, Mido

2011-01-01

This research examined the important factors influencing the mathematics achievement of students in middle schools by hierarchically specifying the personal and contextual variables. The study focused on the effect of school climate at the class level and the effects of student gender, attitude toward mathematics, educational aspiration, parent…

Early Schooling: Cognitive and Affective Outcomes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Entwisle, Doris R.; Hayduk, Leslie Alec

This book presents the results of research on sociopsychological factors that affect the schooling process and academic achievement among young children. The first chapter of the report provides a background on schooling, and reviews what is known and what remains to be discovered about academic achievement. Chapters 2 and 3 review research on…

Spanish Secondary School Students' Notions on the Causes and Consequences of Climate Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Punter, Pilar; Ochando-Pardo, Montserrat; Garcia, Javier

2011-01-01

This paper is part of an extensive study of secondary school students' preconceived ideas about climate change. Here, we undertake a survey in the province of Valencia (Spain) to ascertain secondary school students' notions of the causes and consequences of climate change. Results show, among other things, that students clearly relate the misuse…

Multilevel Factor Structure and Concurrent Validity of the Teacher Version of the Authoritative School Climate Survey.

PubMed

Huang, Francis L; Cornell, Dewey G; Konold, Timothy; Meyer, Joseph P; Lacey, Anna; Nekvasil, Erin K; Heilbrun, Anna; Shukla, Kathan D

2015-12-01

School climate is well recognized as an important influence on student behavior and adjustment to school, but there is a need for theory-guided measures that make use of teacher perspectives. Authoritative school climate theory hypothesizes that a positive school climate is characterized by high levels of disciplinary structure and student support. A teacher version of the Authoritative School Climate Survey (ASCS) was administered to a statewide sample of 9099 7th- and 8th-grade teachers from 366 schools. The study used exploratory and multilevel confirmatory factor analyses (MCFA) that accounted for the nested data structure and allowed for the modeling of the factor structures at 2 levels. Multilevel confirmatory factor analyses conducted on both an exploratory (N = 4422) and a confirmatory sample (N = 4677) showed good support for the factor structures investigated. Factor correlations at 2 levels indicated that schools with greater levels of disciplinary structure and student support had higher student engagement, less teasing and bullying, and lower student aggression toward teachers. The teacher version of the ASCS can be used to assess 2 key domains of school climate and associated measures of student engagement and aggression toward peers and teachers. © 2015, American School Health Association.

Changing the School Climate Is the First Step to Reform in Many Schools with Federal Improvement Grants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMurrer, Jennifer

2012-01-01

School Improvement Grants (SIGs) financed through the economic stimulus package are intended to spur dramatic change in persistently low-performing schools. Many state and local officials charged with implementing SIGs view the creation of a safe, orderly, collegial, and productive school climate as an essential step in raising student…

Airborne viable fungi in school environments in different climatic regions - A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salonen, Heidi; Duchaine, Caroline; Mazaheri, Mandana; Clifford, Sam; Lappalainen, Sanna; Reijula, Kari; Morawska, Lidia

2015-03-01

Elevated levels of fungi in indoor environments have been linked with mould/moisture damage in building structures. However, there is a lack of information about "normal" concentrations and flora as well as guidelines of viable fungi in the school environment in different climatic conditions. We have reviewed existing guidelines for indoor fungi and the current knowledge of the concentrations and flora of viable fungi in different climatic areas, the impact of the local factors on concentrations and flora of viable fungi in school environments. Meta-regression was performed to estimate the average behaviour for each analysis of interest, showing wide variation in the mean concentrations in outdoor and indoor school environments (range: 101-103 cfu/m3). These concentrations were significantly higher for both outdoors and indoors in the moderate than in the continental climatic area, showing that the climatic condition was a determinant for the concentrations of airborne viable fungi. The most common fungal species both in the moderate and continental area were Cladosporium spp. and Penicillium spp. The suggested few quantitative guidelines for indoor air viable fungi for school buildings are much lower than for residential areas. This review provides a synthesis, which can be used to guide the interpretation of the fungi measurements results and help to find indications of mould/moisture in school building structures.

School Climate: A Review of the Construct, Measurement, and Impact on Student Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Ming-Te; Degol, Jessica L.

2016-01-01

The construct of school climate has received attention as a way to enhance student achievement and reduce problem behaviors. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the existing literature on school climate and to bring to light the strengths, weakness, and gaps in the ways researchers have approached the construct. The central information in…

Early Adolescent Health Risk Behaviors, Conflict Resolution Strategies, and School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LaRusso, Maria; Selman, Robert

2011-01-01

Drawing upon an ethnically and socio-economically diverse sample of 323 7th grade students from twelve urban schools within one school district, this mixed method study examined early adolescents' self-reported health risk behaviors as related to their conflict resolution strategies and their school's conflict resolution climate. Survey data…

The Ethical Climate of Public Schooling under New Public Management.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dempster, Neil; Freakley, Mark; Parry, Lindsay

2001-01-01

Today's competitive climate is pressuring public school educators to improve schools in an environment dominated by parent and consumer choice. This article draws on two studies involving Australian principals that illustrate difficult ethical situations. Most participants found the values of marketing and economic rationalism to be inconsistent…

Leader charisma and affective team climate: the moderating role of the leader's influence and interaction.

PubMed

Hernández Baeza, Ana; Araya Lao, Cristina; García Meneses, Juliana; González Romá, Vicente

2009-11-01

In this study, we evaluate the role of leader charisma in fostering positive affective team climate and preventing negative affective climate. The analysis of a longitudinal database of 137 bank branches by means of hierarchical moderated regression shows that leader charisma has a stronger effect on team optimism than on team tension. In addition, the leader's influence and the frequency of leader-team interaction moderate the relationship between charisma and affective climate. However, whereas the leader's influence enhances the relationship between leader charisma and positive affective climate, the frequency of interaction has counterproductive effects.

Perceived class climate and school-aged children's life satisfaction: The role of the learning environment in classrooms.

PubMed

Rathmann, Katharina; Herke, Max G; Hurrelmann, Klaus; Richter, Matthias

2018-01-01

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of class-level class climate on school-aged children's life satisfaction. Data was derived from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) using sixth grade school-aged children (n = 4,764, 483 classes). Class climate includes indicators of teachers' care and monitoring, demands, interaction, autonomy, as well as school-aged children's attitudes towards schoolwork at the class- and individual-level. Results showed that individual perceived class climate in terms of teachers' care and monitoring and autonomy was positively related to life satisfaction, whereas school-related demands were related to lower life satisfaction. Besides teachers' care and monitoring at class-level, indicators of class climate were not associated with school-aged children's life satisfaction, while the individual perceived class climate is more important for life satisfaction.

Teachers' Views of Their School Climate and Its Relationship with Teacher Self-Efficacy and Job Satisfaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aldridge, Jill M.; Fraser, Barry J.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study, in part, was to confirm the factor structure of the School-Level Environment Questionnaire, which assesses six school climate factors that can be considered important for improving schools. The study also tested a research model of the relationships between the school climate, teachers' self-efficacy and job…

The Effect of Negative School Climate on Academic Outcomes for LGBT Youth and the Role of In-School Supports

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kosciw, Joseph G.; Palmer, Neal A.; Kull, Ryan M.; Greytak, Emily A.

2013-01-01

For many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, intolerance and prejudice make school a hostile and dangerous place. This study examined simultaneously the effects of a negative school climate on achievement and the role that school-based supports--safe school policies, supportive school personnel, and gay-straight alliance (GSA)…

A Simple Climate Model Program for High School Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dommenget, D.

2012-04-01

The future climate change projections of the IPCC AR4 are based on GCM simulations, which give a distinct global warming pattern, with an arctic winter amplification, an equilibrium land sea contrast and an inter-hemispheric warming gradient. While these simulations are the most important tool of the IPCC predictions, the conceptual understanding of these predicted structures of climate change are very difficult to reach if only based on these highly complex GCM simulations and they are not accessible for ordinary people. In this study presented here we will introduce a very simple gridded globally resolved energy balance model based on strongly simplified physical processes, which is capable of simulating the main characteristics of global warming. The model shall give a bridge between the 1-dimensional energy balance models and the fully coupled 4-dimensional complex GCMs. It runs on standard PC computers computing globally resolved climate simulation with 2yrs per second or 100,000yrs per day. The program can compute typical global warming scenarios in a few minutes on a standard PC. The computer code is only 730 line long with very simple formulations that high school students should be able to understand. The simple model's climate sensitivity and the spatial structure of the warming pattern is within the uncertainties of the IPCC AR4 models simulations. It is capable of simulating the arctic winter amplification, the equilibrium land sea contrast and the inter-hemispheric warming gradient with good agreement to the IPCC AR4 models in amplitude and structure. The program can be used to do sensitivity studies in which students can change something (e.g. reduce the solar radiation, take away the clouds or make snow black) and see how it effects the climate or the climate response to changes in greenhouse gases. This program is available for every one and could be the basis for high school education. Partners for a high school project are wanted!

Assessing School Climate: Validation of a Brief Measure of the Perceptions of Parents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bear, George G.; Yang, Chunyan; Pasipanodya, Elizabeth

2015-01-01

The goal of this study was to develop a parent school climate survey of high practical utility, grounded in theory, and supported by evidence of the reliability of its scores and validity of the inferences for their use. The Delaware School Climate Survey-Home is comprised of seven factors: Teacher-Student Relations, Student-Student Relations,…

Parsonian Influence and the Effect of School Climate and Bureaucracy on the Perceived Effectiveness in Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McVey, Deidre

2009-01-01

School climate is a significant way to predict school achievement as a positive correlation to students' standardized test scores and also teachers' perceptions of bureaucratic effectiveness and empowerment (Hoy, Tarter & Kottkamp, 1991; Sweetland & Hoy, 2000). Enabling bureaucracies are positively related to teacher empowering; however,…

Barriers to Incorporating Climate Change Science into High School and Community College Energy Course Offerings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howell, C.

2013-05-01

In reviewing studies evaluating trends in greenhouse gasses, weather, climate and/or ecosystems, it becomes apparent that climate change is a reality. It has also become evident that the energy sector accounts for most of the greenhouse gas emissions with worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide increasing by 31 percent from 1990 to 2005, higher than in the previous thousands of years. While energy courses and topics are presented in high school and community college classes the topic of Climate Change Science is not always a part of the conversation. During the summer of 2011 and 2012, research undergraduates conducted interviews with a total of 39 national community college and 8 high school instructors who participated in a two week Sustainable Energy Education Training (SEET) workshop. Interview questions addressed the barriers and opportunities to the incorporation of climate change as a dimension of an energy/renewable energy curriculum. Barriers found included: there is not enough instruction time to include it; some school administrators including community members do not recognize climate change issues; quality information about climate change geared to students is difficult to find; and, most climate change information is too scientific for most audiences. A Solution to some barriers included dialogue on sustainability as a common ground in recognizing environmental changes/concerns among educators, administrators and community members. Sustainability discussions are already supported in school business courses as well as in technical education. In conclusion, we cannot expect climate change to dissipate without humans making more informed energy and environmental choices. With global population growth producing greater emissions resulting in increased climate change, we must include the topic of climate change to students in high school and community college classrooms, preparing our next generation of leaders and workforce to be equipped to find solutions

How Are Middle School Climate and Academic Performance Related across Schools and over Time? REL 2017-212

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Voight, Adam; Hanson, Thomas

2017-01-01

A growing number of educators concur that, in order to improve student academic performance, schools need to focus not only on students' academic needs but also on their social, emotional, and material needs (Piscatelli & Lee, 2011). As a result, school climate--the social, emotional, and physical characteristics of a school community (Cohen,…

Scale Development for Perceived School Climate for Girls' Physical Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Birnbaum, Amanda S.; Evenson, Kelly R.; Motl, Robert W.; Dishman, Rod K.; Voorhees, Carolyn C.; Sallis, James F.; Elder, John P.; Dowda, Marsha

2005-01-01

Objectives: To test an original scale assessing perceived school climate for girls' physical activity in middle school girls. Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: CFA retained 5 of 14 original items. A model with 2 correlated factors, perceptions about teachers' and boys' behaviors,…

The Relationship of Principal Conflict Management Style and School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boucher, Miriam Miley

2013-01-01

Using a mixed-methods design, this study examined conflict management styles of elementary school principals in South Carolina and the relationship of conflict management style and school climate. The Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II, Form B, which identifies five styles of managing conflict, was used to determine principal conflict…

The Impact of School Climate on Student Achievement in the Middle Schools of the Commonwealth of Virginia: A Quantitative Analysis of Existing Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bergren, David Alexander

2014-01-01

This quantitative study was designed to be an analysis of the relationship between school climate and student achievement through the creation of an index of climate-factors (SES, discipline, attendance, and school size) for which publicly available data existed. The index that was formed served as a proxy measure of climate; it was analyzed…

Developing a Comparative Measure of the Learning Climate in Professional Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowen, Donald D.; Kilmann, Ralph H.

1975-01-01

The Learning Climate Questionnaire (LCQ) compares the objective properties of schools with measures of overall student satisfaction. The validity of the instrument suggests its use for substantive research investigations into the organizational dynamics of professional schools. (Author/JR)

Deaf and hard of hearing students' perspectives on bullying and school climate.

PubMed

Weiner, Mary T; Day, Stefanie J; Galvan, Dennis

2013-01-01

Student perspectives reflect school climate. The study examined perspectives among deaf and hard of hearing students in residential and large day schools regarding bullying, and compared these perspectives with those of a national database of hearing students. The participants were 812 deaf and hard of hearing students in 11 U.S. schools. Data were derived from the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire (Olweus, 2007b), a standardized self-reported survey with multiple-choice questions focusing on different aspects of bullying problems. Significant bullying problems were found in deaf school programs. It appears that deaf and hard of hearing students experience bullying at rates 2-3 times higher than those reported by hearing students. Deaf and hard of hearing students reported that school personnel intervened less often when bullying occurred than was reported in the hearing sample. Results indicate the need for school climate improvement for all students, regardless of hearing status.

Perceived class climate and school-aged children's life satisfaction: The role of the learning environment in classrooms

PubMed Central

Herke, Max G.; Hurrelmann, Klaus; Richter, Matthias

2018-01-01

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of class-level class climate on school-aged children’s life satisfaction. Data was derived from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) using sixth grade school-aged children (n = 4,764, 483 classes). Class climate includes indicators of teachers' care and monitoring, demands, interaction, autonomy, as well as school-aged children's attitudes towards schoolwork at the class- and individual-level. Results showed that individual perceived class climate in terms of teachers' care and monitoring and autonomy was positively related to life satisfaction, whereas school-related demands were related to lower life satisfaction. Besides teachers' care and monitoring at class-level, indicators of class climate were not associated with school-aged children’s life satisfaction, while the individual perceived class climate is more important for life satisfaction. PMID:29420540

The Relationship of the Principal's Soft Skills to School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malone, Mark E.

2013-01-01

School Climate has been identified by a large body of literature as having a direct relationship on student achievement (Johnson, & Stevens, 2000; Kezar & Eckel, 2007; West, 1985), and) and numerous other components used to determine the success and safety of both students and teachers in schools (Finnan, Schnepel, & Anderson, 2003;…

An Analysis of the Relation between Secondary School Organizational Climate and Teacher Job Satisfaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xiaofu, Pan; Qiwen, Qin

2007-01-01

This study investigates and analyzes the relation between the secondary school organizational climate and teacher job satisfaction using a self-designed school organizational climate scale based on studies in China and abroad. The findings show that except for interpersonal factors there are significant correlations between the various factors of…

An Examination of School Climate, Victimization, and Mental Health Problems among Middle School Students Self-Identifying with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

La Salle, Tamika; George, Heather Peshak; McCoach, D. Betsy; Polk, Tiffany; Evanovich, Lauren L.

2018-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to examine perceptions of school climate among students who self-identify as having an emotional and behavioral disorder (EBD) and their counterparts without disabilities on the "Georgia Student Health Survey 2.0." Although research examining the link between perceptions of school climate and student…

Active and Passive Commuting to School: Influences on Affect in Primary School Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hulley, Angela; Bentley, Nick; Clough, Catherine; Fishlock, Adelle; Morrell, Frances; O'Brien, James; Radmore, Joseph

2008-01-01

Active commuting among school children is being encouraged for physical and environmental reasons, but little is known about its influence on affect. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that children who walk further to school experience increased arousal and affective valence compared with children who walk a short distance. This was…

Medical school deans' perceptions of organizational climate: useful indicators for advancement of women faculty and evaluation of a leadership program's impact.

PubMed

Dannels, Sharon; McLaughlin, Jean; Gleason, Katharine A; McDade, Sharon A; Richman, Rosalyn; Morahan, Page S

2009-01-01

The authors surveyed U.S. and Canadian medical school deans regarding organizational climate for faculty, policies affecting faculty, processes deans use for developing faculty leadership, and the impact of the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program for Women. The usable response rate was 58% (n = 83/142). Deans perceived gender equity in organizational climate as neutral, improving, or attained on most items and deficient on four. Only three family-friendly policies/benefits were available at more than 68% of medical schools; several policies specifically designed to increase gender equity were available at fewer than 14%. Women deans reported significantly more frequent use than men (P = .032) of practices used to develop faculty leadership. Deans' impressions regarding the impact of ELAM alumnae on their schools was positive (M = 5.62 out of 7), with those having more fellows reporting greater benefit (P = .01). The deans felt the ELAM program had a very positive influence on its alumnae (M = 6.27) and increased their eligibility for promotion (M = 5.7). This study provides a unique window into the perceptions of medical school deans, important policy leaders at their institutions. Their opinion adds to previous studies of organizational climate focused on faculty perceptions. Deans perceive the organizational climate for women to be improving, but they believe that certain interventions are still needed. Women deans seem more proactive in their use of practices to develop leadership. Finally, deans provide an important third-party judgment for program evaluation of the ELAM leadership intervention, reporting a positive impact on its alumnae and their schools.

Best Practices: Creating an LGBT-Inclusive School Climate. A Teaching Tolerance Guide for School Leaders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Southern Poverty Law Center (NJ1), 2013

2013-01-01

Schools are places of learning and also miniature societies. The climate of a school has a direct impact on both how well students learn and how well they interact with their peers. Teachers and administrators work hard to make their classrooms welcoming places where each student feels included. But despite these efforts, students who are--or who…

Sleep complaints affecting school performance at different educational levels.

PubMed

Pagel, James F; Kwiatkowski, Carol F

2010-01-01

The clear association between reports of sleep disturbance and poor school performance has been documented for sleepy adolescents. This study extends that research to students outside the adolescent age grouping in an associated school setting (98 middle school students, 67 high school students, and 64 college students). Reported restless legs and periodic limb movements are significantly associated with lower GPA's in junior high students. Consistent with previous studies, daytime sleepiness was the sleep variable most likely to negatively affects high school students. Sleep onset and maintenance insomnia were the reported sleep variables significantly correlated with poorer school performance in college students. This study indicates that different sleep disorder variables negatively affect performance at different age and educational levels.

A School-University Research Partnership to Identify Disengaged Students: A Descriptive Case Analysis of School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Biag, Manuelito D.; Sanchez, Monika A.

2016-01-01

Background/Context: Much of the literature on school-university research partnerships has focused on collaborations that address curriculum, instruction, and leadership. Less scholarly attention has been paid to how practitioners and academics work together to improve school climate. Purpose: We seek to deepen understanding of how educators and…

The Appropriateness of a California Student and Staff Survey for Measuring Middle School Climate. REL 2014-039

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hanson, Thomas; Voight, Adam

2014-01-01

A growing number of states and school districts use school climate assessments in progress reporting systems and are interested in incorporating these assessments into accountability systems. This analysis of response data from middle school students and teachers on the California School Climate, Health, and Learning Survey examines the…

Psychometric Support for an Abbreviated Version of the California School Climate and Safety Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rebelez, Jennica L.; Furlong, Michael J.

2013-01-01

The California School Climate and Safety Survey-Short Form (CSCSS-SF) was developed as a streamlined version (54 items) of the original CSCSS (102 items) for school safety teams to gather information regarding student perceptions of campus climate, safety, and experience of victimization. Using a longitudinal dataset, this study implemented…

Surgical Care Required for Populations Affected by Climate-related Natural Disasters: A Global Estimation.

PubMed

Lee, Eugenia E; Stewart, Barclay; Zha, Yuanting A; Groen, Thomas A; Burkle, Frederick M; Kushner, Adam L

2016-08-10

Climate extremes will increase the frequency and severity of natural disasters worldwide.  Climate-related natural disasters were anticipated to affect 375 million people in 2015, more than 50% greater than the yearly average in the previous decade. To inform surgical assistance preparedness, we estimated the number of surgical procedures needed.   The numbers of people affected by climate-related disasters from 2004 to 2014 were obtained from the Centre for Research of the Epidemiology of Disasters database. Using 5,000 procedures per 100,000 persons as the minimum, baseline estimates were calculated. A linear regression of the number of surgical procedures performed annually and the estimated number of surgical procedures required for climate-related natural disasters was performed. Approximately 140 million people were affected by climate-related natural disasters annually requiring 7.0 million surgical procedures. The greatest need for surgical care was in the People's Republic of China, India, and the Philippines. Linear regression demonstrated a poor relationship between national surgical capacity and estimated need for surgical care resulting from natural disaster, but countries with the least surgical capacity will have the greatest need for surgical care for persons affected by climate-related natural disasters. As climate extremes increase the frequency and severity of natural disasters, millions will need surgical care beyond baseline needs. Countries with insufficient surgical capacity will have the most need for surgical care for persons affected by climate-related natural disasters. Estimates of surgical are particularly important for countries least equipped to meet surgical care demands given critical human and physical resource deficiencies.

Student Drug Testing in the Context of Positive and Negative School Climates: Results from a National Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sznitman, Sharon R.; Dunlop, Sally M.; Nalkur, Priya; Khurana, Atika; Romer, Daniel

2012-01-01

Positive school climates and student drug testing have been separately proposed as strategies to reduce student substance use in high schools. However, the effects of drug testing programs may depend on the favorability of school climates. This study examined the association between school drug testing programs and student substance use in schools…

Energy Design Guidelines for High Performance Schools: Hot and Dry Climates.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Department of Energy, Washington, DC. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

This guide contains recommendations for designing high performance, energy efficient schools located in hot and dry climates. A high performance checklist for designers is included along with several case studies of projects that successfully demonstrated high performance design solutions for hot and dry climates. The guide's 10 sections…

Strengthening Assessments of School Climate: Lessons from the NYC School Survey. Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nathanson, Lori; McCormick, Meghan; Kemple, James J.

2013-01-01

More and more cities and states are using surveys to collect information about school climate from students, teachers and parents. These surveys have the potential to shed light on critical aspects of the learning environment, and they are being incorporated into a growing number of public and privately funded education initiatives. The US…

The 2015 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Youth in Our Nation's Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kosciw, Joseph G.; Greytak, Emily A.; Giga, Noreen M.; Villenas, Christian; Danischewski, David J.

2016-01-01

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) "National School Climate Survey" is our flagship report on the school experiences of LGBTQ youth in schools, including the extent of the challenges that they face at school and the school-based resources that support LGBTQ students' well-being. The survey has consistently indicated…

Relation of peer effects and school climate to substance use among Asian American adolescents.

PubMed

Ryabov, Igor

2015-07-01

Using a nationally representative, longitudinal sample of Asian American late adolescents/young adults (ages 18-26), this article investigates the link between peer effects, school climate, on the one hand, and substance use, which includes tobacco, alcohol, and other illicit mood altering substance. The sample (N = 1585) is drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Waves I and III). The study is set to empirically test premises of generational, social capital and stage-environment fit theories. The exploratory variables include individual-level (immigrant generation status, ethnic origin, co-ethnic and co-generational peers - peers from the same immigrant generation) as well as school-level measures (average school socio-economic status and school climate). Multilevel modeling (logistic and negative binomial regression) was used to estimate substance use. Results indicate that preference for co-generational friends is inversely associated with frequency of cannabis and other illicit drug use and preference for co-ethnic peers is inversely associated with other illicit drug use. We also find that school climate is a strong and negative predictor of frequency of cannabis and other illicit drug use as well as of heavy episodic drinking. In terms of policy, these findings suggest that Asian American students should benefit from co-ethnic and co-generational peer networks in schools and, above all, from improving school climate. Copyright © 2015 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introducing Argumentation About Climate Change Socioscientific Issues in a Disadvantaged School

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dawson, Vaille; Carson, Katherine

2018-03-01

Improving the ability of young people to construct arguments about controversial science topics is a desired outcome of science education. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the impact of an argumentation intervention on the socioscientific issue of climate change with Year 10 students in a disadvantaged Australian school. After participation in a professional development workshop on climate change science, socioscientific issues and argumentation, an early career teacher explicitly taught argumentation over four non-consecutive lessons as part of a 4 week (16 lesson) topic on Earth science. Thirty students completed a pre- and post-test questionnaire to determine their understanding of climate change science and their ability to construct an argument about a climate change socioscientific issue. Students' understanding of climate change improved significantly (p < .001) with a large effect size. There was also a significant increase (p < .05) in the number of categories provided in written arguments about a climate change issue. Qualitative data, comprising classroom observation field notes, lesson transcripts, work samples, and teacher and student interviews, were analysed for the extent to which the students' argumentation skills improved. At the end of the intervention, students became aware of the need to justify their decisions with scientific evidence. It is concluded that introducing argumentation about climate change socioscientific issues to students in a disadvantaged school can improve their argumentation skills.

Plant functional diversity affects climate-vegetation interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groner, Vivienne P.; Raddatz, Thomas; Reick, Christian H.; Claussen, Martin

2018-04-01

We present how variations in plant functional diversity affect climate-vegetation interaction towards the end of the African Humid Period (AHP) in coupled land-atmosphere simulations using the Max Planck Institute Earth system model (MPI-ESM). In experiments with AHP boundary conditions, the extent of the green Sahara varies considerably with changes in plant functional diversity. Differences in vegetation cover extent and plant functional type (PFT) composition translate into significantly different land surface parameters, water cycling, and surface energy budgets. These changes have not only regional consequences but considerably alter large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns and the position of the tropical rain belt. Towards the end of the AHP, simulations with the standard PFT set in MPI-ESM depict a gradual decrease of precipitation and vegetation cover over time, while simulations with modified PFT composition show either a sharp decline of both variables or an even slower retreat. Thus, not the quantitative but the qualitative PFT composition determines climate-vegetation interaction and the climate-vegetation system response to external forcing. The sensitivity of simulated system states to changes in PFT composition raises the question how realistically Earth system models can actually represent climate-vegetation interaction, considering the poor representation of plant diversity in the current generation of land surface models.

Teachers' Perception of School Climate in Independent Jewish Day Schools in Relation to Change and Transition of Leadership Personnel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knafo, Sharon

2012-01-01

This study examined the relationship between turnover of school leadership personnel and school climate as perceived by teachers. The study focused on Jewish day schools in the United States in different cities and states. Fifty Jewish day schools (ranging from preschool age to high school) participated in the study with 200 teachers from these…

Longitudinal Relations among Positivity, Perceived Positive School Climate, and Prosocial Behavior in Colombian Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luengo Kanacri, Bernadette P.; Eisenberg, Nancy; Thartori, Eriona; Pastorelli, Concetta; Uribe Tirado, Liliana M.; Gerbino, Maria; Caprara, Gian V.

2017-01-01

Bidirectional relations among adolescents' positivity, perceived positive school climate, and prosocial behavior were examined in Colombian youth. Also, the role of a positive school climate in mediating the relation of positivity to prosocial behaviors was tested. Adolescents (N = 151; M[subscript age] of child in Wave 1 = 12.68, SD = 1.06; 58.9%…

Human footprint affects US carbon balance more than climate change

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bachelet, Dominique; Ferschweiler, Ken; Sheehan, Tim; Baker, Barry; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Zhu, Zhiliang

2017-01-01

The MC2 model projects an overall increase in carbon capture in conterminous United States during the 21st century while also simulating a rise in fire causing much carbon loss. Carbon sequestration in soils is critical to prevent carbon losses from future disturbances, and we show that natural ecosystems store more carbon belowground than managed systems do. Natural and human-caused disturbances affect soil processes that shape ecosystem recovery and competitive interactions between native, exotics, and climate refugees. Tomorrow's carbon budgets will depend on how land use, natural disturbances, and climate variability will interact and affect the balance between carbon capture and release.

Effect of Integrated Feedback on Classroom Climate of Secondary School Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patel, Nilesh Kumar

2018-01-01

This study aimed at finding out the effect of Integrated feedback on Classroom climate of secondary school teachers. This research is experimental in nature. Non-equivalent control group design suggested by Stanley and Campbell (1963) was used for the experiment. Integrated feedback was treatment and independent variable, Classroom climate was…

Perceptions of School and Family Climates and Experiences of Relational Aggression

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pernice-Duca, Francesca; Taiariol, Jennifer; Yoon, Jina

2010-01-01

The role of family and school-level variables on relational aggression and relational victimization was investigated among 158 fourth- and fifth-grade children. Family cohesion, maternal and paternal responsiveness, and school climate were hypothesized to be significant predictors of relational aggression and relational victimization. The results…

The Effect of School Building Renovation/Construction on School Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lesisko, Lee J.; Wright, Robert J.; O'Hern, Brenda

2010-01-01

School construction or renovation projects can have a profound affect on students, faculty and administration. The literature revealed that continuous communication is essential for a smooth process. This research identified bureaucratic issues and school climate to be leading factors of concern during construction projects. Analysis of this study…

Safe Schools and Sexual Harassment: The Relationship between School Climate and Coping with Unwanted Sexual Behaviour

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Timmerman, M. C.

2004-01-01

Objective: To explore the impact of the school climate on adolescents' reporting of sexual harassment. Design: A quantitative survey among students in their 4th year of secondary education. Setting: Questionnaires were completed in a class setting. Method: An a-select sampling strategy was used to select 2808 students in 22 schools. Results:…

Effects of Public Money on Social Climates in Private Schools: A Preliminary Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erickson, Donald A.

Preliminary results of two surveys of parents, students, and teachers in Catholic elementary schools in British Columbia indicate that public funding for private schools could cause deterioration in the schools' social climates. Data were collected both before and after British Columbia instituted its program of public aid to private schools in…

Examining the Impact of Leadership Style and School Climate on Student Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Tina

2010-01-01

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate whether or not leadership style and school climate are significant predictors of student achievement. The target population consisted of elementary and high school teachers from Virginia public schools who had taught under the leadership of their respective current principals for at least 4…

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students' Perspectives on Bullying and School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weiner, Mary T.; Day, Stefanie J.; Galvan, Dennis

2013-01-01

Student perspectives reflect school climate. The study examined perspectives among deaf and hard of hearing students in residential and large day schools regarding bullying, and compared these perspectives with those of a national database of hearing students. The participants were 812 deaf and hard of hearing students in 11 U.S. schools. Data…

Perceived School Climate and Chinese Adolescents' Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Attempts: The Mediating Role of Sleep Quality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Dongping; Bao, Zhenzhou; Li, Xian; Wang, Yanhui

2016-01-01

Background: School factors play important roles in adolescent suicide. However, little is known about how school climate is associated with adolescent suicide. This study examined the relationship between perceived school climate and adolescent suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, and whether these relations were explained by adolescent sleep…

School Climate and Planned Educational Change: A Review and Critique of the Literature. Working Paper 279.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kasten, Katherine Lewellan

This paper examines the concept of school climate as a key factor in the success of planned change in elementary schools. Beginning with a general review of the literature on organizational climate and using as its basis three major reviews that appeared in the mid-1970s, the paper defines climate, examines variables that have been used as part of…

Classroom Management, School Staff Relations, School Climate, and Academic Achievement: Testing A Model with Urban High Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Back, Lindsey T.; Polk, Elizabeth; Keys, Christopher B.; McMahon, Susan D.

2016-01-01

Urban learning environments pose distinct instructional challenges for teachers and administrators, and can lead to lower achievement compared to suburban or rural schools. Today's educational climate increasingly emphasises a need for positive academic outcomes, often measured by standardised tests, on which student educational opportunities,…

Preliminary Development of the Brief-California School Climate Survey: Dimensionality and Measurement Invariance across Teachers and Administrators

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

You, Sukkyung; O'Malley, Meagan D.; Furlong, Michael J.

2014-01-01

A brief 15-item version of the California School Climate Scale (Brief-CSCS) is presented to fill a need for a measure that could be used for periodic monitoring of school personnel's general perception of the climate of their school campus. From a sample of 81,261 California school personnel, random subsamples of 2,400 teachers and 2,400…

School climate and delinquency among Chinese adolescents: analyses of effortful control as a moderator and deviant peer affiliation as a mediator.

PubMed

Bao, Zhenzhou; Li, Dongping; Zhang, Wei; Wang, Yanhui

2015-01-01

School climate is the quality and character of school life and reflects the norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teaching and learning practices, and the organizational structure of a school. There is substantial literature documenting the negative association between positive school climate and adolescent delinquency, but little is known about the moderating and mediating mechanisms underlying this relationship. The aim of this study was to examine whether the direct and indirect pathways between school climate and adolescent delinquency would be moderated by effortful control. A sample of 2,758 Chinese adolescents (M age = 13.53 years, SD = 1.06) from 10 middle schools completed anonymous questionnaires regarding school climate, effortful control, deviant peer affiliation, and delinquency. After gender, age, geographical area, and socioeconomic status were included as covariates, the results revealed that school climate was significantly associated with adolescent delinquent behavior. This direct association was moderated by effortful control, such that the negative relationship between positive school climate and delinquency was only significant among adolescents low in effortful control. Moreover, the indirect association between school climate and delinquency via deviant peer affiliation was also moderated by effortful control. Specifically, the moderating effect of effortful control was not only manifested in the relationship between school climate and deviant peer affiliation, but also in the relationship between deviant peer affiliation and delinquency. These findings contribute to understanding the mechanisms through which positive school climate might reduce delinquent behavior and have important implications for prevention efforts aimed at diminishing adolescent delinquency.

Classroom climate and science-related attitudes of junior high school students in Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Bao-Shan; Crawley, Frank E., III

Differences in classroom climate and science related attitudes were investigated among junior high school science classes and students in Taiwan. The sample consisted of 1,269 students enrolled in 40 science classes distributed equally among ten junior high schools, five metropolitan and five rural. Classes were further classified according to sex (21 boys and 19 girls classes) and ability (19 high and 21 low ability classes). Using the Learning Environment Inventory (Anderson, Walberg, & Fraser, 1982) to measure climate, science classes in metropolitan schools, more than rural, were found to be characterized by Speed, Friction, Favoritism, Difficulty, Cliqueness, and Competitiveness. No differences were found in the classroom climates of classes in which students were grouped according to sex or ability. Using the Test of Science-Related Attitudes (Fraser, 1981), students in science classes in metropolitan schools, in contrast to rural, expressed more positive attitudes toward the Social Implications of Science, Adoption of Scientific Attitudes, and Attitude to Scientific Inquiry. Boys more than girls recorded high scores on Leisure Interest in Science and Career Interest in Science. High ability students were found to have higher scores on Attitude to Scientific Inquiry than did low ability students. When examining the relationship between the 15 subscale scores of the LEI and the seven subscale scores of the TOSRA for the 40 classes, only 9 out of 105 correlations proved to be significant. Most differences in climate, attitude, and their interactions were attributed to school location rather than to student characteristics.

Psychometric Properties of an Instrument to Measure Social and Pedagogical School Climate among Teachers (PESOC)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hultin, H.; Ferrer-Wreder, L.; Eichas, K.; Karlberg, M.; Grosin, L.; Galanti, M. R.

2018-01-01

This study investigated the psychometric properties of a teacher-reported version of a Swedish school climate instrument called the Pedagogical and Social Climate (PESOC), which consists of 95 items covering cultural, structural and social factors. A sample of 348 teachers from 19 Swedish secondary schools was used. Multilevel confirmatory factor…

Guiding Principles: A Resource Guide for Improving School Climate and Discipline

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

US Department of Education, 2014

2014-01-01

Developing positive school climates and improving school discipline policies and practices are critical steps to raising academic achievement and supporting student success. However, there is no single formula for doing so. Rather, the growing body of research and best practices in the field should inform locally developed approaches to improving…

Relationship between School Principals' Ethical Leadership Behaviours and Positive Climate Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eranil, Anil Kadir; Özbilen, Fatih Mutlu

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between school principals' ethical leadership behaviour and positive climate practices. Research sample consisted of 383 teachers working at schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in 2014-2015 academic year. This research was designed according to the relational model. Data…

Educator Effectiveness Series: Assessing School Climate. Q&A with Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D. REL Mid-Atlantic Webinar

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Jonathan

2015-01-01

The REL Mid-Atlantic Webinar discussed the elements in a positive school climate and shared different methods for assessing school data, including the Comprehensive School Climate Inventory. The Q&A presented in this document address the questions participants had for Dr. Cohen following the webinar. The webinar recording and PowerPoint…

The Effects of Principals' Perceived Instructional and Distributed Leadership Practices on Their Perceptions of School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bellibas, Mehmet Sukru; Liu, Yan

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which leadership styles predict school climate, in order to identify whether a relationship exists between principals' perceived practices of instructional and distributed leadership and their perceptions of school climate (mutual respect and school delinquency), controlling for a net of…

High School Students' Experiences of Bullying and Victimization and the Association with School Health Center Use

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Catherine; Deardorff, Julianna; Lahiff, Maureen; Soleimanpour, Samira; Sakashita, Kimi; Brindis, Claire D.

2015-01-01

Background: Bullying and victimization are ongoing concerns in schools. School health centers (SHCs) are well situated to support affected students because they provide crisis intervention, mental health care, and broader interventions to improve school climate. This study examined the association between urban adolescents' experiences of…

Evaluating Climate in Nine "Good" High Schools in Tennessee, Kentucky, and North Carolina.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bobbett, Gordon C.; French, Russell L.

The Wayson School Climate and Context Inventory (SCCI) was used in previously reported comparative studies of six good high schools in Tennessee and Kentucky (three in each state). This study added data for three similar high schools in North Carolina to bring the pool of data to nine schools, making possible the determination of similarities and…

Delinquency in a Seventh-Grade Cohort: Impact of School Climate on Problem Behavior.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wright, William E.; Jesness, Carl F.

The relationship between delinquency and school climate is defined as the aggregate-belief-value characteristics of the people who make up the school. This relationship was investigated to determine if an aggregate measure of student attitudes about school, as measured bu the Quality of School Life Scale (QSL), can be used as a measure of the…

Teacher-student relationship climate and school outcomes: implications for educational policy initiatives.

PubMed

Barile, John P; Donohue, Dana K; Anthony, Elizabeth R; Baker, Andrew M; Weaver, Scott R; Henrich, Christopher C

2012-03-01

In recent discussions regarding concerns about the academic achievement of US students, educational policy makers have suggested the implementation of certain teacher policies. To address the limited empirical research on the putative educational impact of such policies, this study used multilevel structural equation models to investigate the longitudinal associations between teacher evaluation and reward policies, and student mathematics achievement and dropout with a national sample of students (n = 7,779) attending one of 431 public high schools. The student sample included an equal number of boys and girls averaging 16 years of age, and included a White (53%) majority. This study examined whether associations between teacher policies and student achievement were mediated by the teacher-student relationship climate. Results of this study were threefold. First, teacher evaluation policies that allowed students to evaluate their teachers were associated with more positive student reports of the classroom teaching climate. Second, schools with teacher reward policies that included assigning higher performing teachers with higher performing students had a negative association with student perceptions of the teaching climate. Lastly, schools with better student perceptions of the teaching climate were associated with lower student dropout rates by students' senior year. These findings are discussed in light of their educational policy implications.

High School Students' Metaphors towards "Climate" Concept According to Gender Variable

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coskun, Mucahit

2010-01-01

This research was carried out to determine the metaphors of high school students towards "climate" concept according to gender variable. A total of 108 students in two high schools in Karabuk City participated in the research in 2009-2010 academic years. The data of the research were gathered from the students' completing the…

The GLSEN 2001 National School Climate Survey: The School-Related Experiences of Our Nation's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kosciw, Joseph G.; Cullen, M. K.

This paper presents data from the 2001 National School Climate Survey on school-related experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students. LGBT students described experiences of homophobic remarks; verbal, physical, and sexual harassment; and comfort within their schools. They described experiences with racial and sexual…

Australian Secondary School Students' Understanding of Climate Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dawson, Vaille; Carson, Katherine

2013-01-01

This study investigated 438 Year 10 students (15 and 16 years old) from Western Australian schools, on their understanding of the greenhouse effect and climate change, and the sources of their information. Results showed that most students have an understanding of how the greenhouse effect works, however, many students merge the processes of the…

Eighth-Grade Students' Perceptions of School Climate Based on School Diversity, Ethnicity, Educational Category, Socioeconomic Status, and Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edwards, Patricia Thomas

2010-01-01

The purpose of this research study was to investigate if there were differences in students' school climate perceptions based on the independent variables, which were measured on a nominal scale and included school diversity (highly, moderately, minimally), ethnicity (Black, Hispanic, White, Other), educational category (general education, special…

Considering Students' Out-of-School Lives and Values in Designing Learning Environments for Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walsh, E.; Tsurusaki, B.

2012-12-01

What are the implications of social controversy for the teaching and learning of climate change science? How do the political dimensions of this controversy affect learners' attitudes towards and reasoning about climate change and climate science? Case studies from a pilot enactment of an ecological impacts of climate change curriculum explore these questions by describing how five high school students' understandings of climate change science developed at the intersection of political and scientific values, attitudes, and ways of knowing. Case studies combine qualitative, ethnographic methods including interviews and classroom video observations with quantitative pre/post-assessments of student conceptual understandings and weekly surveys of student engagement. Data indicate that students had initial perceptions of climate change informed by the media and their families—both supporting and rejecting the scientific consensus—that influenced how they engaged with the scientific evidence. While students who were initially antagonistic to anthropogenic climate change did develop conceptual understandings of the scientific evidence for human-influences on climate change, this work was challenging and at times frustrating for them. These case studies demonstrate the wide range of initial attitudes and understandings that students bring to the study of climate change. They also demonstrate that it is possible to make significant shifts in students' understandings of climate change science, even in students who were initially resistant to the idea of anthropogenic climate change. Finally, multiple case studies discuss ways that the learning that occurred in the classroom crossed out of the classroom into the students' homes and family talk. This work highlights how learners' pathways are shaped not only by their developing understanding of the scientific evidence but also by the political and social influences that learners navigate across the contexts of their lives

School Leadership and Its Impact on Student Achievement: The Mediating Role of School Climate and Teacher Job Satisfaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dutta, Vartika; Sahney, Sangeeta

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of teacher job satisfaction and school climate in mediating the relative effects of principals' instructional and transformational leadership practices on student outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: Guided by strong evidence from theories on school leadership and work psychology, the…

Quantifying How Climate Affects Vegetation in the Amazon Rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, K.; Kodali, A.; Szubert, M.; Ganguly, S.; Bongard, J.

2016-12-01

Amazon droughts in 2005 and 2010 have raised serious concern about the future of the rainforest. Amazon forests are crucial because of their role as the largest carbon sink in the world which would effect the global warming phenomena with decreased photosynthesis activity. Especially, after a decline in plant growth in 1.68 million km2 forest area during the once-in-a-century severe drought in 2010, it is of primary importance to understand the relationship between different climatic variables and vegetation. In an earlier study, we have shown that non-linear models are better at capturing the relation dynamics of vegetation and climate variables such as temperature and precipitation, compared to linear models. In this research, we learn precise models between vegetation and climatic variables (temperature, precipitation) for normal conditions in the Amazon region using genetic programming based symbolic regression. This is done by removing high elevation and drought affected areas and also considering the slope of the region as one of the important factors while building the model. The model learned reveals new and interesting ways historical and current climate variables affect the vegetation at any location. MAIAC data has been used as a vegetation surrogate in our study. For temperature and precipitation, we have used TRMM and MODIS Land Surface Temperature data sets while learning the non-linear regression model. However, to generalize the model to make it independent of the data source, we perform transfer learning where we regress a regularized least squares to learn the parameters of the non-linear model using other data sources such as the precipitation and temperature from the Climatic Research Center (CRU). This new model is very similar in structure and performance compared to the original learned model and verifies the same claims about the nature of dependency between these climate variables and the vegetation in the Amazon region. As a result of this

The Influence of Classroom Disciplinary Climate of Schools on Reading Achievement: A Cross-Country Comparative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ning, Bo; Van Damme, Jan; Van Den Noortgate, Wim; Yang, Xiangdong; Gielen, Sarah

2015-01-01

Despite considerable interest in research and practice in the effect of classroom disciplinary climate of schools on academic achievement, little is known about the generalizability of this effect over countries. Using hierarchical linear analyses, the present study reveals that a better classroom disciplinary climate in a school is significantly…

A Correlational Study Examining Demonstrated Emotional Intelligence and Perceptions of School Climate

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Chris James

2016-01-01

A quantitative study with a correlational design, this research investigated whether certified teachers' ratings of their school leader's demonstrated emotional intelligence behaviors correlated with the teacher's perceptions of school climate. A sample of 42 graduate and post baccalaureate students from a Mid-Atlantic region college accessed a…

School Psychologists Working with Children Affected by Abuse and Neglect

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dezen, Kristin A.; Gurl, Aaron; Ping, Jenn

2010-01-01

School psychologists encounter children regularly who have been affected by abuse and neglect. Maltreatment adversely affects the mental health status and academic achievement of youth, thereby making the topic an area of concern for school psychologists. More recently, child protection laws have been expanded to include mandatory child abuse…

Family-School Links: How Do They Affect Educational Outcomes?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Booth, Alan, Ed.; Dunn, Judith F., Ed.

This book explores issues related to the links between families and schools and how they affect children's educational achievement, and is organized as follows: Part 1, titled "Families and Schools: How Can They Work Together To Promote Children's School Success?" contains the following chapters: chapter 1, "Family Involvement in…

The 2015 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Youth in Our Nation's Schools. Executive Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kosciw, Joseph G.; Greytak, Emily A.; Giga, Noreen M.; Villenas, Christian; Danischewski, David J.

2016-01-01

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) "National School Climate Survey" is our flagship report on the school experiences of LGBTQ youth in schools, including the extent of the challenges that they face at school and the school-based resources that support LGBTQ students' well-being. The survey has consistently indicated…

Examining the Relationship between Classroom Climate and Student Achievement of Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barksdale, Christopher J.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this sequential mixed method study was to examine the relationship between classroom climate and student achievement of middle school students. This study included a review of data collected from the Learning Environment Inventory from a purposeful sample of middle school students from a large suburban school district. A purposeful…

Measuring School Climate for Gauging Principal Performance: A Review of the Validity and Reliability of Publicly Accessible Measures. A Quality School Leadership Issue Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clifford, Matthew; Menon, Roshni; Gangi, Tracy; Condon, Christopher; Hornung, Katie

2012-01-01

This policy brief provides principal evaluation system designers information about the technical soundness and cost (i.e., time requirements) of publicly available school climate surveys. The authors focus on the technical soundness of school climate surveys because they believe that using validated and reliable surveys as an outcomes measure can…

Nevada's Climate Change High School Science Fair Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buck, P.

2012-12-01

The purpose of this 3 year project funded by NSF (GEO 1035049) is to increase the climate change science content knowledge and teaching effectiveness of in-service high school science teachers and increase the numbers of quality of high school geoscience projects competing in Nevada's three regional Intel ISEF (International Science & Engineering Fair) affiliated science fairs. In year 1 of the project participants consisted of six female and three male high school teachers from across Nevada. Eight of the participants were white and one was Asian. Five participants taught in Clark County, two taught in Owyhee, one taught in Elko and one taught in Spring Creek. Over 20% of the projects were noted (by the teachers) as being submitted by underrepresented students; however, this information is not reliable as most students did not provide this data themselves. Pre-and post- content tests were given. Teachers improved from an average of eight missed on the pre-test to an average of only four items missed on the post-test. Participants were also asked to evaluate their own teaching efficacy. In general, participants had a strong science efficacy. The item on which there was the most discrepancy among participants was on #10, the one stating that "The low achievement of some students cannot generally be blamed on their teachers." Most teachers completed an end of year program evaluation. All but one of the participants felt that the pace of the workshop was comfortable. All participants who used faculty mentors in helping their students rated their faculty mentors very highly. All participants rated the program content very highly in terms of clarity, organization, relevance, helpfulness and usefulness. All participants gave the program a very high rating overall and stated they would likely use the information to mentor future students and in instruction in future classes. The science fairs are the culmination of the program. Teachers were required to have at least one

Relationships among Student, Staff, and Administrative Measures of School Climate and Student Health and Academic Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gase, Lauren N.; Gomez, Louis M.; Kuo, Tony; Glenn, Beth A.; Inkelas, Moira; Ponce, Ninez A.

2017-01-01

Background: School climate is an integral part of a comprehensive approach to improving the well-being of students; however, little is known about the relationships between its different domains and measures. We examined the relationships between student, staff, and administrative measures of school climate to understand the extent to which they…

Student Perceptions of Elementary School Climates in the Louisiana School Effectiveness Study: A Comparison of Phase III and Phase IV.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Sharon Pol; Heroman, Deborah S.

A 5-year study examined third-graders' perceptions of school climate in 16 Louisiana schools. Part of the Louisiana School Effectiveness Study (LSES), Phase III and IV examined student perceptions in 1984-85 and 1989-90, respectively, and also gathered demographic data and multiple measures of student outcomes through student surveys and classroom…

New Regulations Affect School Debt Financing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olson, Carol Duane

1993-01-01

Provides an overview of changes in Treasury Regulations as they affect school debt financing, including bond and note construction and acquisition issues, other types of equipment and property financing, as well as tax and revenue anticipation notes for working capital needs. (MLF)

A Climate for Self-Efficacy: The Relationship between School Climate and Teacher Efficacy for Inclusion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hosford, Susan; O'Sullivan, Siobhán

2016-01-01

Teacher efficacy represents a key construct in exploring successful implementation of inclusive policy. Teachers' impression of school climate is shown to relate to teacher efficacy; however, few studies pay due deference to its context/specific conceptualisation, with a particular lacuna in research noted in an Irish mainstream primary school…

The Relationship between School's Organizational Climate and Teacher's Job Satisfaction: Malaysian Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ghavifekr, Simin; Pillai, Nova Sheila

2016-01-01

The purpose of this paper was to examine the relationship between school organizational climate and teachers' job satisfaction. A quantitative survey method was applied, and three broadly hypothesized relationships were tested with a sample of 245 teachers from six government secondary schools in district of Penampang, Sabah, Malaysia. The…

The Perceived School Climate in Invitational Schools in Hong Kong: Using the Chinese Version of the Inviting School Survey-Revised (ISS-R)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ng, Carmen K. M.; Yuen, Mantak

2011-01-01

This article describes the use of the Chinese translation of the revised Inviting School Survey (ISS-R; Smith, 2005; Smith & Bernard, 2004) to measure the invitational climate of seven invitational secondary schools in Hong Kong. The five subscales of Chinese version of ISS-R were found to be valid and reliable in a sample of 706 Grade 11…

Psychometric Support of the School Climate Measure in a Large, Diverse Sample of Adolescents: A Replication and Extension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zullig, Keith J.; Collins, Rani; Ghani, Nadia; Patton, Jon M.; Huebner, E. Scott; Ajamie, Jean

2014-01-01

Background: The School Climate Measure (SCM) was developed and validated in 2010 in response to a dearth of psychometrically sound school climate instruments. This study sought to further validate the SCM on a large, diverse sample of Arizona public school adolescents (N = 20,953). Methods: Four SCM domains (positive student-teacher relationships,…

Academic Optimism and Organizational Climate: An Elementary School Effectiveness Test of Two Measures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reeves, Jonathan Bart

2010-01-01

This study examined the relationship of two climate constructs in academic optimism and organizational climate as each relates to school effectiveness. Academic optimism is an academic environment comprised of three dimensions: academic emphasis, collective efficacy, and faculty trust (Hoy, Tarter, & Hoy, 2006). The Organizational Climate…

Bringing Global Climate Change Education to Alabama Middle School and High School Classrooms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, M.; Mitra, C.; Percival, E.; Thomas, A.; Lucy, T.; Hickman, E.; Cox, J.; Chaudhury, S. R.; Rodger, C.

2013-12-01

A NASA-funded Innovations in Climate Education (NICE) Program has been launched in Alabama to improve high school and middle school education in climate change science. The overarching goal is to generate a better informed public that understands the consequences of climate change and can contribute to sound decision making on related issues. Inquiry based NICE modules have been incorporated into the existing course of study for 9-12 grade biology, chemistry, and physics classes. In addition, new modules in three major content areas (earth and space science, physical science, and biological science) have been introduced to selected 6-8 grade science teachers in the summer of 2013. The NICE modules employ five E's of the learning cycle: Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend and Evaluate. Modules learning activities include field data collection, laboratory measurements, and data visualization and interpretation. Teachers are trained in the use of these modules for their classroom through unique partnership with Alabama Science in Motion (ASIM) and the Alabama Math Science Technology Initiative (AMSTI). Certified AMSTI teachers attend summer professional development workshops taught by ASIM and AMSTI specialists to learn to use NICE modules. During the school year, the specialists in turn deliver the needed equipment to conduct NICE classroom exercises and serve as an in-classroom resource for teachers and their students. Scientists are partnered with learning and teaching specialists and lead teachers to implement and test efficacy of instructional materials, models, and NASA data used in classroom. The assessment by professional evaluators after the development of the modules and the training of teachers indicates that the modules are complete, clear, and user-friendly. The overall teacher satisfaction from the teacher training was 4.88/5.00. After completing the module teacher training, the teachers reported a strong agreement that the content developed in the NICE

A Brazilian Portuguese Survey of School Climate: Evidence of Validity and Reliability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bear, George G.; Holst, Bruna; Lisboa, Carolina; Chen, Dandan; Yang, Chunyan; Chen, Fang Fang

2016-01-01

This study presents evidence of the validity and reliability of scores for the newly developed Brazilian Portuguese version of the Delaware School Climate Survey-Student (Brazilian DSCS-S). The sample consisted of 378 students, grades 5 through 9, attending four private and three public schools in southern Brazil. Confirmatory factor analyses…

Gender Differences in the Transmission of Smoking From Filipino Parents to Their Offspring: The Role of Parenting, School Climate, and Negative Emotions.

PubMed

Barrera, Dan Jerome

2017-09-19

This article examines gender differences in the transmission of smoking, and the role of parenting, school climate, and negative emotions in the parental smoking-adolescent smoking relationship. The study used a nationally representative cross-sectional data on 5,290 Filipino secondary students. Results suggest that Filipino adolescents having parents who smoke, tend to smoke cigarettes. Maternal smoking affects both girls' and boys' smoking, but paternal smoking has no effect on both sexes. Further, parenting dimensions (support and knowledge), school climate (bullying victimization and peer support), and negative emotions (loneliness and anxiety) tend to moderate the effects of parental smoking on adolescent smoking. Some of these factors appear to protect adolescents from parental smoking, while others aggravate the effects of parental smoking. Conclusions/Importance: Current findings suggest important theoretical and practical implications on the relationship between parental and adolescent smoking.

Investigating the Climate Change Beliefs, Knowledge, Behaviors, and Cultural Worldviews of Rural Middle School Students and their Families During An Out-of-School Intervention: A Mixed-Methods Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gutierrez, Kristie Susan

(ANOVA) found a significant main effect for gender; males improved significantly more than females on the content knowledge test. Significant gains in content knowledge could be traced to engagement in specific club activities. The vast majority (73.3%) of students held egalitarian worldviews, while students were almost equivalent on the individualism (48.8%) /communitarian (47.7%) worldview scale. Student worldviews correlated to responses on the affective items of the survey, but did not predict students' climate change content knowledge. Findings from this study suggest that significant gains in climate change content knowledge can be attained through short-term out-of-school interventions, but not climate change beliefs. For rural, low income families, knowledge talk was most common (26.6%), followed by discussion of behaviors (11.5%), and talk regarding the seriousness of the problem (10.6%). Seventy-two percent of the participants (n = 18; 9 students, 9 adults) were coded as individualistic egalitarian. Changes in climate change content knowledge from pre- to post-intervention were greatest in the students and parents who were highly engaged in the at-home family intervention, indicating that parents and students can benefit from climate change interventions in their own homes.

An Empirical Assessment of the Effects of Affective Response in the Measurement of Organizational Climate.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schnake, Mel E.

1983-01-01

Examined whether an affective response affects the dimensionality of perceptual measures of organizational climate, in a study of 8,938 employees who completed an organizational climate questionnaire and a measure of job satisfaction. Results suggested that partialing job satisfaction out of responses improved the dimensionality of the climate…

Positive School Climate Is Associated with Lower Body Mass Index Percentile among Urban Preadolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilstad-Hayden, Kathryn; Carroll-Scott, Amy; Rosenthal, Lisa; Peters, Susan M.; McCaslin, Catherine; Ickovics, Jeannette R.

2014-01-01

Background: Schools are an important environmental context in children's lives and are part of the complex web of factors that contribute to childhood obesity. Increasingly, attention has been placed on the importance of school climate (connectedness, academic standards, engagement, and student autonomy) as 1 domain of school environment beyond…

Child Centred Approach to Climate Change and Health Adaptation through Schools in Bangladesh: A Cluster Randomised Intervention Trial

PubMed Central

Kabir, Md Iqbal; Rahman, Md Bayzidur; Smith, Wayne; Lusha, Mirza Afreen Fatima; Milton, Abul Hasnat

2015-01-01

Background Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. People are getting educated at different levels on how to deal with potential impacts. One such educational mode was the preparation of a school manual, for high school students on climate change and health protection endorsed by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, which is based on a 2008 World Health Organization manual. The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of the manual in increasing the knowledge level of the school children about climate change and health adaptation. Methods This cluster randomized intervention trial involved 60 schools throughout Bangladesh, with 3293 secondary school students participating. School upazilas (sub-districts) were randomised into intervention and control groups, and two schools from each upazila were randomly selected. All year seven students from both groups of schools sat for a pre-test of 30 short questions of binary response. A total of 1515 students from 30 intervention schools received the intervention through classroom training based on the school manual and 1778 students of the 30 control schools did not get the manual but a leaflet on climate change and health issues. Six months later, a post-intervention test of the same questionnaire used in the pre-test was performed at both intervention and control schools. The pre and post test scores were analysed along with the demographic data by using random effects model. Results None of the various school level and student level variables were significantly different between the control and intervention group. However, the intervention group had a 17.42% (95% CI: 14.45 to 20.38, P = <0.001) higher score in the post-test after adjusting for pre-test score and other covariates in a multi-level linear regression model. Conclusions These results suggest that school-based intervention for climate change and health adaptation is effective for increasing the knowledge level

Child Centred Approach to Climate Change and Health Adaptation through Schools in Bangladesh: A Cluster Randomised Intervention Trial.

PubMed

Kabir, Md Iqbal; Rahman, Md Bayzidur; Smith, Wayne; Lusha, Mirza Afreen Fatima; Milton, Abul Hasnat

2015-01-01

Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. People are getting educated at different levels on how to deal with potential impacts. One such educational mode was the preparation of a school manual, for high school students on climate change and health protection endorsed by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, which is based on a 2008 World Health Organization manual. The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of the manual in increasing the knowledge level of the school children about climate change and health adaptation. This cluster randomized intervention trial involved 60 schools throughout Bangladesh, with 3293 secondary school students participating. School upazilas (sub-districts) were randomised into intervention and control groups, and two schools from each upazila were randomly selected. All year seven students from both groups of schools sat for a pre-test of 30 short questions of binary response. A total of 1515 students from 30 intervention schools received the intervention through classroom training based on the school manual and 1778 students of the 30 control schools did not get the manual but a leaflet on climate change and health issues. Six months later, a post-intervention test of the same questionnaire used in the pre-test was performed at both intervention and control schools. The pre and post test scores were analysed along with the demographic data by using random effects model. None of the various school level and student level variables were significantly different between the control and intervention group. However, the intervention group had a 17.42% (95% CI: 14.45 to 20.38, P = <0.001) higher score in the post-test after adjusting for pre-test score and other covariates in a multi-level linear regression model. These results suggest that school-based intervention for climate change and health adaptation is effective for increasing the knowledge level of school children on this topic.

Educators' Perceptions of the Effects of School Uniforms on School Climate in a Selected Metropolitan Disciplinary Alternative Education Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chime, Emmanuel Onoh

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine educators' perceptions regarding the effects of school uniforms on school climate in a selected metropolitan disciplinary alternative education program. More specifically, this study investigated the influence of the variables group status, gender, ethnicity, age and years of experience on the perceptions…

Consequences of Team Job Demands: Role Ambiguity Climate, Affective Engagement, and Extra-Role Performance

PubMed Central

Mañas, Miguel A.; Díaz-Fúnez, Pedro; Pecino, Vicente; López-Liria, Remedios; Padilla, David; Aguilar-Parra, José M.

2018-01-01

In the absence of clearly established procedures in the workplace, employees will experience a negative affective state. This situation influences their well-being and their intention to behave in ways that benefit the organization beyond their job demands. This impact is more relevant on teamwork where members share the perception of ambiguity through emotional contagion (role ambiguity climate). In the framework of the job demands-resources model, the present study analyzes how high levels of role ambiguity climate can have such an effect to reduce employee affective engagement. Over time it has been associated with negative results for the organization due to a lack of extra-role performance. The sample included 706 employees from a multinational company, who were divided into 11 work teams. In line with the formulated hypotheses, the results confirm the negative influence of the role ambiguity climate on extra-role performance, and the mediated effect of affective engagement in the relationship between the role ambiguity climate and extra-role performance. These findings indicate that the role ambiguity climate is related to the adequate or inadequate functioning of employees within a work context. PMID:29375424