Urban School Climate
School climate is a critical factor in the success of our students. In a recent groundbreaking study, "Where We Teach," by NSBA's Council of Urban Boards of Education, teachers and administrators candidly expressed their perceptions on safety, expectations for student success, professional judgment, parent involvement, and bullying. Principal Investigator and CUBE Chair Dr. Brian K. Perkins will share why all schools need to pay attention to school climate and will discuss the study's most important findings on Monday, April 16, at 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT.
Brian Perkins writes:
Please submit your questions.
An individual from Troy, Michigan asks:
What in particular are the characteristics of professional judgment so important to school climate?
Brian Perkins writes:
To name a few:
Administrators trust that teachers have content competency. Administrators believe that teachers are able to engage students in the work.
A public information officer from San Francisco, Calif. asks:
Why is school climate important for school districts to know about?
Brian Perkins writes:
Perceptions about school climate impact teacher morale and student achievement. Positive school climate benefits students, teachers, and staff. Teachers are motivated to teach and students are motivated to learn. The research demonstrates a positive correlation between school climate and academic achievement. That is, where there are positive perceptions of school climate, standardized test scores are higher than those places where the perceptions are less positive.
A parent from Salem, Oregon asks:
I see from looking through the study that there is a real disconnect between the perceptions of teachers and perceptions of administrators. Why do you think there is such a gap?
Brian Perkins writes:
That is a good question. This research sought to determine if a gap existed. The conversations about the reasons have not occured, but informal discussion suggests that it may be attributed to the fact that teachers and administrators have different levels of interaction with students.
A school district administrator from Houston, Texas asks:
What is the relevance of school climate to No Child Left Behind?
Brian Perkins writes:
With the enactment of No Child Left Behind, states have been forced to focus on improved school outcomes. NCLB has brought increased emphasis on state content standards and measurement of school effectiveness. These specific components of NCLB are direct influences upon school climate.
Research suggests that school climate makes an independent contribution to student achievement levels over the socioeconomic status of students Therefore if school climate scores can be assessed through a survey, implementation of specific strategies to improve school climate can have a positive effect on student achievement.
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