Abstract
BackgroundSchool climate can promote students’ academic achievement and high educational aspirations. School climate refers to the quality and character of school life, norms, values, social interactions and organizational processes within a school.ObjectiveWe examined for the present sample whether (a) school climate relates to academic achievement and educational aspirations and (b) such relations vary for Roma minority compared to their majority peers.MethodParticipants in this cross-sectional study were 356 adolescents aged 11–19 years old (159 Roma, 197 Bulgarian majority), 332 mothers (149 Roma, 183 majority), 231 fathers (104 Roma, 127 majority) and 221 majority teachers who completed self-report surveys to address the study goals. Adolescents provided data on educational aspirations and academic achievement, parents on their children’s educational aspirations and teachers reported on school climate. We employed linear mixed models to explore associations of school climate, academic achievement and educational aspirations among Roma and Bulgarian majority youth.ResultsThere were negative associations between teacher-reported school climate and students’ academic achievement, as well as adolescent and parental educational aspirations for Roma adolescents only. Roma adolescents and parents reported lower academic achievement and educational aspirations than their majority counterparts.ConclusionsThis study supports the relevance of school climate in relation to academic achievement and aspirations of disadvantaged minority students. Interventions should pay close attention to perceptions and attitudes in a school to successfully promote positive outcomes among students.
Highlights
Over the past three decades, school climate has been increasingly recognized as an important asset for promoting safer, supportive, and civil schools (Brand et al 2003)
This study supports the relevance of school climate in relation to academic achievement and aspirations of disadvantaged minority students
There is no consensus on a particular set of defining characteristics, school climate often refers to the quality and character of school life as it relates to norms and values, social interactions and organizational processes (Freiberg 1999), as well as the atmosphere of a school, the nature and quality of interpersonal relationships and communication patterns within the school (Welsh 2000)
Summary
Over the past three decades, school climate has been increasingly recognized as an important asset for promoting safer, supportive, and civil schools (Brand et al 2003). School climate has been consistently shown to play a major role in shaping students’ educational experience, and research has emphasized the importance of developing a positive school climate in order to promote school attendance, academic achievement, engagement and high educational aspirations (Bear et al 2011; Brand et al 2003). School climate can promote students’ academic achievement and high educational aspirations. Adolescents provided data on educational aspirations and academic achievement, parents on their children’s educational aspirations and teachers reported on school climate. We employed linear mixed models to explore associations of school climate, academic achievement and educational aspirations among Roma and Bulgarian majority youth. Results There were negative associations between teacher-reported school climate and students’ academic achievement, as well as adolescent and parental educational aspirations for Roma adolescents only. Roma adolescents and parents reported lower academic achievement and educational aspirations than their majority counterparts
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