How Do Varying Types of Youth Civic Engagement Relate to Perceptions of School Climate?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate a) the relations between different types of civic behaviors and middle school students' perceptions of school climate, and b) the compositional effects of student civic engagement on setting-level school climate perceptions. Using a sample of 4,073 students in 11 public schools from a southeastern state, multilevel regression analyses found that, in general, civic behaviors were positively associated with school climate outcomes at the individual and setting level. However, certain types of civic behavior were negatively associated with desired school climate outcomes at both levels. These findings suggest a complicated relationship between student civic engagement and school climate, and imply that schools and adult leaders may need to carefully consider the types of opportunities for civic engagement provided to students.

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge that this research was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number U49 CE001091-02 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the investigators and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC.

Notes

*p < .05; **p < .01.

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

^a These items were reverse coded.