A systematic literature review of school climate in low and middle income countries

•Associations between school climate and socio-emotional, behavior, and academics.•More emphasis on resources and environment than research in high-income countries.•Methodologically rigorous studies relied on data from multi-national studies.•Improving school climate in LMICs likely important for improving student outcomes.•Additional work is needed in conceptualization to increase rigor of research. Research on school climate has largely been conducted in high-income countries, with less focus on school climate in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). As such, there is limited understanding of how school climate may be associated with students’ socio-emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes in these contexts. Five reviewers completed a two-stage review process; 35 articles met inclusion criteria for review. Results indicated a lack of consensus in the research around what constitutes or how to measure school climate, but consistent associations with socio-emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes were found. Although findings suggested that school climate is associated with positive student outcomes in LMICs, additional work is needed to increase the rigor of school climate research and its impact in these settings.