Measuring School Climate as a Component of School Capacity (Poster 37)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Wednesday 10:50 a.m.
  In Poster Session: Measurement, Psychometrics, and Assessment: Poster Session I

Abstract

State and local education agencies continue to make an effort to systematically assess school climate through student surveys. This study used middle and high school-grade student-level responses from the Georgia Student Health Survey and tested the extent to which the different dimensions of school climate varied across school and were associated with school behavioral data. Our findings suggest that student perceptions of climate are multi-dimensional at the student level, but not necessarily at the school level. Climate appears to be unidimensional at the school level and is robustly associated with administrator-reported behavioral data. School and district leaders can use school climate ratings as a valid way to measure, improve, and sustain practices that build capacity and support school improvement.

Authors

• Ryan Charles Miskell, Accelerate Learning, Inc.

• Jenna Terrell, WestEd

• Christopher Henrich, University of Alabama - Birmingham

• Amanda Nabors, WestEd

• Kathryn Eileen Grogan, WestEd