For more than a century, there has been a growing interest in school climate. Recently, the U.S. Department of Education, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Institute for Educational Sciences, a growing number of State Departments of Education, foreign educational ministries, and UNICEF have focused on school climate reform as an evidence-based school improvement strategy that supports students, parents/guardians, and school personnel learning and working together to create ever safer, more supportive and engaging K–12 schools. This work presents an integrative review on school climate research. The 206 citations used in this review include experimental studies, correlational studies, literature reviews, and other descriptive studies. The review focuses on five essential dimensions of school climate: Safety, Relationships, Teaching and Learning, Institutional Environment, and the School Improvement Process. We conclude with a critique of the field and a series of recommendations for school climate...

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A Review of School Climate Research

Background/Context: Educators have written about and studied school climate for 100 years. School climate refers to the quality and character of school life. School climate is based on patterns of people’s experiences of school life and reflects norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teaching and learning practices, and organizational structures. However, school climate is more than individual experience: It is a group phenomenon that is larger than any one person’s experience. A sustainable, positive school climate fosters youth development and learning necessary for a productive, contributive, and satisfying life in a democratic society. This climate includes norms, values, and expectations that support

School Climate: Research, Policy, Practice, and Teacher Education

Schools will be most successful in their educational mission when they integrate efforts to promote children's academic, social, and emotional learning (Elias et al., 1997). There is general agreem...

The Scientific Base Linking Social and Emotional Learning to School Success

Social and School Connectedness in Early Secondary School as Predictors of Late Teenage Substance Use, Mental Health, and Academic Outcomes

In this article, Jonathan Cohen argues that the goals of education need to be reframed to prioritize not only academic learning, but also social, emotional, and ethical competencies. Surveying the current state of research in the fields of socialemotional education, character education, and school-based mental health in the United States, Cohen suggests that social-emotional skills, knowledge, and dispositions provide the foundation for participation in a democracy and improved quality of life. Cohen discusses contemporary best practices and policy in relation to creating safe and caring school climates, home-school partnerships, and a pedagogy informed by social-emotional and ethical concerns. He also emphasizes the importance of scientifically sound measures of social-emotional and ethical learning, and advocates for action research partnerships between researchers and practioners to develop authentic methods of evaluation. Cohen notes the gulf that exists between the evidence- based guidelines for soci...

Social, Emotional, Ethical, and Academic Education: Creating a Climate for Learning, Participation in Democracy, and Well-Being.

(1997). School Climate as a Factor in Student Adjustment and Achievement. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation: Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 321-329.

School Climate as a Factor in Student Adjustment and Achievement

In today's urban schools, a new approach to teaching math and science is being developed. Teachers are learning that by tending to students' social and emotional well being, they have greater success teaching. Edited by a stellar group, which includes both psychologists and teachers, this vital resource shares proven strategies for improving academic performance among school age children such as: Discussions of the effect of "tracking" in schools on the students; The particular needs of minority students; Preparing students for a technology driven world in the classroom; The recent findings of the Third International Math and Science Study

Michael Ben-Avie

Papers

School Climate as a Factor in Student Adjustment and Achievement

How social and emotional development add up : getting results in math and science education

How Social and Emotional Development Add Up: Getting Results in Math and Science Education. Series on Social Emotional Learning.

School readiness: Implications for day care and early childhood education for low-income children