Assessing School Climate

Compelling empirical research shows that a positive and sustained school climate promotes students' academic achievement and healthy development. Not surprisingly, a positive school climate also promotes teacher retention, which itself enhances student success. Yet the knowledge of the effects of school climate on learning has not been translated into current accountability systems. Although No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is full of rhetoric about the importance of character education and supportive learning environments, it only requires accountability systems to measure reading, math, physical violence, and (recently) science scores. Education policy makers have become increasingly aware that NCLB-type accountability is too narrowly focused. For that reason, states and school districts have become interested in using school climate data as a complementary form of assessment, one that not only measures learning but also supports it. Schools can use climate data to promote meaningful staff, family, and student engagement--and to enhance the social, emotional, ethical, civic, and intellectual skills and dispositions that contribute to success in school and in life. In this article, the authors discuss how to measure school climate and offer three ways on how educators can use school climate data to support education for the whole child.