Using District-Wide Student Survey Data to Understand the Relationship Between School Climate and Ninth-Grade On-Track

• In Event: 79.025 - On Track to Graduation in Philadelphia: Extending Research by Partnerships in Other Cities

Abstract

Theoretical Framework

Research shows that ninth grade is a critical year in students’ academic trajectory (Allensworth & Easton, 2005), and that school climate and instruction are key components of a successful ninth-grade year (Warren et. al., 2011). More generally, research on school conditions that promote student success has found that both instruction and climate are key. For example, Bryk and colleagues foundational work in Chicago found Five Essential Supports that are positively related to school improvement, and additionally that each support contributes to improving student learning independently as well as through relationships with the other essential supports (Bryk et al., 2010). Climate and Instruction are two of these five constructs.

Methods and Data Sources

The Five Essentials framework is grounded in surveys that are administered annually across Chicago. In 2014, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) formed a research-practice partnership with a local university and adopted this framework to co-develop a district-wide survey program. This study is one example of how the partnership has continued to benefit SDP though the utility of the survey program.

In this study, SDP researchers conducted descriptive and correlational analyses of the relationships between students’ perceptions of school climate and instruction and ninth-grade success. School climate and instruction were measured by survey data and ninth-grade success by the percentage of ninth-grade students “on-track” for graduation. School-level Climate and Instruction were calculated from scales on an annual district-wide student survey organized around the Five Essential Supports. The Climate scale is comprised of three sub-constructs and a of total 18 items (Cronbach=0.82); the Instruction scale is comprised of 15 items (Cronbach = .92) (Table 3). The “on-track” definition is district-specific, and takes into account how many core subject credits a student has earned by the end of the ninth-grade year.

Results

Correlational analyses show statistically significant positive correlations between the percentage of ninth-grade students on-track and the school-level Instruction score for both the 2015-2016 (N=51; r=.491, p<.01) and 2016-2017 (N=51, r=.368, p<.01) school years. This held true for the relationship between percent on-track and the Climate scores as well (2015-2016, r=.578, p<.01; 2016-2017, r=.592, p<.01). Correlations between two of the three Climate sub-constructs and the percentage of ninth-graders on-track also show a significant positive relationship (Table 4). This suggests that while student perceptions of Climate and Instruction overall are important factors for ninth-grade success, specific indicators, (i.e. Belonging and Safety), may have the strongest relationship. Next steps in this research are the inclusion of other school-level variables in the model to determine if they mitigate the relationship between survey constructs and the percentage of ninth-graders on-track.

Scholarly Contribution

Much of the work employing the Five Essentials focuses on elementary schools. By applying this framework in a high school context, this study adds to the research on comprehensive approaches to school improvement and student success. Additionally, this work shows how outcomes from research-practice partnerships can have continued benefits for districts after the formal partnership has ended.

Author

• Adrienne Reitano, School District of Philadelphia