Positive School Climate: Papers Supporting Conscious Discipline’s Framework

Research Supporting the Importance of Positive School Climate

These articles explore the relationships between school culture and student achievement. These articles discuss the importance of student connectedness, teacher commitment, trust, home and school environment, and healthy teacher/staff and student relationships. The research demonstrates the impact of school climate on student behavioral and academic outcomes.

1. Osher, D., Spier, E., Kendziora, K., & Cai, C. (2009). Improving academic achievement through improving school climate and student connectedness. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA. This paper describes a study demonstrating that academic achievement could be improved by addressing school climate and student connectedness.
2. Konishi, C., Hymel, S., Zumbo, B. D., & Li, Z. (2010). Do School Bullying and Student—Teacher Relationships Matter for Academic Achievement? A Multilevel Analysis. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 25(1), 19-39. This study demonstrated there is an association between academic achievement with school climate and student-teacher connectedness.
3. Wang, M. T., Selman, R. L., Dishion, T. J., & Stormshak, E. A. (2010). A tobit regression analysis of the covariation between middle school students’ perceived school climate and behavioral problems. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 20(2), 274-286. This study demonstrated that students who perceived their school in a positive light had fewer behavioral problems.
4. Leithwood, K., Patten, S., & Jantzi, D. (2010). Testing a conception of how school leadership influences student learning. Educational Administration Quarterly, 46(5), 671-706. This study showed that 43% of the variation in academic achievement can be explained by teacherstudent relations, discipline climate, teacher commitment, trust between teacher-teacher, teacherstudent, teacher-parent, and student-parent, and positive home environment.
5. Eliot, M., Cornell, D., Gregory, A., & Fan, X. (2010). Supportive school climate and student willingness to seek help for bullying and threats of violence. Journal of School Psychology, 48(6), 533-553. This study showed that students who perceived their teachers and school staff as supportive were more likely to seek help for bullying and threats of violence.