School Climate Perception among Latinx and White Students: An Examination of Intersecting Race/Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Identities in Context

Abstract

Limited research has explored how the characteristics of student and teacher racial/ethnic composition may explain students’ perceptions of school climate. This study used stratified analysis to assess the associations of two prominent diversity aspects (i.e., student racial/ethnic diversity and teacher racial/ethnic diversity) with students’ perceived school climate. Particularly, this study controlled for student- and school-levels demographic characteristics among 41,237 Latinx students and 23,819 White students from 7th grade to 12th grade enrolled in 250 California public schools. The findings indicated that higher teacher racial/ethnic diversity had a mild to moderate positive association with perceived school attitudes to parental participation (Economically Disadvantaged Latinx: β = 0.20, p < .05; Economically Disadvantaged White: β = 0.37, p < .01) and perceived school equity and safety (Economically Disadvantaged Latinx: β = 0.16, p < .05; Economically Disadvantaged White: β = 0.19, p < .05) among Latinx and White students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Only Latinx students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds perceived less favorable school safety and equity in schools with a higher student racial/ethnic diversity (Economically Disadvantaged Latinx: β = −0.20, p < .05). Results have implications for addressing school climate disparities at an organizational level.

Impact Statement

Although ecological theories have proposed that school climate perception is constructed by contextual and individual characteristics interactively, relatively little research has attempted to understand how school demographic compositions, such as teacher and student racial/ethnic diversity, interact with students’ intersecting social identities in shaping perceived school climate. This study provided empirical evidence of the positive influences of teacher racial/ethnic diversity on perceived school climate. This effect was observed among White and Latinx students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Latinx students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds perceived less safety and equity in schools with higher racial/ethnic diversity.

Keywords:

• Diversity
• prevention
• social justice
• school-wide intervention

ASSOCIATE EDITOR:

• Tyler Renshaw

Additional information

Funding

The research reported here was supported in part by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant # R305A160157 to the University of California, Santa Barbara. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Institute of Education Sciences or the U.S. Department of Education.

Notes on contributors

Mei-ki Chan

Mei-ki Chan is an Assistant Professor at Utah State University. Her research interests include school mental health and school diversity.

Jill D. Sharkey

Jill Sharkey is a Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research interests include promoting student engagement for all children and primarily for children who have experienced a variety of personal, family, and community risk factors.

Erin Dowdy

Erin Dowdy is a Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research interests include early identification of child behavior problems and strengths.

Karen Nylund-Gibson

Karen Nylund-Gibson is a Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research interests include the development and use of latent variable models, specifically mixture models.

Michael J. Furlong

Michael J. Furlong is a Distinguished Emeritus Professor and Research Professor, International Center for School Based Youth Development, UC Santa Barbara. He collaborates with colleagues on Project Covitality that supports schools’ efforts to foster all students’ social- emotional development and complete mental health.