School "climate"

I went a bit out of my way to attend the panel discussion on school climate at the Federal Relations Network conference in Washington, but it was encouraging to see “climate” become a component of the national legislative agenda. For me, this was additional evidence that a national education consensus is emerging.

Broadly speaking, “school climate” refers to “the character and quality of school life”; that is, the educational environment that encourages – or inhibits – learning in school. It is as important, and should be given as much attention, as a farmer gives to the quality of his soil.

However, the national data on school climate should concern us:

• Less that 50% of students believe their teachers care about them as individuals.
• Less that 50% feel that they have a teacher who they can talk to if they have a problem.
• 2 out of 3 students believe that students do not respect one another.
• 20% of students feel that they are never recognized for their accomplishments.
• As students move from middle to high school, all of these problems get worse.

As explained by Jonathan Cohen of the Center for Social and Emotional Education, how a school is “experienced” by students and teachers is typically a function of:

• the norms, goals, values of the school  (What is acceptable? What are the expectations?)
• the quality of interpersonal relationships (student/student, student/teacher, teacher/teacher)
• teaching and learning practices
• the school’s leadership and organizational structure

One obvious aspect of school climate is safety - physical safety, in particular - but less obvious is social-emotional security: the extent to which students feel safe to take risks in class. (Nearly 1/3 of students feel too intimidated to raise their hand to ask a question.)

Other ways to recognize a positive school environment:

• students – and teachers - are engaged and respected;
• students, families and educators are working towards shared, and jointly developed, goals;
• nearly everyone is contributing to the school and the care of the physical environment.

Although most educators recognize the importance of school climate, it is not consistently measured with statistically reliable tools, and those results are not being used to improve the environment in a deliberate and intentional way.