Does School Climate Moderate the Impacts of INSIGHTS on Children's Behavior and Academic Outcomes?

• In Event: Examining Variables That May Promote Effective Classroom Management

Abstract

This paper examines whether three dimensions of school climate—leadership, accountability, and safety/respect—moderated the impacts of INSIGHTS into Children’s Temperament on students’ behavioral and academic outcomes. Participants included 435 low-income kindergarten and 1st grade students and their 122 teachers from 22 urban under-resourced schools. Intervention effects on math and reading achievement were larger for students enrolled in schools with lower overall levels of leadership, accountability, and safety/respect at baseline. Program impacts on disruptive behaviors were greater in schools with lower levels of accountability at baseline; impacts on sustained attention were greater in schools with lower levels of safety/respect at baseline. The implications of the findings for classroom management and school leadership will be discussed.

Authors

• Meghan P. McCormick, MDRC

• Elise Cappella, New York University

• Erin E. O'Connor, New York University

• Sandee G. McClowry, New York University