does homework have an impact on school climate

A New Report Reveals That Homework in the United States is an Easy Load

Two new reports debunk the notion that U.S. schoolchildren suffer from a growing homework load, with little time to play and just be kids.

The great majority of students at all grade levels now spend less than one hour studying on a typical day—an amount that has not changed substantially in at least twenty years, according to data analyzed by the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution and the RAND Corporation.

The research contradicts dramatic anecdotes of children overwhelmed with homework. The Brookings and RAND researchers collected and reviewed the best social science available on children’s homework, including data from surveys conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS), the Population Studies Center at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, and the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA.

Even at the high school level, where more homework might be expected to prepare students for the demands of college or the workplace, only about a third of seventeen-year-olds spend an hour or more a day on homework.

The Brown Center on Education Policy conducted the study after a wave of dramatic news stories over the past few years described a backlash against homework. Since 2001, feature stories about onerous homework loads and parents fighting back have appeared in Time , Newsweek , and People magazines; the New York Times , Washington Post , Los Angeles Times , Raleigh News and Observer , and the Tampa Tribune ; and the CBS Evening News and other media outlets.

“The stories are misleading,” writes author Tom Loveless, director of the Brown Center. “They do not reflect the experiences of a majority—or even a significant minority—of American schoolchildren.”

“Excessive homework is not a common problem,” writes Loveless in the report. “The critics of homework need to produce some very powerful evidence before policymakers start mandating reductions in homework or even banning it altogether. To date, the evidence put forth by homework critics has been weak.”

Across three different age groups, the percentage of students with less than an hour of daily homework has actually risen since 1984, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which for two decades has been asking a nationally representative sample of students questions about homework.

In 1999, 83 percent of nine-year-olds, 66 percent of thirteen-year-olds, and 65 percent of seventeen-year-olds reported having less than an hour of homework per night (see figure 1). In 1984, 81 percent of nine-year-olds, 63 percent of thirteen-year-olds, and 59 percent of seventeen-year-olds had reported spending that amount of time studying.

Another survey, the Third International Math and Science Study, finds that American high school students have one of the lightest homework loads in the world. Of twenty countries, the United States ranked near the bottom, tied for the next-to-last position. Students in France, Italy, Russia, and South Africa reported spending at least twice as much time on homework as American students.

The University of Michigan research does show an increase in the amount of homework given to children ages six to eight. But the increase of ten to eleven minutes a day is largely due to the fact that the baseline was low to begin with—only a third of children ages six to eight spent any time at all on studying in 1981.

“Why is it important to get the homework study right?” asks Loveless. “Mainly because it is positively associated with student learning.” Research shows that the relationship of homework with student achievement is positive for both middle and high school students and neutral for elementary school students.

Moreover, homework is a “barometer of the success—or the limits—of movements to raise academic standards,” write Brian Gill of RAND and Steven Schlossman of Carnegie Mellon University in the fall 2003 issue of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.

“To succeed, academic excellence movements ultimately require students to invest effort in their studies; time spent on homework is a ground-level indicator of this effort,” say Gill and Schlossman.

Gill and Schlossman trace homework time trends of the past fifty years, finding that the only substantial increases in homework for high-school students occurred in the decade after Sputnik, when the nation launched an academic excellence movement motivated by competition with the Soviet Union. Homework time subsequently declined to pre-Sputnik levels, and the excellence movement of the 1980s and 1990s that followed the publication of “A Nation at Risk” caused surprisingly small increases in homework (see figure 8).

Ironically, the only increase in homework in the last two decades has happened precisely in the lower grade levels, where researchers believe it matters least for academic achievement, according to Gill and Schlossman.

Most parents feel the homework load is about right, and, of those who would like to change it, more parents would rather see more homework than less, according to a 2000 poll conducted by the Public Agenda Foundation. Only one out of ten parents believes there is too much homework.

When a homework problem exists, which can happen because children vary in their study habits, solutions should come from parents and teachers, not policymakers, Loveless says.

About the Brown Center on Education Policy and the Brookings Institution

Established in 1992, the Brown Center on Education Policy conducts research on topics in American education, with a special focus on efforts to improve academic achievement in elementary and secondary schools. The Brown Center is part of the Brookings Institution, a private, nonprofit organization devoted to research, education, and publication on important issues of domestic and foreign policy. The Institution maintains a position of neutrality on issues of public policy. Interpretations or conclusions in Brookings publications should be understood to be solely those of the authors.

For a full copy of the report as well as information about other Brown Center events and publications, please visit the Brown Center’s website , or call Tucker Warren at 202/457-8100.

About RAND Education

RAND Education conducts independent research and analysis on education policy, including school reform and educational assessment and accountability. RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis.

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Homework could have an impact on kids’ health. Should schools ban it?

does homework have an impact on school climate

Professor of Education, Penn State

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Gerald K. LeTendre has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Spencer Foundation.

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Reformers in the Progressive Era (from the 1890s to 1920s) depicted homework as a “sin” that deprived children of their playtime . Many critics voice similar concerns today.

Yet there are many parents who feel that from early on, children need to do homework if they are to succeed in an increasingly competitive academic culture. School administrators and policy makers have also weighed in, proposing various policies on homework .

So, does homework help or hinder kids?

For the last 10 years, my colleagues and I have been investigating international patterns in homework using databases like the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) . If we step back from the heated debates about homework and look at how homework is used around the world, we find the highest homework loads are associated with countries that have lower incomes and higher social inequality.

Does homework result in academic success?

Let’s first look at the global trends on homework.

Undoubtedly, homework is a global phenomenon ; students from all 59 countries that participated in the 2007 Trends in Math and Science Study (TIMSS) reported getting homework. Worldwide, only less than 7% of fourth graders said they did no homework.

TIMSS is one of the few data sets that allow us to compare many nations on how much homework is given (and done). And the data show extreme variation.

For example, in some nations, like Algeria, Kuwait and Morocco, more than one in five fourth graders reported high levels of homework. In Japan, less than 3% of students indicated they did more than four hours of homework on a normal school night.

TIMSS data can also help to dispel some common stereotypes. For instance, in East Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan – countries that had the top rankings on TIMSS average math achievement – reported rates of heavy homework that were below the international mean.

In the Netherlands, nearly one out of five fourth graders reported doing no homework on an average school night, even though Dutch fourth graders put their country in the top 10 in terms of average math scores in 2007.

Going by TIMSS data, the US is neither “ A Nation at Rest” as some have claimed, nor a nation straining under excessive homework load . Fourth and eighth grade US students fall in the middle of the 59 countries in the TIMSS data set, although only 12% of US fourth graders reported high math homework loads compared to an international average of 21%.

So, is homework related to high academic success?

At a national level, the answer is clearly no. Worldwide, homework is not associated with high national levels of academic achievement .

But, the TIMSS can’t be used to determine if homework is actually helping or hurting academic performance overall , it can help us see how much homework students are doing, and what conditions are associated with higher national levels of homework.

We have typically found that the highest homework loads are associated with countries that have lower incomes and higher levels of social inequality – not hallmarks that most countries would want to emulate.

Impact of homework on kids

TIMSS data also show us how even elementary school kids are being burdened with large amounts of homework.

Almost 10% of fourth graders worldwide (one in 10 children) reported spending multiple hours on homework each night. Globally, one in five fourth graders report 30 minutes or more of homework in math three to four times a week.

These reports of large homework loads should worry parents, teachers and policymakers alike.

Empirical studies have linked excessive homework to sleep disruption , indicating a negative relationship between the amount of homework, perceived stress and physical health.

What constitutes excessive amounts of homework varies by age, and may also be affected by cultural or family expectations. Young adolescents in middle school, or teenagers in high school, can study for longer duration than elementary school children.

But for elementary school students, even 30 minutes of homework a night, if combined with other sources of academic stress, can have a negative impact . Researchers in China have linked homework of two or more hours per night with sleep disruption .

Even though some cultures may normalize long periods of studying for elementary age children, there is no evidence to support that this level of homework has clear academic benefits . Also, when parents and children conflict over homework, and strong negative emotions are created, homework can actually have a negative association with academic achievement.

Should there be “no homework” policies?

Administrators and policymakers have not been reluctant to wade into the debates on homework and to formulate policies . France’s president, Francois Hollande, even proposed that homework be banned because it may have inegaliatarian effects.

However, “zero-tolerance” homework policies for schools, or nations, are likely to create as many problems as they solve because of the wide variation of homework effects. Contrary to what Hollande said, research suggests that homework is not a likely source of social class differences in academic achievement .

Homework, in fact, is an important component of education for students in the middle and upper grades of schooling.

Policymakers and researchers should look more closely at the connection between poverty, inequality and higher levels of homework. Rather than seeing homework as a “solution,” policymakers should question what facets of their educational system might impel students, teachers and parents to increase homework loads.

At the classroom level, in setting homework, teachers need to communicate with their peers and with parents to assure that the homework assigned overall for a grade is not burdensome, and that it is indeed having a positive effect.

Perhaps, teachers can opt for a more individualized approach to homework. If teachers are careful in selecting their assignments – weighing the student’s age, family situation and need for skill development – then homework can be tailored in ways that improve the chance of maximum positive impact for any given student.

I strongly suspect that when teachers face conditions such as pressure to meet arbitrary achievement goals, lack of planning time or little autonomy over curriculum, homework becomes an easy option to make up what could not be covered in class.

Whatever the reason, the fact is a significant percentage of elementary school children around the world are struggling with large homework loads. That alone could have long-term negative consequences for their academic success.

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A Stanford education researcher found that too much homework can negatively affect kids, especially their lives away from school, where family, friends and activities matter. "Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good," wrote Denise Pope , a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a co-author of a study published in the Journal of Experimental Education . The researchers used survey data to examine perceptions about homework, student well-being and behavioral engagement in a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California communities. Along with the survey data, Pope and her colleagues used open-ended answers to explore the students' views on homework. Median household income exceeded $90,000 in these communities, and 93 percent of the students went on to college, either two-year or four-year. Students in these schools average about 3.1 hours of homework each night. "The findings address how current homework practices in privileged, high-performing schools sustain students' advantage in competitive climates yet hinder learning, full engagement and well-being," Pope wrote. Pope and her colleagues found that too much homework can diminish its effectiveness and even be counterproductive. They cite prior research indicating that homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night, and that 90 minutes to two and a half hours is optimal for high school. Their study found that too much homework is associated with: • Greater stress : 56 percent of the students considered homework a primary source of stress, according to the survey data. Forty-three percent viewed tests as a primary stressor, while 33 percent put the pressure to get good grades in that category. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor. • Reductions in health : In their open-ended answers, many students said their homework load led to sleep deprivation and other health problems. The researchers asked students whether they experienced health issues such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach problems. • Less time for friends, family and extracurricular pursuits : Both the survey data and student responses indicate that spending too much time on homework meant that students were "not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills," according to the researchers. Students were more likely to drop activities, not see friends or family, and not pursue hobbies they enjoy. A balancing act The results offer empirical evidence that many students struggle to find balance between homework, extracurricular activities and social time, the researchers said. Many students felt forced or obligated to choose homework over developing other talents or skills. Also, there was no relationship between the time spent on homework and how much the student enjoyed it. The research quoted students as saying they often do homework they see as "pointless" or "mindless" in order to keep their grades up. "This kind of busy work, by its very nature, discourages learning and instead promotes doing homework simply to get points," said Pope, who is also a co-founder of Challenge Success , a nonprofit organization affiliated with the GSE that conducts research and works with schools and parents to improve students' educational experiences.. Pope said the research calls into question the value of assigning large amounts of homework in high-performing schools. Homework should not be simply assigned as a routine practice, she said. "Rather, any homework assigned should have a purpose and benefit, and it should be designed to cultivate learning and development," wrote Pope. High-performing paradox In places where students attend high-performing schools, too much homework can reduce their time to foster skills in the area of personal responsibility, the researchers concluded. "Young people are spending more time alone," they wrote, "which means less time for family and fewer opportunities to engage in their communities." Student perspectives The researchers say that while their open-ended or "self-reporting" methodology to gauge student concerns about homework may have limitations – some might regard it as an opportunity for "typical adolescent complaining" – it was important to learn firsthand what the students believe. The paper was co-authored by Mollie Galloway from Lewis and Clark College and Jerusha Conner from Villanova University.

Clifton B. Parker is a writer at the Stanford News Service .

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Is Homework Necessary? Education Inequity and Its Impact on Students

The Problem with Homework: It Highlights Inequalities

How much homework is too much homework, when does homework actually help, negative effects of homework for students, how teachers can help.

Schools are getting rid of homework from Essex, Mass., to Los Angeles, Calif. Although the no-homework trend may sound alarming, especially to parents dreaming of their child’s acceptance to Harvard, Stanford or Yale, there is mounting evidence that eliminating homework in grade school may actually have great benefits , especially with regard to educational equity.

In fact, while the push to eliminate homework may come as a surprise to many adults, the debate is not new . Parents and educators have been talking about this subject for the last century, so that the educational pendulum continues to swing back and forth between the need for homework and the need to eliminate homework.

One of the most pressing talking points around homework is how it disproportionately affects students from less affluent families. The American Psychological Association (APA) explained:

“Kids from wealthier homes are more likely to have resources such as computers, internet connections, dedicated areas to do schoolwork and parents who tend to be more educated and more available to help them with tricky assignments. Kids from disadvantaged homes are more likely to work at afterschool jobs, or to be home without supervision in the evenings while their parents work multiple jobs.”

[RELATED] How to Advance Your Career: A Guide for Educators >>

While students growing up in more affluent areas are likely playing sports, participating in other recreational activities after school, or receiving additional tutoring, children in disadvantaged areas are more likely headed to work after school, taking care of siblings while their parents work or dealing with an unstable home life. Adding homework into the mix is one more thing to deal with — and if the student is struggling, the task of completing homework can be too much to consider at the end of an already long school day.

While all students may groan at the mention of homework, it may be more than just a nuisance for poor and disadvantaged children, instead becoming another burden to carry and contend with.

Beyond the logistical issues, homework can negatively impact physical health and stress — and once again this may be a more significant problem among economically disadvantaged youth who typically already have a higher stress level than peers from more financially stable families .

Yet, today, it is not just the disadvantaged who suffer from the stressors that homework inflicts. A 2014 CNN article, “Is Homework Making Your Child Sick?” , covered the issue of extreme pressure placed on children of the affluent. The article looked at the results of a study surveying more than 4,300 students from 10 high-performing public and private high schools in upper-middle-class California communities.

“Their findings were troubling: Research showed that excessive homework is associated with high stress levels, physical health problems and lack of balance in children’s lives; 56% of the students in the study cited homework as a primary stressor in their lives,” according to the CNN story. “That children growing up in poverty are at-risk for a number of ailments is both intuitive and well-supported by research. More difficult to believe is the growing consensus that children on the other end of the spectrum, children raised in affluence, may also be at risk.”

When it comes to health and stress it is clear that excessive homework, for children at both ends of the spectrum, can be damaging. Which begs the question, how much homework is too much?

The National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association recommend that students spend 10 minutes per grade level per night on homework . That means that first graders should spend 10 minutes on homework, second graders 20 minutes and so on. But a study published by The American Journal of Family Therapy found that students are getting much more than that.

While 10 minutes per day doesn’t sound like much, that quickly adds up to an hour per night by sixth grade. The National Center for Education Statistics found that high school students get an average of 6.8 hours of homework per week, a figure that is much too high according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It is also to be noted that this figure does not take into consideration the needs of underprivileged student populations.

In a study conducted by the OECD it was found that “after around four hours of homework per week, the additional time invested in homework has a negligible impact on performance .” That means that by asking our children to put in an hour or more per day of dedicated homework time, we are not only not helping them, but — according to the aforementioned studies — we are hurting them, both physically and emotionally.

What’s more is that homework is, as the name implies, to be completed at home, after a full day of learning that is typically six to seven hours long with breaks and lunch included. However, a study by the APA on how people develop expertise found that elite musicians, scientists and athletes do their most productive work for about only four hours per day. Similarly, companies like Tower Paddle Boards are experimenting with a five-hour workday, under the assumption that people are not able to be truly productive for much longer than that. CEO Stephan Aarstol told CNBC that he believes most Americans only get about two to three hours of work done in an eight-hour day.

In the scope of world history, homework is a fairly new construct in the U.S. Students of all ages have been receiving work to complete at home for centuries, but it was educational reformer Horace Mann who first brought the concept to America from Prussia.

Since then, homework’s popularity has ebbed and flowed in the court of public opinion. In the 1930s, it was considered child labor (as, ironically, it compromised children’s ability to do chores at home). Then, in the 1950s, implementing mandatory homework was hailed as a way to ensure America’s youth were always one step ahead of Soviet children during the Cold War. Homework was formally mandated as a tool for boosting educational quality in 1986 by the U.S. Department of Education, and has remained in common practice ever since.

School work assigned and completed outside of school hours is not without its benefits. Numerous studies have shown that regular homework has a hand in improving student performance and connecting students to their learning. When reviewing these studies, take them with a grain of salt; there are strong arguments for both sides, and only you will know which solution is best for your students or school.

Homework improves student achievement.

Source: The High School Journal, “ When is Homework Worth the Time?: Evaluating the Association between Homework and Achievement in High School Science and Math ,” 2012.
Source: IZA.org, “ Does High School Homework Increase Academic Achievement? ,” 2014. **Note: Study sample comprised only high school boys.

Homework helps reinforce classroom learning.

Source: “ Debunk This: People Remember 10 Percent of What They Read ,” 2015.

Homework helps students develop good study habits and life skills.

Sources: The Repository @ St. Cloud State, “ Types of Homework and Their Effect on Student Achievement ,” 2017; Journal of Advanced Academics, “ Developing Self-Regulation Skills: The Important Role of Homework ,” 2011.
Source: Journal of Advanced Academics, “ Developing Self-Regulation Skills: The Important Role of Homework ,” 2011.

Homework allows parents to be involved with their children’s learning.

Parents can see what their children are learning and working on in school every day.
Parents can participate in their children’s learning by guiding them through homework assignments and reinforcing positive study and research habits.
Homework observation and participation can help parents understand their children’s academic strengths and weaknesses, and even identify possible learning difficulties.
Source: Phys.org, “ Sociologist Upends Notions about Parental Help with Homework ,” 2018.

While some amount of homework may help students connect to their learning and enhance their in-class performance, too much homework can have damaging effects.

Students with too much homework have elevated stress levels.

Source: USA Today, “ Is It Time to Get Rid of Homework? Mental Health Experts Weigh In ,” 2021.
Source: Stanford University, “ Stanford Research Shows Pitfalls of Homework ,” 2014.

Students with too much homework may be tempted to cheat.

Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education, “ High-Tech Cheating Abounds, and Professors Bear Some Blame ,” 2010.
Source: The American Journal of Family Therapy, “ Homework and Family Stress: With Consideration of Parents’ Self Confidence, Educational Level, and Cultural Background ,” 2015.

Homework highlights digital inequity.

Sources: NEAToday.org, “ The Homework Gap: The ‘Cruelest Part of the Digital Divide’ ,” 2016; CNET.com, “ The Digital Divide Has Left Millions of School Kids Behind ,” 2021.
Source: Investopedia, “ Digital Divide ,” 2022; International Journal of Education and Social Science, “ Getting the Homework Done: Social Class and Parents’ Relationship to Homework ,” 2015.
Source: World Economic Forum, “ COVID-19 exposed the digital divide. Here’s how we can close it ,” 2021.

Homework does not help younger students.

Source: Review of Educational Research, “ Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Researcher, 1987-2003 ,” 2006.

To help students find the right balance and succeed, teachers and educators must start the homework conversation, both internally at their school and with parents. But in order to successfully advocate on behalf of students, teachers must be well educated on the subject, fully understanding the research and the outcomes that can be achieved by eliminating or reducing the homework burden. There is a plethora of research and writing on the subject for those interested in self-study.

For teachers looking for a more in-depth approach or for educators with a keen interest in educational equity, formal education may be the best route. If this latter option sounds appealing, there are now many reputable schools offering online master of education degree programs to help educators balance the demands of work and family life while furthering their education in the quest to help others.

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Homework could have an effect on kids’ health. Should schools ban it?

Studies indicate a negative relationship between children's amount of homework and their physical health..

Reformers in the Progressive Era (from the 1890s to 1920s) depicted homework as a “sin” that deprived children of their playtime . Many critics voice similar concerns today.

So, does homework help or hinder kids?

Does homework result in academic success?

Let’s first look at the global trends on homework.

Undoubtedly, homework is a global phenomenon ; students from all 59 countries that participated in the 2007 TIMSS reported getting homework. Worldwide, only less than 7 percent of fourth graders said they did no homework.

TIMSS is one of the few data sets that allow us to compare many nations on how much homework is given (and done). And the data show extreme variation.

For example, in some nations, like Algeria, Kuwait and Morocco, more than one in five fourth graders reported high levels of homework. In Japan, less than 3 percent of students indicated they did more than four hours of homework on a normal school night.

[ Here’s how my graduating class ended up with 72 valedictorians ]

Going by TIMSS data, the U.S. is neither “ A Nation at Rest” as some have claimed, nor a nation straining under excessive homework load . Fourth and eighth grade U.S. students fall in the middle of the 59 countries in the TIMSS data set, although only 12 percent of U.S. fourth graders reported high math homework loads compared to an international average of 21 percent.

So, is homework related to high academic success?

At a national level, the answer is clearly no. Worldwide, homework is not associated with high national levels of academic achievement.

The TIMSS can’t be used to determine if homework is actually helping or hurting academic performance overall . But it can help us see how much homework students are doing, and what conditions are associated with higher national levels of homework.

Impact of homework on kids

TIMSS data also show us how even elementary school kids are being burdened with large amounts of homework.

Almost 10 percent of fourth graders worldwide reported spending multiple hours on homework each night. Globally, one in five fourth graders report 30 minutes or more of homework in math three to four times a week.

These reports of large homework loads should worry parents, teachers and policymakers alike.

Empirical studies have linked excessive homework to sleep disruption , indicating a negative relationship between the amount of homework, perceived stress and physical health.

Should there be “no homework” policies?

Homework, in fact, is an important component of education for students in the middle and upper grades of schooling.

Policymakers and researchers should look more closely at the connection between poverty, inequality and higher levels of homework. Rather than seeing homework as a solution, policymakers should question what facets of their educational system might impel students, teachers and parents to increase homework loads.

This article was originally published on The Conversation . Read the original article .

Developing A Positive School Climate

On this page:, what is school climate, assessing school climate, examples of school climate assessments, resources and tools that support examining school climate.

As the new principal at Southside High School, Mr. Mendoza was met with many challenges. Despite the solid efforts of the previous administration to increase academic achievement, the school failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress for the second year in a row. Parent and community perception surveys conducted by Mr. Mendoza’s predecessor indicated broad dissatisfaction with the school and a general sense that it had not been doing enough to assist its low achievers. A series of newspaper articles chronicled the failures, drawing attention to the dismal test scores and high dropout rate. In addition, Mr. Mendoza identified safety as a major concern. In fact, within his first week at the school, a fight broke out and three students were led off in handcuffs by police, creating yet another media stir in the local news. What to do?

Schools leaders are often placed on the hot seat when negative images of the school, its staff, or its students appear in the local media. Such reports can strongly affect a school’s public and image and, in turn, impact the climate both in the community and within the school itself. Sometimes these perceptions are not based on fact; however, they could suggest that the school climate should be examined closely.

Decades of research support the role of a positive school climate on teaching and learning. “Positive school climate promotes student learning, academic achievement…positive youth development and increased teacher retention” (National School Climate Center, Center for Social and Emotional Education, and National Center for Learning and Citizenship at Education Commission of the States, 2008, p.7).

This article takes a look at the topic of school climate and sets out to determine:

How can schools assess their school climate?
What are some practical examples of how schools are assessing school climate?
What resources are available to support schools interested in improving or enhancing their school climate?

“School climate” is a term that is used often by educators, researchers, and the media but is rarely defined consistently. For example, here are two definitions of school climate taken from the literature:

“The physical and psychological aspects of the school that provide the preconditions necessary for teaching and learning to take place” (Tableman, 2004, p. 2).
“School climate refers to the quality and character of school life. It is based on patterns of school life experiences and reflects norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teaching, learning and leadership practices, and organizational structures” (National School Climate Center, Center for Social and Emotional Education, and National Center for Learning and Citizenship at Education Commission of the States, 2008, p.5).

Establishing a common understanding about the definition of school climate among building staff is the first step in identifying the extent to which the school climate is positive and conducive to learning. The next critical step is to assess the existing school climate and identify a plan of action.

Measuring student achievement is fairly straight-forward. State standardized tests and regular benchmark tests are routinely scored, disaggregated, and analyzed to provide a picture of how well students have mastered subject matter. On the other hand, assessing school climate can require a review of multiple data sources. Some potential data sources include:

Perception Surveys gather data on how teachers, students, and parents feel about their school. Perception surveys can assess the extent to which the school’s climate is viewed positively by students, parents, and faculty. Survey data can be used to call attention to areas of weakness and can complement other, more specific or objective school climate data. Survey data also can offer information on how the community perceives the school; if students believe the school is safe and meeting their needs; and/or if parents, students, and teachers have a sense of pride in the school. Survey data often reveal perceptions about the school administration that can assist principals in reflecting on their own practice.
Student Discipline Records such as office referrals, suspension records, and expulsion records can provide useful information on school climate, especially if the data are detailed. These records can provide information on the number of students referred for discipline; whether any one subgroup is disproportionately referred for discipline, suspended, or expelled; and if frequent offenders may benefit from more intensive support or intervention. Student discipline records also can supply data about which rules are most frequently violated and which teachers most frequently refer students. These data can help inform the identification of research-based strategies to improve the school climate.
Attendance Records can reveal tardy and absentee patterns by subgroup, season, teacher, or subject. These data can inform educators about which students may need additional support to attend school regularly. Records regarding participation in extracurricular activities and schoolwide activities can show whether students are broadly represented or whether activities tend to be limited to a small subgroup of students. Student attendance and participation in school activities also may provide important indicators of the school climate.

Each of these data types can reveal different aspects of the climate in the school. When considered together, they can help drive strategies to build a positive school climate.

During the past four years, The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement has worked with schools across the country on issues of school climate. A number of common themes have emerged during our analyses of school climate data. This section provides two examples of schools that have used data to develop and implement strategies to improve school climate.

Example 1: Disproportionality in Suspensions

The challenge:.

The suspension and discipline records showed that there was an overrepresentation of African-American males in out-of-school suspensions. Yet, the school’s discipline system only required suspension for serious offenses or persistent discipline infractions. Concerned about why so many more African–American males were being suspended, the principal decided to administer a survey to all students to gain insight on possible causes. The survey results showed that many students felt certain teachers were more likely than others to be overly punitive with regard to discipline procedures in general. African-American males reported feeling that they did not belong. How did this school respond?

The principal looked closely at discipline referral data to determine which teachers were making the most referrals in order to confirm (or refute) the students’ perceptions.
In the event of a disproportionate number of referrals from certain teachers, the principal conducted individual teacher conferences to determine if there were additional supports or strategies that might be provided to the identified teachers. For example, the principal considered assigning a teacher mentor to assist with the implementation of the professional development strategies in the classroom.
All teachers were provided with professional development on classroom management and cultural competency.
To help African-American males develop a sense of belonging in the school, the school leadership team implemented an in-school mentoring program in which students who had experienced more than one suspension were paired with a trained staff member who would greet the student each day, check homework, review expectations for the day, and set daily and weekly goals. The principal, school counselor, parent/guardian, and student also met to discuss a mentoring plan and outline expectations and parameters.

Example 2: Teacher Satisfaction

The principal was concerned about high teacher turnover in a building that had struggled to meet state benchmarks. A survey of teachers revealed that many felt isolated and overwhelmed with work. Teachers reported a lack of communication from the administration and stated that they were unsure of how best to meet the learning needs of students.

The principal rearranged the weekly schedule to implement common planning time for grade-level or subject-area teachers. This time was used to collaborate on planning and to provide mutual support for job-embedded professional development.
The principal restructured weekly faculty meetings to include time to address teacher questions and concerns.
The principal conducted weekly walk-throughs focused on specific instructional topics and provided immediate written or verbal feedback to teachers. The principal always highlighted positive practices as well as areas of need. Common needs across the faculty were identified for future conversations.

The Center is often approached by schools, districts, and states that are seeking support and tools for assessing school climate. In this section we provide some examples of tools and resources. Some are free of cost and some are fee-based. (NOTE: The inclusion of tools and resources in this section does not imply endorsement by The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement or the U.S. Department of Education.) Conducting a Web search could generate additional resources. Following are several examples.

Minneapolis Public Schools (opens in a new window) developed a school climate toolkit that is available free of charge on the district’s website. The “Creating a Positive School Climate for Learning” toolkit contains checklists, rubrics, surveys, guiding questions, and strategies on a variety of school climate topics. The topics include using data to assess school climate, behavior, attendance, health, safety, cultural competence, family and community involvement, and operational systems.
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (opens in a new window) has a variety of survey instruments available online. Specifically, the “Student School Climate Survey,” designed for students in Grades 3–12 and the “Staff School Climate Survey” for teachers and instructional support staff. The tools were developed by REL Midwest at Learning Point Associates. The survey asks for student perceptions of belongingness, expectations, and fairness. The staff survey includes questions about communication, educational beliefs, and respect.
California Healthy Kids Survey (opens in a new window) includes surveys for Grade 5 and for Grade 7 and above, as well as for staff. Topics covered in the surveys include: healthy choices, school connectedness, safety, resilience, and afterschool time.
Western Alliance for the Study of School Climate (opens in a new window) at California State University, Los Angeles, developed a survey for adults titled “Classroom Climate Quality Analytic Assessment Instrument.” The instrument addresses the topics of student interaction, discipline environment, learning assessment, and attitude and culture. The Alliance also has an instrument, “School Climate Quality Analytic Assessment Instrument,” that addresses appearance and physical plant, faculty relations, student interactions, leadership/decision making, discipline environment, learning environment, attitude and culture, and school–community relations. Permission is required to reproduce the surveys.
American School Climate Survey (opens in a new window) from The Center for the Study of School Climate is a 25-question survey designed to collect information on the views and perspectives of students in Grades 4–12, teachers, administrators, and community members regarding their school learning climate, bullying, and perceptions on race.

Creating a positive school climate takes the work and commitment of the entire school community. Using survey data as well as detailed, disaggregated discipline and attendance records can help to hone in on issues. When examining the data, it is important to foster and maintain an atmosphere of open communication in which everyone is valued and decisions are made collaboratively. A climate of distrust, chaos, or disrespect impedes student and staff motivation and may limit the extent to which students achieve. On the other hand, a positive school climate can be viewed as the foundation of safety, pride, respect, trust, and motivation on which a school can build the structure of high academic achievement for all students.

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Bryk, A., & Schneider, B. (2002). Trust in schools: A core resource for improvement . New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & DuFour, R. (Eds.). (2005). On common ground: The power of professional learning communities . Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service.

Fullan, M. (2006). Turnaround leadership . Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice . New York: Teachers College Press.

Hargreaves, A., & Fink, D. (2006). Sustainable leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Ingersoll, R. M., & Smith, T. S. (2003). The wrong solution to the teacher shortage. Educational Leadership, 60 (8), 30-33.

Kasen, S. N., Johnson, P. N., & Cohen, P. N. (1990). The impact of social emotional climate on student psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 18 (2), 165-177.

King, M. A., Sims, A., & Osher, D. (2007). How is cultural competence integrated in education? Retrieved September 3, 2008, from http://cecp.air.org/cultural/Q_integrated.htm .

Lee, V. E., & Smith, J. B. (1999). Social support and achievment for young adolescents in Chicago. American Educational Research Journal, 36 (4), 907-945.

McLaughlin, M. W., & Talbert, J. E. (2006). Building school-based teacher learning communities: Professional strategies to improve student achievement . New York: Teachers College Press.

National School Climate Center, Center for Social and Emotional Education, and National Center for Learning and Citizenship at Education Commission of the States. (2008). The school climate challenge: Narrowing the gap between school climate research and school climate policy, practice guidelines and teacher education policy . Retrieved September 3, 2008, from http://www.ecs.org/html/projectsPartners/nclc/docs/school-climate-challenge-web.pdf .

Reeves, D. (2003). High performance in high poverty schools: 90/90/90 and beyond . Center for Performance Assessment. Retrieved September 2, 2008, from http://www.makingstandardswork.com/index.htm .

Schmoker, M. (2005). Here and now: Improving teaching and learning. In R. DuFour, R. Eaker, & R. Dufour (Eds.), On common ground: The power of professional learning communities . Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service.

Shannon, G. S., & Bylsma, P. (2007). Nine characteristics of high-performing schools: A research-based resource for schools and districts to assist with improving student learning (2nd ed.). Olympia, WA: Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Retrieved January 21, 2009, from http://www.k12.wa.us/Research/pubdocs/pdf/9characteristicsRresourcelist.pdf .

Tableman, B. (2004). School climate and learning: Best practice brief (No. 31). East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, University-Community Partnerships.

Tshannen-Moren. M. (2004). Trust matters: Leadership for successful schools . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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School Climate as an Intervention to Reduce Academic Failure and Educate the Whole Child: A Longitudinal Study

Shay m. daily.

a West Virginia University School of Public Health, 1 Medical Center Drive, P.O. Box 9190, Morgantown, WV 26505.

Michael J. Mann

b Boise State University, 1910 University Drive, Boise, ID 83725.

Christa L. Lilly

c West Virginia University School of Public Health, 1 Medical Center Drive, P.O. Box 9190, Morgantown, WV 26506.

Angela M. Dyer

d West Virginia University School of Public Health, 1 Medical Center Drive, P.O. Box 9190, Morgantown, WV 26506.

Megan L. Smith

e Boise State University, 1910 University Drive, Boise, ID 83725.

Alfgeir L. Kristjansson

f West Virginia University School of Public Health, 1 Medical Center Drive, P.O. Box 9190, Morgantown, WV 26506.

Preventing student academic failure is crucial to student health and life success. Previous studies suggest a positive school climate may reduce students’ risk for academic failure and contribute to academic success. The purpose of this study was to determine the longitudinal associations between school climate and academic grades in a group of middle school students who transition into high school.

Parallel latent growth curve modeling was used to examine changes among study variables longitudinally using a sample of 2604 in 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade students across 16 regional schools located in 3 counties in West Virginia.

Students with higher perceptions of a positive school climate exhibited sustained or improved academic achievement over time ( β = 0.22 to 0.30, p < .01). Higher positive perceptions of school climate appear to sustain students who earn As/Bs ( β = 0.20 to 0.27, p < .01) and strengthen students who earn Cs/Ds/Fs ( β = −0.16 to −0.46, p < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Positive student perceptions of school climate may sustain high academic performance while strengthening students who earn Cs/Ds/Fs. School climate may be useful as an intervention to support school-based health promotion to reduce the achievement gap in the United States.

Academic success and earning a high school diploma is strongly associated with health throughout the lifespan. Research suggests that a higher prevalence of chronic disease and early death disproportionately occurs among the least educated. 2 – 4 In addition, people who leave school early are more likely to have occupational issues, social dysfunction, and engage in criminal behavior. 5 – 8 Economic and social demands for an educated labor force underscore the value of at least completing a high school education, which is often the minimum requirement for gainful employment and college admission. 9 , 10 Beyond the potential economic cost, educational attainment is also often required to open avenues for social mobility. 11 , 12 Preventing student academic failure is therefore crucial to student health and to support success in adulthood. 7 , 8 , 13

Preventing risky youth behaviors that may lead to less than desirable student outcomes continues to be a challenge. 14 , 15 The US public (non-charter) school system serves an estimated 85% (47.3 million) of the child and adolescent population. 16 – 18 The public school system is, therefore, a promising location to implement large-scale primary prevention initiatives because of its broad capacity to provide health promotion and education to children and youth. 19 , 20 In addition, social-ecological theories suggest learning and modeling stems from interactions within an environment while sharing experiences with others while in school. 21 – 24 As a result, schools are places where most children and adolescents develop behavioral patterns that may follow into adulthood. 25 – 28 Therefore, a natural partnership exists between educators and health promotion researchers making public schools potentially ideal locations to implement population health interventions and research. 19 , 20 By working together, collaborative partnerships between public health and public education may have practical implications toward a shared and collective impact that may help accomplish national academic and health goals.

An Overview of School Climate and Academic Achievement

A positive school climate provides an excellent example of how a positive social environment may shape student behaviors. 20 , 29 However, definitions of school climate tend to diverge. 30 Tangible definitions are based on behavioral patterns of school life that are observed through norms, values, practices, and relationships. 31 Theoretical definitions describe school climate as the “spirit” or “heart beat” of a school. 32 Definition aside, most research has shown social relationships such as bonding with teachers and peers; order and safety such as respect for school rules; academic opportunities such as a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction with school; and school connectedness such as attachment and building social bonds to school tend to be essential constructs found in conceptual models of school climate. 30 , 33 , 34

Current school climate research, with an emphasis on ecological approaches, suggests school climate can shape the interactions between students, teachers, families, and the broader community. 35 , 36 From a school climate point-of-view, shaping may occur through high-quality classroom management and an emphasis on valued social norms where learning materializes, such as a classroom. 31 , 33 , 37 A collective goal of most school climate research has been to empirically highlight the importance of non-academic factors in lieu of an overemphasis on curriculum and instruction to support student success. 38 Studies focused on safe and positive school environments suggests strategies that foster a positive school climate may safeguard students from social inequalities like poverty toward improved academic performance. 39 – 41 Although, we know many factors associated with school climate occur while students are in school, the temporal nature of understanding how school climate shapes students’ academic success is far from complete. 30 Longitudinal studies are needed to establish the dynamic process of school climate and its association to academic outcomes. 42 If school climate and academic achievement change together, such evidence may further support the improvement of school-based interventions.

An Opportunity for School Climate to Promote Academic Success

Clarifying relationships between school climate and student outcomes is especially relevant now as two large-scale policy initiatives advocate for the evaluation of school climate to support alignment with academics to reduce educational and health disparities. First, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed the Whole School, Whole Child, Whole Community (WSCC) model to intersect health and education. 43 WSCC encourages schools to engage students using a platform that best meets their health and developmental needs to achieve successful academic and health outcomes. 44 Second, the US legislature put forth the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). 45 This legislation is meant to empower schools and encourages the integration of WSCC. 46 The changes brought on by ESSA emphasize the use of school climate as an added measure of school safety and quality to compliment standardized metrics of school performance. 47 This recommendation is important because school climate information may provide useful guidance for school management and pedagogical strategies (ie, bonding relationships 48 ) that may impact educational and health outcomes. 39 Hence, studies that illustrate longitudinal associations of school climate and academic achievement may have systemic implications that support decisions on how to reduce academic risk and potentially prevent negative student outcomes.

The purpose of this study was to determine the longitudinal associations between school climate and academic grades across 3 annual data collections (3 waves) from a group of middle school students who transition into high school. Due to the exploratory nature of this study, 3 research questions guided our methodology: (1) perceptions of school climate and self-reported academic grades would independently change over time, (2) measures of school climate would demonstrate positive associations to self-reported academic grades over time, and (3) students’ academic achievement would demonstrate positive associations with measures of school climate.

Participants, Procedures, and Handling of Missing Data

Annual data collections (3 waves) occurred between 2015, 2016, and 2017 from moderately uniform student groups in 6th (37.8%), 7th (32.5%), and 8th (29.7%) grades across 16 regional schools from 3 counties located in West Virginia (WV) at baseline. For clarity, students in 6th grade in 2015 would be in 8th grade in 2017 and students in 7th grade would be in 9th grade and be in their first year of high school in WV. School size ranged from 130 (smallest) to 648 (largest) students from rural and suburban districts. Students from each county represent a spectrum of diverse characteristics from families living in severe isolation/poverty to modest privilege/affluence with 50% to 64% of children considered eligible for free or reduced price lunch. 49 – 52

A letter was sent to parents to provide an opportunity to exclude their children (parental optout rate<1%). 53 , 54 Surveys were administered by classroom teachers with oversight from a school contact agent to ensure response confidentiality and data collection protocols. Participation was voluntary and made available to all students. Students were free to answer all or part of the survey and elect to stop participation at any time. For additional examples on the data source and collection procedures, see Kristjansson et al. 55 – 57

In 2015 (time 1), students at baseline provided 6364 eligible observations (response rate = 82.6%). In 2016 (time 2), students provided 6336 observations (response rate = 82.0%). In 2017 (time 3), students provided 6278 observations (response rate = 81.3%). Student data were then matched over time using a unique self-reported identification number yielding a final sample of 2604 retained cases (3 data points per participant). With participant dropout rates common for longitudinal studies this level of attrition was anticipated. 58 , 59 To ensure data quality and estimate accuracy, omnibus tests under the Unrestricted Latent Class Indicator models for data missing completely at random (MCAR) were shown to be non-significant (all p > .05). 60 , 61 Preliminary tests additionally demonstrated less than 5% missing on dependent variables under pairwise techniques on retained cases, which has been shown to produce stable estimates. 62 Conservatively, we assumed missing data patterns as a function of missing at random (MAR). 60 Missing data were then handled using full information maximum likelihood estimation (FIML). 63 , 64 This strategy was chosen because FIML yields unbiased estimates under MAR hypotheses and is often equivalent to computationally heavy imputation techniques. 65 – 69

Academic grades

Self-reported grades were captured using a single question, “What were your FINAL grades in the following subjects LAST year?” for Mathematics and English. Responses were combined to represent students’ overall grades at each time point. 70 – 72 Academic grades were then pooled into ordered categories, Mostly As/Bs (coded 2), Mostly Cs (coded 1), and Mostly Ds/Fs (coded 0). Mostly As/Bs signified higher academic performance.

School climate

Three sub-scales (positive student-teacher relationships, order and safety, and opportunities for student engagement) were selected from the School Climate Measure (SCM) developed by Zullig et al. 34 , 73 , 74 The 3 sub-scales were chosen because they have demonstrated the most robust psychometric support within the SCM and are common measures among other school climate instruments. 73 SCM questions use a 5-point Likert type scale with response options “strongly disagree” (coded 1) to “strongly agree” (coded 5). Higher scores indicate a more positive perception of school climate.

Study covariates were selected and supported using citations based on a review of school and student-based outcomes literature.

Biological sex

Biological sex 57 , 75 , 76 was assessed by asking respondents “Are you a boy or girl?” Male (coded 0) and female (coded 1) were represented as a dichotomous time-invariant covariate.

Family structure

Respondents were asked to indicate their family structure 57 , 75 using a 19-item multi-response question, “Which of the following persons live in your home?” For analysis, the question was dichotomized into “lives with both biological parents” (coded 1) and “other arrangements” (coded 0) and represented as a dichotomous time-invariant covariate.

Maternal education

Maternal education 75 , 77 was captured by asking students to select 1 of 9 response options from a singular question “What is the highest level of schooling your mother has completed?” Responses were pooled into categories to simplify analyses, “college graduate” (coded 3), “high school graduate” (coded 2), “less than high school” (coded 1), and “I don’t know” (coded 0) and represented as a nominal categorical time-invariant covariate.

Data Analysis

Descriptive statistics were analyzed using SAS 9.4 ® (Cary, NC) 78 and include frequencies, means, standard deviations, scale reliability, and confirmatory factor analysis estimates. Parallel latent growth curve modeling (PLGM, Figure 1 ) was selected to examine linear changes in school climate sub-scales and academic grades while controlling for sex, family structure, and maternal education. 79 All PLGM analyses were performed in Mplus 8.0© (Los Angeles, CA) 80 using a 2-tailed distribution with p-values equal to or less than .05. The complex option was used in Mplus to accommodate for statistical anomalies such as non-normality and non-independence of data with robust standard errors and probit transormation. 80 – 82 These options were used to account for children clustered in schools, which when overlooked, may produce inaccurate results. Numerical integration with unconstrained residuals 80 was also used to appropriately handle the interaction between latent categorical (non-normal) and continuous (normal) intercepts (start-point) and slope (growth trajectory). The deviance statistic (−2LL), 83 , 84 Akaike Information Criteria (AIC), and Bayesian Information Criteria (BIC) were used to judge which model best fit our sample data. Latent regression path estimates (B) and standard errors (SE) indicate the relationship between school climate and academic grades over time. Standardized regression estimates, represented by beta ( β ), were used to demonstrate the practical importance of the relationship between school climate and academic achievement. Lastly, to support this study’s findings, we used a sensitivity analysis and tested the same models on a middle school only sample of students who started in 6th grade and ended in 8th grade (students who did not transition into high school, N = 966) and a sample of high school only students (N = 531) who started in 9th and 10th grade and ended in 11th and 12th grade.

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Parallel Latent Growth Model for School Climate and Academic Grades

Eighty percent of students reported earning As/Bs at time 1 and 74.9% at time 3. On average, students perceptions of school climate was slightly positive and ranged 3.3 (SD = 0.9) at time 1 and 3.7 (SD = 0.8) at time 3. All school climate sub-scales indicated acceptable reliability ( α = 0.85 to 0.94) and factor analysis measurement fits between time 1 and time 3: χ 2 = 929.17–950.61 (all df = 157, p ≤ .01), comparative fit index = 0.97–0.98, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.96–0.97, standardized root mean square residual = 0.02–0.03, root mean square error of approximation = all 0.044 (±CI 90% 0.041, 0.047). Table 1 reports additional descriptive statistics.

Sample Frequencies, Scale Means, Standard Deviations, and Internal consistency, N = 2604

Coll, College; HS, High School; Grad, Graduate; α , Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. 105

Missing observations were handled using pairwise techniques.

Figure 1 depicts a conceptual model of the PLGMs with results reported in Tables 2 – 4 . For reporting parsimony and clarity please refer to Tables 2 – 4 for additional model statistics such as between-person intercept (start-point) and slope (growth) means.

Parallel Latent Growth Model Intercepts, Slopes, and Unstandardized/Standardized Regression Estimates for Student Teacher Relationships, N = 2511

−2LL, Deviance, FP, Free Parameters, Std. Est., Standardized Estimate, SC1, Student-Teacher Relationships, Int., Intercept, Acad. Grades, Academic Grades.

Estimates include covariates and pairwise adjustment. School Clusters = 16.

Parallel Latent Growth Model Intercepts, Slopes, and Unstandardized/Standardized Regression Estimates for Student Engagement, N = 2512

−2LL, Deviance, FP, Free Parameters, Std. Est., Standardized Estimate, SC2, Order and Safety, Int., Intercept, Acad. Grades, Academic Grades.

Table 2 reports the associations between student-teacher relationships (SC1) and academic grades. Changes in growth for student-teacher relationships across all academic grade groups were significant and ranged β = −0.26 to −0.24 (SE = .09 to .10, all p < .01). Changes in growth between student-teacher relationships on academic grades (cross-lagged paths) were significant and ranged −0.45 to 0.30 (SE = .08 to .11, all p < .05). Growth trajectories between academic grades on student-teacher relationships demonstrated no significant associations. Correlations between slopes ranged −0.29 to 0.30 (SE = .10 to .15, all p < .05).

Table 3 describes the associations between order and safety (SC 2) and academic grades. Growth trajectories for order and safety across all grade models were significant and reported relatively consistent changes β = −0.25 (all SE = .09, p < .01). Changes in growth for academic grades found significant associations for all-academic grades (ie, A-F) grouped together (−0.31, SE = .16, p < .05) and mostly Ds/Fs (−0.55, SE = .26, p < .05). The growth relationship between order and safety on academic grades were significant and ranged −0.46 to 0.29 (SE = .01 to .11, all p < .05). Growth trajectories between academic grades on order and safety indicated significant associations with the mostly As/Bs (−0.11, SE = .05, p < .05) and mostly Cs (−0.15, SE = .07, p < .05) groups. Significant correlations between slopes were found for the all-academic grades (ie, A-F) grouped together and the As/Bs group (0.25, SE = .11, p < .05).

Parallel Latent Growth Model Intercepts, Slopes, and Unstandardized/Standardized Regression Estimates for Order and Safety, N = 2512

Table 4 summarizes the associations between student engagement (SC 3) and academic grades. Student engagement growth trajectories were all found to be significant and ranged −0.25 to −0.29, SE=.04 to .06. Similar to order and safety, only significant associations were found for the all-academic grades grouped together (−0.32, SE=.16, p < .05) and mostly Ds/Fs (−0.54, SE=.27, p < .05). All growth associations between student engagement on academic grades ranged −0.46 to 0.29 (SE=.09 to .11). Mostly Cs (−0.15, SE=.07, p < .05) demonstrated the only significant growth associations between student engagement on academic grades. Lastly, the all-academic grades (ie, A-F) grouped together (0.26, SE=.10, p < .01) and As/Bs group (0.24, SE=.10, p < .05) demonstrated significant correlations between slopes.

Previous empirical evidence suggests schools that foster a positive school climate are more likely to deliver academically prepared and well-rounded students. 32 , 85 As a result, schools become places where students want to spend their time because it enriches their life, which ultimately supports success in school and preparation for adulthood. 86 – 88 In this study, we sought to determine the associated growth trajectories between school climate and academic grades in a sample of students who started in middle and transitioned into high school. The study presents 5 main findings: (1) academic grades changed over time, (2) school climate changed over time, (3) students with more positive perceptions of school climate sustained As/Bs and improved Cs/Ds/Fs over time, (4) teacher relationships demonstrated the most robust effects on academic grades, and (5) sensitivity analysis revealed a few notable differences among independent samples of middle and high school students. Although the findings are by no means definitively causal, the study design and analytical techniques suggest a possible directional relationship and support the importance of a positive school climate throughout the context of schooling.

First, the findings suggest grades independently changed over time. Research focused on changes in grades as students transition tends to be mixed. 89 A study by West and Schwerdt 90 using longitudinal achievement data found standardized test scores declined as students transitioned from elementary into middle school. Another study by Bellmore 91 tested the effects of interpersonal social position in schools on academic indicators. Her findings additionally demonstrated declines in early adolescent achievement over time. Alternatively, a meta-analytic review by Lee 92 suggests that the transitionary effects on middle school students are likely to cause academic achievement to stays the same (ie, plateau) instead of decline. Furthermore, a study by Akos, Rose, Orthner 93 suggests the “transition effect” is more of an interruption in student achievement growth that can be mended as students acclimate to a new school environment. This study’s findings support the general premise of this literature and provide a mild extension by being able to model changes between As/Bs, Cs, and Ds/Fs. However, a deeper understanding of specific student characteristics that may impact academic grades in this area is warranted.

Second, student perceptions of school climate declined across 3 selected sub-scales and academic groups over time. Research suggests students’ perceptions of school climate may be fluid and subject to change. 94 This study’s findings add value to using longitudinal school climate studies, as cross-sectional relationships are less likely to describe such patterns. 30 By reviewing growth model slopes, we additionally were able to better understand if changes in school climate occur individually and at different time points. This study’s findings suggest that students’ perceptions of school climate appear to diminish as a group instead of individually. However, this result was not found for the student engagement sub-scale. Practical implications of these findings may suggest that perceptions of school climate may shift due to underlying transitional modifiers. 95 The findings may also suggest conceptually different sub-scales of school climate may have added significance to students’ maturity and growth. A longitudinal study by Wang and Eccles 96 outlined a multi-dimensional model that demonstrated when the school environment supports prosocial norms, students were more likely to engage in school life. This study’s findings may support this position and suggest school climate is a multidimensional and socially generated phenomenon. 26 , 97 However, this is a mild speculation and further research is needed.

Third, perceived school climate appears to change in parallel with self-reported grades. The findings suggest students averaging As/Bs and a high positive perception of school climate maintained their academic achievement over time. Additionally, students averaging Cs/Ds/Fs with a positive school climate also demonstrated better academic grades. These findings may suggest that when positive perceptions of school climate are improved, students averaging Cs/Ds/Fs may also improve. These results are important because school climate appears to support the academic success of all students and not only the majority who tend to be less at risk. 13 If this is the case, improving students’ perceptions of school climate may be a useful primary prevention strategy for large-scale school-based health promotion. 98 For example, if schools focus on improving perceptions of school climate that are supportive of health and academic-related outcomes in a collective manner, rather than separately, the results may be more impactful at the individual- and system- levels.

Fourth, although all school climate sub-scales demonstrated positive effects on academic grades, student-teacher relationships illustrated the strongest effects overall. Cross-sectional research has consistently shown nurturing relationships are a salient contributor to academic outcomes. 34 , 73 , 74 This study’s results support the cross-sectional literature but also suggests that as students grow older, a positive school climate may be important for them to prospectively do well academically. 99 On the other hand, academic grades did not appear to influence school climate sub-scales except for order and safety. Among the As/Bs/Cs, academic grades demonstrated a diminishing effect on order and safety. This finding was unanticipated and further supports the dynamic interplay between school climate sub-scales and academic achievement. Similar to study findings by Peguero, Bracy, 100 these results may indicate unintended consequences with school disciplinary procedures. Studies have shown when school rules are too strict, defiance can be an unintentional result. 95 Furthermore, higher-achieving students in this sample may possess unobserved characteristics that support their unenthusiastic perception of school rules and authority. However, this concept requires further investigation.

Lastly, group comparisons from the sensitivity analysis revealed a few notable differences between middle and high school students. In the middle school only group, school climate and academic grades were found to be stable and did not significantly decline over time. This may suggest students’ perceptions of school climate and academic grades stay relatively similar throughout middle school. Comparatively, high school students’ perceptions of school climate appear to be just as important to all levels of academic achievement. However, high school students’ presented much steeper declines in perceptions of school climate over time. Hence, perceptions of school climate may shift as students get older. This finding may suggest the presence of a “transition effect” as students adjust to high school. 101 Therefore, from a developmental standpoint, high school students may benefit more from subject specialization than a focus on school connection as they prepare for adulthood. 102 Although, the findings allude to the idea of transitional effects, more studies are needed to better understand how a transition between middle and high school may disrupt the social-hierarchy and impact school-based outcomes.

Study results demonstrated longitudinal associations between school climate and academic achievement. Findings support the value and promotion of a positive school climate, especially across sub-scales. In addition, positive perceptions of school climate may sustain high academic performance, while strengthening the grades of average and low academic performers. Given the modest variation between As/Bs, Cs, and Ds/Fs future studies should examine the mechanisms that exist between more robust models of school climate and contextual characteristics of these groups. Preliminary comparisons between middle and high school students suggest there may be differences between these groups, but further investigation is required. Future studies that support longitudinal and more generalizable findings are needed to provide recommendations for the delivery of instruction and professional practice that promotes the whole child.

Limitations

First, the sample was drawn from a predominantly homogenous group of White middle school students from 16 schools in WV. Findings may not be representative or generalizable to other regions of the United States. Second, the potential issue of non-matched students may exacerbate issues with representativeness. However, the mechanism that limits matching procedures may be difficult to distinguish. Fortunately, even when participant attrition is high, parameter estimates are still likely to be accurate. 58 Third, student self-reported information is subject to acquiescence and recall bias. Fourth, the study only modeled 3 aspects of the school climate. The literature around the school climate is diverse and considers many aspects of the socio-organizational structures of schools. However, the 3 sub-scales chosen in this study are consistently found in other school climate instruments and make-up half of the items on the SCM. Fifth, combing academic achievement into groups (ie, As/Bs) may diminish measurement sensitivity. Using measures of academic achievement as an uncombined measure may yield different information. Sixth, Mathematics and English are different subjects and therefore may also demonstrate unique independent information. However, combining these outcomes as a singular measure to represent overall academic performance is common in educational research. Seventh, maternal education may not fully represent students’ SES (Berkowitz, et al 35 ). Eighth, the diminished indicator sensitivity and sophisticated statistical techniques using a mixture of categorical and continuous measurement suggest caution should be used when interpreting the results. Despite this limitation, this study represents an exploration in the parallel growth of school climate and academic achievement over time. Lastly, we were unable to rule out unaccounted variance from other confounding variables that may substantially impact school climate sub-scales and academic grades over time.

IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH

How schools support students to achieve academic and life success will continue to be a topic for researchers and educators alike. 103 This study provides evidence that taking the time to care for students social-emotional needs does not hurt their grades, but helps them. However, non-academic factors like school climate still require research to better understand their importance to support frameworks like WSCC to achieve desired student outcomes. 104 Although this study does not account for teacher performance or classroom management, helping students achieve good grades will likely be shaped by dedicated administrators, educators, and parents but as this study’s findings suggest:

Academic grades are related to non-academic factors.
A positive school climate, especially positive relationships with teachers, may support academic success over time.
School climate may be used to support organizational behavior in school as a way to inform and improve academic and health promotion practice.
Schools focused on integrating a positive school climate may increase the potential to enrich students’ lives and strengthen their academic success.
Considering average academic performers (“C” students) less important than lower performers may undermine the likelihood of a student being able to cross the achievement gap toward success.

Lastly, administrators who support and encourage teachers to form bonding relationships may help students in ways which may be evident in their academic behavior. This study’s findings support this idea as students who perceived relationships with teachers as positive were as likely to sustain high academic performance compared to students with a less positive perception. In addition, school climate may support upward academic mobility for average and lower student performers. A seminal work by Allensworth and Easton 13 highlights this importance from what they deem as “personalism,” (pp 32) which accounts for students’ initial trust of teachers and feelings of personal support. This idea is not to infer that each student requires scheduled amounts of time to meet their needs. Rather, the authors’ state:

Teachers working together in a coordinated way—taking responsibility for the whole school; providing relevant, coherent instruction; and developing strong relationships with students—most strongly distinguishes schools with above-expected student performance in their courses. 13 (pp 33–34).

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDOE) in Charleston, WV and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in Washington, DC; Project AWARE 2015–2020. The authors would like to extend their gratitude to the funders for their generous support. The authors would like to thank the dedicated personnel who made Project AWARE 2015–2020 data collection possible. Lastly, the authors would like to recognize Dr. Thomas K. Bias and Dr. Danielle M. Davidov for their thoughtful reviewand commentary for this article.

Human Subjects Approval Statement

All aspects of each data collection year in this study, including participant involvement based on passive parental consent, were accomplished in accordance with West Virginia University’s Institutional Review Board guidelines for the protection of research participants. The following are the IRB protocols for each corresponding data collection year, 2015 (# 1406345394), 2016 (# 1406345394R002), and 2017 (# 1406345394R004).

Conflict of Interest

All authors of this article declare they have no conflicts of interest.

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A daughter sits at a desk doing homework while her mom stands beside her helping

Credit: August de Richelieu

Does homework still have value? A Johns Hopkins education expert weighs in

Joyce epstein, co-director of the center on school, family, and community partnerships, discusses why homework is essential, how to maximize its benefit to learners, and what the 'no-homework' approach gets wrong.

By Vicky Hallett

The necessity of homework has been a subject of debate since at least as far back as the 1890s, according to Joyce L. Epstein , co-director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University. "It's always been the case that parents, kids—and sometimes teachers, too—wonder if this is just busy work," Epstein says.

But after decades of researching how to improve schools, the professor in the Johns Hopkins School of Education remains certain that homework is essential—as long as the teachers have done their homework, too. The National Network of Partnership Schools , which she founded in 1995 to advise schools and districts on ways to improve comprehensive programs of family engagement, has developed hundreds of improved homework ideas through its Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork program. For an English class, a student might interview a parent on popular hairstyles from their youth and write about the differences between then and now. Or for science class, a family could identify forms of matter over the dinner table, labeling foods as liquids or solids. These innovative and interactive assignments not only reinforce concepts from the classroom but also foster creativity, spark discussions, and boost student motivation.

"We're not trying to eliminate homework procedures, but expand and enrich them," says Epstein, who is packing this research into a forthcoming book on the purposes and designs of homework. In the meantime, the Hub couldn't wait to ask her some questions:

What kind of homework training do teachers typically get?

Future teachers and administrators really have little formal training on how to design homework before they assign it. This means that most just repeat what their teachers did, or they follow textbook suggestions at the end of units. For example, future teachers are well prepared to teach reading and literacy skills at each grade level, and they continue to learn to improve their teaching of reading in ongoing in-service education. By contrast, most receive little or no training on the purposes and designs of homework in reading or other subjects. It is really important for future teachers to receive systematic training to understand that they have the power, opportunity, and obligation to design homework with a purpose.

Why do students need more interactive homework?

If homework assignments are always the same—10 math problems, six sentences with spelling words—homework can get boring and some kids just stop doing their assignments, especially in the middle and high school years. When we've asked teachers what's the best homework you've ever had or designed, invariably we hear examples of talking with a parent or grandparent or peer to share ideas. To be clear, parents should never be asked to "teach" seventh grade science or any other subject. Rather, teachers set up the homework assignments so that the student is in charge. It's always the student's homework. But a good activity can engage parents in a fun, collaborative way. Our data show that with "good" assignments, more kids finish their work, more kids interact with a family partner, and more parents say, "I learned what's happening in the curriculum." It all works around what the youngsters are learning.

Is family engagement really that important?

At Hopkins, I am part of the Center for Social Organization of Schools , a research center that studies how to improve many aspects of education to help all students do their best in school. One thing my colleagues and I realized was that we needed to look deeply into family and community engagement. There were so few references to this topic when we started that we had to build the field of study. When children go to school, their families "attend" with them whether a teacher can "see" the parents or not. So, family engagement is ever-present in the life of a school.

My daughter's elementary school doesn't assign homework until third grade. What's your take on "no homework" policies?

There are some parents, writers, and commentators who have argued against homework, especially for very young children. They suggest that children should have time to play after school. This, of course is true, but many kindergarten kids are excited to have homework like their older siblings. If they give homework, most teachers of young children make assignments very short—often following an informal rule of 10 minutes per grade level. "No homework" does not guarantee that all students will spend their free time in productive and imaginative play.

Some researchers and critics have consistently misinterpreted research findings. They have argued that homework should be assigned only at the high school level where data point to a strong connection of doing assignments with higher student achievement . However, as we discussed, some students stop doing homework. This leads, statistically, to results showing that doing homework or spending more minutes on homework is linked to higher student achievement. If slow or struggling students are not doing their assignments, they contribute to—or cause—this "result."

Teachers need to design homework that even struggling students want to do because it is interesting. Just about all students at any age level react positively to good assignments and will tell you so.

Did COVID change how schools and parents view homework?

Within 24 hours of the day school doors closed in March 2020, just about every school and district in the country figured out that teachers had to talk to and work with students' parents. This was not the same as homeschooling—teachers were still working hard to provide daily lessons. But if a child was learning at home in the living room, parents were more aware of what they were doing in school. One of the silver linings of COVID was that teachers reported that they gained a better understanding of their students' families. We collected wonderfully creative examples of activities from members of the National Network of Partnership Schools. I'm thinking of one art activity where every child talked with a parent about something that made their family unique. Then they drew their finding on a snowflake and returned it to share in class. In math, students talked with a parent about something the family liked so much that they could represent it 100 times. Conversations about schoolwork at home was the point.

How did you create so many homework activities via the Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork program?

We had several projects with educators to help them design interactive assignments, not just "do the next three examples on page 38." Teachers worked in teams to create TIPS activities, and then we turned their work into a standard TIPS format in math, reading/language arts, and science for grades K-8. Any teacher can use or adapt our prototypes to match their curricula.

Overall, we know that if future teachers and practicing educators were prepared to design homework assignments to meet specific purposes—including but not limited to interactive activities—more students would benefit from the important experience of doing their homework. And more parents would, indeed, be partners in education.

Posted in Voices+Opinion

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Does homework really work?

by: Leslie Crawford | Updated: December 12, 2023

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You know the drill. It’s 10:15 p.m., and the cardboard-and-toothpick Golden Gate Bridge is collapsing. The pages of polynomials have been abandoned. The paper on the Battle of Waterloo seems to have frozen in time with Napoleon lingering eternally over his breakfast at Le Caillou. Then come the tears and tantrums — while we parents wonder, Does the gain merit all this pain? Is this just too much homework?

However the drama unfolds night after night, year after year, most parents hold on to the hope that homework (after soccer games, dinner, flute practice, and, oh yes, that childhood pastime of yore known as playing) advances their children academically.

But what does homework really do for kids? Is the forest’s worth of book reports and math and spelling sheets the average American student completes in their 12 years of primary schooling making a difference? Or is it just busywork?

Homework haterz

Whether or not homework helps, or even hurts, depends on who you ask. If you ask my 12-year-old son, Sam, he’ll say, “Homework doesn’t help anything. It makes kids stressed-out and tired and makes them hate school more.”

Nothing more than common kid bellyaching?

Maybe, but in the fractious field of homework studies, it’s worth noting that Sam’s sentiments nicely synopsize one side of the ivory tower debate. Books like The End of Homework , The Homework Myth , and The Case Against Homework the film Race to Nowhere , and the anguished parent essay “ My Daughter’s Homework is Killing Me ” make the case that homework, by taking away precious family time and putting kids under unneeded pressure, is an ineffective way to help children become better learners and thinkers.

One Canadian couple took their homework apostasy all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. After arguing that there was no evidence that it improved academic performance, they won a ruling that exempted their two children from all homework.

So what’s the real relationship between homework and academic achievement?

How much is too much?

To answer this question, researchers have been doing their homework on homework, conducting and examining hundreds of studies. Chris Drew Ph.D., founder and editor at The Helpful Professor recently compiled multiple statistics revealing the folly of today’s after-school busy work. Does any of the data he listed below ring true for you?

• 45 percent of parents think homework is too easy for their child, primarily because it is geared to the lowest standard under the Common Core State Standards .

• 74 percent of students say homework is a source of stress , defined as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss, and stomach problems.

• Students in high-performing high schools spend an average of 3.1 hours a night on homework , even though 1 to 2 hours is the optimal duration, according to a peer-reviewed study .

Not included in the list above is the fact many kids have to abandon activities they love — like sports and clubs — because homework deprives them of the needed time to enjoy themselves with other pursuits.

Conversely, The Helpful Professor does list a few pros of homework, noting it teaches discipline and time management, and helps parents know what’s being taught in the class.

The oft-bandied rule on homework quantity — 10 minutes a night per grade (starting from between 10 to 20 minutes in first grade) — is listed on the National Education Association’s website and the National Parent Teacher Association’s website , but few schools follow this rule.

Do you think your child is doing excessive homework? Harris Cooper Ph.D., author of a meta-study on homework , recommends talking with the teacher. “Often there is a miscommunication about the goals of homework assignments,” he says. “What appears to be problematic for kids, why they are doing an assignment, can be cleared up with a conversation.” Also, Cooper suggests taking a careful look at how your child is doing the assignments. It may seem like they’re taking two hours, but maybe your child is wandering off frequently to get a snack or getting distracted.

Less is often more

If your child is dutifully doing their work but still burning the midnight oil, it’s worth intervening to make sure your child gets enough sleep. A 2012 study of 535 high school students found that proper sleep may be far more essential to brain and body development.

For elementary school-age children, Cooper’s research at Duke University shows there is no measurable academic advantage to homework. For middle-schoolers, Cooper found there is a direct correlation between homework and achievement if assignments last between one to two hours per night. After two hours, however, achievement doesn’t improve. For high schoolers, Cooper’s research suggests that two hours per night is optimal. If teens have more than two hours of homework a night, their academic success flatlines. But less is not better. The average high school student doing homework outperformed 69 percent of the students in a class with no homework.

Many schools are starting to act on this research. A Florida superintendent abolished homework in her 42,000 student district, replacing it with 20 minutes of nightly reading. She attributed her decision to “ solid research about what works best in improving academic achievement in students .”

More family time

A 2020 survey by Crayola Experience reports 82 percent of children complain they don’t have enough quality time with their parents. Homework deserves much of the blame. “Kids should have a chance to just be kids and do things they enjoy, particularly after spending six hours a day in school,” says Alfie Kohn, author of The Homework Myth . “It’s absurd to insist that children must be engaged in constructive activities right up until their heads hit the pillow.”

By far, the best replacement for homework — for both parents and children — is bonding, relaxing time together.

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What Students Are Saying About Why School Absences Have ‘Exploded’

Chronic absenteeism has increased in American schools since the Covid-19 pandemic. We asked teenagers what they make of the trend.

Students walk through an outdoor breezeway at the Patti Welder Middle School in Victoria.

By The Learning Network

Nationally, an estimated 26 percent of public school students were considered chronically absent last school year, up from 15 percent before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the most recent data, from 40 states and Washington, D.C., compiled by the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute.

The increases have occurred in districts big and small, and across income and race.

In “ Why School Absences Have ‘Exploded’ Almost Everywhere ,” Sarah Mervosh and Francesca Paris explain:

The trends suggest that something fundamental has shifted in American childhood and the culture of school, in ways that may be long lasting. What was once a deeply ingrained habit — wake up, catch the bus, report to class — is now something far more tenuous. “Our relationship with school became optional,” said Katie Rosanbalm, a psychologist and associate research professor with the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University.

In a related Student Opinion question , we asked teenagers if that explanation resonated with them. Had their relationship to school — and school attendance — changed since the pandemic? And if so, what did they make of this shift?

Many students said, yes, school feels different now. Why? They pointed to remote learning changing their routines, an increase in anxiety and a decrease in motivation, the ease of making up schoolwork online and much more. Read their responses in full below.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the conversation on our writing prompts this week, including students from Central Bucks South High School in Warrington, Pa .; Norwood High School in Norwood, Mass.; and West Salem High School in Salem, Ore.

Please note: Student comments have been lightly edited for length, but otherwise appear as they were originally submitted.

Remote learning made students comfortable with missing school.

I believe that there are two main contributors to missing school too much. The first is online school. Myself included. It was very easy to simply leave the call after taking attendance and the teacher wouldn’t realize. Skipping class was easy and you could still get high grades. Transitioning back to real school, kids still held that true. They knew that they could miss school and still do well because covid taught that to them. The second reason is punishment. When you miss school, nothing happens. Class goes on and you have a little extra homework the next day but that’s it. What is the issue with missing class is a very common thought and it’s true. There is very minimal downside to missing school. When I had surgery, I missed a full week of school and within a day and a half, I was fully caught up again. Missing school has just become all too easy.

— Xavier, Pennsylvania

2020 was when our lives completely changed for the worst. We all had to stay inside and stay separate from each other. It was terrible, not being able to talk to my friends, and seeing the death toll on news constantly rise. However, after a year into the pandemic, I believe students realized the power they now had, including me. Now that I am a highschooler, I am going to admit that sometimes I would just mute my class and do whatever I wanted. School became shorter and easier to pass than ever before. That’s why when we all transitioned back into school, it was weird. We all still wanted to get through class the “easy way,” yet now that we were back, it wasn’t possible. This is why we started increasing our absences. The threat of absence has become weak, students are not as afraid to stay out of school. Furthermore the threat of being infected gave just one more reason to be out of school, for the sake of “preventing others from getting sick,” when in reality you feel fine. That is most likely why the absences in school had an exponential increase.

— Joshua, Pennsylvania

Students feel like expectations are lower than they were before the pandemic.

As a student in high school, I’ve come to realize the horrible state our attendance has been in since the pandemic. The reason can be simplified into one idea: laziness. We are lazy, willing to do only enough to get by, no more, no less. If a student doesn’t need to come to a class to obtain the grade they wish to achieve, then they won’t show up. Classes are not challenging enough to make students feel that they are worth going to. My mom is used to getting texts from me during the school day, begging to be excused from a class where “we’re doing nothing” or, “I already finished the work,” which is true, yet I abuse the opportunity to miss class because I know there will be no greater coincidence, I will still be getting an A. Due to my laziness, I would rather be at home taking a nap than sitting in a class with no greater impact on my life.

— Clara, Salem, Oregon

Since the pandemic, schooling has been focused on getting students caught up to where we’re supposed to be. Consequently, more allowances are made for students who don’t do assignments or don’t even show up. And with the switch to all online because of the pandemic, things have never shifted back. If a student misses a day or even a week, they can easily see what they missed and do it and submit it from home. With this option giving them the exact same grade as it would if they actually went to school, it’s no wonder why students are choosing to stay at home or skipping class. Additionally, the pandemic had heightened anxiety levels in students, specifically social anxiety, making them less likely to show up. The allowances made by the school district for students has created a space for students to be lazy and get away with it. This is fostering a negative impact on student work ethic not only now, but also in the future when this generation will be entering the work force.

— Emma, West Salem High School

The period of school shutdowns got students out of their school routines.

When I think back to virtual learning, my brain automatically goes to how stress free it was. I was in sixth grade when Covid first hit and going through a period of my life where I was extremely anxious at school. I believe that this break is exactly what I needed at the time. However, I do believe that in the long run, this online learning time period got a lot of people into the routine of not having a routine. A lot of people at my school would turn their camera off and fall asleep or go on their phones during online learning. I believe that there were times that I did this as well. I also think that this mindset carried through into the grades where I did not have an online/hybrid option. In eighth and ninth grade, I happened to stay home sick, go into school late, or leave early a lot. I think this is due to me not taking school as seriously due to the grading methods that were being used and how some of my teachers were not grading harshly. Now that I am a sophomore in high school, I think I have finally gotten back into the routine of actual schooling and not staying home sick unless I actually feel extremely sick.

— Madison, Pennsylvania

Before the pandemic and as I was growing up, I was the kind of student that wanted perfect attendance. For some odd reason, it made me feel like a better student if I never missed a day. This included turning my parents down when they offered me to go on trips, even though I was only in fourth grade and the work that I would have missed wouldn’t have made an impact in my academic career. However, after the pandemic school began to feel optional. We felt what it was like to fall out of the routine that going to school was and were never able to fully recover from it. I think that having experienced attending school from your bed, in your pajamas has played a major role in the current trend of students receiving more absences. For me, it made me realize that the “0” next to your number of absences didn’t matter as much as I had once thought. As a now highschooler, the school days are long and every class requires an abundance of work and undivided attention that whenever there is a substitute or not much going on, it is easy to decide to leave school. With senior year approaching, everything’s purpose is college and the fact that colleges aren’t able to see how many absences a student has when they apply, does play a role in the increasing number of absences.

— Ava, Miami Country Day School

Because assignments and other materials are online, students find they can keep up with their classes even if they don’t attend school.

Schools have adjusted rules so much that it makes school feel optional. Don’t want to attend class publicly? Take online classes. Don’t want to take “required” state testing? Opt out. Before, school seemed strict, we didn’t have the option to opt out of tests, we didn’t think of taking online school. Yet now, schools make it so easy to skip because everything is simply online. Our assignments, lectures, and teachers are all online. There are no longer requirements in school. What’s the point of attending if we can graduate without taking state testing or attending advisory — also a requirement, yet I no longer have an advisory because my counselors said I don’t need to take it to graduate. It’s confusing. Students have been enabled for over 4 years now since quarantine started. School doesn’t feel mandatory, it’s optional. I’m currently enrolled into 2 AP classes, so I try my best not to miss school. But it’s inevitable, I get sick, I have family situations or maybe I simply don’t feel like attending school. But I see people skip school like nothing. “I didn’t feel like going” is a constant statement I hear. Not many students have the motivation to attend, and simply don’t go because they have a comfort in their head that they can graduate while missing multiple days of school nearly everyday.

— Olivia, Salem, OR

Current absenteeism rates have significantly impacted my learning experience for the past few years. Since the pandemic, there has been a noticeable shift in the perception of the value of education and whether or not attendance is an important factor in a student’s academic success. In the years following 2020, I found myself struggling to make it to class everyday due to my new found efficiency of working at home with my computer. I felt that even if I was not in class personally, I would be able to keep up with my work easily as it was all online regardless. Due to this I would go on trips or skip class purely because I was under the impression that I would be able to continue achieving virtually.

— Ruby, RFHS

Before the pandemic, my attendance was stable but after the pandemic, my absences were piling on. It was difficult to get back in the rhythm of in person school when I had already done a whole year online, but now my attendance in school is definitely getting better. On the other hand, students in my school tend to miss school and it is a rare sight to see a full class. Some students go as far as showing up to class once a week and just do the classwork online. After the pandemic, schools went from paperwork to all online, which is a big reason why students miss all the time, knowing that school work can just be done at home. It has definitely affected students’ grades and goals in life, but hopefully in the future, absences can lower back down.

— Emily, Atrisco Heritage Academy High School

Going to school, and finding the motivation to have as good an attendance record as possible, now feels like more of a struggle.

As students, we’ve developed a comfort in staying in bed during school without having to get ourselves ready to go outside. We had the ability to wake up five minutes before “school” started to get on our zoom calls. Now, we must wake up an hour and a half prior, and make breakfast and pack lunch, before driving to school. The process is tenuous as the article states, but because we’ve accustomed to a different lifestyle, it just makes this one seem like so much more work. I, myself have noticed my difference in attendance after COVID-19. I used to be very obsessed with perfect attendance, but I had 11 absences in my sophomore year, right after coming back from online school. Nowadays, I’m more lenient on myself when it comes to taking a mental health day, because the process can be overwhelming. School is very important, so of course I try to always come in, but sometimes it can be hard. I have not noticed this trend in the world, as well as with myself until this article. It’s enlightening to know that this had not only an effect on me, but all over the country. Hopefully the rates of absenteeism will decrease as time goes on, because we are the future.

— Anisha, New Jersey

Before virtual learning, I never made much of a habit of not turning in work or showing up for class. It was so much easier then but since virtual learning, it had become incredibly difficult for me to focus as well as keep up motivation to continue school. It was easy to skip and nobody really said much about it so it easily became a bad habit. That bad habit eventually leaked into normal school as well and it always sounds so much easier to break out of than it actually is.

— Tayy, NRHS

As the average high school class skipper (only sometimes), in my personal experience, missing out on classes hasn’t really been because of mental health concerns, but more of just lasting laziness from the pandemic. I feel as though I was relatively hard working in middle school/elementary but after a few years off with only half effort assignments, I have grown to become more sluggish and reluctant when it comes to more advanced work while in school. And it makes the option of missing out on classes because of my own reluctance a lot more appealing.

— Luke, Bali, Indonesia

My schedule during the week is get up, get ready for school, go to school, go home, do homework, go to sleep and then I repeat that everyday for 5 days. As much as I don’t want to dread going to school, it’s exhausting having the same schedule repeated everyday of the week. While in school, you have assignments assigned nearly everyday. I feel as though school has had a change in its meaning because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While in quarantine, we were looking at a screen for the whole day and lacked motivation to get assignments done. When we shifted to in person school again, it didn’t change. I now look at school as a task that I need to complete to shape my future. I need to have all my assignments perfect and turned in on time. The meaning of school has turned into a draining task rather than a place that you look forward to going to.

— Jamisan, Salem, Oregon

Some students face challenges in attending class that may have nothing to do with the pandemic.

I don’t believe that students are skipping because it is so easy to catch up and pass, despite their absences. In fact, I know that a lot of people who skip aren’t passing most of their classes. They do this because their parents don’t hold them accountable, and there is always something deeper going on in that student’s life that makes it that much harder for them to find the motivation to go to class. I don’t think making the classes harder will hold students more accountable, but in fact deter them from going to class at all. If a student is aware that they are failing and doesn’t understand the concept of the class, and the class proceeds to become harder, they are going to quickly become unmotivated to go to class in the first place, feeling out of place compared to the other — passing — students in the class. While I don’t have a solution for this problem, myself, I feel that the problem is much broader than we suspect, and the answer will be a much deeper journey to find.

— Kylie, West Salem HS

Schools can do more to get students back in class.

I attend a French school in London and attendance is closely monitored. Absences have to be justified by your parents or you could get into trouble. I think it’s important to attend school as we did before Covid - because as well as learning the curriculum, it is crucial to socialise with your friends and classmates, which is good for your mental health … I wonder if social media could be a factor? If students did not have access to social media or the internet, would they prefer to be in school with their friends? This increase in absenteeism could affect students’ chances of getting into University when they come to finish school or even their opportunities later in life. Students need to be reminded of this more and more perhaps. School helps you to learn not just about facts but also helps to build your emotional quotient & social intelligence — which are all valuable for life.

— Alexandre 14, London

As a current high school junior, my experiences with skipping have been minimal at best, however, I feel strongly that the reason behind skipping is pretty simple. Students don’t care as much about school and the system encourages it. When faced with the choice of sitting in a class and learning about the Patagorian theorem or hanging out with friends, many students are now choosing the latter. The lack of care or effort being put forth in school doesn’t even affect their grades! This is due to certain classes having minimal grades set at 50%, which is 10% away from a pass. This system is actively encouraging people to put minimal effort into a class just to get a pass and graduate. Removing courses like this would certainly raise the importance of getting the work done. Another solution to this problem would be having attendance as a grade, if your grade depends on you being in classes then most would show up. If you have to show up to class to pass then more students would be inclined to do so. The emphasis is on not bending the knee to people who don’t want to show up to class, not giving them a minimal 50%, we should mark attendance for a passing grade, and letting them fail. If we keep letting students skip with minimal consequences then their attitudes won’t change and thus hinder our students’ growth.

— Henry, Salem, OR

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Published: 02 April 2024

Discrepancies in academic perceptions of climate change and implications for climate change education

Marcellus Forh Mbah ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4199-0819 1

npj Climate Action volume 3 , Article number: 24 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Climate change is arguably the most severe threat faced by humanity today. In an attempt to understand how humanity can manage this phenomenon for planetary health, it is fundamental to have an understanding of what it is. This aligns with a critical gap in the extant literature, that is, how different perceptions of climate change among facilitators of learning (in this case, academics) can enable the establishment of a framework of critical consciousness that could boost climate change education and contribute to climate change management. To this end, the study that underpins this paper set out to capture the perceptions of climate change among a selection of academics at a local university in Cameroon. Following a comprehensive analysis of the data, different views on the subject emerged, aligning with scientific, observational, and cultural definitions. Drawing on theoretical insights into critical consciousness, the findings of this study have wider implications for climate change education at universities. A framework is suggested to support educators as they foster critical thinking among learners, as this can facilitate their ability and the wider community to make informed decisions on mitigation and adaptation strategies in light of climate change and the threats it carries.

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Marcellus F. Mbah, Ayesha Shingruf & Petra Molthan-Hill

Introduction

Climate change is a global issue posing unprecedented threats to populations around the world. Its impacts are felt severely on vulnerable regions and populations, as well as in contexts such as agriculture and the wider environment. Despite this, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reveals that governments are ill prepared for climate change, and that they lack immediate plans to limit global temperatures below 1.5 °C 1 . To tackle this threat, governments must introduce effective and efficient mitigation and adaptation strategies that help communities move forward responsibly. One of the key measures for adaptation and mitigation is through the fostering of climate change education (CCE) which endows people with relevant knowledge and helps them make informed decisions as they understand climate variability, natural and anthropogenic causes, and the impacts of climate change 2 , 3 , 4 . Previous studies are a testament to this claim as various scholars have demonstrated the importance of integrating CCE into different levels of education to ensure that communities become climate resilient 2 , 5 , 6 , 7 .

To implement successful programs on CCE, it is necessary for educators to have a well-founded explanation and a logical insight into what climate change is about 2 , 3 . There are existing definitions of climate change, such as it being conceived as a distribution over time for constant external conditions (such as solar radiation), and distribution over time where external conditions vary, and other definitions that look at the atmosphere or change in weather statistics over many decades 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 . Such changes that characterize climate change are often due to anthropogenic activities, such as deforestation and burning of fossil fuels, leading to CO2, greenhouse gas emissions and a rise in ocean, land, and atmospheric temperatures 12 , 13 .

Although there are recent extant studies on climate change in the educational context 3 , 14 , 15 , 16 , little is known about how climate change is defined among academics from different disciplinary backgrounds working in higher educational institutions and associated with teaching environmentally related subjects. It is significant to address this for two main reasons: 1) many university academics are at the forefront of empowering young people with a relevant knowledge base to confront climate change, and 2) it is essential to ascertain whether CCE can benefit from varied insights from academics on what climate change represents, or if it would be a cause of confusion among learners. This paper sets out to highlight discrepancies in climate change perception among a group of academics and discusses the implications of these diverse opinions for CCE.

Currently, there is not enough data or evidence to support a uniform definition of climate change among academics. There are studies that discuss perceptions of climate change in different contexts. For example, a study conducted in public and private schools and colleges in Bangladesh indicates that teachers are generally aware of the term climate change 17 , but there is a difference in opinion on temperatures as they relate to the phenomenon. It elaborates that most private school teachers believe temperatures are rising, whereas most public school teachers believe that they are merely fluctuating. On the other hand, findings in the study suggest that respondents overall agree that extreme weather events such as floods, cyclones, and droughts are occurring more frequently due to climate change. Another study finds that many informal educators are well informed about climate change, but there are some who find it difficult to keep up with the scientific information relating to the subject 18 . In the United States, for instance, a study on high school teachers’ perceptions demonstrates they believe that pesticides, aerosols, and nuclear energy contribute significantly towards climate change 19 . Elsewhere, in Norway, pre-service science teachers who have entered the education sector from their prior engagements with the oil industry have a high prevalence of climate change scepticism 20 . This study reveals that owing to their associations with the oil industry, these teachers are less likely to acknowledge the human factors influencing climate change. Eilam 21 posits that “the limited conceptualization of climate change by educators is one of the main problems leading to its poor representation in school education”. Furthermore, a misdefinition of climate change may not only have consequences for policy decisions 22 and human actions 23 but also education on the subject.

Although the examples above showcase teachers’ perceptions on climate change across different levels of education, there is an identifiable gap in how climate change is understood by academics in universities. Higher education has an immediate role to play in providing key skills for climate change mitigation and adaptation 3 , 16 . Therefore, this paper presents a study on how this concept is understood in academic contexts, and in doing so, fills an important gap in the extant literature. It achieves this aim by examining the perceptions of the term “climate change” among a selection of academics from a local university in Cameroon, before considering the wider implications for CCE.

Theoretical framework: theory of critical consciousness

This paper sets its foundation in Freire’s theory of critical consciousness to discuss the ways in which academics can gain an in-depth understanding of a subject, as well as encourage their students to think and interpret information critically within the framework of knowledge co-creation. Freire defined critical consciousness as a “requirement of our human condition” (24, p. 55). He elaborated that to have a true consciousness, individuals must portray a deep curiosity to reexamine experiences and information that exist as facts in our society. He further explained that individuals will break free from oppressive roles when they confront such biases and the unconscious acceptance of the status quo 24 , 25 . Consequently, critical consciousness is a learning process by which people can “take action against the oppressive elements of reality” (Ref. 26 , p. 4). Therefore, critical education is a key means of elevating not just educators, but also young people, from receivers of standardized knowledge to active participants in change and transformation. In this context, the lecture hall can be seen as a space for co-created learning and teaching, whereby there is no hegemony of knowledge and a plurality of insights are encouraged 27 , 28 , 29 . Through this, educators can also avoid the “banking model” of education 30 where they are seen as the custodian of authentic knowledge and students are only regarded as empty vessels for the imparting of information. This is consistent with the notion of engaged pedagogy, whereby, according to hooks (Ref. 31 , p. 202), “students and teachers celebrate their abilities to think critically.” So, then, it is not just the story or ideas of the learner that needs interrogating but also that of the educator 31 , as both learn, unlearn, and relearn.

For the purposes of CCE, critical consciousness can entail a framework of analytically examining and evaluating climate change issues, adaptation, and mitigation measures. Both educators and learners can achieve a deeper understanding of their realities as they relate to climate change and participate in solutions that are context-specific and holistic in nature. This will not only be seen as empowering with a context of freedom 32 but can also help create climate-resilient communities as knowledge diffuses, leading to behavioral changes and relevant practices. Moreover, for groups that are already dominant in our society – such as professional educators – critical consciousness calls for a necessary insight into one’s position in society and role in reinforcing power dynamics and social hierarchy 33 . Therefore, this theory underscores the key potential among both educators and students for their active involvement in implementing a successful CCE program.

Contextual background

This study was conducted at a local university in Cameroon, located in one of the two English-speaking regions of the country and made up of Faculties which include Arts; Health Sciences, Education; Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Science; Engineering and Technology, and Social and Management Sciences. The student population is over 12,000, with a diversified staff of about 600 (that is, permanent and part-time).

As climate change is expected to hit hardest on the more vulnerable countries around the world, it is important that Cameroon’s practices on climate mitigation and adaptation reflect a comprehensive approach to managing disasters and challenges. The country is home to a vast area of Congo Basin’s tropical rainforests. With more than 40% of Cameroon’s land being covered by dense rainforests, it can play a crucial role in adapting to climate change across Africa 34 , 35 . However, this immense natural land is threatened by deforestation and unsustainable agricultural practices 36 . A recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 35 further suggests that degradation of the African tropics could have major consequences on rainfall patterns, impacting agriculture and temperatures in the region.

Agriculture is the backbone of the economy of Cameroon, employing up to 70% of the economically active population 37 . This figure suggests that agriculture is crucial for poverty reduction and the development of Cameroon. However, the dependence on rain-fed agriculture disproportionately affects farmers in Cameroon who are experiencing climate variability. Therefore, it is important that the country is prepared to tackle the challenges and risks that are brought on. CCE has the potential to equip communities with the knowledge and tools needed to mitigate or adapt to climate change. In Cameroon, where the vast population is involved in the agriculture sector, it becomes increasingly important that relevant information is communicated to students during learning sessions, for the management of related vulnerabilities to climate change.

This study employed a qualitative case study approach and data was collected by interviewing academics from a variety of disciplines, including Environmental Science, Education, Agricultural Economics, Social and Management Science, Forestry, Water Resource Management, Gender and Development, Petroleum Geology, Plant Protection, and Geography, and they all had a teaching and research responsibility. In particular, semi-structured interviews were employed as it provided participants with the latitude to articulate their thoughts more freely when compared to structured interviews. An interview guide was used to ask questions to 38 academics at the university who were recruited via a combination of purposive, snowball and opportunistic sampling techniques. These questions focused on: 1) vulnerability to climate change, 2) education for climate change adaptation, and 3) policies and practices that support climate change education in the country. While a set of questions was asked as part of a broader study, this paper is concerned with the following fundamental line of inquiry: What is your understanding or definition of climate change? The in depth semi-structured interviews were audio recorded and later transcribed. Participants consented to take part in the study, which is consistent with the ethical protocol that guided the process. The data captured and analyzed reveal a plethora of views on climate change.

Data analysis

Thematic analysis was used to examine and interpret the data collected in the study. Widely used in qualitative research, this method of analysis provides flexible approaches to identifying patterns and themes 38 . According to Braun and Clarke 39 , thematic analysis helps to systematically interpret and organize patterns across a dataset so that collective and shared experiences can be reported. It is important for the purposes of this paper that interviews collected are analysed to address meaningful insights into education for climate change adaptation. While there are various ways to conduct a thematic analysis, the six-step approach described by Braun and Clarke 40 was chosen as appropriate for this study, given its systematic approach, straightforward application, and relevance. These steps are getting familiar with the data, generating initial codes, searching for themes, reviewing themes, defining, and naming themes, and producing the report 40 .

First, the transcripts of the interviews were read and reread, and initial notes were taken to highlight participants’ views and experiences. This stage involved reading the transcripts critically and using techniques such as annotations and comments to deepen the understanding of the dataset. After this, coding was carried out manually, and data was broken down into specific labels if it was consistent with the research questions outlined in the interview guide. Using what Braun and Clarke 40 described as a latent level of analysis, this phase of coding also extracted underlying ideas in the transcripts. Next, the coded data were examined to identify broader patterns and similarities, and themes were constructed by grouping codes that shared specific characteristics. During this process, participants’ quotations and experiences that were relevant to the codes were collated below their respective themes. By isolating such examples and stories, this phase ensured a comprehensive understanding of the content of the data and guaranteed that the results reflected a coherent analysis 40 . In line with the fourth and fifth step, the themes were reviewed to confirm that they were logical and consistent with the subject of the research and were carefully assigned names 41 . Once this was completed, the data was re-read once again to make certain that the themes finalized were meaningfully capturing the aims of the research overall. The following section discusses the findings as they relate to the questions asked on the definition of climate change. Where participants have been quoted, pseudonyms were used.

A deep insight into the interviews reveals that many academics conceptualize climate change differently from one another. While there are a few commonalities in the way some academics define climate change, it has generally not been defined using a set of similar characteristics or concepts relating to the subject. Therefore, there is a variety of views on what climate change constitutes. As this paper cannot share each participant’s responses on the definition or their understanding of climate change, the findings have been grouped into three main themes. These include climate change being defined as 1 : long-term changes in climatic conditions, measured or felt over several years, which have been presented under “climate variation over a long period of time” 2 ; climate change defined as a shift in weather conditions and/or the irregularity of climate parameters, which is discussed under “changes in weather patterns”; and 3 a shift from the natural course of the environment to rapid changes and the occurrence of global warming, which have been termed “changes in the natural environment.”

Climate variation over a long period of time

Many participants in the study viewed climate change as long-term changes in weather conditions and climate parameters such as rainfall and temperature. Respondents agreed that such changes occurred over a long period of time. One participant stated such a time to be between two to three decades:

“Climate change refers to changes in climate or one of the weather variables that goes on for a long period of time. Principally, what we refer to as climate change is usually associated to a significant change in temperature and rainfall parameters. The changes in such parameters that go on for a long time, spanning two or three decades, is what we call climate change.” – MOW (Lecturer in Environmental Science).

Similarly, another participant responded by suggesting the changes felt in the levels of intensity of hot and cold weather over decades is what constitutes climate change:

“When you have the weather of a place and you measure that for more than 30 years, you have its climate. Hence the change in climate will be the average change of what you have been observing. For example, if you put the elements of weather together and you measure that consistently for more than a decade, you have the climate. And, when you start seeing average changes in the degree of hotness or coldness within those decades then you can think of it as climate change.” – FOB (Lecturer in Education)

While some respondents resolutely understood climate change to mean variations measured over several decades, others gave no specific duration of time but still agreed it was a “long-term” change felt or measured in the environment. This is represented by one such participant who claims: “Climate change, I will say, is the variation in climatic parameters such as rainfall, humidity and sunshine over time and must not be confused with the weather which simply is the state of the climatic parameter. Climate change is usually recorded in the long-term such that we can evaluate the changes and variation of such parameters over time.” – JOA (Assistant Lecturer in Agricultural Economics).

An interesting theme that emerges is that many participants insist we must separate climate change from climate variability. In doing so, many academics compared the two terms considering the duration of years specific to each phenomenon. Some academics defined climate variation as a change in climate measured over a shorter period, while climate change was referred to as a shift measured over 30 years. The participant below looks at climate variation as changes occurring within 5 years:

“I think climate change refers to general change in the climatic conditions of the environment and it might be associated to general changes in temperature, weather, rain falls and changes in seasons. And I think when it is less than 5 years, we talk of climate variation and not climate change.” – NOV (Lecturer in Social and Management Science)

Another participant also shared the difference between the two phenomena: “Well, climate change is a change in temperatures and rainfall over a period which is not less than 30 or 25 years. However, below this we have climate variability, and this could be associated to cyclic movements, such as variations in weather patterns within a period of 5 to 10 years. But then this does not mean that the climate is changing.” – NOK (Lecturer, Forest and Environment).

Climate change as a concept occurring over 30 years of time, and climate vulnerability as a seasonal shift in weather conditions, was suggested by a different academic: “Climate change could be defined as a change in the weather conditions of a particular place for a long period of time. On average, this could be about 30 years. However, we also have what is known as climate vulnerability which is the change in the weather conditions seasonally or maybe within a year or two years.” – ROM (Lecturer, Water Resource Management).

The interviews presented a thoughtful understanding as some academics had strong beliefs about the specific time and duration needed to refer to climate change. The variety of knowledge on climate change’s definition does not end here, as many academics perceived it simply as changes in weather patterns. These findings are discussed in the following section.

Changes in weather patterns

Climate change has also been described as shifts in weather conditions and the unpredictability surrounding parameters such as humidity, rainfall, and temperatures. As one respondent simply puts it: “I think we can just associate it [climate change] with changes in temperature, changes in rainfall and humidity.” – NOA (Lecturer, Applied Economics).

However, there are other participants who go beyond this definition and talk about the consequences of these shifts manifesting into larger problems for communities such as droughts and famines. One participant explains:

“I can say that from my own understanding based on my personal experiences, climate change refers to fluctuations in climate. This has resulted in impacts like drought, floods, famine, and harsh weather conditions.” – AOJ (Lecturer, Gender and Development)

Another participant elaborates on their experiences living in a locality and witnessing how life has been altered due to climate change:

“Climate change is the change of the weather conditions like temperature, pressure, precipitation, and moisture over time. In 2011, when I came to this locality, places were very cold, but later, my first indicator for climate change was when I saw people buying fans. With time places in this locality have become very hot.” – OOT (Lecturer, Geography)

Indeed, the impact of extreme weather events is drastically felt in Cameroon. For a country that is so heavily reliant on its agricultural produce, this irregularity in weather patterns causes increased stress upon farmers and local communities. One academic notes:

“Most of our streams have dried off and our crops do not grow the same way as they did in the past. In essence we can consider a combination of one or more of these experiences to denote climate change. The two main aspects of climate change that I have worked on include rainfall and temperature changes. Rainfall pattern is becoming very irregular. The periods rain used to fall have changed, and we also have concerning temperatures. The records of the CDC, Delmonte farms and other weather stations at the University show that there have been on a rise in temperature in the past decade.” – AOT (Lecturer, Agricultural Economics)

Still, there are other respondents who viewed climate change as a shift from the normal way of life in the past and mentioned contextual changes in their environment in Cameroon. These impacts of climate change, as discussed by academics below, became a crucial factor in how they understood this global threat.

Changes in the natural environment due to anthropogenic activities

Often associated with human activities, for example the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, climate change is understood as a shift in the way the environment naturally reacts to rapid or extreme activities, and which sometimes has repercussions due to the way of life of community dwellers. One participant explains it comprehensively:

“It is the alteration in the aspect of the conventional aspect of how the world evolved to have some standard that is compatible for human life and hence, it is the change from that normal standard of the environment. This is because of human activities and even some natural processes which is not conducive to human habitation. In other words, we can say that the environment has been corrupted, regardless if that corruption is by natural activities or man-made.” – HOE (Senior Lecturer, Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology)

Despite extreme weather events brought on due to climate change, some participants expressed some positive impacts of increased temperatures on a segment of the agricultural sector. One academic discusses this in light of climate change’s contribution to the increase in crop yield:

“The climate as we know it, is changing at a rate that it is not supposed to. Now you may have some phenomenon like it becomes hotter in some regions, for example, in some of our villages, there are some crops that used to do well only in forest areas, but we discovered that they are now growing even in the grass field because the temperature has changed.” – COA (Lecturer, Petroleum Geology)

However, many respondents stand firmly on their understanding of climate change as a system exacerbated due to anthropogenic activities. Many participants agree that climatic conditions have accelerated because of human activities and that they are further worsening the habitats of plants and animal species:

“There has been a consistent increase in global temperatures, and this is due to a lot of anthropogenic activities for example burning of fossil fuels, destruction of forests and environmental pollutions that have speed up temperature rise. The ripple effect is that sea levels are rising, the ice is melting, and we are seeing some [animal and plant] species going extinct. We are also experiencing more wildfires and drought. A brief understanding of climate change is that things are no longer how they used to be; human activities have caused temperature increases, and globally this has resulted in the rise of sea levels and so on.” – TOA (Lecturer, Plant Protection)

One academic also related climate change to global warming, referring to increased levels of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere:

“What we understand today by climate change is global warming and this global warming is more because of anthropogenic factors rather than natural forces. We have a lot of greenhouse gases from industrial activities and from agricultural activities, and deforestation which is reducing nature capacity to absorb carbon dioxides. All of these are contributing to increase the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that are trapping outgoing radiation in the atmosphere and then sending them back to the earth surface leading to climate change.” – TOE (Lecturer, Geography and Governance)

It is evident that academics in this study have a deep understanding of climate change; however, their perceptions of the phrase climate change bring forth varying concepts and explanations. Some of these are rooted in science, and others are rooted in cultural contexts and insightful observations. Moreover, their definitions offer a unique analysis of the local experiences, as many respondents discussed the impacts and consequences of extreme weather events on agriculture and the environment. In the next section, we delve into a deeper discussion of the perceptions of climate change from a wider perspective, bringing together views and opinions on the subject as explored in the extant literature.

The findings present key insights into academic perceptions of climate change. While academics in the study have a comprehensive understanding of the causes, drivers and impacts of climate change, the questioning asked for their own definition of the subject. This resulted in many academics relating climate change to its scientific explanations, those related to the rise in temperatures and the influence of human activities on the environment 11 , 12 , 42 . Meanwhile, others provided a more contextual focus, discussing the impacts of climate change on local groups and communities around them. The latter explanations were elaborated in more detail by the academics who related to climate change as a change in weather patterns and a change due to anthropogenic activities as captured above 11 , 13 . These participants looked at the consequences of extreme weather events on sectors such as agriculture and natural habitats. In sum, the following three themes are drawn from the findings and discussed below:

Climate Change Perceptions Aligning with Climate Science.

Climate Change Perceptions as a Reflection of Cultural Contexts and Observations.

Implications for Climate Change Education.

Firstly, the perception of climate change that hinge on science can be contextualized in the extant literature and relevant policy documents. For instance, the IPCC defines climate change as “a change in the state of the climate that can be identified… by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period” 43 . This understanding is reinforced in the findings of the data, where many academics refer to the long-term factor of climate change and the variations in different weather patterns. As the findings reveal, many academics mentioned measuring or observing changes in the natural state of the environment for periods ranging between 20 to 30 years as an indication of the onset of climate change. Moreover, this specific reference to the time period was elaborated upon by various other academics who differentiated between climate change and climate variability or seasonal disparities. Such responses were rooted in climate science, restating the definitions provided by the IPCC. While there is no consensus on the exact time duration of changes in certain parameters such as the emission of greenhouse gases, global average temperatures or rising of global sea levels to define climate change, the extant literature generally highlights a protracted time range, which can span many decades 11 , 12 , 44 . It was not the intention of the study to unpack the veracity of the claims advanced by different authors on the science that underpins climate change but to examine different understandings in an attempt to promote a space for critical engagement. However, the responses given by participants emphasizing human activities and their consequences for global temperatures reflect scientific advances in the field of climate change 12 , 42 , 45 . The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report explains how human influence has been a main driver of climate change since the 1800s due to activities like the burning of fossil fuels 46 . Participants discussed deep concern for these activities and viewed climate change with regards to the disruptions caused in the environment due to human advancements.

Other participants provided accounts of how climate change has impacted human lives and the natural environment of Cameroon. Observing effects on streams, rivers and agricultural activities, these participants viewed climate change as a cause of vulnerability. Indeed, the relationship between climate change and vulnerability has been discussed in the past. Schipper and Pelling 47 discuss how climate change slows down the development process in countries as disasters result in the loss of infrastructure and livelihoods. Similarly, climate change has hampered progress towards the realization of the SDGs 4 , 48 , 49 . In light of this, the perception of climate change as a factor that increases global vulnerability is undeniable. Embedding this subject in CCE could enhance the role of educators in raising awareness and stimulating an engaged citizenry into mitigating the risks associated with climate change or adapting to its adverse consequences.

Secondly, climate change perceptions as a reflection of cultural contexts and observations can be examined closely. While climate change and its impacts are of the utmost relevance and importance around the world, some perceptions are rooted in personal experiences that include observations of local communities and the impact of certain varying conditions on our livelihood and the natural environment. From the data gathered, we can see that many participants understand the term from the changes they experience or observe around them – for example, risks to local plants and animal species, the impact of prolonged hot temperatures on certain crop production, and the infrastructural damage due to flooding and heatwaves.

Climate itself is often viewed as a statistical phenomenon, one that averages the weather conditions of a particular region 50 . Perhaps because of this, there are expectations for climate change to be understood using a similar approach, such as those including references to meteorology, or reliable trends in weather patterns. Therefore, perceptions of climate change that are derived from observations and personal experiences may be neglected in the development of climate change education. Indeed, it has been argued in the past that observations are connected to time and the memory associated with past events can be faulty, including anomalies associated with the measurement or observation of the planet’s temperature 11 , 23 , 51 . However, various behavioral researchers have concluded that perceptions shaped by personal experiences involve associative and affective processes that capture the learner’s attention 52 , 53 . Such an approach to understanding climate change is more reflective and these local contexts bring more meaning to adaptation strategies.

As academics are leading climate knowledge in higher education, and disseminating information on this subject, it is important to discuss how their understanding of the subject can translate into CCE. The data in this study gives us an opportunity to discuss whether the diversity of opinions on climate change among academics can foster learning and understanding on the subject or whether it will cause or exacerbate ambiguity on the part of students.

Thirdly, implications of different perceptions of climate change for climate change education abound. Freire’s theory of critical consciousness helps us move towards a deeper analysis of our education systems. Keeping the different perceptions of climate change among academics in focus, a holistic CCE framework will allow students and educators to critically analyze and observe the causes, impacts and solutions for this global crisis. Certainly, the inclusion of local challenges in Cameroon is beneficial for students in universities as they learn to engage in dialogues with their educators, and reform mitigation and adaptation strategies. This exchange of knowledge reflects a critical approach to education as identified by Freire 26 . It also opens space for both educators and learners to gain contextual knowledge on the processes and impacts of climate change. This brings opportunities for efficient responses to climate change education because the disruption of hierarchal systems in teaching and learning generates an opportunity for critical pedagogies and valuable knowledge 26 , 32 , 54 .

In addition to this, the emphasis placed on the scientific knowledge and reasoning behind the advent of climate change by academics is a useful guide for all educators on implementing CCE in their classes. Climate change has been understood using different approaches in the past. However, areas of natural sciences, meteorology, atmospheric sciences, and oceanography have been working consistently to study and disseminate information on the subject 55 . By bringing multi-disciplinary approaches into CCE, we can look forward to a “collective human action” that aims to bring normalcy around the earth, and to minimize damages 56 . Without a doubt, the teachings of climate change rooted in scientific information act as a valuable approach to encourage the social action needed to combat this threat. Educational institutions may find it useful to implement the different perspectives of climate change into their CCE programs and examine how their students benefit from an integrated and interactive framework, illustrated by Fig. 1 .

The three thematic dimensions of climate change education touch on observations, depicted with the symbol of a magnifying lens; cultural knowledge, depicted with the symbol of a leaf, and climate science, depicted with the symbol of intersectionality.

The framework suggested in Figure One brings to the fore the three thematic dimensions associated with how the research participants perceived climate change, notably as a scientific, cultural, or observable phenomenon. These different dimensions of understanding climate change, as discussed by academics in this paper, constitute practical elements that can be captured within a successful CCE program. Collectively, they also represent multidisciplinary perspectives whose integration can help in the development and advancement of solutions to climate change 55 , 57 . It can be argued that advancing insights on climate change should not solely be focused on scientific knowledge but also on the associated local challenges and impacts upon communities, as well as the broader socio-economic issues faced at a global scale due to the crisis. Therefore, a successful CCE program must incorporate scientific knowledge, cultural insights and local contexts that are observable, which can include field visits or placement activities (see Fig. 1 ). This will shape a holistic understanding of the subject as educators promote critical consciousness by engaging students in processes that engender critical reflection, as they probe timely adaptation and mitigation strategies for communities. This framework is supported by a previous study that concludes perceptions of climate change are shaped by different elements, including personal experiences and statistical models 50 . Knowledge of climate change may not only be constructed in the classroom via the guidance of educators who possess scientific insights but can also include cultural and place-based elements contextualized in field visits. Promoting an engaged or experiential pedagogy, whereby students undertake placement opportunities or field trips, can provide contexts where certain assumptions are challenged by the realities on the ground or lived experiences of people in the local community, which can then help to guide solutions for adaptations or mitigation that are context-specific and pragmatic in their approach.

CCE, which involves diverse perceptions and opinions on climate change, supported by scientific insights, cultural knowledge, and observation (as illustrated by Fig. 1 ), can also use critical and analytical means to derive useful knowledge on a climate-related phenomenon. For educators, this can mean teaching students to transgress the boundaries that confine them to narrow insights and embrace multiple ontologies on climate change, as this can offer pathways to contribute to new approaches or hypotheses for mitigation and adaptation 58 . Such a pedagogical approach can benefit from wider and more comprehensive information for critical engagement as opposed to a uniform perspective on climate change, which may be heavily Eurocentric or Westernized and devoid of cultural and indigenous insights which are relatable.

In conclusion, climate change is arguably the most severe threat faced by humanity today. To highlight how humanity can manage this phenomenon for adequate planetary health, it is fundamental to understand what it is. To this end, the study that underpins this paper set out to capture the perceptions of climate change among a selection of academics at a local university in Cameroon. As CCE is becoming a vital tool to build the capacity of present and future generations towards sustainable climate actions 2 , 3 , 59 , the perception of academics who may be considered facilitators of learning on the subject can present a starting point for critical reflection, deeper understanding or even knowledge management 60 .

The thematic analysis of the data captured depicted different views about climate change expressed by the participants. While some participants perceived climate change as climate variation over a long period of time, some suggested it was changes in weather patterns and others pointed to changes in the natural environment because of anthropogenic activities. It can be argued that these findings aligned to elements of climate science, cultural contexts, and observations. Drawing on Freire’s insight into critical consciousness, the findings of this study have implications for climate change education at universities. A framework has been proposed to aid educators in their attempt to foster an engaged pedagogy with the effect of engendering critical thinking as they collectively (with learners) attempt to define the subject. Any definition of climate change arising from critical consciousness in a learning community must be inclusive and relatable. The attendant consequence of this is that it can facilitate the ability of both educators and learners to make informed decisions on mitigation and adaptation in light of climate change and the threat multiplying effects it carries.

A key shortcoming of this study is the fact that it drew from a single case study, which limits generalization. However, the paper fills a critical gap in the extant literature on how different perceptions of climate change among educators can enable the establishment of an impactful framework that could boost climate change education, contribute to critical consciousness, and appropriate actions. The study’s original contribution lies in the proposed framework for climate education that draws on the interaction between the dimensions of science, culture, and human observation.

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to extend his heartfelt appreciation to colleagues in Cameroon for their invaluable contributions to the data collection process, as well as Ayesha Shingruf for her vital inputs on the initial draft.

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Mbah, M.F. Discrepancies in academic perceptions of climate change and implications for climate change education. npj Clim. Action 3 , 24 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44168-024-00105-5

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Nearly Half of Educators Say Climate Change Is Affecting Their Schools—or Will Soon

One in 4 teachers, principals, and district leaders say that climate change is impacting their school or district to some extent. And an additional 18 percent say that while their district has not yet been affected by climate change, they believe it poses an imminent threat, according to a nationally representative survey of educators by the EdWeek Research Center.

The survey responses, taken in February, give a rare look into educator attitudes toward climate change and its impact on their school communities. School buildings across the country have been destroyed or forced to close in response to wildfires, extreme heat, and flooding due to hurricanes. These more severe and frequent natural disasters, which have been linked to climate change, affect students’ learning and physical and mental health.

Even so, 8 percent of educators in EdWeek’s nationally-representative online survey of 960 respondents said they do not believe climate change is real. (In comparison, 14 percent of Americans don’t believe global warming is happening, according to a 2021 summary of public opinion surveys from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.) The vast majority of climate scientists and peer-reviewed scientific studies on climate change agree that humans are the driving cause of rising global temperatures, which are altering weather patterns and causing sea levels to rise.

Composite image of school building and climate change protestors.

But most school districts have not taken any action in the past five years to prepare for more severe weather related to climate change, according to 84 percent of principals and district leaders surveyed by the EdWeek Research Center.

The reasons? The most cited, by 36 percent of school and district leaders, was that their campuses are located in areas that they don’t expect to be severely impacted by climate change in the near future.

Many educators also pointed to concerns that senior district leaders, school board members, and the broader community would be resistant to taking action—either because people don’t believe climate change is real or that it is not an immediate threat. There are also many more immediate crises competing for school and district leaders’ attention: the ongoing pandemic, student mental health, catching students up academically, and charged debates over how race and LGBTQ issues should be taught in schools—to name just a few. Not all district leaders or other stakeholders are convinced climate change is an area districts should be spending their limited time and resources on.

“One of the things that jumped out at me, a lot of people indicate that they are scared of working on these issues because of a fear of people being dismissive of them,” said Laura Schifter, a senior fellow at the Aspen Institute, leading the organization’s K-12 climate action initiative, who was not involved in EdWeek’s survey. But, she said, she’s encouraged by the fact that educators themselves are not dismissive of the effects climate change will have on their school communities.

When asked for their personal views on the impact of climate change on their district or school, 16 percent of teachers, principals, and district leaders said that climate change has already had a mild effect, while 7 percent said they have seen a moderate effect. Two percent said climate change has already had a severe effect on their district or school.

Larger shares of respondents said although they believe climate change is real, they didn’t think it would impact their district in the foreseeable future (15 percent) or that climate change was unlikely to impact their district because of where it was located (25 percent).

That perception, that climate change will only affect some geographic areas and not others, hints at a misunderstanding of how changing weather patterns will affect our interconnected world, said Schifter.

“Thinking about how climate change is going to impact schools is broader than just the impact of extreme weather on that school,” she said.

For example, extreme weather in other parts of the country could lead to students being displaced, which will affect the schools that take them in, Schifter said. It will also change the economy and what kinds of jobs will be in demand in the future.

“As we start to think about the jobs that will be needed—whether that’s jobs around clean energy or jobs around what’s needed for adaptation or, frankly, emergency management—our school systems need to keep up to ensure that they’re providing students the skills they need to be successful in those jobs,” she said.

What schools are doing to prep for climate change

Overall, schools and districts are putting more of their energy toward reacting to the effects of climate change than in efforts to reduce their carbon footprints.

Nearly half of principals and district leaders said their campuses had invested in infrastructure to support remote instruction when, or if, severe weather does not allow for in-person classes, while 43 percent say they have upgraded school buildings to better withstand severe weather.

“The investment in infrastructure to promote remote instruction—that seems it’s totally reactive to the pandemic. Ultimately, what the pandemic has highlighted is that we need to build more resilience to prepare for disruption,” said Schifter. “I think it’s encouraging that in [educators’] response to climate change, there was an acknowledgement of the fact that what they have done with COVID is helping them prepare for extreme weather related to climate change.”

Haley Williams, left, and Amiya Cox hold a sign together and chant while participating in a "Global Climate Strike" at the Experiential School of Greensboro in Greensboro, N.C., on Friday, Sept. 20, 2019. Across the globe hundreds of thousands of young people took the streets Friday to demand that leaders tackle climate change in the run-up to a U.N. summit.

Large shares of principals and district leaders said their campuses had taken climate change into account when developing emergency response plans (22 percent) and facilities plans (30 percent).

Among other preparations:

Thirty-nine percent of principals and district leaders said their campuses had started using energy-efficient appliances, and 17 percent said their school or district has invested in sustainable energy sources such as solar or wind power.
Thirteen percent said their district had developed a strategic plan related to climate change.
Another 13 percent said their school or district had taken steps to reduce their carbon footprint through efforts like composting, and 4 percent said they had set targets for reducing their carbon footprints.
Eleven percent of school and district leaders said they had eliminated single-use plastics in their schools.
Six percent said they had converted or planned to convert gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicles, such as school buses, to electric.
Four percent said they had purchased new or different insurance for severe weather, and 2 percent of principals and district leaders said they had gone so far as to close or relocate buildings in locations that are most likely to be impacted by severe weather.

Schools can play an outsized role in reducing carbon emissions, according to the Aspen Institute. Schools are one of the largest public sector energy consumers in the country , they operate what equates to the nation’s largest mass transit fleet, and they generate over 530,000 tons of food waste a year.

In terms of what teachers, principals, and district leaders say is needed to improve their school or district’s ability to prepare for the effects of climate change, money—perhaps not surprisingly—was one of the two most cited supports.

The other: 36 percent said that better efforts to educate stakeholders about the need to prepare for climate change was also necessary.

Nearly a third said they felt they needed support from the broader community to improve their school or district’s ability to confront climate change.

Eleven percent said that their school or district needed nothing to help prepare for the effects of climate change because their campuses were already well-prepared, and 9 percent said that climate change does not exist or is not a threat to their school or district.

About This Series

This article is part of an ongoing Education Week series, The Climate Crisis and Schools , about how climate change and schools intersect. We aim to illuminate how schools contribute to climate change; highlight challenges districts face in dealing with the effects of climate change; and offer solutions to the feelings of helplessness and anxiety that often accompany this subject. If you have a related story idea for us, please email staff writer Madeline Will at [email protected] .

Data analysis for this article was provided by the EdWeek Research Center. Learn more about the center’s work.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

The impact of school climate and school identification on academic achievement: multilevel modeling with student and teacher data.

$\r\nSophie Maxwell$

1 School of Education, RMIT University, Brunswick, VIC, Australia
2 Research School of Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
3 Psychology, School of Psychological and Clinical Sciences, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, Australia
4 School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
5 Student Engagement and Wellbeing, Australian Capital Territory Education Directorate, Braddon, ACT, Australia

School climate is a leading factor in explaining student learning and achievement. Less work has explored the impact of both staff and student perceptions of school climate raising interesting questions about whether staff school climate experiences can add “value” to students' achievement. In the current research, multiple sources were integrated into a multilevel model, including staff self-reports, student self-reports, objective school records of academic achievement, and socio-economic demographics. Achievement was assessed using a national literacy and numeracy tests ( N = 760 staff and 2,257 students from 17 secondary schools). In addition, guided by the “social identity approach,” school identification is investigated as a possible psychological mechanism to explain the relationship between school climate and achievement. In line with predictions, results show that students' perceptions of school climate significantly explain writing and numeracy achievement and this effect is mediated by students' psychological identification with the school. Furthermore, staff perceptions of school climate explain students' achievement on numeracy, writing and reading tests (while accounting for students' responses). However, staff's school identification did not play a significant role. Implications of these findings for organizational, social, and educational research are discussed.

Introduction

Effective teaching and learning is the result of complex group and psychological processes. However, the precise organizational factors and psychological mechanisms behind these processes are still under investigation. Identifying the means to improve students' learning outcomes remains the subject of continuous academic inquiry and a key objective of government and international bodies. As a result of this interest, an immense body of work centerd on the construct of “school climate” has emerged. School climate refers to social characteristics of a school in terms of relationships among students and staff/teachers, learning and teaching emphasis, values and norms, and shared approaches and practices ( Anderson, 1982 ; Moos, 1987 ; Thapa et al., 2013 ). Among other factors, empirical evidence has confirmed that school climate is powerful in affecting students' academic achievement ( Brand et al., 2008 ; Chen and Weikart, 2008 ; Collins and Parson, 2010 ). However, the extent to which both of student and staff perceptions of school climate influence student achievement is less clear. Furthermore, the precise psychological processes underpinning the climate-achievement link requires further investigation.

Seeking to fill these gaps, the current research examines the impact of student and staff perceptions of school climate on students' achievement. Very few studies have investigated both groups' perceptions of school climate in relation to academic achievement and even fewer using a robust, national, standardized measure to assess achievement. The present research also offers a theoretical analysis of the psychological processes underlying this relationship, using the social identity approach ( Tajfel and Turner, 1979 ; Turner et al., 1987 ). This analysis builds on work that has applied the social identity approach to various staff and student outcomes ( Bizumic et al., 2009 ; Turner et al., 2014 ; Reynolds et al., 2017 ) and has relevance for school-based interventions directed at improving school outcomes.

In the following sections, the construct of school climate is described, along with the links between (a) student perceptions of school climate and students' academic achievement and (b) staff perceptions of school climate and students' academic achievement. Next the theoretical framework, the social identity approach is introduced. Finally, some methodological challenges confronting researchers in this field are described.

What is School Climate?

The school climate construct is complex and multi-dimensional. It has been described as the unwritten personality and atmosphere of a school, including its norms, values, and expectations ( Brookover et al., 1978 ; Haynes et al., 1997 ; Petrie, 2014 ). Further, it has been described as the “quality and character of school life” ( Cohen et al., 2009 , p. 182). Importantly, rather than concerning administrative or physical attributes of the school (e.g., teachers' salary or schools' physical resources), school climate research hones in on the psychosocial school atmosphere, and the inter-group interactions that affect student learning and school functioning ( Johnson and Stevens, 2006 ; Lubienski et al., 2008 ; Reyes et al., 2012 ).

School climate is a leading predictor of students' emotional and behavioral outcomes. It affects students' adaptive psychosocial adjustment ( Brand et al., 2008 ), mental health outcomes ( Roeser et al., 2000 ; Brand et al., 2003 ) and self-esteem ( Way et al., 2007 ). School climate also influences students' behavior, such as rates of bullying and aggression ( Espelage et al., 2014 ; Turner et al., 2014 ), student delinquency ( Gottfredson et al., 2005 ), and alcohol and drug use ( Brand et al., 2003 ). Finally, and of particular relevance to this research, school climate perception has also been found to affect students' academic achievement ( Brookover et al., 1978 ; Brand et al., 2008 ).

The Challenge of Defining and Measuring School Climate

The multiplicity of definitions for school climate has led to confusion and hindered research progress ( Hoy and Hannum, 1997 ; Thapa et al., 2013 ; Ramelow et al., 2015 ; Wang and Degol, 2015 ; Lee et al., 2017 ). This lack of definitional consensus has meant that school climate is measured inconsistently ( Thapa et al., 2013 ). Various scales have been used, with their different sub-scales flowing from different articulations of the construct. Despite this limitation, three sub-factors of the construct ( Moos and Moos, 1978 ) are clearly represented in the literature and school climate scales. (1) School's academic emphasis as personal growth or goal orientation; “the extent to which a school is driven by a quest for academic excellence” ( Hoy et al., 1991 , p. 71); (2) interpersonal relationships within a school, which are judged by their quality and consistency ( Haynes et al., 1997 ); and (3) shared norms, goals, and values; the common understanding of accepted and endorsed behavior ( Frederickson, 1968 ). These defining sub-factors have brought some conceptual clarity to the construct.

The assessment of school climate involves asking particular groups of interest to report their perceptions. These groups' perceptions include parents' ( Esposito, 1999 ), students' ( Fan et al., 2011 ), principals' ( Brookover et al., 1978 ), and teachers' ( Johnson and Stevens, 2006 ; Brand et al., 2008 ; Bear et al., 2014 ). Perspective matters because each group may perceive school climate differently. Often, though, only one group's perceptions have been assessed, usually students in most studies.

Students' Perceptions of Climate and Academic Achievement

Variance in achievement beyond individual factors and socio-economic status has consistently been explained by students' school climate ratings ( Hoy and Hannum, 1997 ; Brand et al., 2008 ; Collins and Parson, 2010 ). Brookover et al. (1978) conducted a seminal study establishing this student-climate-achievement link. The authors tested the effect of students' perceptions of school climate on mean school achievement in three samples of racially diverse elementary schools. They found that school climate explained a significant amount of the between-school variance in mean school achievement and that the strength of the relationship was similar to that explained by economic status (SES) and ethnicity.

Subsequent research supports these findings ( Goddard et al., 2000b ; Heck, 2000 ; Thapa et al., 2013 ). For example, Hoy and Hannum (1997) and Tschannen-Moran et al. (2006) found that positive school climate was associated with students' academic achievement, after controlling for SES. Contrastingly, a negative school climate has been found to reduce student participation in school activities and student learning ( Chen and Weikart, 2008 ). This climate-achievement relationship appears to be robust for students across different grades, backgrounds, and cultures ( Gregory et al., 2007 ; Jia et al., 2009 ). It also appears to endure for years ( Hoy et al., 1998 ), which has been further supported by longitudinal studies (e.g., Brand et al., 2008 ).

Various sub-factors of school climate have been found to exert a powerful impact on academic achievement. For example, academic emphasis ( Hoy and Sabo, 1998 ; Goddard et al., 2000b ), academic optimism ( Smith and Hoy, 2007 ), and strong teacher-student relationships ( Crosnoe et al., 2004 ; Tschannen-Moran et al., 2006 ) have been found to be particularly influential. In particular, student-teacher relationships effectively work as a protective factor for school adjustment including academic achievement as well as conduct and behavioral problems, especially for adolescents transiting from middle school to high school (e.g., Longobardi et al., 2016 ). However, many of the reviewed studies are limited because of how they measured academic achievement. Many have relied on regional or state-wide tests and unstandardized measures (e.g., self-reported performance or grade point average, [GPA]). Although various studies have used standardized literacy and numeracy assessment data (e.g., Goddard et al., 2000b ; Sweetland and Hoy, 2000 ; Tschannen-Moran et al., 2006 ; Brand et al., 2008 ), studies using standardized nation -wide tests are limited.

Staff Perceptions of School Climate and Academic Achievement

While studying the climate-achievement link from the student perspective is illustrative, the staff perspective is also relevant ( Fisher and Fraser, 1983 ; Johnson et al., 2007 ; Liu et al., 2014 ). Measuring staff perspectives of school climate is important for several reasons. First, discrepancies have been found between students' and teachers' perceptions. Teachers' ratings are more sensitive to classroom level factors and students are more sensitive to school-level factors ( Mitchell et al., 2010 ; Wang and Eccles, 2014 ). Teachers also rate teacher-student relations more positively than students do ( Raviv et al., 1990 ). Second, and importantly, teachers have the largest impact on student learning out of all school reform initiatives ( Heck, 2000 ; Lindjord, 2003 ; Schacter and Thum, 2004 ). Therefore, measuring staff perceptions might expose areas for reform and intervention.

A relatively small pool of literature measures the effect of staff's perceptions of school climate on student outcomes. These links have often been vague, with methodological challenges undermining the research to date. The dominant focus has been how staff perceptions of school climate affect staff's functioning ( Heck, 2000 ). For example, staff perceptions have been measured against staff well-being ( Boyd et al., 2005 ; Grayson and Alvarez, 2008 ), staff morale and job satisfaction ( Ma and MacMillan, 1999 ; Collie et al., 2012 ). The impact of staff perceptions on student outcomes, such as student achievement has been explored to a much lesser extent. Nevertheless, there is a general trend observed in the relationship between staff climate perception and student achievement.

Early studies highlight that staff perceptions of the schools as a work environment and expectations of students affect student outcomes ( Moos, 1987 ; Esposito, 1999 ). More recent studies support these findings. For example, Johnson and Stevens (2006) found teachers' perceptions of school climate had a positive relationship with fourth graders' scores on standardized tests using structural equation modeling. However, a drawback of their design was their use of aggregated mean scores for staff perceptions and student academic performance by school. This design assumes there is no difference within schools. By ignoring and compressing individual variation, important statistical information is also lost ( Hox, 2010 ) and standard error estimates may be incorrect ( Garson, 2013 ). This methodological approach is a common limitation in educational research, and will be further described later in this introduction.

A more comprehensive study exploring the impact of staff climate perceptions on student achievement was carried out by Brand et al. (2008) . There were three particularly relevant findings. First, teachers' school climate perceptions were significantly associated with eighth graders' reading and mathematics scores. Second, teachers' reports of students' achievement orientation were significantly correlated with students' mathematics achievement and reading performance. Third, teachers' climate perceptions were significant predictors of less robust measures of achievement, such as GPA and students' academic efficacy. Their statistical design was strong, as they used hierarchical linear modeling to control for the nested structure of the data. The authors also controlled for student's SES, used a longitudinal design (3-year period) and large samples with up to 114, 240 students from 243 schools.

Additionally, the authors used a paired school climate scale to measure student and teacher perceptions. They then compared the effect of teacher perceptions to the effect of student perceptions on the same variables. Out of all aspects of teachers' and students' perspectives of school climate, achievement orientation emerged as the strongest predictor of student achievement. Furthermore, schools had higher achievement levels when teachers perceived positive student-student relationships (“peer sensitivity”) and lower levels of disruption, which was not the case with student perspectives.

Although there is less literature exploring the relationship between staff perceptions of school climate and achievement (compared with literature from the student perspective), there is general support showing that staff perceptions of school climate predict student achievement. However, the way in which school climate perception comes to affect student achievement is still to be explored.

How Does School Climate Perception Affect Student Achievement?

Explaining precisely how school climate perception comes to affect student outcomes has been a challenge for researchers. In any case, various theories have been put forward (see Wang and Degol, 2015 for a comprehensive review), including social cognitive theory, self-determination theory, and bio-ecological theory. However, the social identity approach offers an alternative and integrative analysis, which will be adopted in the current research.

Social cognitive theory has been a particularly popular theoretical explanation for the climate-achievement link as it relates to students and staff ( Bandura, 1993 , 1997 ). Authors have suggested that students need collective efficacy to activate the influence of the school climate, in particular for the aspect of academic press, on their achievement ( Hoy et al., 2002 ). This approach has also been applied in explaining the impact of staff perspectives on student achievement ( Hoy and Woolfolk, 1993 ; Goddard et al., 2000a ). For example, Caprara et al. (2006) found that teachers' self-efficacy beliefs were significantly related to students' academic achievement. Goddard et al. (2000a) additionally found that collective teacher efficacy significantly predicted students' reading and mathematics performance. Specifically, the authors found that a “one unit increase in a school's collective teacher efficacy score” was related to increase of “more than 40% of a standard deviation in student achievement” (p. 501).

Self-determination theory has also been widely applied ( Deci and Ryan, 1985 ). Authors have proposed that students and staff need to meet the psychological basic needs of relatedness, competence, and autonomy in order for students to achieve ( Connell and Wellborn, 1991 ; Roeser et al., 1998 ; Reeve, 2012 ; Taylor et al., 2014 ). Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological theory has also been investigated through analyzing how the layers of the environment (e.g., individual, family, and school) affect student learning ( Bronfenbrenner, 1979 , 1986 ; Rosenfeld et al., 2000 ; Stewart, 2007 ; Hampden-Thompson and Galindo, 2017 ).

The theories have much to offer in understanding the climate-achievement link, in terms of intrapsychic individual psychology. Yet, exploring a whole school approach and group dynamics in a school may offer further theoretical and practical implications. Indeed, specific theories within social psychology that focus on group-level processes provide a novel perspective to explain the effect of school climate on achievement. Hence, the social identity approach is put forward as an integrative theoretical explanation for this school climate-achievement link.

Background to the Social Identity Approach

The “social identity approach” consists of social identity theory ( Tajfel and Turner, 1979 ) and self-categorization theory ( Turner et al., 1987 ). The key point of the social identity approach is that a group, system or organization (e.g., school) influences individual behavior (e.g., student or staff member) when an individual feels psychologically part of that group, system, or organization ( Tajfel and Turner, 1979 ). Membership to these higher-level systems is not defined by external criteria (e.g., the category of student, label of staff member, or any other demographic characteristic). Rather, it is defined by a feeling of psychological membership, identification, and connectedness.

The social identity approach makes an important distinction between a personal identity and a social identity (“I” or “me” vs. “we” or “us”; Turner et al., 1987 ). When an individual finds a group psychologically meaningful (becoming “we” or “us”), the group's values and needs become normative and are integrated into personal ones ( Turner et al., 1994 ). The process of social identification entails members becoming motivated to achieve the group's goals and putting more effort into ensuring these goals are realized ( Haslam et al., 2000 ). In other words, the individual's psychological connection with the group triggers the influence of organizational factors on their behavior and makes them more likely to act in alignment with the group's norms and values ( Turner, 1985 ; Turner and Reynolds, 2011 ).

In the school context, norms, values, and beliefs of the “school” group are embodied in the school climate construct. A central goal of the school as a group is often to have a strong academic emphasis, supportive staff-student relations, and shared values and approach (factors which are conducive to successful student learning) ( Bizumic et al., 2009 ; Reynolds et al., 2017 ). It is possible to conceptualize school climate as the facilitator of students' and staff's identification and school identification as the psychological process through which school climate comes to affect their behavior.

Students' school identification might affect their academic performance in the following way. If the school climate is positive and supportive, and this, in turn, facilitates the student to identify with the school as a salient group, then the student is more likely to reflect and embed the school values and norms, focusing on learning and achievement, with their behavior ( Reynolds et al., 2017 ).

Along these lines, Reynolds et al. (2017) found that the relationship between students' school climate perceptions and students' numeracy and writing scores was fully mediated by students' school identification. However, the measure of school climate was limited in their study and featured only one general dimension of school climate, which was shared values and approach.

More broadly, related concepts to social identification have also been captured by the educational literature, and studied in relation to student outcomes. For example, connectedness, student-school bonding, attachment, and sense of belonging to school have been studied ( Osterman, 2000 ; Libbey, 2004 ; Blum, 2005 ; Vieno et al., 2005 ; Waters et al., 2009 ). One particularly relevant study for students found the relationship between school climate and students' conduct problems was mediated by students' school connectedness ( Loukas et al., 2006 ). School belonging also was a critical variable, especially for multiracial modeling of student achievement ( Burke and Kao, 2013 ; Hernández et al., 2014 ; Gummadam et al., 2016 ).

The social identity approach can also be applied to explain the link between staff school climate perception and student achievement ( Reynolds et al., 2017 ). The outcome of interest in the present research is student achievement. Thus, the relevant outcome is the behavior of the students . Therefore, it seems illogical to also propose staff school identification as a psychological mediator of the students. However, there remains different reasons to assume that staff school identification could play an important role. Rather than mediate, staff school identification might moderate the influence of their climate perception on student achievement. That is, the level of staff's psychological membership to the school might adjust the impact of school climate on students' achievement. For example, when staff strongly identify themselves with the school, staff might be more motivated to strive for better academic results from their students in the classroom and dedicate more effort to fostering supportive relations with students. These behaviors are conducive to students' academic engagement, which may translate to students' improved student achievement, only when staff social identity as a school member is high. That is, the strength of the path from staff school climate perception to student achievement would be dependent on the level of staff school identification, as a regulator. If staff social identification is weak, then the impact of their school climate perception on student achievement may be far weaker posing different impact strength from for the case with higher staff school identification.

Unlike the application of the social identity approach to students, this specific theoretical proposition with respect to staff school identification has not been directly investigated. However, a link between staff behavior (more broadly) and student performance has been well-established. For example, Mohammadpour (2012) found after controlling for some student and school factors, teacher emphasis on homework had a significant association with student achievement. MacNeil et al. (2009 , p. 155) also emphasized the importance of teacher morale and motivation for student outcomes, finding that “highly motivated teachers have greater success in terms of student performance.” Teachers and administrators' feeling of a sense of school cohesion influenced students' academic achievement ( Stewart, 2007) . Additionally, teacher empowerment was found to be a significant predictor of students' results on standardized tests ( Sweetland and Hoy, 2000 ). The important point to distill from these studies is that psychological phenomena applying to staff have been found to affect the behavioral outcomes (specifically, achievement levels) of students.

Importantly, most of these studies have only looked at certain variables as predictors of students' academic achievement, and not as psychological mechanisms or moderators. This study takes a novel approach by proposing that students' school identification is a mediator and staff's school identification is a moderator of the relationship between their perceptions of school climate and student achievement. This approach is important because “social identity processes not only help explain student behavior at school but point to pathways that can be used to shape it” ( Reynolds and Branscombe, 2015 , p. 171). A better understanding of the underlying processes may be especially informative in designing effective and efficient interventions to improve achievement outcomes.

The Current Study

The extant literature has demonstrated that students' and members of staff's ratings of school climate have a significant impact on students' academic outcomes. Nevertheless, there a number of gaps and issues in this body of work to be addressed. First, although some parallel measures have assessed both students' and staff's school climate perception (e.g., Brand et al., 2008 ), little is known about whether staff school climate perception plays a significant role when student perceptions and other covariates are taken into account in a single statistical model. Second, many studies of academic achievement have used unstandardized tests and single-informant school climate perspectives. Third, the nested hierarchical inter-correlations of student and staff data within schools has often been ignored, which can be addressed through the use of multilevel modeling ( D'haenens et al., 2010 ; Wang and Degol, 2015 ). Finally, there is room for theoretical and empirical exploration of the psychological processes accounting for the climate-achievement relationship.

In aiming to address these gaps, the present study proposes MLM procedures, standardized achievement data and multi-informant data (student and staff perceptions and educational records) to examine both the impact of student and staff perceptions of school climate on students' standardized literacy and numeracy tests. The models should also control for demographic variables including gender, parental education, school size, and SES. Further, it will expand our knowledge and inform school reformers to investigate whether those relationships operate as a function of students' and staff's psychological identification with the school climate, i.e., “school identification.”

In the present study there are three informant sources are integrated in a single study design; survey responses both from staff and students, as well as NAPLAN data and demographic information from education records. The study employs MLM methods to address some of the problems suffered by past studies of aggregation bias, heterogeneity of regression, and increased errors in parameter estimation ( Bryk and Raudenbush, 1988 ; Tabachnick and Fidell, 2014 ).

Core covariates are also included in the analysis. Students' gender is included due to its known effect on academic achievement ( Marsh et al., 2005 ; Hinnant et al., 2009 ). Male students have an advantage on numeracy tasks whereas females may have an advantage in verbal information tasks ( Halpern and LaMay, 2000 ; Ma and Klinger, 2000 ). This gender difference has been reflected in NAPLAN data for 2008–2013, where males have performed consistently better in numeracy tests ( Australian Curriculum Assessment Reporting Authority, 2008-2015 ). The level of education of students' parents is also included, as it is also known to affect student achievement ( Davis-Kean, 2005 ; Senler and Sungur, 2009 ).

School covariates are included, namely, the SES of the whole school ( Caldas and Bankston, 1997 , 1999 ; Johnson et al., 2001 ; Perry and McConney, 2010 ) and school size ( Lee and Loeb, 2000 ; Ma and Klinger, 2000 ). These individual factors (students' gender and the educational level of their parents) and school factors (SES of the school and school size) are controlled in order to measure the impacts of school climate perception and identification on NAPLAN results more clearly.

While a similar study measured the impact of students' school climate perception and school identification on NAPLAN results ( Reynolds et al., 2017 ), the present study uses a significantly larger sample size (2,257 students in 17 secondary schools) compared to their study (340 students in 2 schools). Compared with their study, a more fully developed version of School Climate and School Identification Measurement Scale ( Lee et al., 2017 ) is used. Furthermore, multilevel modeling is employed and staff perceptions are additionally investigated.

The current study also explores the role of school identification in the climate-achievement relationship. Students' school identification is modeled as a mediator of the link between students' perceptions and their achievement. Mediation models ( MacKinnon, 2008 ; Hayes, 2009 ) were tested using the following paths; (1) from school climate to school identification, (2) from school identification to achievement scores, and (3) the indirect path from school climate to achievement scores via school identification. In contrast, staff's school identification is modeled as a moderator. It is hypothesized to interact with the relationship between staff school climate perception and student achievement, such that the level of staff school identification changes the strength and nature of the potential relationship between staff perceptions and student achievement.

Accordingly, the current research proposes that after controlling for demographic factors, students' school identification will mediate the impact of student's school climate perception on academic achievement. More specifically, corresponding to Figure 1 , positive school climate perception will predict stronger school identification among students ( a ) that in turn predict higher achievement scores ( b ). The indirect path from school climate to student achievement scores via school identification will be positive and significant ( d ).

Figure 1 . Conceptual model for Hypothesis 1: c = the direct path from students' perceptions of school climate to students' NAPLAN results will be positive and significant. Conceptual model for Hypothesis 2: a = students' positive school climate will predict stronger school identification among students, b = the path from students' school identification to students' NAPLAN results will be significant and d = the indirect path from school climate to student achievement scores via school identification will be positive and significant.

We also hypothesize that Staff perceptions of school climate will predict students' higher levels of academic achievement. Furthermore, staff's school identification will moderate the impact of their school climate perception on students' academic achievement. A high level of school identification amongst staff will explain a stronger impact of staff perception of school climate on students' academic achievement, whereas a low level of school identification will explain a weaker impact of staff school climate perception on students' academic achievement (Refer to Figure 2 ).

Figure 2 . Model 5: Multilevel SEM of numeracy scores with student and staff school climate perception predictors, a mediator of student school identification, and demographic covariates at the student and school level. Error terms, correlations, and related coefficients are ommitted for simplicity. Gender: Male = 0, Female = 1; Parental education: below university degree = 0, university degree or higher = 1. Coefficients are unstandardized. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01.

Multi-informant Data Sets and Procedure

This research uses data collected as part of an ongoing longitudinal project between the Australian National University (ANU) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Education and Training Directorate (ETD) ( Reynolds et al., 2012 ). 1 The project aimed to measure and enrich the health of school climates in the district in order to improve student and staff outcomes. The project involved all 86 public schools in the district, a city region with a population of ~367,752 ( Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014 ).

The present study also uses educational register data from 2,257 students' achievement scores on a robust, standardized, and nation-wide test, the Australian National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). Every 2 years, all Australian students from Grade 3 up to Grade 9 sit NAPLAN tests. The current study sampled Grades 7–10 (high school attendees in the district) students' scores, which were provided by the education department.

Specifically, the following three data sets were merged to a single main data set.

(1) Data from education district records. This included demographic information, such as levels of parental education, school level SES, and student achievement scores. Student achievement scores are a sample of students' results on 2014 NAPLAN tests.

(2) Student survey responses. An online survey was administered to all Grade 7 and 9 students at all schools in the ACT during a 2-week period (during June 2014). Students provided their consent if they chose to participate. Then they completed the online survey (through Qualtrics software) in their classrooms with teachers' assistance. Parents' consent was waved by the relevant authority due to the low risk nature of the survey and students being able to provide own consent. Survey responses were on a Likert scale from 1 (“disagree strongly”) to 7 (“agree strongly”). Data sets 1 and 2 were merged to include students who both participated in the SCASIM-St survey, and completed NAPLAN tests. Accordingly, each student's survey response was matched with their NAPLAN scores and demographic information.

(3) Staff responses from the SCASIM-Sf survey. Staff provided consent and completed an online survey during the survey period at a time convenient to them.

Participants

The sample included 2,257 Grade 7 and 9 students and 760 staff from 17 public schools, 89% of all the 19 public high schools in the district.

One thousand and one hundred fifteen male students (49.4%) and one thousand and one hundred forty-two female students took part in the survey ( M = 13.3 years old, SD = 1.2). 51.5% were in Grade 7 and 48.5% were in Grade 9. 80.3% of the sample spoke English at home, compared to the overall Australian average of 82% ( Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014 ). 0.7–1% participants who did not indicate their their age, spoken language at home, or gender, were excluded from the main analysis. 65.3% of the students' parents had education levels below a university level. The survey response rate was between 23.7 and 79% ( M = 61.47%). This percentage can be attributed to some students being absent, some deciding not to participate, and there being some technological issues with online participation. The response rate was included as a covariate in the statistical models to control for possible sampling issues, and was placed at the school level in the MLM.

The staff sample consisted of 497 females (68.6%) and 228 males (31.4%), which is representative of the female majority of educators in Australia ( Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014 ). The average age was 41.03 years old ( SD = 11.5, range = 18–70). 15.2% were administrative staff and 84.3% were teaching staff. Administrative staff members were included because they play a role in setting and reflecting the climate of the schools. 4.6% participants did not report their gender and 7.5% did not report their age, so they were excluded from the main analysis.

Among the 17 schools, the average school size was 676.54 students ( SD = 274.12, range = 205–1154). 58.82% were Kindergarten to Grade 10 schools and 41.18% were high schools containing Grades 7–10. An average of 25.42% of students in each school had a language background other than English (range = 13–65%, one school was a bilingual school, with 65% of students with a language background other than English). The SES of the schools was measured by the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA, described later in detail). On a possible scale from 500 to 1,300, ICSEA values for the schools ranged from 971.68 to 1177.91 ( M = 1075.21, SD = 57.24).

Student Measures

Students' perceptions of school climate and level of school identification.

School Climate and School Identification Measurement Scales-Student (SCASIM-St, Lee et al., 2017 ) with 38 items was used to measure school climate and school identification. The four subscales for school climate are academic emphasis (8 items, α = 0.929), staff-student relations (9 items, α = 0.964), student-student relations (7 items, α = 0.959), and shared values and approach (8 items, α = 0.927). The school identification factor consists of 6 items (α = 0.944). The subscales were highly reliable with the current data (αs > 0.7). The SCASIM-St has also shown criterion validity associated with academic achievement, attendance, aggressive behavior at school, and a well-being factor of depression ( Lee et al., 2017 ).

Demographic variables

Students' age, gender, spoken language at home, and parents' level of education was collected by the survey or matched from education records.

Students' academic achievement

Grade 7 and 9 students' performance on NAPLAN tests was used to measure academic achievement in numeracy, reading and writing ability. Students' scores are standardized and range from 0 to 1,000 ( Australian Curriculum Assessment Reporting Authority, 2014 ).

Staff Measures

Staff perceptions of school climate and school identification.

These were measured by a staff measure, the School Climate and School Identification Measurement Scales-staff (SCASIM-Sf, the scale's factor structure was validated in a supplementary analysis, and available as supplementary Material). It was used as a paired and mirrored scale of the student version, The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the SCASIM-Sf 2 revealed that the 36 items represent four sub-factors of school climate and school identification, as parallel with the student survey. The factors were reliable with the data: academic emphasis (8 items, α = 0.94), staff-student relations (9 items, α = 0.95), staff-staff relations (5 items, α = 0.94), shared values and approach (8 items, α = 0.94), and a correlated school identification factor (6 items, α = 0.95).

School Level Measures

School-wide ses schools'.

SES levels were measured by the Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) and included as a covariate. ICSEA values are nationally standardized to reflect educational advantages and disadvantages at the school level, based on student family and school background variables such as parents' occupation and school location. Higher values indicate more advantages for the school students and the values are on a scale from 500 to 1,300 (median = 1,000, The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, 2014).

School size

School size was measured by the number of students enrolled in the school and was included as a covariate. This information was from the 2014 district school census.

Analytical Plan

The variance in students' achievement scores was analyzed at both the within (individual) level and between (school) level, due to substantial intra-class correlations (ICCs) and subsequent design effects above two 3 . As detailed in the following section, the results suggested that responses within schools were not independent ( Hox, 2010 ). To handle this dependency, two-level multilevel Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) procedures were employed using MPlus version 7 ( Muthén and Muthén, 1998–2015 ). Hierarchical models were tested to assess the impacts of student and staff perceptions of school climate and school identification on students' NAPLAN results. The impact of covariates on NAPLAN results was also examined in all models from the base model.

Variables on the first-level of the model (“within-level” or “individual level”) were students' grade, gender, parents' educational level, and students' perceptions of school climate and school identification. Staff members' school climate perception and school identification were also placed on the within-level. Staff ratings may well-serve as school-level variables, however the current data exhausted all the school-level variance once the school-level demographics were controlled for. Therefore, staff variables were modeled to further explain individual student-level variance. Specifically staff perceptions of school climate were averaged as school means and disaggregated on to individual student data. Thus, students from the same school had the same staff school climate mean scores in their data. This practice (disaggregating the school means to the individual level to explain the variance in individual students' scores) has been applied before in educational research to explain achievement (e.g., Thomas and Collier, 2002 ).

Second-level (“between-level” or “school level”) variables were covariates, including schools' ICSEA value and size, as well as the student response rate. School-level variables were entered as random effects (as they were expected to differ between schools) and individual-level variables were declared fixed (it was presumed that there would be no random differences in the relationships between the variables and NAPLAN results).

First, the “null models” (“Model 0”) were run to get the ICCs, which determined the proportion of variance accounted for by the clustering ( Goldstein et al., 2002 ), and confirmed whether MLM procedures were required. Models were then built hierarchically, increasing in complexity and explanatory potential as more predictor variables were added.

Model 1 was then tested, adding covariate demographic variables at the student and school levels. These models operated as a baseline for models 2–7, to compute the increased proportion of explained variance (Δ R 2 ) as other variables were added to the models. Student perceptions were then added in Model 2 to test the impact on academic achievement. Social identity mediation was then tested with two subsequent models, first by adding student school identification to Model 3 and then by modeling school identification as a mediator (Model 4).

As the next step, staff perceptions of school climate were added to test the impact) in Model 5 with all other variables controlled. Staff's school identification was added to Model 6, and then an interaction term was added to test if staff social identity significantly moderated the impact of staff school climate perception on student achievement (Model 7). Model 7 was the most complex model run, and is visually depicted in Figure 2 .

Domain specificity was anticipated to occur ( Marsh et al., 2005 ; Hinnant et al., 2009 ), wherein the nature and extent of the impact of the variables on NAPLAN results may have varied according to subject domain. Correspondingly, Models 0–7 were run for each of the three different dependent variables (numeracy, reading, and writing results) 4 .

Descriptive Statistics

Data screening showed that both the staff and student data sets were not normally distributed. The means, standard deviations, skew, kurtosis, and reliability statistics for the staff and student school climate sub-scales are reported in Tables 1 , 2 , respectively. For staff responses, all means were reasonably high on the 7-point Likert scale, with a small range (5.22–5.98), as were the student responses (4.01–5.02). The dependent variables (students' scores on numeracy, reading, and writing NAPLAN tests) were also not normally distributed. Out of a possible score of 1,000, students' overall total means were 565.43 for numeracy ( SD = 83.38), 572.70 for reading ( SD = 87.72), and 525.09 for writing ( SD = 106.43). Therefore, non-normality was dealt with the MPlus MLR estimator (maximum likelihood estimation with robust standard errors) that are robust to non-normality ( Muthén and Muthén, 1998–2015 ). The data missing rate was trivial with a maximum of 2.8–0.7% at average. Accordingly a multiple imputations method was employed using Mplus.

Table 1 . Means, standard deviations, skewness and kurtosis scores, and cronbach's alpha for the scale scores in the student and staff samples.

Table 2 . Correlations among study variables, means, and standard deviations.

After screening and cleaning the data, the staff data was merged with the student data set by disaggregating staff responses as school means. The final data set included students' demographic variables, students' ratings of school climate and school identification, staff ratings of school climate and school identification, school-level demographic variables and NAPLAN scores. This merged data set was then used for analyzing correlations (Table 2 ) 5 and for the main multilevel SEM analysis.

Multilevel SEM Analysis

It was expected that students' perceptions of school climate would be positively related to students' NAPLAN results (H1) and that this relationship would occur through students' school identification (H2). It was also expected that staff perceptions of school climate would be positively related to student achievement (H3) and that staff's school identification would moderate this relationship (H4).

Multilevel Modeling

The ICCs and design effects for the numeracy, reading, and writing models were high enough to require multilevel modeling (ICCs: numeracy: 0.08, reading: 0.05, writing: 0.04, all design effects >2, (Satorra and Muthen, 1995; Muthén and Muthén, 2009; Hox, 2010 ; Muthen and Muthen, 2007). The maximum likelihood parameter estimation with standard errors (MLR) was used because it is robust to non-normality, enabling the analysis of the substantially skewed and kurtosed data ( Muthén and Muthén, 1998–2015 ). Tables 3 – 8 summarize the results of the hierarchical stepwise multilevel SEMs. Models 0–6 were run separately, with writing, reading, and numeracy scores as dependent variables.

Table 3 . Multilevel SEM results for models 0–3 explaining NAPLAN numeracy.

Table 4 . Multilevel SEM results for models 4–6 explaining NAPLAN numeracy.

Table 5 . Multilevel SEM results for models 0–3 explaining NAPLAN reading.

Table 6 . Multilevel SEM results for models 4–6 explaining NAPLAN reading.

Table 7 . Multilevel SEM results for models 0–3 explaining NAPLAN writing.

Table 8 . Multilevel SEM results for models 4–6 explaining NAPLAN writing.

Demographic Covariates

The demographic covariate-only model (Model 1) showed that 8.4, 5.2, and 6.7% of variance in numeracy, writing, and reading performance, respectively, was explained by the three covariates of grade, gender, and parental education (Tables 3 , 5 , 7 ). However, the school-level variances (20.18~165.99, p = 0.19~0.76) were completely explained by the three school-level covariates of SES, school size, and response rate, before including staff perception variables on school climate or identification. These results forced analyzing the staff variables at the student level, as the exhausted variance at the school-level meant no additional explanatory variable could be added at the school level of the model.

When all other variables were included (Model 6), the impact of most covariates on achievement persisted. For example, NAPLAN scores were significantly higher for students in higher grades (writing b = 17.48, p < 0.01; reading b = 13.89; numeracy b = 20.88) and students who had parents with higher educational levels (writing b = 30.13, p < 0.01; reading b = 33.02; numeracy b = 28.26). Boys performed better than girls on numeracy tests ( b = −9.30, p < 0.05) and girls performed better on literacy tests, particularly writing tests (reading b = 9.59, p < 0.10; writing b = 42.69, p < 0.01).

School-level variables showed mixed effects. Response rate did not significantly predict student achievement at the school level in any domain. However, larger schools (reading: b = 0.02, p < 0.05; numeracy: b = 0.03, p < 0.05) and schools with higher SES had significantly higher achievement at the school level in numeracy (b = 0.22, p < 0.01) and reading (b = 0.20, p < 0.05). There was no effects of school covariates on writing achievement at the school level, when all the variables including school climate perception of both student and staff groups and student school identification.

Social Identity Mediation: Students' School Climate Perception Impacted on Numeracy, Writing, and Reading through Their School Identification

As shown in the Model 4 results in Table 2 , students' school identification ( b = 10.03, p < 0.05) completely mediated the impact of their school climate perception (indirect effect, b = 10.90, p < 0.05) upon Numeracy. For Writing (Model 4 in Table 3 ), partial mediation was observed with the significant impact of students' school identification ( b = 10.89, p < 0.05) as well as their school climate perception ( b = 1.09, p < 0.05; indirect effect, b = 11.83, p < 0.05). Yet, only marginally significant mediation effects were examined for Reading (Model 4 in Table 4 ) with students' school identification ( b = 7.15, p < 0.10) and their perceptions of school climate (indirect effect, b = 7.87, p < 0.10). In all models, students' perception of school climate impacted their school identification ( b = 1.08–1.1, p < 0.01). All these results were so when all the individual and school level covariates were taken into account.

Staff School Climate Perception Impacted on Student's Numeracy, Writing, and Reading Achievement

As presented in Model 5 in Tables 3 – 5 , staff perceptions of school climate were significant predictors of students' academic achievement (writing b = 21.21; reading b = 16.80; numeracy b = 7.57, all p < 0.05). However, staff's school identification was not a significant predictor of students' academic achievement (Model 6, Tables 3 – 5 ). Because staff school identification was not found to be a significant predictor of students' numeracy, reading, or writing results, the seventh proposed model (suggesting staff's school identification as a moderator) could not be investigated.

Overall, Model 5 was the most complicated model run, as it had better model fit than Model 6 and others. Model 5 included demographic covariates, students' perceptions of school climate (with students' school identification modeled as a mediator) and staff perceptions of school climate to explain NAPLAN results. This model is visually depicted in Figure 2 for numeracy achievement scores. The fifth model uniquely explained 8, 6, and 9% of variance at the student level in students' writing, reading, and numeracy scores, respectively. In total, 39% for both variances in writing and reading, and 42% of variance in numeracy scores were explained by Model 5 with the student and school level variables.

This study used a multilevel framework to examine the influence of individual (student and staff) factors and school level factors on students' academic achievement. Three out of the four hypotheses were supported. Positive student and staff perceptions of school climate positively and significantly impacted students' NAPLAN results, as expected. Students' school identification mediated the impact of their perception of school climate on their performance in two learning domains. However, staff's school identification did not moderate the impact of staff's perceptions on student achievement.

Academic Achievement Explained by Student- and School-Level Variables

Students' individual factors (gender, grade, and education level of their parents) and school factors (school size and school SES) significantly impacted students' academic achievement. Collectively, these factors accounted for 8.4, 5.2, and 6.7% of within-school variance in students' numeracy, writing, and reading performance respectively and ~40% of the whole variance in the achievement scores. As expected, consistent with the literature, boys tended to score better on numeracy and girls tended to score better on literacy ( Halpern and LaMay, 2000 ; Marsh et al., 2005 ; Hinnant et al., 2009 ). The results also showed that the three most significant demographic predictors of student achievement were school SES, parental education and grade, replicating well-confirmed findings ( Davis-Kean, 2005 ; Perry and McConney, 2010 ; Reynolds et al., 2017 ). However, student and staff perceptions of school climate also emerged as significant predictors in all three learning domains.

In line with the first hypothesis, the more positively students perceived school climate, the better their achievement scores were in the numeracy and writing domains. These results were evident even after known covariates of student achievement (gender, SES, and parental education) were controlled. Using a more complex model and a national standardized measure of achievement, this relationship between student school climate perception and achievement is largely consistent with the literature ( Brookover et al., 1978 ; Sweetland and Hoy, 2000 ; Tschannen-Moran et al., 2006 ; Brand et al., 2008 ). School climate perception did not significantly impact reading performance, which reflects previous research demonstrating that the reading domain is less affected by school climate ( Ma and Klinger, 2000 ; Reynolds et al., 2017 ).

The results showed substantial support for the second hypothesis, such that students' positive school climate perception predicted stronger school identification among students in all the three models of reading, writing, and numeracy, which in turn, predicted higher achievement scores in numeracy and writing. In other words, students' perceptions of school climate psychologically flowed through school identification to influence students' numeracy and writing scores (the indirect mediation effect was only marginally significant for reading performance). The current results demonstrate the impact of school climate may only operate indirectly, as a function of students' identification with the school. Students merely perceiving the school climate as positive might not be sufficient to trigger the influence of school climate on their achievement. Rather, school identification is a vital psychological mechanism to activate the influence of school climate on students' numeracy and writing performance.

The only other study to have directly tested the viability of school identification as a mechanism underpinning the climate-achievement link was conducted by Reynolds et al. (2017) , using a much smaller sample (340 students in 2 schools). The present study replicated their findings that school identification mediated the impact of school climate on achievement in numeracy and writing, yet, with a much larger sample and MLM procedures. The findings are also consistent with Bizumic et al. (2009) and Turner et al. (2014) , who provide evidence that school identification mediates the impact of school climate on non-academic outcomes, such as well-being and bullying behavior.

There are some important caveats on this interpretation. First, most students in this sample identified relatively strongly with their school ( M = 4.71 on a 7-point Likert scale) so this mediation relationship may be generalizable to school populations in which students moderately to highly identify with the school. As noted, an effect of domain specificity was also apparent, so the mediation results should only be interpreted as applying to specific domains of students' numeracy and writing achievement.

Academic Achievement Explained by Staff Variables

There was mixed support for the hypotheses for staff. Specifically, the results showed staff's perceptions of school climate significantly predicted students' academic achievement, confirming the third hypothesis. This finding is consistent with the literature (e.g., Johnson and Stevens, 2006 ; Brand et al., 2008 ; MacNeil et al., 2009 ; Yang, 2014 ). Given that student perceptions of school climate were controlled, the current research also gives more confidence in this school climate-achievement relationship from the staff perspective.

The fourth hypothesis was not supported. Staff's social identification did not significantly relate to, or moderate, the relationship between staff perceptions of school climate and students' academic achievement. It was expected that stronger identification would be associated with staff spending more time and effort on achieving the school's vision and norms, leading to better academic outcomes for students. Methodological limitations may have contributed to these non-significant findings. There may not have been enough statistical power for the multilevel model to detect a real effect. Tabachnick and Fidell (2014) advise that adequate power is generated when “sample sizes at the first level are not too small and the number of groups is 20 or larger” (p. 793). In this case, there were less than 20 groups (17 schools). The nature of the sample and variables may have also precluded a significant finding. The sample was quite homogenous and there was little variability in staff responses to school identification ( M = 5.88 on a 1–7 Likert scale, SD = 1.12). Future research could overcome these limitations by including more schools and more diversity in respondents' levels of school identification.

In light of these methodological shortcomings, it is premature to extract theoretical meaning from the non-significant result for H4. However, it is plausible that there were other factors affecting staff members' job performance (measured by students' NAPLAN results) that were not included in the model, such as salary, leadership, training, and administrative support. Moreover, the model may not have captured the right type of identification. Staff could identify with other levels of identity that may affect their job performance (and hence, students' academic achievement). For example, staff's identification with the profession or teaching discipline (more broadly) or the classroom unit (more narrowly), may have impacted students' academic achievement. Clearly, this is fertile ground for further research.

Implications for Theory and Research

This research has contributed to social-psychological and educational research concerning school climate and highlighted the importance of psychological factors for students' academic success. It replicated established findings that student and staff perceptions of school climate impact student achievement, and extended the research further by proposing school identification as an explanatory psychological mechanism for students. Various studies have explored the link between staff perceptions of school climate and student achievement, but none have controlled for student perceptions. Hence, for the first time in a single statistical model, the present study revealed the unique contribution of staff perceptions in explaining in student achievement. The study also contributed to the social identity body of work. The finding that school identification mediated the student-climate-achievement link is a marked contribution since schools are a relatively novel context to apply the theory ( Reynolds and Branscombe, 2015 ).

The use of MLM procedures, national standardized academic achievement tests, a large sample size and the inclusion of covariates increased the reliability and validity of these findings. Importantly, no other study has used MLM procedures and national standardized academic achievement tests to explore the climate-achievement link. These findings are also strengthened by the multi-informant design of the study. As the introduction revealed, studies integrating multiple school climate perspectives are relatively rare in the school climate field ( Thapa et al., 2013 ; Wang and Degol, 2015 ). Using multiple informants is considered “best practice” when measuring educational and psychological constructs ( Konold and Cornell, 2015 ). Hence, this study has enriched the school climate field by including student and staff perspectives, answering research calls for measuring school climate from different perspectives ( Thapa et al., 2013 ; Liu et al., 2014 ).

Implications for Designing School Initiatives

By disentangling school-level factors from the student level factors affecting student achievement and illuminating core psychological processes within schools, the present study has also uncovered potential targets for intervention. Rather than standardized reforms that are insensitive to psychological elements of school functioning (e.g., economic incentives for teachers, increasing school resources), initiatives informed by this analysis could be more innovative by engaging with the psychological intricacies of school processes.

The following example initiatives are proposed as efficient strategies to affect change, since top-down change to the system level can capture more members than if every individual group member were to receive an individual intervention. It is presumably easier to change the health of the school climate and school members' school identification than to influence other factors, such as the SES of a school and other non-school factors that are beyond schools' control ( Heck, 2000 ; Hoy et al., 2002 ). Two areas for targeted intervention are proposed; school climate perception and school identification.

Initiatives Facilitating School Climate and the Perceptions by Staff and Students

Since school climate is malleable ( Wang and Degol, 2015 ), interventions could modify and improve school members' perceptions of school climate in order to impact student achievement. For example, the Comer School Development Program ( Cook et al., 2000 ) is an initiative that seeks to improve interpersonal relations and build shared academic and social goals among school members. After 2 years of the program's implementation, teachers' and students' ratings of schools' academic climate improved, as did students' results on mathematics and reading tests compared to controls. Another example is the Child Development Project, a school-wide intervention that seeks to foster healthy interpersonal relations (collaboration among and between staff, students, and parents) and a sense of common purpose (two sub-factors incidentally measured by the SCASIM). Results have shown that students who received this intervention felt more connected to the school and had significantly higher levels of academic achievement (measured by GPA and achievement test scores). The outcomes of the Child Development Project take on new importance when considering the mediation effect found in the present study. Hence, by strengthening school connectedness (identification) and increasing positive perceptions of school climate, the Child Development Project achieved two outcomes that this study has found to be critically related to student achievement.

Fostering School Identification

Because students' psychological identification with a positive school climate emerged as a powerful variable influencing students' academic performance, interventions could foster and support students' feeling of closeness to the school. Turner et al. (2014) provide some guidance to this end, as the authors advocated for the implementation of the ASPIRe model 6 ( Haslam et al., 2003 ). The ASPIRe model operationalizes the core aspects of the social identity approach into a four-phase sequence of group tasks, which seek to foster increased organizational identification (school identification). In light of current results, activities which emphasize a shared mission of the school and remove barriers to psychological school membership might have positive implications for students' academic achievement.

Limitations and Future Directions

First and foremost, this study would have benefitted from the inclusion of data from additional schools. Moreover, analyzing staff perceptions for the school level achievement would have made more statistical and theoretical sense, if staff perception ratings had not to be aggregated as means by school in the current study. However, this design was not possible as there was not enough variance left to explain at the school level, after school level variables such as school SES (ICSEA) and school size were accounted for. This situation may be explained by the fact that schools in the participating district are fairly homogenous in terms of student achievement due to the regional SES characteristics. This is in contrast to American schools (where much of the research has taken place), which are more diverse and for which school-level analysis was available (e.g., Brand et al., 2008 ). The inclusion of additional schools would have increased the power of the statistical model and may have enabled the analysis of staff perceptions on the school level. Hence, future studies should employ data from a larger number of schools to cross-validate the current findings.

Another statistical issue with the present study concerns high correlations between staff variables. The supplementary CFA analysis revealed staff school identification and the latent school climate factor were highly correlated (Online material A: r = 0.76). This already high correlation may have been further inflated when the staff data were disaggregated to the student data, as the correlation between shared values and approach and school identification increased from r = 0.71 in the CFA to r = 0.91 in the present study. Multicollinearity is a problem because multicollinear variables inflate error terms and weaken the analysis ( Tabachnick and Fidell, 2014 ).

Similar to most of the school climate research, this study was neither longitudinal nor experimental. This is a problem for the research because causal inferences are not possible ( Wang and Holcombe, 2010 ). Future studies examining causal relationships with interventions or a longitudinal design are clearly warranted ( Brand et al., 2003 ). For example, differences in academic achievement could be measured after students receive an intervention that increases their school identification. An idea for investigating the climate-achievement link with a longitudinal design was put forward by Johnson and Stevens (2006, p. 119); “rather than relying on student achievement at one point in time, growth in student achievement could be used as an outcome construct.” This would be possible under the larger longitudinal project from which the current data set originated. For example, differences in the same cohort's level of academic achievement could be analyzed (the difference between NAPLAN data at time 1 [Grade 7] and time 2 [Grade 9]). A longitudinal design would also account for the fact that school climate perception is not static ( Wang and Degol, 2015 ). It potentially changes and evolves during different points in the school year (for example, proximity to holiday periods or exam periods) and corresponding with different events at the school (for example, changing administration or exposure to a new initiative, Johnson and Stevens, 2006 ). Hence, longitudinal designs should be adopted in future research, as they would account for the impermanency of school climate perception ( Wang et al., 2010 ).

Future studies should control for other known critical predictors of achievement. Even though many critical variables were included in this analysis, the most complicated models explained ~40% of the whole variance and only 7.6, 5.6, and 9.7% of variance at the student level in writing, reading, and numeracy scores, respectively. This reflects that teaching and learning is a complex process and numerous factors affect students' academic achievement. Future studies could include more covariates that have been known to influence academic achievement, such as students' individual SES, parental involvement, leadership, teacher credentials, students' IQ, students' motivation and attendance ( Keith and Cool, 1992 ; Ma and Klinger, 2000 ; Perry and McConney, 2010 ). Students learning disabilities and attribution styles may also be important considerations as they can affect the student-teacher relationship ( Pasta et al., 2013 ). In a comprehensive meta-analysis as a synthesis of more than 800 studies (over 50,000 studies) relating to academic achievement, Hattie (2009) found that among the most significant factors are feedback, metacognitive strategies and reciprocal teaching. Future studies might find that the additive role of such variables changes the strength of the impact of school climate and school identification on academic achievement, because school climate and school identification may also have significant predictors and determinants.

A strength of the present study was the inclusion of school climate as a latent construct in the models. It would also be interesting for future studies to test the impact of discrete sub-factors of school climate. Testing their respective roles on achievement may expose more precise areas for improvement (e.g., increasing academic emphasis for achievement). This means that interventions could be crafted to pinpoint those factors more directly ( Wang and Degol, 2015 ). As noted previously, other types of social identification could also be tested, in order to further test the theoretical model. For example, classroom identification and peer-group identification could be tested for students, and workgroup identification and professional identification could be tested for staff.

The present study aimed to deepen our understanding of the contributions of student and staff perceptions of school climate to student achievement. The findings have consolidated the importance of school climate and school identification for student achievement. The present study also aimed to uncover the psychological mechanisms underlying the climate-achievement link. This aim was partly achieved, as students' school identification emerged as a mediator in two out of three learning domains. This has illuminated potential targets for interventions and fertile ground for future research. Furthermore, through the use of multilevel modeling and measurement of multiple perspectives of school climate, the study addressed important methodological concerns identified in the literature. Overall, this study provided empirical support demonstrating that school climate and social identification are core variables that have the power to augment student achievement.

Author Contributions

EL and KR: contributed to the conception and design of the work; the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data for the work; and revising the work. SM: contributed to the conception and design of the work; the analysis and interpretation of data for the work; and drafting the work. ES: contributed to the conception and design of the work. DB: contributed to the conception and design of the work; and the acquisition of data for the work.

This research was supported by the Australian Capital Territory Education and Training Directorate.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02069/full#supplementary-material

1. ^ The research project was approved by the research ethics committee at ANU (No. 2009/293).

2. ^ A series of CFA were conducted for the SCASIM-Sf used in the present study (see Supplementary Material A for a full analysis). Five plausible models were competitively tested in order to identify factor structures underlying and causing the 36 item responses. The most parsimonious model was selected, based on conventional model fit information and theoretical considerations. The final model for the SCASIM-Sf mirrored the SCASIM-St scale, and showed good model fit (χ 2 = 2907.226 [p < .05], df = 580, CFI = 0.949, TLI = 0.945, SRMR = 0.051, RMSEA = 0.046).

3. ^ Formula for design effect ( Satorra and Muthen, 1995 ; Muthén and Muthén, 2009 ): D E F F = V C V S R S = 1 ( s - 1 ) ρ

VC = correct variance under cluster sampling; VSRS = variance assuming simple random sampling; s = common cluster size and ρ = intra-class correlation.

4. ^ MULTILEVEL MODELING EQUATIONS

The following structural equations describe Model 7 (with numeracy as a dependent variable). This is an example of the last step of the hierarchical SEMs:

Level 1: student level (‘within school level’)

In the equations, the subscript j denotes the schools ( j = 1, 2, 3 …17) and i is for individual students ( i = 1, 2, 3….n) within the school. βs are regression coefficients. β 0 j represents the school intercept (latent factor) for the student's school which is estimated at the school level by Equation (3) in the following. β 1 j is the regression coefficient of grade that represents the predicted increase in achievement scores by one unit in grade. β 8 j is the regression coefficients of the interaction term of staff school climate perception and staff school identification. e ij is an estimated error at the student level, i.e., random error of deviation in the student score that is unexplained by the equation. Therefore, an individual student's NAPLAN score, Y ( Numeracy Score ) ij is the sum of the school intercept, β 0 j , for that student's school, all the serial predictor variables effect, and the individual level error, e ij . The mediator variable of students' school identification was also regressed on their school climate perception at the student level.

Level 2: school level (“between school level”)

In equation 3, γ denotes regression coefficients at the school level. An intercept for a school, β 0 j , is predicted by the average intercept over groups when all predictors are zero, γ 00 (a fixed effect); regression coefficient of socio-economic status γ 01 , of school size γ 02 , of response rate γ 03 , and finally the school level error, u 0 j (a random effect: deviation from average intercept for group j).

Multilevel Mode

If we integrate Model 7 into two equations by substituting Equation (3) into Equation (1), an individual student score would be estimated by the following Equation (4). In summary, a reading score of a student is the sum of the effects of school level predictors, student level predictors, and random errors (unexplained deviances) at both school and school level.

5. ^ As expected large intercorrelations between the four sub-factors of staff school climate perceptions ( r > 0.5) were observed. These correlations suggested a latent general factor of school climate and they were analyzed as a measurement model (CFA) in the main SEM. One instance of multicollinearity was detected, between staff's perceptions of shared values and approach and staff's school identification ( r = 0.91 > 0.9; Tabachnick and Fidell, 2014 ). Shared values and approach (‘SVA’) was a sub-factor of school climate, and analyzed in the factor structure of the higher order general school climate construct. Therefore, the multicollinearity between SVA and school identification did not directly affect the estimation of the parameters in the model. This multicollinearity issue may have arisen due to the disaggregation of staff data to the student data, which exaggerated the correlations that were identified in the CFA (supplementary analysis, Supplementary Material).

6. ^ ASPIRe is an acronym for Actualizing Social and Personal Identity Resources model.

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Keywords: academic achievement, school climate, school identification, social identity, student and staff/teacher perceptions, multilevel analysis

Citation: Maxwell S, Reynolds KJ, Lee E, Subasic E and Bromhead D (2017) The Impact of School Climate and School Identification on Academic Achievement: Multilevel Modeling with Student and Teacher Data. Front. Psychol . 8:2069. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02069

Received: 30 April 2017; Accepted: 14 November 2017; Published: 05 December 2017.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2017 Maxwell, Reynolds, Lee, Subasic and Bromhead. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Eunro Lee, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Community Schoolyards® Projects: Kid Tested. Mother Nature Approved.

Rising temperatures, bigger storms, and yesterday’s blacktop playgrounds have made recess a liability. Our climate-smart playgrounds deliver cooler temps, cleaner air, and flood control. But that’s just the beginning.

Visit Philadelphia’s Bregy Schoolyard, and you’ll see a large, beautiful play space, hear kids playing and laughing. On a summer day, you might feel a hot wind. What you don’t see—what exists below the surface and what it means for this community’s future—is equally important because it could protect the entire neighborhood from increasingly likely catastrophic flooding.

Across the country in L.A., there’s more than meets the eye at Pico-Union’s neighborhood schoolyard. Today, you could almost miss the small forest of two dozen newly planted tree saplings amid the buzz of happy children playing. In 10 years, though, most of the Castellanos Elementary School playground—previously a solid black asphalt hot plate—will be shaded by a lush, cooling canopy of leaves.

Ribbon cutting and grand opening ceremony for the Castellanos schoolyard playground in Los Angeles, California on January 31, 2024.

But this story is about much more than those two schoolyards or even the 300 others we’ve helped build to date. It’s about the 2 million acres of schoolyards across the United States and building a movement to change the way our country understands and invests in schoolyards to combat climate change threats.

“With the pending threats of climate change—and the ones already here, we as a society…have an obligation to prioritize investment in healthy schools. And schoolyards are the most impactful and lowest-cost place to start.” — Danielle Denk, director of TPL’s Community Schoolyards initiative

The renovations TPL is leading in dozens of communities across the country represent the most ambitious effort by a nonprofit to scale up climate resilience across publicly owned properties that are often in the very heart of communities—where children and adults live and play. They are powerful reminders of the positive impact a relatively small space can have when it’s thoughtfully designed.

The schoolyard renovations achieve far more than climate resilience, of course. They provide children with a vibrant space in which to play during recess, an activity that has become a liability in some places and times of the year. Community Schoolyards projects encourage outdoor learning with shaded seating areas and gardens. They provide opportunities for children to have hands-on STEM learning, to harness and analyze the power of nature-based solutions in addressing climate change. And they give the wider community a new green space to enjoy after school and on weekends.

As climate change threatens communities nationwide with dangerously high temperatures and growing flood risks, public schoolyards have emerged as important infrastructure in the quest to make individual neighborhoods and our entire country more resilient. But only if they’re designed with climate resilience in mind and only if they become the standard in every community—urban and rural—across the nation.

Sadly, many existing schoolyards make towns and cities more vulnerable. Devoid of trees and covered in heat-absorbing black asphalt, typical schoolyards flood easily and become dangerously hot.

Working in communities from New York to Tennessee to Oregon, Trust for Public Land has partnered with school districts in both urban and remote rural areas. Regardless of geography, these projects share the same goal: creating healthier environments for young people and communities. That means new play equipment and sports facilities, but also more nature.

Before & After: Converting asphalt schoolyards into colorful spaces teeming with trees, gardens, artwork, and play features yields all kinds of benefits for students and the wider community, centering on health, education, climate, and park access.

Converting asphalt schoolyards into colorful spaces teeming with trees, gardens, artwork, and play features—as TPL did at Alejandrina B. De Gautier Elementary School in Brooklyn—yields all kinds of benefits for students and the wider community, centering on health, education, climate, and park access. Photo: Alexa Hoyer

“We are focusing on communities where children are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change,” said Danielle Denk, TPL’s Community Schoolyards initiative director. “So we’ve grown our programs in Los Angeles and Oakland, California, where heat islands are significant, and in New York and Philadelphia, where flooding is critical. More broadly, we recognize the vital role that schools have in preparing children so they can be successful and so humanity can thrive.”

One-third of Americans, including 28 million children, lack safe, easy access to a park within a 10-minute walk of home. Urge your senators to allocate funding to create parks and enhance outdoor recreational opportunities by championing the Outdoors for All Act today!

“With the pending threats of climate change—and the ones already here,” she added, “we as a society—and that includes school boards, local governments and nonprofits—have an obligation to prioritize investment in healthy schools. And that includes schoolyards.”’

Brendan Shane, TPL’s climate director, points out that in many towns and cities, schoolyards and school buildings (dominated by asphalt, concrete, stone, and brick) form mini-heat islands. Using satellite imagery and computer modeling, data scientists at TPL found that nationwide, 36 percent of the nation’s 50.8 million public school students attend school in a heat island, which is defined as 1.25 degrees Fahrenheit or more, on average, than the surrounding town or city. The number of days over 90 degrees a student experiences has a direct impact on academic performance, a statistic that is greater in underserved communities and communities of color. By cooling schoolyards, we cool schools and boost student academic performance.

Trees are perhaps the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly defense against searing heat. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, trees and plants lower surface and air temperatures . Shaded surfaces can be 20 to 45 degrees cooler than materials in the full sun. And evapotranspiration, in which trees pull moisture from the soil and release it through their leaves, cools the air directly.

While it can take a while for newly planted trees to grow large enough to create meaningful shade, the wait is well worth it, Shane says. (In the meantime, natural surfaces, shade structures, gazebos, and special paints that reduce heat can help students stay comfortable.) “It’s five, seven, ten years before you’re throwing more shade,” he notes. “But you want as many trees as you can fit into a space to achieve a robust canopy.”

At Castellanos Elementary School, where the new schoolyard opened at the end of January 2024 , students now play tag amid native trees species like California western sycamore, Torrey pine, desert-willow, and western redbud. Previously asphalt, a new grass field surrounded by mulched native-planting beds and sandy paths will manage stormwater and keep children cooler.

While all of TPL’s Community Schoolyards projects involve planting dozens of trees, a $10 million grant from the U.S. Forest Service’s Urban and Community Forest Program will help TPL accelerate tree plantings and nature-based solutions at even more American schoolyards.

The money will pay for plantings, tree care, and educational programs in schoolyards and surrounding communities across the country, beginning with five cities: Mesa and Chandler, Arizona; Concord, California; Salem, Oregon, and Auburn, New York.

Roomy tree pits, gardens and vegetated swales capture rainfall too. But for areas prone to severe rainstorms, engineered systems—in which layers of gravel beneath the surface hold water—are sometimes deployed. Such was the case at the F. Amedee Bregy Elementary School in South Philadelphia, where frequent flooding in the neighborhood led to sewage overflows in local waterways. According to a guide to flooding issued by the City of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania has the highest rate of flooding of any state. “When too much water enters the combined sewer system, it can lead to overflows that release billions of gallons of polluted water and diluted sewage into our rivers each year,” the report said.

Bregy’s new schoolyard, which opened last fall, can prevent up to 1.5 million gallons of stormwater—the equivalent of three Olympic-size swimming pools—from overwhelming the schoolyard, the surrounding streets, or the already burdened public sewer system each year.

Kari Sannino, a senior program manager for TPL in Philadelphia, explained that most of the stormwater management was achieved through an underground gravel chamber. “The…surfaces are also porous and store runoff,” she said. “This lightens the load on Philly’s overstretched combined sewer infrastructure.”

TPL Community Schoolyards projects in Philadelphia, Camden, and New York City, taken together, divert nearly 70 million gallons of stormwater each year, protecting water quality in the Delaware River, Schuylkill River, Hudson River, East River and tributaries. “Imagine what would happen if we did this in every city with a combined sewer system,” says Denk.

Greening schoolyards can also mitigate air pollution. That’s because trees capture particulate matter like soot on their leaves and trunks. The pores on a leaf’s surface, too, absorb toxic pollutants. According to the National Park Service, pollutants like sulfur dioxide , carbon monoxide and ozone are “permanently converted when inside the leaf.”

Pollution is a particular concern at Jennie Reed Elementary School in Tacoma, Washington, where Interstate 5 runs alongside the schoolyard. In the spring of 2024, a TPL-led schoolyard project will open there with dozens of new trees, including Jeffrey pine and hophornbeam, and thousands of shrubs, flowers and grasses. (TPL opened another Tacoma schoolyard, at Helen B. Stafford Elementary School, in January, while three more projects are planned; Tacoma has the largest park access gap of any major city in Washington.)

All that vegetation will absorb pollutants that spew from tailpipes whizzing by on the interstate. But the new trees and shrubs are also expected to help Jennie Reed Elementary cope with another form of pollution: noise. “Adding trees to block noise from nearby I-5 will make it easier for students to hear teachers and each other during the school day,” said Abby Sloan, the school’s principal.

From heat to floods to pollution to noise, schoolyards can make a community more resilient and make students more excited about being outdoors. “The evidence is very clear that when kids learn outside, they do better,” Denk says. “They have a higher rate of attendance and academic performance, and they develop problem-solving skills, independence and confidence. If we can couple that with climate literacy, I think it’s a no brainer.”

Lisa W. Foderaro is a senior writer and researcher for Trust for Public Land. Previously, she was a reporter for the New York Times , where she covered parks and the environment.

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IMAGES

The Effects of School Climate & Culture on K-12 Academic Achievement
Improving School Climate and Culture for Student & Staff Success
Guidance for Measuring and Using School Climate Data
Tips For Teaching Your Students About Climate Change And Global Warming
Coming Back to Climate: How Principals Can Use School Climate Data To
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Culture VS. Climate: Aligning School Culture to Positive Climate

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The Impact of School Climate on Well-Being Experience and School Engagement: A Study With High-School Students
Introduction. In recent years, there is a growing interest in educational policies and research promoting student engagement at school in order to contrast the students' passivity and the dropout rate (Archambault et al., 2009).As such, dropping out of high school has consequences for students' well-being, including less lifetime earnings, more risky health behaviors, and poorer mental ...
School Climate Improvement
School climate is a broad, multifaceted concept that involves many aspects of the student's educational experience. A positive school climate is the product of a school's attention to fostering safety; promoting a supportive academic, disciplinary, and physical environment; and encouraging and maintaining respectful, trusting, and caring relationships throughout the school community no ...
Using School Climate to Improve Attendance and Grades: Understanding
That is unfortunate as these school climate and school satisfaction are intuitively connected and have demonstrated an impact on school absences and grades. 30 To fill this gap in the literature, researchers have called for more complex research designs that clarify the relationships among school climate, school satisfaction, student absences ...
PDF School Climate: #ConnectTheDots Brief
Home-school collaboration is an essential component of a positive school climate. Genuinely ... improved behavior, increased homework completion, improved school attendance, and a reduced need for intensive interventions and special education services. These positive outcomes have been documented across families from ... The impact of school ...
The Impact of School Climate and School Identification on Academic
The extant literature has demonstrated that students' and members of staff's ratings of school climate have a significant impact on students' academic outcomes. Nevertheless, there a number of gaps and issues in this body of work to be addressed. ... academic coursework, and homework on academic achievement. Sch. Psychol. Q. 7, 207 10.1037 ...
A New Report Reveals That Homework in the United States is ...
October 1, 2003. Two new reports debunk the notion that U.S. schoolchildren suffer from a growing homework load, with little time to play and just be kids. The great majority of students at all ...
Homework could have an impact on kids' health. Should schools ban it?
Elementary school kids are dealing with large amounts of homework. Howard County Library System, CC BY-NC-ND. One in 10 children report spending multiple hours on homework. There are no benefits ...
The School Climate Problem (and What We Can Do About It)
School climate is about building a sense of collective efficacy. Researchers Megan Tschannen-Moran and Marilyn Barr define collective efficacy as, "the collective self-perception that teachers ...
The Essential Traits of a Positive School Climate
The single most important job of the principal is creating a school environment where students feel safe, supported, engaged, and accepted, according to many child development and school ...
More than two hours of homework may be counterproductive, research
Pope said the research calls into question the value of assigning large amounts of homework in high-performing schools. Homework should not be simply assigned as a routine practice, she said. "Rather, any homework assigned should have a purpose and benefit, and it should be designed to cultivate learning and development," wrote Pope.
Is Homework Necessary? Education Inequity and Its Impact on Students
Negative Effects of Homework for Students. While some amount of homework may help students connect to their learning and enhance their in-class performance, too much homework can have damaging effects. Students with too much homework have elevated stress levels. Students regularly report that homework is their primary source of stress.
Analyzing Homework's Impact
Analyzing Homework's Impact. It has been a debate for decades. Children are unhappy about doing homework and teachers insist that homework is key to helping students learn. In recent years, parents have joined in the debate, complaining their children are stressed out because of an increased workload. That has prompted school districts across ...
Homework could have an effect on kids' health. Should schools ban it?
But for elementary school students, even 30 minutes of homework a night, if combined with other sources of academic stress, can have a negative impact. Researchers in China have linked homework of ...
Developing A Positive School Climate
The "Creating a Positive School Climate for Learning" toolkit contains checklists, rubrics, surveys, guiding questions, and strategies on a variety of school climate topics. The topics include using data to assess school climate, behavior, attendance, health, safety, cultural competence, family and community involvement, and operational ...
The effects of homework on students' social-emotional health
The participants in this study were students in grades 3-6 (n = 213), their parents (n = 223), and their teachers (n = 16). While the results of this research are preliminary,the data provide some information regarding the lack of school homework policies, as well as misinformation about those policies among parents and teachers.
School Climate as an Intervention to Reduce Academic Failure and
An Overview of School Climate and Academic Achievement. A positive school climate provides an excellent example of how a positive social environment may shape student behaviors. 20,29 However, definitions of school climate tend to diverge. 30 Tangible definitions are based on behavioral patterns of school life that are observed through norms, values, practices, and relationships. 31 ...
Does homework still have value? A Johns Hopkins education expert weighs
The necessity of homework has been a subject of debate since at least as far back as the 1890s, according to Joyce L. Epstein, co-director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University. "It's always been the case that parents, kids—and sometimes teachers, too—wonder if this is just busy work ...
Does homework really work?
After two hours, however, achievement doesn't improve. For high schoolers, Cooper's research suggests that two hours per night is optimal. If teens have more than two hours of homework a night, their academic success flatlines. But less is not better. The average high school student doing homework outperformed 69 percent of the students in ...
The Impact of School Climate on Well-Being Experience and School
In Model 2 the direct impact of school climate on student's engagement was tested, according to Fatou and Kubiszewski (2018) work, but also the direct impact of school climate on well-being and of well-being on engagement were assessed, due to the stress of Positive Education on the effect of school community on well-being (Seligman, 2011 ...
The Impact of School Climate on School Outcomes
The survey should address school climate and, based on that, administrators can determine the current condition and decide whether the teachers' work environment or overall school climate needs to be monitored or maintained, or whether it needs intensive care (Keefe and Kelley, 1990). Attending to a school's climate does not happen overnight,
What This School Used as the Main Ingredient for a Positive Climate
The goal is to help all Nevada schools cultivate a positive climate, where students develop the social and emotional skills they need to thrive. One of the biggest barriers for schools, Maurer ...
5 Ways Principals Can Establish A Strong School Climate
It's the principal, after all, who sets the tone for a school's culture by his or her everyday actions and interactions with teachers, families, and students, and who sets into motion the core elements of school climate work: Social-emotional learning, youth voice and leadership programs, and restorative practices.
What Students Are Saying About Why School Absences Have 'Exploded
By The Learning Network. April 11, 2024. Nationally, an estimated 26 percent of public school students were considered chronically absent last school year, up from 15 percent before the Covid-19 ...
Discrepancies in academic perceptions of climate change and ...
Climate change is arguably the most severe threat faced by humanity today. In an attempt to understand how humanity can manage this phenomenon for planetary health, it is fundamental to have an ...
Nearly Half of Educators Say Climate Change Is Affecting Their Schools
When asked for their personal views on the impact of climate change on their district or school, 16 percent of teachers, principals, and district leaders said that climate change has already had a ...
Frontiers
The extant literature has demonstrated that students' and members of staff's ratings of school climate have a significant impact on students' academic outcomes. Nevertheless, there a number of gaps and issues in this body of work to be addressed. ... Testing models of school learning: effects of quality of instruction, motivation, academic ...
Climate change is already negatively affecting children's education
In contexts where girls' education is less prioritised than boys', their school attendance and exam scores have suffered more following climate change stressors such as droughts and storms.
Three Ways Schoolyards Address Climate Change
They provide opportunities for children to have hands-on STEM learning, to harness and analyze the power of nature-based solutions in addressing climate change. And they give the wider community a new green space to enjoy after school and on weekends. As climate change threatens communities nationwide with dangerously high temperatures and ...

A New Report Reveals That Homework in the United States is an Easy Load

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Homework could have an impact on kids’ health. Should schools ban it?

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Does homework result in academic success?

Impact of homework on kids

Should there be “no homework” policies?

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Is Homework Necessary? Education Inequity and Its Impact on Students

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Homework could have an effect on kids’ health. Should schools ban it?

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School Climate as an Intervention to Reduce Academic Failure and Educate the Whole Child: A Longitudinal Study

Michael J. Mann

Christa L. Lilly

Angela M. Dyer

Megan L. Smith

Alfgeir L. Kristjansson

CONCLUSIONS

An Overview of School Climate and Academic Achievement

An Opportunity for School Climate to Promote Academic Success

Participants, Procedures, and Handling of Missing Data

Academic grades

School climate

Biological sex

Family structure

Maternal education

Data Analysis

Limitations

IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH

Acknowledgments

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Does homework still have value? A Johns Hopkins education expert weighs in

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What Students Are Saying About Why School Absences Have ‘Exploded’

Remote learning made students comfortable with missing school.

Students feel like expectations are lower than they were before the pandemic.

The period of school shutdowns got students out of their school routines.

Because assignments and other materials are online, students find they can keep up with their classes even if they don’t attend school.

Going to school, and finding the motivation to have as good an attendance record as possible, now feels like more of a struggle.

Some students face challenges in attending class that may have nothing to do with the pandemic.

Schools can do more to get students back in class.

Discrepancies in academic perceptions of climate change and implications for climate change education

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