This presentation reviews the relationship between school climate and student achievement. It discusses how a positive school environment where students feel welcome and supported can greatly impact learning. The presentation examines indicators of school climate such as attendance, feelings of safety, bullying, discipline practices, and student perceptions. It suggests school boards have conversations with students to understand climate issues and take actions to improve the environment. Overall, the document explores how non-academic factors like the social and emotional conditions in schools influence student outcomes.

1. Successful schools make students feel welcome, academically engaged and supported
by the adults in the building. Considering the school climate of your schools is as
important as examining student scores and graduation rates because a healthy
environment can have a tremendous impact on student achievement. This
presentation reviews the research on the relationship between school climate and
student learning, and gives an overview of what students nationally think and say
about the climate of their schools.
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3. Failing students often feel left out of the school culture, and students who are
disengaged don’t often produce academically. It’s a chicken or egg situation, and varies
from one student to the next. What we know is that students who exhibit these early
warning signs are in danger of eventually dropping out. Successful interventions attend
to both their academic and social needs to put them back on track.
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4. While this list is not inclusive, these indicators represent a good jumping off point for
considering school climate. The slides that follow show data for each of these
indicators and how it relates to a safe and productive learning environment and high
student achievement.
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5. Attendance is key to student achievement and it’s not just student attendance. High
absenteeism among teachers can also have a negative impact on school climate and
performance.
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6. Missing 3 or more days monthly is a high rate of absenteeism, and can translate into
academic failure and social disengagement. Reading this graph: 20% of all middle
school students reported missing 3 or more days the previous month.
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7. Feeling unsafe or bullied in or on the way to school prompts many students to miss
school.
Reading this graph: 5% of students aged 12‐17 reported missing school the previous
month because they did not feel safe.
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9. Since the 1990s, US schools have seen a sizable decline in violent crimes committed on
their campuses. Nonetheless 5% of all students still do not feel safe in or on the way to
school. Students of color are more likely to feel afraid than their white peers.
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11. Even verbal bullying can have a negative impact on student performance.
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12. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth report being bullied more than other
students.
Reading this graph: 30% of secondary LGBT students said they missed school because
they did not feel safe compared to 6.7% of the general population of secondary
students.
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14. Discipline problems also contribute to a poor school climate. While schools have a
responsibility to protect students from disruptive or dangerous peers, it’s important to
understand that students who are being disciplined through out‐of‐school suspensions
suffer academically, too, and often end up in the juvenile justice system.
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15. Out‐of‐school suspensions and expulsions can also have a negative impact on school
wide performance. Researchers Rausch and Skiba compared demographically similar
schools and found that some schools are able to keep suspensions down and produce
higher student outcomes as a result. The effective practices included community
partnerships and strong school leadership.
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16. Black students are more likely than other racial/ethnic groups to receive out‐of‐school
suspensions.
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17. Texas researchers found that nine out of ten students who are referred for disciplinary
action for the first time are referred for a “code of conduct” violation, which is
discretionary and not mandated by state standards. This is true for all races. However,
black students are more likely to be given an out‐of‐school suspension than their white
and Hispanic peers for their first offense.
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21. NSBA encourages school boards to hold conversations with students to begin to
understand the climate in their district schools. Guidelines for holding these
conversations can be found in the “Students on Board” brochure. Here is a sample of
some key questions to get the conversation going.
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22. Get students’ ideas about how school boards could improve school climate.
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23. Don’t let the effort stop with the conversation. There are things that school boards can
do to improve the climate in their district.
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