Abstract
BACKGROUND: School climate has been linked to multiple student behavioral, academic, health, and social-emotional outcomes. The US Department of Education (USDOE) developed a 3-factor model of school climate comprised of safety, engagement, and environment. This article examines the factor structure and measurement invariance of the USDOE model. METHODS: Drawing upon 2 consecutive waves of data from over 25,000 high school students (46% minority), a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses examined the fit of the Maryland Safe and Supportive Schools Climate Survey with the USDOE model. RESULTS: The results indicated adequate model fit with the theorized 3-factor model of school climate, which included 13 subdomains: safety (perceived safety, bullying and aggression, and drug use); engagement (connection to teachers, student connectedness, academic engagement, school connectedness, equity, and parent engagement); environment (rules and consequences, physical comfort, and support, disorder). We also found consistent measurement invariance with regard to student sex, grade level, and ethnicity. School-level interclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.04 to .10 for the scales. CONCLUSIONS: Findings supported the USDOE 3-factor model of school climate and suggest measurement invariance and high internal consistency of the 3 scales and 13 subdomains. These results suggest the 56-item measure may be a potentially efficient, yet comprehensive measure of school climate.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 593-604 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Journal of School Health |
Volume | 84 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2014 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Engagement
- Environment
- Measurement
- Safety
- School climate
- School improvement
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Education
- Philosophy
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health