Perception and predictors of school climate among Jordanian adolescents

Figures & data

Table 1 Description of the study participants (N=567)

Variables	Frequency	Percentage
Gender
Male	271	47.8
Female	296	52.2
Age
11–12 years	118	20.8
13–14 years	261	46.0
15 and more	188	33.1
Mother’s education (n=460)
Educated	434	76.6
Not educated	26	4.6
Father’s education (n=464)
Educated	431	75.9
Not Educated	33	5.8
Father’s occupation (n=541)
Unemployed	7	1.2
Retired	47	8.3
Employed	487	85.8
Mother’s occupation (n=558)
Unemployed	360	63.5
Retired	36	6.3
Employed	162	28.5
School type
Private	234	41.3
Public	333	58.7
Academic achievement
Very good	307	54.1
Good	159	28
Average	62	10.9
Below average	39	6.9

Table 2 Detailed description of participants’ perceptions of school climate, peer support, and teacher support

Variables	Strongly agree	Agree	Neither nor agree	Disagree	Strongly disagree
Perceived school climate In our school, students take part in making rules	57 (10.1%)	112 (19.8%)	119 (21.0%)	98 (17.3%)	181 (31.9%)
The rules at this school are fair	100 (17.6%)	148 (26.1%)	95 (16.8%)	113 (19.9%)	111 (19.6%)
Our school is a nice place to be	105 (18.5%)	128 (22.6%)	97 (17.1%)	94 (16.6%)	143 (25.2%)
I belong at this school	127 (22.4%)	135 (23.8%)	109 (19.2%)	66 (11.6%)	130 (22.9%)
	Always	Often	Sometimes	Rarely	Never
I feel safe at this school	206 (36.3%)	137 (24.2%)	105 (18.5%)	41 (7.2%)	78 (13.8%)
Peer support	Strongly agree	Agree	Neither nor agree	Disagree	Strongly disagree
The students in my class enjoy being together	213 (37.6%)	211 (37.2%)	61 (10.8%)	30 (5.3%)	52 (9.2%)
Most of the students in my class are kind and helpful	139 (24.5%)	198 (34.9%)	101 (17.8%)	65 (11.5%)	64 (11.3%)
Other students accept me as I am	207 (36.5%)	211 (37.2%)	71 (12.5%)	34 (6.0%)	44 (7.8%)
Teacher support	Strongly agree	Agree	Neither nor agree	Disagree	Strongly disagree
I am encouraged to express my own views in class	125 (22.0%)	201 (35.4%)	84 (14.8%)	67 (11.8%)	90 (15.9%)
Our teachers treat us fairly	112 (19.8%)	141 (24.9%)	128 (22.6%)	90 (15.9%)	96 (16.9%)
When I need extra help, I can get it	135 (23.8%)	199 (35.1%)	97 (17.1%)	72 (12.7%)	64 (11.3%)
My teachers are interested in me as a person	112 (19.8%)	158 (27.9%)	108 (19.0%)	102 (18.0%)	87 (15.3%0

Abbreviation: %, percentage.

Table 3 The relationships between adolescents’ demographic factors, academic performance, peer support, teacher support, and school sector and perceived school climate (n=567)

Variables	Correlation index	P-value
Father’s occupation	−0.013	0.76
Mother’s occupation	−0.05	0.199
Father’s education	0.021	0.607
Mother’s education	0.003	0.932
Academic performance	0.24**	0.001*
Male gender	0.03	0.39
Female gender	0.03	0.39
Age (years)
11–12	−0.13**	0.001*
13–14	−0.004	0.915
Over 15	0.118**	0.004*
Academic performance
Very good	−0.19**	<0.001*
Good	0.61	0.14
Average	0.049	0.23
Below average	0.22**	<0.001*
School type	0.01	0.665
Peer support	0.368**	<0.001*
Teacher support	0.619**	<0.001*

Note: *P≤0.05, two tailed test **P<0.001, two tailed test.

Table 4 Stepwise regression analysis of predictors of adolescents’ perceived school climate (N=567)

*Model 4	Unstandardized coefficients		Standardized coefficients	t	Sig.*	95.0% Confidence interval for B
	B	Std. error	Beta			Lower bound	Upper bound
Constant	21.884	1.845		11.861	0.001	18.264	25.505
Teacher support	0.467	0.025	0.527	18.789	0.001	0.426	0.526
Adolescent’s age	2.807	0.640	0.107	4.388	0.001	1.552	4.062
Peer support	0.087	0.026	0.090	3.310	0.006	0.035	0.139
Academic performance	5.581	2.024	0.069	2.757	0.006	1.609	9.553

Note: *Predictors of adolescents’ perceived school climate final model produced at α=0.05, F=162.9, P<0.001, and adjusted R²=0.38.