Understanding School Climate
In theory, research shapes policy, which in turn dictates school improvement guidelines...
In practice, this relationship is often more complicated and rarely so logical. In fact, this is just what we have discovered: there is currently a significant gap between school climate research on the one hand and State Department of Education school climate related policy.
School climate research shows that safe, caring, connected, participatory and responsive school climate is associated with and/or predicts positive youth development, effective risk prevention efforts and increased academic achievement as well as teacher retention.
The National School Climate Challenge
We are pleased to present the National School Climate Council’s School Climate Challenge: Narrowing the Gap Between School Climate Research and School Climate Policy, Practice Guidelines and Teacher Education Policy.
Our national State Department of Education school climate policy scan focused on the following four questions:
- To what extent do states value climate?
- How is school climate defined at a State level?
- When State Departments of Education do integrate climate into their systems of accountability and other policies, what specific tools, assessments, programs, and supporting literature do they mandate or recommend to schools and districts?
- Finally, we have questioned: what more can states do to effectively promote positive school climate?
There is growing interest in developing school climate policy. Educational leaders, policy makers and advisors are increasingly appreciative that supporting students positive youth development and capacity to learn in school—and in life—rests on the norms, values and expectations that shape and color how safe we feel, how we treat one another and how engaged and meaningful learning and teaching is.
NSCC in partnership with the National Center for Learning and Citizenship, Education Commission of the States have taken a national leadership role in documenting the socially unjust gap between school climate researches on the other hand and school climate policy and practice on the other hand. The National School Climate Council that we have formed has developed a series of recommendations for policy makers as well as practice, research and teacher education leaders.
To see the Councils recommendations for Practice Leaders, click here.
To see the Councils recommendations for Policy makers, click here.
To see the Councils recommendations for Teacher Educators, click here.
