School climate: perceptual differences between students, parents, and school staff

ABSTRACT

Research suggests that school climate can have a great impact on student, teacher, and school outcomes. However, it is often assessed as a summary measure, without taking into account multiple perspectives (student, teacher, parent) or examining subdimensions within the broader construct. In this study, we assessed school climate from the perspective of students, staff, and parents within a large, urban school district using multilevel modeling techniques to examine within- and between-school variance. After adjusting for school-level demographic characteristics, students reported worse perceptions of safety and connectedness compared to both parent and staff ratings (all p < 0.05). Parents gave the lowest ratings of parental involvement, and staff gave the lowest ratings of academic emphasis (ps < 0.05). Findings demonstrate the importance of considering the type of informant when evaluating climate ratings within a school. Understanding how perceptions differ between informants can inform interventions to improve perceptions and prevent adverse outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

• Multiple informants
• school climate
• school safety
• multilevel modeling

Acknowledgements

We are extremely grateful to the Baltimore City Public School System, Office of Achievement and Accountability and especially to Dr. Ike Diibor for all of his efforts in collecting and making these data accessible to our study group. Additionally, we would like to extend our gratitude to all of the students, parents, and staff members who completed the Baltimore City Public School System Climate Survey.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by grants to Christine Ramsey from the Institute of Education Sciences Pre-doctoral training program award R305B080020 (PI: Karl Alexander), and to George Rebok from the National Institute on Aging award P01AG027735-03.

Notes on contributors

Christine M. Ramsey

Christine M. Ramsey, PhD, is an Associate Research Scientist at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut.

Adam P. Spira

Adam P. Spira, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.

Jeanine M. Parisi

Jeanine M. Parisi, PhD, is an Associate Scientist in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.

George W. Rebok

George W. Rebok, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.