The Seasonality of School Climate

• In Event: Student and Educator School Climate Perceptions: Dynamics and Correlates

Abstract

Although several studies have focused on why school climate is important, the timing of the collection of climate measures should be considered. This is of particular interest to schools that gauge school improvement efforts within a school year and are interested in how climate changes from the beginning to the end of the school year. We show that there is a tendency for climate measures to fluctuate in a predictable, nontrivial manner (ds = 0.29 – 0.61). Findings are based on data from 23 secondary schools that had school climate measures taken in fall and spring over two years. We show that in the fall, on average, students have a more favorable outlook of the school based on five climate measures.

Authors

• Francis H. Lim Huang, University of Missouri

• Keith Herman, University of Missouri

• Wendy Reinke, University of Missouri

• James Sebastian, University of Missouri - Columbia