A Multilevel Analysis of the Importance of School Climate for the Trajectories of Students' Self-concept and Self-esteem Throughout the Middle School Transition.

Understanding which environmental factors influence the trajectory of self-concept and self-esteem during middle school transition may help schools better support students during this period. This short longitudinal study examined the influence of students' perceptions of school climate upon the trajectory of students' self-concept and self-esteem during middle school transition. Students in 25 classes from four schools (N = 404; Mage = 9.40, SD = 0.67) completed self-report measures of self-concept and self-esteem at four time points: twice before (fourth grade) and twice after middle school transition (fifth grade). The results showed that students with more positive perceptions of school climate in the beginning of fifth grade displayed more positive trajectories in self-concept and self-esteem. Students from larger fourth grade classes had more positive trajectories of social self-concept compared to those from smaller classes. The findings highlight the importance of school climate in the development of self-concept and self-esteem during middle school transition.

Moral disengagement and bullying perpetration: A longitudinal study of the moderating effect of school climate.

Although multiple cross-sectional studies have supported moral disengagement and school climate being associated with bullying perpetration, few have examined how these 3 factors interact with each other over time. Guided by the social-ecological theory and social-cognitive theory, a multilevel approach was used to examine the longitudinal associations between students' moral disengagement and bullying perpetration and the moderating effect of students' perceptions of school climate in the longitudinal association across 18 months. The main effects of moral disengagement and perceived school climate and the effects of their interaction on bullying perpetration were explored at the between-person, within-person, and across between-person and within-person levels. Participants were 2,997 adolescents (Mage = 14.9 years, SD = 1.53; 49.7% male) from 6 secondary schools in Southwest China. At the between-person level, students with higher moral disengagement and more negative perceptions of school climate perpetrated more bullying than those with lower moral disengagement and more positive perceptions of school climate. At the within-person level, students with high moral disengagement and negative perceptions of school climate had high levels of bullying perpetration over time. Moreover, significant between-person, within-person, and cross-level interactions revealed that the association between moral disengagement and bullying perpetration was weaker and nonsignificant for students with more positive perceptions of school climate. Findings indicated a buffering effect of students' perceptions of positive school climate in the longitudinal association between moral disengagement and bullying perpetration. Implications for school-based individualized bullying intervention were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Differences in school climate and student engagement in China and the United States.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine differences between American and Chinese students in their perceptions of school climate and engagement in school, and in the relation between school climate and engagement. METHOD: Confirmatory factor analyses were used to support the factor structure and measurement invariance of the two measures administered: The Delaware School Climate Survey-Student and the Delaware Student Engagement Scale. Differences in latent means were tested, and differences in relations between variables were examined using multilevel hierarchical linear modeling. Participants consisted of 3,176 Chinese and 4,085 American students, Grades 3-5, 7-8, and 10-12. RESULTS: Chinese students perceived school climate more favorably than American students, particularly beyond elementary school. Findings were more complex for student engagement. In elementary school, American students reported greater cognitive-behavioral and emotional engagement, and especially the former. In middle school and high school, Chinese students reported greater emotional engagement; however, no significant differences were found for cognitive-behavioral engagement. Most intriguing were results of multilevel hierarchical modeling that examined associations between school climate and student engagement: They were significant in American schools but not Chinese schools. CONCLUSION: Chinese students, compared with American students, perceived the climate of their schools more favorably, especially after elementary school. However, among Chinese students, their perceptions of school climate were unrelated to their self-reported engagement in school-school climate did not seem to matter as much. (PsycINFO Database Record

Students' perceptions of school climate in the U.S. and China.

Although the construct of student climate has been studied extensively in the United States, we know little about how school climate is perceived in other countries. With large class sizes yet higher academic achievement and less disruptive and aggressive student behaviors, schools in China present a contrast to many schools in the United States. Differences in school climate between the two countries were examined in this study. The sample consisted of 10,400 American and 3,435 Chinese students across three grade levels (elementary, middle, and high school) in 85 American and 22 Chinese schools. Factor structure and measurement invariance across countries were first established for the Modified-Delaware School Climate Survey-Student. Differences in latent means were then tested. Across all three grade levels Chinese students scored significantly higher than American students on all four subscales (Teacher-Student Relations, Student-Student Relations, School Liking, and Fairness of School Rules). Effects sizes tended to be smallest in elementary schools and largest in middle schools. Significant differences between American and Chinese students exist in their perceptions of school climate. It is likely that those differences can be attributed to cultural differences in respect of authority, academic and social values, self-regulation and peer-regulation of behaviors, and teachers' classroom management.

Delaware School Climate Survey-Student: its factor structure, concurrent validity, and reliability.

The Delaware School Climate Survey-Student (DSCS-S) was developed to provide schools with a brief and psychometrically sound student survey for assessing school climate, particularly the dimensions of social support and structure. Confirmatory factor analyses, conducted on a sample of 11,780 students in 85 schools, showed that a bifactor model consisting of five specific factors and one general factor (School Climate) best represented the data. Those five factors are represented in five subscales of the DSCS-S: Teacher-Student Relations, Student-Student Relations, Fairness of Rules, Liking of School, and School Safety. The factor structure was shown to be stable across grade levels (i.e., elementary, middle, and high school), racial-ethnic groups (i.e., Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic), and gender. As evidence of the survey's concurrent validity, scores for each of the five subscales and the total scale correlated moderately, across groups and at the school level, with academic achievement and suspensions and expulsions.