Teacher: But Not Student Rating of the Pedagogic and Social Climate in School Predicts Adolescents\u2019 Academic Aspirations

Melody Almroth,Krisztina D László,Kyriaki Kosidou,Maria Rosaria Galanti

doi:10.1007/s10566-021-09601-9

Melody Almroth, Krisztina D László + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-021-09601-9

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Abstract

BackgroundHigh academic aspirations relate to higher achievement and better mental health, but less is known about how these aspirations are formed in relation to the educational context.ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate the relationship between overall school climate, with particular concern for the dimensions of school level expectations and support as rated by both teachers and students and adolescent academic aspirations.MethodsMultilevel logistic models for repeated measures were used in order to investigate the relationship between measures of school climate and adolescents’ academic aspirations. Three annual waves of questionnaire data were used to obtain aggregated teacher- and student-rating of school climate, including specific dimensions of teacher expectations and support.ResultsPositive teacher-rated overall school climate was associated with an increased odds of adolescents aiming at a university education rather than at a lower one (adjusted OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.14–1.63 for the intermediate tertile; OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.14–1.70 for the highest tertile). A similar trend was found for the teacher-rated measures of expectations and student focus, but not for any of the student-rated school climate measures.ConclusionA positive school climate rated by teachers appears to predict adolescents’ university aspirations. Future research should clarify which aspects of the school climate may influence adolescent academic aspirations from the students’ perspective.

Highlights

High academic aspirations refer to a person aiming to stay in education longer and correlate with more positive mental health in terms of both internalizing (Almroth et al 2018) and externalizing problems (Almroth et al 2019) as well as high academic achievement (Khattab 2015)
The intra-class correlation at the school level was 10% for university aspirations and 6% for the Future aspirations and Goals (FG) score, indicating that 10% and 6% of the variability for university aspirations and FG score is explained at the school level
Attending a school where the teacherbased school climate score was in the two higher tertiles compared to the lowest tertile was associated with an increased odds of students endorsing aspirations of university education

Summary

Introduction

High academic aspirations refer to a person aiming to stay in education longer and correlate with more positive mental health in terms of both internalizing (Almroth et al 2018) and externalizing problems (Almroth et al 2019) as well as high academic achievement (Khattab 2015). The majority of previous studies on adolescent academic expectations or aspirations focused on the influence of socio-demographic characteristics such as gender (Kirk et al 2012; Mello 2008), race or ethnicity A systematic review of 78 studies found that a positive school climate consistently minimized the gap in academic achievement between high and low socioeconomic status students (Berkowitz et al 2016). Objective This study aims to investigate the relationship between overall school climate, with particular concern for the dimensions of school level expectations and support as rated by both teachers and students and adolescent academic aspirations. Results Positive teacher-rated overall school climate was associated with an increased odds of adolescents aiming at a university education rather than at a lower one (adjusted OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.14–1.63 for the intermediate tertile; OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.14–1.70 for the highest tertile). Future research should clarify which aspects of the school climate may influence adolescent academic aspirations from the students’ perspective

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