Middle School Climate: An Empirical Assessment of Organizational Health and Student Achievement

Abstract

Researchers and reformers have suggested that school climate is an important aspect of effective schools; however, the notion of climate is defined in a myriad of ways, is frequently nebulous, and is often merely a slogan for better schools. The current analysis uses a health metaphor to conceptualize and measure important aspects of school climate and then examines relationships between school health and student achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics in a sample of middle schools. As predicted, dimensions of organizational health were significantly related to student achievement even when the socioeconomic status of the school was controlled.