Effects of classroom and school climate on language minority students’ PISA mathematics self-concept and achievement scores

Grounded in ecological theory, this study investigated relative contributions of perceived classroom and school climate variables to mathematics self-concept and achievement of English-at-home and English learner (EL) students using PISA 2012 data for American middle-grade students. For both outcomes, results of 3-step hierarchical linear regression models for the combined sample closely mirror those of English-at-home students and mask the unique characteristic of ELs. For self-concept, six ( classroom management, cognitive activation, disciplinary climate, teacher support, sense of belonging, and teacher student relations ) out of seven predictors were statistically significant and positive predictors for English-at-home students ( teacher support being the strongest); only two predictors ( disciplinary climate, and teacher student relations ) were significant and positive for ELs. Similarly, group discrepancies were found for mathematics achievement. Five variables ( classroom management, teacher support, disciplinary climate, sense of belonging to school, and teacher student relations ) , were significant predictors of English-at-home students. Yet, only three variables ( classroom management, disciplinary climate, and teacher support ) significantly predicted achievement of ELs. Classroom climate was consistently an important predictor across outcomes and student populations and was the strongest contributor for ELs. Implications and future directions are discussed.