Academic Climate as a Mediator Between Reading Achievement and Elementary School Composition?

• In Event: School Climate Measurement and Correlates: Findings From Around the Globe

Abstract

Academic climate plays a central role in students' learning success. In contrast, comparatively little is known about its importance for school composition effects in Germany. In this paper, we therefore examine the interplay between the socioeconomic composition of elementary schools and aspects of the academic climate in relation to students' reading achievement. Multilevel analyses suggest an effect of the socioeconomic composition of elementary schools mediated by school emphasis on academic success (SEAS) as one of the indicators of academic climate. Among the subscales of SEAS, parental trust and academic emphasis appear to be particularly associated with reading achievement. In addition, there are indications of an indirect ethnical composition effect on reading achievement.

Authors

• Anja Kürzinger, Pädagogische Hochschule Schwäbisch Gmünd

• Stefan Immerfall, University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd