NCJ Number
249655
Journal
Journal of School Health Volume: 85 Issue: 12 Dated: December 2015 Pages: 843-851
Date Published
December 2015
Length
9 pages
Annotation
A teacher version of the Authoritative School Climate Survey (ASCS) was administered to a statewide sample of 9,099 7th- and 8th-grade teachers from 366 schools, in order to test the authoritative school climate theory, which hypothesizes that a positive school climate is characterized by high levels of disciplinary structure and student support.
Abstract
School climate is well recognized as an important influence on student behavior and adjustment to school, but there is a need for theory-guided measures that make use of teacher perspectives. Based on ASCS data, the current study used exploratory and multilevel confirmatory factor analyses (MCFA) that accounted for the nested data structure and allowed for the modeling of the factor structures at two levels. Multilevel confirmatory factor analyses conducted on both an exploratory (N = 4422) and a confirmatory sample (N = 4677) showed good support for the factor structures investigated. Factor correlations at two levels indicated that schools with greater levels of disciplinary structure and student support had higher student engagement, less teasing and bullying, and lower student aggression toward teachers. The study concludes that the teacher version of the ASCS can be used to assess two key domains of school climate and associated measures of student engagement and aggression toward peers and teachers. (Publisher abstract modified)