School Climate Data Workshop

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• School Climate Data Workshop
• Delaware Positive Behavior
• Supports Project

May 12, 2009 George Bear, Ph.D. University of
Delaware
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• Todays Goals
• 1. Learn why school climate is important
  (5-minutes)
• 2. Learn about the Delaware School Climate
  Surveys What do they measure? (5 minutes)
• 3. Learn about the validity and reliability of
  the surveys, and recent results (10-15 minutes)
• 4. Learn to interpret your schools scores (with
  much and little guidance)

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What is school climate?

• School climate is the heart and soul of a
  school. It is about that essence of a school that
  leads a child, a teacher, an administrator, a
  staff member to love the school and to look
  forward to being there each school day. School
  Climate is about that quality of a school that
  helps each individual feel personal worth,
  dignity and importance, while simultaneously
  helping create a sense of belonging to something
  beyond ourselves. The climate of a school can
  foster resilience or become a risk factor in the
  lives of people who work and learn in a a place
  call school. (p. 11)
• Freiberg, H. J. Stein, T.A. (1999). School
  Climate Measuring, improving and sustaining
  healthy learning environments. New York
  RoutledgeFalmer.

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Why is school climate important?

• Linked to a wide range of academic, behavioral,
  and socio-emotional outcomes
• Academic achievement
• (Battistich, Solomon, Kim, Watson, Schaps,
  1995 Brookover et al., 1978 Brand, Felner,
  Shim, Seitsinger, Dumas, 2003 Griffith, 1999)
• Student attitudes
• (Battistich et al., 1995)
• Attendance and school avoidance
• (Brand, 2003 Welsh, 2000)
• Delinquency
• (Gottfredson, 2005 Welsh, 2000, Way, 2007)
• Attitudes toward and use of illegal substances
• (Brand, 2003)
• Victimization
• (Gottfredson, 2005 Welsh, 2000)
• Behavior problems
• (Battistich Horn, 1997 Battistich, Solomon,
  Kim, Watson, Schaps, 1995 Kuperminc,
  Leadbeater, Blatt, 2001 Kuperminc et al.,
  1997 Loukas Robinson, 2004 Shochet, Dadds,
  Ham, Montague, 2006 Welsh, 2000 Wilson, 2004)

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• School climate, and especially social supports
  and relationships, are particularly important for
  those children at greatest risk for school
  disengagement and problem behaviors (Balfanz,
  Herzog, MacIver, 2007 Hamre, et al., 2008
  Juvonen, 2007 Malecki Demaray, 2006 Wentzel
  Wigfield, 2007) including students with
  disabilities (Commission of Excellence in Special
  Education, 2002 Dynarski Gleason, 2002).

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• 6 dimensions of school climate are particularly
  relevant to school-wide discipline, and SWPBS
• Safety
• Rules and Expectations
• Problem Behaviors
• Teacher-Student Relationship
• Student-Student Relationships
• Home-School Relationships

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• Evidence of Reliability and Validity
• Reliability Are the scores consistent, or
  stable?
• Validity Does the test yield the factors
  predicted?
• Are the scores related to other variables how we
  might expect (e.g., grade level, sex and race,
  academic achievement, suspensions)?

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Grade level differences Student Survey
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Grade Differences Student Survey
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Racial Differences Student Survey
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Gender Differences Student Survey
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Grade level differences Student Survey
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Grade Differences Student Survey
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Racial Differences Student Survey
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Gender Differences Student Survey
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Grade Level Differences Teacher Survey
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Differences by Position Teacher Survey
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Grade Level Differences Teacher Survey
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Differences by Position Teacher Survey
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Grade Level Differences Home Survey
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Grade Differences Home Survey
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Racial Differences Home Survey
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• How do the scores relate to other measures?
  (Concurrent validity)

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Lets look at your scores.
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• Types of Scores Reported
• Standard Scores
• Mean set at 100, standard deviation of 15 (i.e.,
  normal range is plus or minus 15). See table
  for converting to percentiles.
• Based on grade-level norms (either elementary,
  middle school, high school, early childhood,
  special education) or on specific grades for
  student survey (3-12).
• Note For grade 6 only, norms can be for either
  elementary or middle school.
• Answers How do student perceptions of school
  climate in your school compare to those of other
  students in other schools at similar grade levels?

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• Average Item Score
• Sum of score for all items on a subscale, divided
  by the subscales number of items
• For Part I, scores can range from 1 (Strongly
  Disagree) to 4 (Strongly Agree)
• For example
• 4 items on subscale
• Scores on items 4, 4, 3, 3
• Average score 14/4 3.5
• NOTE the meaning is different for Parts II (Use
  of Positive or Punitive Techniques) and Part III
  (Teacher or Parent Satisfaction).

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• Answers Regardless how your school compares to
  other schools, do the scores reflect positive or
  negative perceptions of school climate?
• Particularly meaningful when scores tend be very
  high across all schools (e.g., when average is
  very positive)
• Most appropriate score for comparing scores from
  year to year.

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• Frequency scores
• Number and percentage of responses to individual
  items
• Answers
• Given a subscale score, what specific items
  caused the score to be low (or high)?
• Presented for all items on each survey
• Some items do not fall under a subscale, and thus
  must be looked at alone
• Teacher and Home surveys Problem Behaviors
• Items that did not load on any subscale

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• To Middle and High Schools
• In general, perceptions of school climate become
  lower with increasing grades (not shown in
  standard scores, but shown in other two scores).
• ALL Grade Levels
• Scores tend to be lowest for Student Relations
• Lower for African Americans
• Lower if your school has high free and reduced
  lunch count

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• When interpreting standard and average item
  scores for your school
• First, focus on Total Score on each survey
• Next, check for group differences
• Student Survey Grade, Race, Gender
• Teacher Survey Teacher vs. Other Staff
• Home Survey Grade, Race

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• School Climate
• Data Workshop

Steps for Interpreting Results of Teacher/Staff
Survey
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Step 1. How does your school compare to other
schools?

• Examine Table 2a, Standard Scores When Compared
  to Other Participating Schools in Delaware
• Look for your grade level elementary, middle,
  high school, early childhood, schools serving
  special populations

• Special Notes
• Staff refers to non-teachers in your building
  who completed the survey (Support Staff,
  Administrator, and Other on the survey).
• Scores are not reported separately for race,
  gender, and grade all groups are combined for
  all scores.

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Step 1 How does your school compare to other
schools?

• We will look at two dimensions
• 1. Overall significant strengths and concerns
• 2. By position

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1A. Overall Significant Strengths and Concerns

• Examine the first row of Table 2a

• In your workbook
• Looking at ALL scores in Tables 2a, circle scores
  below 90 (25th percentile) or above 110 (75th
  percentile).

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1B. By Position

• Still using Table 2a, identify any significant
  differences between teachers and other staff.

• In your workbook
• Teachers scored significantly higher than other
  staff members on the following subscale(s)
  ___________________________________
• Teachers scored significantly lower than other
  staff members on the following subscale(s)
  ___________________________________
• Look at the scores in each row and identify any
  meaningful differences within either teachers or
  staff.

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Step 2. Do the scores reflect positive or
negative perceptions of school climate in your
school?(Regardless how your school compares to
other schools)

• Examine Table 2b, Average Item Scores for All
  Positions Combined

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Step 2. Do the scores reflect positive or
negative perceptions of school climate in your
school?(Regardless how your school compares to
other schools)

• Again, we will look at two dimensions
• 1. Overall significant strengths and concerns
• 2. By position

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2A. Overall Significant Strengths and Concerns
(Regardless of How Other Schools Scored)

• Examine average item scores for all subtests in
  the first row of Table 2b, especially for the
  Total Scale.

• In your workbook
• Looking at ALL scores in the table, CIRCLE
  scores, if any, of 2.5 or below and 3.4 or higher.

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2B. By Position (Regardless of How Other Schools
Scored)

• Still using Table 2b, look at the scores for
  teachers and staff in each column. Identify any
  significant differences in scores for your school.

• In your workbook
• Teachers scored significantly higher than other
  staff members on the following subscale(s)
  __________
• Teachers scored significantly lower than other
  staff members on the following subscale(s)
  __________
• Look at scores in each row for the first 4
  subtests (ignore the last 4 subtests, or columns)
  and identify any meaningful differences within
  either teachers or staff.

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Step 3. Given the scores reviewed above, what
specific items caused a given score to be low or
high?

• Now examine Tables 2c-e, Individual Item
  Responses
• These tables report the number and percentage of
  teacher/staff in your school that chose each
  response.

In your workbook Scan the results, and record
important observations on the next pages
entitled Summary of Areas of Significant
Strengths Teacher/Staff Survey
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• School Climate Data Workshop
• Delaware Positive Behavior
• Supports Project

May 12, 2009 George Bear, Ph.D. University of
Delaware