Psychometric examination of the School Social Climate Questionnaire in Chileans students

The School Social Climate Questionnaire (CECSCE) was adapted and applied. Subsequently, its psychometric proprieties were analyzed. The 1075 Chilean students who participated were assessed with the CECSCE and the School Violence Scale. The results showed that the CECSCE has a bifactorial structure, although there was also the possibility of a unifactorial structure. The CECSCE achieved satisfactory reliability and homogeneity indexes. The CECSCES scores were inversely related to the school violence rate. Lastly, differences by gender and educational level were analyzed. Given that there are differences in school climate perceptions in favor of girls, Chilean standards are presented in percentiles by gender. It can therefore be concluded that the CECSCE is sufficiently valid and reliable to be applied in Chile.     

Delaware School Climate Survey-Student: its factor structure, concurrent validity, and reliability

The Delaware School Climate Survey—Student (DSCS—S) was developed to provide schools with a brief and psychometrically sound student survey for assessing school climate, particularly the dimensions of social support and structure. Confirmatory factor analyses, conducted on a sample of 11,780 students in 85 schools, showed that a bifactor model consisting of five specific factors and one general factor (School Climate) best represented the data. Those five factors are represented in five subscales of the DSCS—S: Teacher-Student Relations, Student-Student Relations, Fairness of Rules, Liking of School, and School Safety. The factor structure was shown to be stable across grade levels (i.e., elementary, middle, and high school), racial-ethnic groups (i.e., Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic), and gender. As evidence of the survey's concurrent validity, scores for each of the five subscales and the total scale correlated moderately, across groups and at the school level, with academic achievement and suspensions and expulsions.     

校园氛围与青少年学业成就的关系：一个有调节的中介模型

大量研究表明,校园氛围对青少年学业成就具有重要影响,但是关于校园氛围起作用的中介和调节机制却少有研究涉及。本研究提出一个有调节的中介模型,考察了学校依恋在校园氛围与学业成就关系中的中介作用,以及该过程是否受到自控水平的调节。采用分层整群抽样的方法,选取广东省10所学校2758名初中生作为被试,匿名填写校园氛围问卷、学校依恋问卷、自控问卷、学业成就问卷。结果显示:(1)在控制了性别、年级、社会经济地位后,校园氛围对学业成就具有正向预测作用;(2)学校依恋是校园氛围与学业成就之间的中介变量;(3)校园氛围通过学校依恋对学业成就的间接效应受到自控的调节,相对于自控水平高的青少年,间接效应对于自控水平低的青少年更显著。因此,校园氛围与学业成就之间既存在中介效应,又存在调节效应。     

School Climate as “Social Order” and “Social Action”: A Multi-Level Analysis of Public Elementary School Student Perceptions

The present study employed a sample of 25,087 students enrolled in 117 elementary schools to test whether student perceptions obtained in a general survey of school learning and social environment conformed to the dimensions of Stockard and Mayberry's (1992) conceptual framework for school climate, and whether data could be summarized as grouped (school) or non-grouped (individual) data. A confirmatory factor analysis showed that the proposed framework adequately fits student perceptions of school climate. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses showed between-school differences. Although school membership accounted for a small amount of variance in school climate measures, school climate means showed relatively high reliability. School climate dimensions most immediate to the student (Action-Instrumental support and Action-Expressive support) showed the strongest relations to both student self-reported academic performance and student satisfaction, and these relations were generally the same across the schools. As predicted, expressive support as opposed to instrumental support was more beneficial (in terms of self-reported academic performance) to students in schools having proportionally more socioeconomically disadvantaged students. Implications of results for educational research and educational practice regarding school climate are discussed.     

School Context Protective Factors Against Peer Ethnic Discrimination Across the High School Years

Ethnically diverse high school contexts present unique social opportunities for youth to form interethnic relationships, but they may also subject students to certain social challenges such as peer ethnic discrimination. With a sample of 1,072 high school students (55% girls; 54% Latino, 20% African American, 14% Asian, 12% White) attending 84 high schools, school context factors that protect students’ exposure to peer ethnic discrimination across the high school years were investigated with a three-level hierarchical linear model. Each spring for four consecutive years (grades 9–12), self-reported peer ethnic discrimination, interracial climate at school, and perceived school ethnic composition were assessed. At the school level, objective high school ethnic composition data were collected. Peer ethnic discrimination was found to decline slightly across the high school years. Above and beyond this decline, more positive perceptions of the school interracial climate and both objective and perceived numerical ethnic majority status predicted lower levels of peer ethnic discrimination. Taken together, the results highlight the significance of both objective (e.g., ethnic composition) and subjective (e.g., interracial climate) aspects of the school ethnic context to students’ high school social experiences.     

Family environment and its relation to adolescent personality factors

Investigated the relationship between family social climate characteristics and adolescent personality functioning. The High School Personality Questionnaire (HSPQ) was administered to 80 high school students. These students and their parents also completed the Family Environment Scale (FES). Results of a stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that one or more HSPQ scales had significant associations with each FES scale. Significant variance in child behavior was attributed to family social system functioning; however, no single family variable accounted for a major portion of the variance to the exclusion of other factors. It was concluded that child behavior varies with total system functioning, more than with separate system factors.     

The impact of school emotional climate on student psychopathology

Reports of differences among schools in emotional and social climate were related to changes in behavioral and emotional problems and alcohol use in students who remained in these schools over a 2-year interval. Four dimensions of school climate were examined. School conflict and social facilitation were shown to be related to increases in childhood psychopathology, whereas student autonomy was not. Effects of academic focus were even stronger than those of conflict, in the sense of being independently related to more syndromes. School climate effects were examinedfor conditionality on student characteristics and for synergism, It was concluded that intervention to alter the school climate may promote the emotional and behavioral well-being of children and adolescents.This research was supported by NIMH Grants MH36971 and MH30906. The authors wish to thank Robert Ouellette for his assistance.     

Measuring dimensions of social climate among South African higher education students

We investigated the structure of social climate among university students to characterise the relative importance of personal and interpersonal factors. Participants were 266 students from a school of education of a large South African university (females = 66.5%; black = 53.0%, white = 25.9%; coloured = 7.5%, Asian/Indian = 6.0%; mean age = 28.71 years, SD = 10.51 years). The students completed the Experience of Social Climate Questionnaire (ESCQ). Exploratory principal component factor analysis of the data yielded a three component structure of social climate comprising of (i) Constructive interpersonal relationships, (ii) Unloving towards self, and (iii) Aggression perceptions of self. Relationships and aggression appear to define social climate in a higher education student population.     

Middle School as a Developmental Niche for Civic Engagement

The present study investigated how school climate, school connectedness and academic efficacy beliefs inform emergent civic engagement behaviors among middle school youth of color. These associations were examined both concurrently and longitudinally using a developmentally appropriate measure of civic engagement. Data were drawn from two subsamples of a larger study of social/emotional development in middle school (cross‐sectional sample n = 324; longitudinal sample n = 232), M = 12 years old, 46 % female, 53 % male. Forty‐two percent (42.2 %) of the sample self‐identified as African American, 19.8 % as Multiracial or Mixed, 19.4 % as Latino, 11.6 % as Asian American or Pacific Islander, 11.6 % identified as Other, and 5.2 % as Native American. The study tested and found support for a latent mediation model in which more positive perceptions of school climate were positively related to school connectedness, and this in turn, was positively associated with civic engagement; school climate was also positively associated with academic‐self‐efficacy beliefs, but such beliefs did not mediate the climate‐civic engagement association. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

学校气氛问卷(初中生版)的研究报告

以Moos关于人类环境的三分法为理论指导,结合当前初中生心理发展实际和学校环境的特点,编制了学校气氛问卷(PSCI-M),分为师生关系、同学关系、学业压力、秩序与纪律和发展多样性5个维度共38个条目。信效度检测表明,该问卷具有较高的内部一致性信度和折半信度,其内容效度、结构效度和外部关联效度均较为理想,可以作为初中生知觉的学校气氛的测量工具。     

中学组织气氛测量及其与教师心理健康的相关分析

在借鉴国外有关学校组织气氛理论研究成果和我国教育实践调查的基础上,对中学组织气氛的结构因素进行了理论构想。通过探索性因素分析和验证性因素分析,发现学校组织气氛主要由管理气氛、教学气氛、学习气氛、人际气氛四个维度共23个因子构成的。在此基础上,编制了中学组织气氛量表。经考察,该量表具有较好的信度与效度。应用该量表探讨学校组织气氛与教师心理健康的关系。结果发现：学校管理气氛与教师心理疾病中的敌意因子,学习气氛与强迫、人际敏感、焦虑和敌意因子具有显著的正相关;教师心理疾病各因子与学校组织人际气氛具有负相关,但不显著;学习气氛与敌意和焦虑、管理气氛与敌意因子回归显著。     

Individual and Contextual Factors Associated With School Connectedness in the Context of Counseling in Schools

School connectedness refers to students' beliefs that their peers and adults at school care about their learning and themselves as individuals. School connectedness has been widely documented as a significant predictor for positive student outcomes, yet little is known about factors associated with it as an outcome variable. Guided by the advocating student-within-environment framework situated with the social development model, this study explored individual and contextual factors associated with school connectedness among 1,201 students in Grades 4 to 8. Gender, ethnicity, grade level, and social skills were found to be significant individual factors, whereas school support for learning and acceptance of diversity were significant contextual factors. Together, the individual and contextual factors explained 47% of the variance in school connectedness. Our findings also revealed grade-related variability concerning associations between the factors and school connectedness. These findings provide further insights into fostering connectedness in the context of counseling in schools with consideration to students' developmental needs.     

Parental employment, school climate, and children's academic and social development

Longitudinal data were used to examine the effects of parental employment status and school climate on children's academic and social development. Hierarchical regression, analyses of covariance, and latent growth modeling were used to assess various aspects of change as a function of work status and school climate with family income and education as control variables. Parental employment was associated with positive changes in social and academic progress even after controlling for prior developmental level, climate, and family income although effects were small and complex. School climate had minimal effect on the outcome variables. Income and education were related to various school outcomes.     

Are perceived school climate dimensions predictive of students’ engagement?

Students’ engagement is known to be associated with academic success and to prevent school dropouts. While many studies have considered this variable when examining school trajectories, more research is needed to investigate the factors that may sustain and promote engagement in school, regarded as a multidimensional construct (affective vs. cognitive vs. behavioral engagement). In the present cross-sectional study, associations between students’ perceptions of school climate dimensions and their level of engagement were explored. The differential effects on these associations of sex and social background were also examined. Results from a sample of 955 high-school students showed that a model incorporating six dimensions of perceived school climate explained a large proportion of the variance in students’ engagement, especially affective engagement. The perceived climate of relations between teachers and students appeared to be highly predictive of students’ engagement. Analyses also revealed that the predictiveness of school climate factors for affective, cognitive and behavioral engagement varied slightly according to sex and social background. These results highlight important levers associated with students’ engagement in school.     

The School Assessment for Environmental Typology (SAfETy): An Observational Measure of the School Environment

School safety is of great concern for prevention researchers, school officials, parents, and students, yet there are a dearth of assessments that have operationalized school safety from an organizational framework using objective tools and measures. Such a tool would be important for deriving unbiased assessments of the school environment, which in turn could be used as an evaluative tool for school violence prevention efforts. The current paper presents a framework for conceptualizing school safety consistent with Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) model and social disorganization theory, both of which highlight the importance of context as a driver for adolescents’ risk for involvement in substance use and violence. This paper describes the development of a novel observational measure, called the School Assessment for Environmental Typology (SAfETy), which applies CPTED and social disorganizational frameworks to schools to measure eight indicators of school physical and social environment (i.e., disorder, trash, graffiti/vandalism, appearance, illumination, surveillance, ownership, and positive behavioral expectations). Drawing upon data from 58 high schools, we provide preliminary data regarding the validity and reliability of the SAfETy and describe patterns of the school safety indicators. Findings demonstrate the reliability and validity of the SAfETy and are discussed with regard to the prevention of violence in schools.     

Influence of school-level variables on aggression and associated attitudes of middle school students

This study sought to understand school-level influences on aggressive behavior and related social cognitive variables. Participants were 5106 middle school students participating in a violence prevention project. Predictors were school-level norms opposing aggression and favoring nonviolence, interpersonal climate (positive student–teacher relationships and positive student–student relationships), and school responsiveness to violence (awareness and reporting of violence and school safety problems). Outcomes were individual-level physical aggression, beliefs supporting aggression, and self-efficacy for nonviolent responses. School norms and both interpersonal climate variables had effects on all three outcomes in theorized directions. Only one of the responsiveness measures, awareness and reporting of violence, had theoretically consistent effects on all outcomes. The other, school safety problems, affected self-efficacy later in middle school. Evidence of gender moderation was generally consistent with greater influence of school-level factors on female adolescents. Discussion focuses on implications in light of previous research and intervention possibilities.     

Patterns of sex-role identification in alcoholic women

Thirty alcoholic women were compared with their nonalcoholic biological sisters on several measures of sex-role identification. Contrary to an earlier finding that alcoholic women are more masculine than nonalcoholic women in unconscious identification (Wilsnack, 1973), the present study found no significant differences between alcoholics and sister controls on any of the measures utilized. Both groups were more masculine in unconscious identification than the female norm, but control subjects evidenced more internal consistency between actual behavior and expressed attitudes than did alcoholic subjects. It was concluded that an unconscious masculine identification is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition of alcoholism in women. While it is possible that alcoholic women may have experienced more conflict about their masculine identification, this question awaits further study.The present research is part of a larger study of women and alcohol funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA380). This paper is based on one portion of a doctoral thesis submitted to the Graduate School of Social Work, Rutgers University. The author is grateful to Harriet Fink and Drs. Eileen M. Corrigan, Elaine Norman, and Sharon C. Wilsnack for their generous assistance in all phases of this research.     

To belong or not to belong: Protecting minority engagement in the face of discrimination

School belonging is pivotal in enabling sustained task engagement, yet minorities' belonging is contingent on the intergroup context. From a social identity approach, discrimination experiences elicit identity threat, undermining school belonging. Conversely, a positive diversity climate may shield belonging through protecting minority identities. This study addresses minority school belonging and task engagement from the interplay of identity threat and protection in diverse classrooms. We hypothesise that a positive diversity climate can buffer minority disengagement in response to discrimination by protecting school belonging. Drawing on Turkish and Moroccan minority samples (N = 1050) in 274 diverse classrooms in 52 Belgian secondary schools, we test multilevel models with school belonging as mediating process connecting minorities' engagement to the interplay of discrimination experiences with perceived diversity climate. Minority youth who experienced discrimination from teachers reported less school belonging, which in turn predicted lower task engagement. Conversely, minority perceptions of a positive diversity climate predicted more belonging. Moreover, perceived diversity climate buffered minority engagement against personal experiences of discrimination through protecting school belonging. Whereas discrimination experiences undermined minority school belonging and task engagement, minority perceptions of a positive diversity climate protected belonging and engagement against discrimination.     

The Longitudinal Relationship Between School Belonging and Subjective Well-Being in School Among Elementary School Students

Situated within a positive psychology perspective, the present study explored the relationship between school belonging and subjective well-being (SWB) in school among elementary school students. In order to ensure the applicability of the Brief Adolescents’ Subjective Well-Being in School Scale (BASWBSS) to elementary school students, firstly, we provided evidence for its validity using two samples (total n?=?1333) of elementary school students. Secondly, we used cross-lagged structural equation modeling techniques to evaluate the nature and directionality of relationships between school belonging and SWB in school. To test these relationships, 890 students (58.54 % male) completed a measure of school belonging and SWB in school at two time points, 6 weeks apart. The results showed that (1) BASWBSS has good applicability among elementary school students and (2) significant bidirectional relationships were found between school belonging and SWB in school. Overall, the present study provided important evidence of applicability of the BASWBSS with elementary school students and the role of school belonging in elementary school age children’s SWB in school.     

Gender-role adoption and sex as academic and psychological risk factors

Five hundred and ten first-year junior high school students were administered a battery of psychological tests. On the basis of their scores from two gender-role adoption measures, three smaller groups were extracted within each biological sex: masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated individuals. Feminine students reported a greater amount of discomfort (vulnerability). A battery of tests administered toward the end of that school year revealed that females attained greater neuroticism and alienation scores than did their male peers. Possible explanations for this pubescent self-report of maladjustment are the more masculine orientation of the junior high school in comparison to the elementary school and the menarche.The authors wish to thank Ms. S. Chesterman, Regional Director of the Montreal Catholic School Commission, and Mr. K. Quinn, Principal of Sir Wilfred Laurier Junior High School, for granting us permission to disrupt school activities in order to test their students. We also wish to acknowledge the assistance of the following members of Sir Wilfred Laurier: Mr. O. Hruby, Vice-Principal; Sr. G. Larocque, Vice-Principal; Mr. S. Radeschi, key teacher; and members of the administrative and teaching staff.