School Climate and Student Success

A recent report from the California Comprehensive Center, AIR, and WestEd entitled “A Climate for Academic Success: How School Climate Distinguishes Schools that are Beating the Achievement Odds” suggests a connection between positive school climate and schools that are “beating the odds.” Those “beating the odds” are schools that, based on student demographics, perform better than predicted.

The report identifies 40 middle and high schools that attain higher academic achievement and healthy behavioral outcomes for students, focusing on measures such as safety, academic supports, social relationships and school connectedness. Implications for practice suggest the schools “beating the odds” do the following:

• Enact restorative justice programs as alternatives to punitive discipline codes
• Promote classroom management that focuses on motivation and engagement
• Employ US Department of Education’s Safe and Supportive Schools program