The School Climate Walkthrough Tool for Secondary Schools: A Validation Study

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: Development Considerations for Assessments Used in Schools

Abstract

School climate refers to the quality of a school, including safety, relationships, and the physical environment (Wang & Degol, 2016). Although there are multiple measures of school climate (e.g., Marraccini et al., 2020), no single measure is free, validated, provides instantaneous reports, group breakdowns, and concrete feedback, and can be run directly by the students. The School Climate Walkthrough web-based application was developed to fulfill these needs. The purpose of this study was to test the Walkthrough’s psychometric properties. Internal consistency and convergent validity among the Walkthrough domains, school satisfaction, positive and negative affect, and another measure of school climate are reported. This measure has the potential to engage student voice in all phases of the school improvement process.

Authors

• Jessica D. Hoffmann, Yale University

• Rachel Baumsteiger, Yale University

• Jennifer Seibyl, Yale University