Potential Moderation Across Racial Groups in Perceptions of Authoritative School Climate and Peer Victimization and Student Engagement

Abstract

Positive perceptions of school climate are associated with improved academic and behavioral outcomes, such as lower bullying victimization experience and higher student engagement. The present study evaluated the consistency of these relations across racial/ethnic student groups using the Authoritative School Climate (ASC) model which defines school climate as a 3-factor model including disciplinary structure, student support, and academic expectations. Data were collected from 5,878 middle/high school students from Missouri and Oklahoma. School-level fixed effects model revealed more negative perception of school climate and higher peer victimization experiences (i.e., general or bullying) amongst racially minoritized groups. Minoritized Racial Identity also negatively moderated the effect between perception of school climate and the selected outcomes with a small to medium effect. These findings may provide further evidence in utilizing Authoritative School Climate Theory in evaluating school climate and implications for educators to establish better teacher–student connections in creating a positive school climate.

Impact Statement

Student perceptions of school climate have been shown to be related with the quality of student schooling experience and their respective academic and perception of behavior outcomes. This study evaluated school climate perceptions and found minoritized racial/ethnic status negatively moderated the associations between school climate and bullying victimization experiences with a small to medium effect. These results further help inform educators how establishing positive academic and behavior expectations in school may help mitigate student bullying/victimization experiences in school.

Keywords:

• School climate
• race
• school engagement
• victimization experience
• student teacher relationships

Associate Editor:

• Tyler Renshaw

DISCLOSURE

The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.

Additional information

Funding

The research reported here was supported by grants from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education (# R305A170180) and the National Institute of Justice (# 2016-CK-BX-0004) awarded to Dr. Keith Herman and the University of Missouri.

Notes on contributors

Ying-Ruey Chuang

Ying-Ruey Chuang is a school psychology doctoral candidate at the University of Missouri and a graduate research assistant at the Missouri Prevention Science Institute. His research focuses on bridging the research to practice gap, primarily focusing on school climate, culturally responsive teaching practices, and universal strategies in the classroom.

Francis Huang

Francis Huang is an associate professor in the Statistics, Measurement, and Evaluation in Education program in the College of Education at the University of Missouri and the Methodology Co-Director of the Missouri Prevention Science Institute. His research focuses on both methodological (e.g., analysis of clustered data) and substantive (e.g., school climate, disparities in disciplinary sanctions) areas of interest.

Keith Herman

Keith Herman is a Curator’s Distinguished Professor in Department of Education, School, & Counseling Psychology at the University of Missouri. He is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Missouri Prevention Science Institute. He has an extensive grant and publication record including over 150 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of prevention and early intervention of child emotional and behavior disturbances and culturally sensitive education interventions.

Bixi Zhang

Bixi Zhang is a postdoctoral fellow in the Missouri Prevention Science Institute at the University of Missouri. Her research interests include causal inference, multilevel modeling, large-scale assessment, and their applications in the associations between learning-related behaviors and academic achievement in childhood.