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Relationships among school climate, school safety, and student achievement and well-being: a review of the literature

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Review of Education
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School climate, safety and well-being of students are important antecedents of academic achievement. However, school members do not necessarily experience school climate in the same way; rather, their subjective perceptions of the environment and personal characteristics influence individual outcomes and behaviours. Therefore, a closer look at the relationship between school climate, safety, well-being of students and student learning is needed. This review of the literature explores the relationship among school climate, school safety, student academic achievement and student well-being. Using a systematic review approach, we conducted an overview of empirically based research findings and technical reports that address the following aspects: (a) school climate as a social construct and its connection with school safety; (b) the conditions that contribute to an environment in which students feel safe; (c) the characteristics of particular groups of students who feel unsafe; and (d) the impact of a negative school environment (e.g. a school environment where bullying, victimisation and violence are prevalent) on student achievement, ultimately, secondary school completion and student well-being. We summarise the state of school climate research, discuss the implications for school policies and practices in the areas of school climate, safety and student success, and provide recommendations for future research.
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Relationships among school climate, school
safety, and student achievement and
well-being: a review of the literature
Benjamin Kutsyuruba*, Don A. Klinger and Alicia Hussain
Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
School climate, safety and well-being of students are important antecedents of academic achieve-
ment. However, school members do not necessarily experience school climate in the same way;
rather, their subjective perceptions of the environment and personal characteristics influence indi-
vidual outcomes and behaviours. Therefore, a closer look at the relationship between school cli-
mate, safety, well-being of students and student learning is needed. This review of the literature
explores the relationship among school climate, school safety, student academic achievement and
student well-being. Using a systematic review approach, we conducted an overview of empirically
based research findings and technical reports that address the following aspects: (a) school climate
as a social construct and its connection with school safety; (b) the conditions that contribute to an
environment in which students feel safe; (c) the characteristics of particular groups of students who
feel unsafe; and (d) the impact of a negative school environment (e.g. a school environment where
bullying, victimisation and violence are prevalent) on student achievement, ultimately, secondary
school completion and student well-being. We summarise the state of school climate research, dis-
cuss the implications for school policies and practices in the areas of school climate, safety and stu-
dent success, and provide recommendations for future research.
Introduction
Student achievement is the top priority in education. Recognising the complexifying
influence of such factors as gender, race, ethnicity, ability, sexual orientation, and
social class, education and schooling still remain the major influences on student
achievement. Insofar as teaching, attendance, assessment and evaluation are impor-
tant aspects in the overall students’ academic achievement picture, they are all gov-
erned by the way students feel in their school environment. School culture that is not
hospitable to learning is detrimental to student achievement (Watson, 2001). School
safety is necessary if learning and a healthy development is to flourish (Devine & Co-
hen, 2007). Therefore, a closer look at the relationship of specific aspects of school
culture, like school climate, safety and well-being of students, to student learning is
needed (MacNeil et al., 2009).
The feelings and attitudes that are elicited by a school’s environment are often
referred to as school climate (Loukas, 2007). Closely related to school climate (and
often, used interchangeably) is the notion of safety or safe learning environment. A safe
and supportive school environment in which students flourish emotionally, socially
*Corresponding author. Faculty of Education, Queen’s University, 511 Union Street, Kingston,
ON K7M5R7, Canada. Email: ben.kutsyuruba@queensu.ca
©2015 British Educational Research Association
Review of Education
Vol. 3, No. 2, June 2015, pp. 103–135
DOI: 10.1002/rev3.3043
and academically is largely based on the quality of relationships between many indi-
viduals, including students, parents, school personnel and the community (Demaray
et al., 2012; Loukas, 2007). In addition to individual characteristics, personality and
biological predispositions, all children and adolescents’ behaviours are crucially influ-
enced by factors related to family relationships, school environment, people in the
neighbourhood and the broader cultural context (Rigby, 2012). These factors both
affect and help to explain the broad concept of school climate.
While some school environments feel friendly, inviting and supportive, others feel
exclusionary, unwelcoming and often unsafe. Therefore, it has been found that school
climate can have a positive influence on the health of the learning environment by
yielding favourable educational and psychological outcomes for students and school
personnel; conversely, it may also become a significant barrier to learning by prevent-
ing optimal learning and development (Freiberg, 1998; Hoy & Hannum, 1997; John-
son & Johnson, 1997; Kuperminc et al., 2001; Manning & Saddlemire, 1996;
Maslowski, 2001). One of the significant outcomes of negative school climate is bully-
ing (Craig & McCuaig-Edge, 2011; Craig & Pepler, 2007). This and other social
problems have unfortunate implications for particular student sub-populations in
Canada by affecting their emotional well-being, academic performance and social out-
comes.
This review has set out to address the following overarching research question:
What is the relationship among school climate, school safety, student well-being, and student
achievement? Using a systematic review approach (Gough et al., 2012; Thomas &
Harden, 2008), we conducted an overview of empirically based research findings and
technical reports, written in English, which address the following research sub-ques-
tions:
(a) How is school climate as a social construct connected with school safety?
(b) What are the conditions that contribute to an environment in which students feel
safe?
(c) What are the characteristics of particular groups of students who feel unsafe?
(d) What is the impact of a negative school environment (e.g. a school environment
where bullying, victimisation, and violence are prevalent) on student achievement
and student well-being?
Upon detailing the review method and synthesising the convergences and diver-
gences of the findings, we summarise the state of school climate research, discuss the
implications for school policies and practices in the areas of school climate, safety,
and student success, and provide recommendations for future research.
Review method
In this systematic literature review, we followed three stages that comprised a the-
matic synthesis: (i) coding of text line-by-line; (ii) development of descriptive themes;
and (iii) generation of analytical themes. According to Thomas and Harden (2008, p.
1), ‘while the development of descriptive themes remains “close” to the primary stud-
ies, the analytical themes represent a stage of interpretation whereby the reviewers
“go beyond” the primary studies and generate new interpretive constructs, explana-
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tions or hypotheses’. The researchers did not employ computer software to facilitate
the thematic synthesis in this review, but instead collaborated in the line-by-line cod-
ing of all resources and the development of descriptive and analytical themes.
Search strategy
Considering that the systematic review approach ‘aims to bring research closer to
decision-making’ (Thomas & Harden, 2008, p. 2), the validity and usefulness of a
systematic review is largely determined by the rigour of its search strategy, the criteria
for inclusion, and the recommendations made. Prior to searching multiple databases,
literature search strategy as well as inclusion and exclusion criteria were discussed
and agreed upon by the members of our research team. We agreed that including
international perspectives about school safety would be helpful in this review. There-
fore, relevant handbooks containing various international perspectives were con-
sulted. The team agreed that reviewing systematic reviews and primary studies about
policies and programmes pertaining to school safety and violence would enrich this
review. Furthermore, the reference lists of reviews and primary studies were searched
for relevant publications or technical reports that may not have been previously found
in electronic searches.
Handbooks and other systematic reviews that were reviewed in this study contain
already assessed literature that provides an overview of past research done in the field
of school safety. Primary studies are used in this review to assess more recent contri-
butions to the field of school safety. The selection of the key search words included:
student achievement, academic achievement, achievement, school climate, school
environment, school safety, safe schools, student well-being and student health.
Online searches for systematic reviews and primary studies were undertaken using
the following databases: Google Scholar, ERIC, PsychINFO, Cochrane Database,
EBSCOhost, JSTOR and ProQuest. While the most helpful databases were ERIC
and EBSCOhost, the Internet search was not exhaustive because many of the
resources were found in the handbooks and systematic reviews.
Criteria for inclusion
The criteria for inclusion of the sources in this review were first framed by the Advi-
sory Committee at the school district that commissioned this project, and were later
expanded upon by the researchers. Our criteria for inclusion were as follows:
Claimed reviews contained a systematic literature review or meta-analysis compris-
ing of search strategies and/or criteria of inclusion;
Claimed primary studies adopted a clearly explained study design and methodol-
ogy;
All reviews and primary studies were based in school settings;
All reviews and primary studies were published between 1963 and 2013;
Studies were either located in North America or Europe (Note: The two hand-
books sometimes referred to locations outside North America and Europe).
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Based on the above-mentioned inclusion criteria, this review has drawn from 20
systematic reviews, 157 primary studies and 13 non-scholarly (not peer-reviewed)
resources that were published between 1963 and 2013 (one systematic review is an
unpublished dissertation, while one of the primary studies was also an unpublished
dissertation). Geographically, the sources overwhelmingly represented North Amer-
ica (106 from the USA, 32 from Canada) and Europe (16). In addition, several
sources were from Asia (1), Australia (2), Middle East (1), or had an international
focus (21) (note that some studies detailed more than one locale). Because the results
of our systematic review yielded findings prevalently from the North American and
European sources, we delimit our discussions to these contexts and locales, at the
same time recognising the potential of their significance for consideration, transfer-
ability and applicability to other contexts.
The focus on school climate
Although school climate has been a focus of research for many years and can be
traced back a century, the scientific study of school climate was not undertaken until
the 1950s with the birth of organisational climate research (e.g. for a historical over-
view, see Zullig et al., 2010). It was not until late 1970s that researchers attempted to
associate climate with student outcomes in schools (Brookover et al., 1978). The
notion continues to be examined and redefined as a result of its significant influences
on and associations with educational outcomes (Marshall, 2004).
Hoy and Miskel (2005) defined school climate as ‘the set of internal characteristics
that distinguish one school from another and influence the behaviours of each
school’s members’ (p. 185). Kottkamp (1984) suggested that climate consists of
shared values, interpretations of social activities, and commonly held definitions of
purpose. It is also important to consider how these elements of climate interact with
each other. In more specific terms, school climate is considered a relatively stable
property or enduring quality of the school environment. It is the result of participants’
collective perceptions of behaviour in schools and this affects their own experiences
and behaviours (Hoy et al., 1991; Hoy & Miskel, 2005). A breadth of definitions of
school climate has produced multiple understandings of what it encompasses. How-
ever, the concept is often still merely a slogan rather than a carefully defined and
meaningful construct (Hoy & Hannum, 1997). In order to address the definitional
challenge, we provide a brief account of metaphors, instruments and perspectives on
the concept of school climate.
The frameworks for studying school climate usually use the metaphors of personal-
ity/openness and health, or a combination of both (Hoy et al., 2002). In their pioneer-
ing work on school climate, Halpin and Croft (1963) described organisational
climate as the ‘personality’ of the school and conceptualised it along a continuum
from open to closed. The openness of organisational climate is typically measured by
exploring open and authentic relationships between teachers and principals and
among teachers themselves. Typically, four to six dimensions of day-to-day relation-
ships of teachers and school principals are measured by the Organizational Climate
Description Questionnaire (OCDQ), versions of which vary from 34 (Hoy & Tarter,
1997) to 64 Likert items (Halpin & Croft, 1963).
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Organisational health is another perspective for examining school climate (Hoy &
Feldman, 1987). Miles (1969) was first to define a healthy organisation as the entity
that ‘not only survives in its environment, but continues to cope adequately over the
long haul, and continuously develops and expands its coping abilities’ (p. 378). The
health of the organisational climate in schools is also concerned with positive interper-
sonal dynamics between teachers and principals as well as among teachers. However,
the health framework considers relationships between the school and students, and
the school and the community. According to Hoy et al. (2002), a healthy school cli-
mate is imbued with positive student, teacher and administrator interpersonal
dynamics. In such a climate, teachers like their colleagues, their school, their job; they
believe in themselves and their students; they are driven by a quest for academic
excellence and set high, but achievable goals for themselves and their students. Stu-
dents work hard and respect others who do well academically. Principals have high
expectations for teachers and go out of their way to help teachers in a friendly and
supportive way. Moreover, healthy schools have good relationships with the commu-
nity. The six health factors are measured by a 44-item scale Organizational Health
Inventory (OHI) (Hoy & Tarter, 1997).
Both openness and health climate perspectives have been used by researchers to
analyse the environment of school workplaces (Hoy & Sabo, 1998; Hoy et al., 1991;
Tarter et al., 1989). Despite the differences in perspectives, there is considerable
overlap in the frameworks and their measures. Recognising that open schools tend to
be healthy ones and healthy schools tend to be open, Hoy et al. (2002) developed a
perspective that captures both the openness and health frameworks. The six dimen-
sions of the OCDQ and the six aspects of the OHI were reduced to four general
dimensions of climate that captured both openness and health: (i) environmental press
the relationship between the school and community; (ii) collegial leadershipopen-
ness of the leader behaviour of the principal; (iii) teacher professionalismopenness of
the teacherteacher interactions; and (iv) academic pressthe relationship between
the school and students. These four dimensions assess three vertical linkages (institu-
tional, administrative and teacher) as well as horizontal relationships among teacher
colleagues.
School climate is often associated with and viewed through the lens of school safety.
A significant body of research posits that safe school environments are essential for
learning (e.g. Cornell & Mayer, 2010; Craig et al., 2010; Safe Schools Action Team,
2008). A safe school environment is commonly described (e.g. Cornell & Mayer,
2010; Mayer & Furlong, 2010; Robinson & Espelage, 2011) in relation to students’
feelings of safety in an orderly environment free from bullying, victimisation and vio-
lence. In other words, school safety is a social construction; its definition is often sub-
jective and coloured by one’s social location, cultural experiences and school context
(Cornell & Mayer, 2010; Williams, 2005). In the field of school safety research, school
safety was initially defined as the presence or absence of weapons and/or homicides in
school settings (Skiba et al., 2006). As the relationship between everyday disruptions
and overall school safety became clearer, the understanding of school safety evolved.
Currently, there exists a fairly comprehensive perception of school safety that not only
focuses on reaction and response, but gives more attention to prevention and early
identification/intervention (Skiba et al., 2006). Many researchers agree that the
School climate, safety, student achievement and well-bring 107
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school climate, feelings of school attachment/connectedness and personal safety are
some of the most important variables for understanding school safety (Gottfredson,
2001; Greene, 2005; Karcher, 2004; Whitlock, 2006). A more comprehensive under-
standing of school safety has enabled policymakers to craft safe schools policies of a
more comprehensive nature to especially focus on school violence prevention and
intervention, which in turn, promotes more positive physical school environments.
Increased media and legislative attention to school violence during the past several
decades have resulted in a special focus on safety concerns within the school environ-
ment (Borum et al., 2010; Mayer & Furlong, 2010). The safety of students continues
to be a concern because of increasing low-level violence (e.g. bullying) in schools that
are related to antisocial and aggressive behaviours among students (Alessandri et al.,
2012; Jimerson et al., 2012). These types of behaviours occur largely because the
school environment serves as a vehicle for them.
The National School Climate Council (2007) posits that school climate is based on
patterns of people’s experiences of school life and reflects norms, goals, values, inter-
personal relationships, teaching and learning practices, and organisational structures.
Stemming from this perspective, positive school climate is defined as ‘norms, values,
and expectations that support people feeling socially, emotionally and physically safe’
(p. 4). School climate is also understood as a by-product of the quality of the interper-
sonal relationships among students, parents, staff and administrators. Therefore, a
positive and healthy school climate is fostered when there is a shared vision of respect
and caring for all people by all people in the school.
Similarly, Cohen et al. (2009) defined school climate as ‘the quality and character
of school life ... based on patterns of people’s experience of school life and reflects
norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teaching and learning practices, and
organizational structures’ (p. 10). Furthermore, Cohen et al. (2009) noted that
school life refers to the level of safety a school provides, the kind of relationships that
exist within and the larger physical environment in addition to the shared vision and
participation in that vision by all. Notably, this perspective highlights both social and
physical aspects of school climate and implies the whole school as the appropriate
measurement unit.
Components and conditions of a positive school climate
Overall, scholars recognise a challenge in providing a comprehensive framework
for dimensions of school climate, as there is not yet a consensus about which
dimensions are essential to measuring school climate validly. Several noteworthy
attempts have been made to identify key elements of school climate. The
National School Climate Center (2007) identified five elements of school cli-
mate: (1) safety (e.g. rules and norms, physical security, socialemotional secu-
rity); (2) teaching and learning (e.g. support for learning, social and civic
learning); (3) interpersonal relationships (e.g. respect for diversity, social support
from adults, social support from peers); (4) institutional environment (e.g. school
connectedness, engagement, physical surroundings); and (5) staff relationships
(leadership, professional relationships). These five elements require careful
examination as stand-alone concepts and also as a whole in order to understand
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how each element interacts with others. More recently, a review of school cli-
mate research (Thapa et al., 2013) outlined five essential areas of focus or
dimensions of school climate: (i) safety (e.g. rules and norms, physical safety,
socialemotional safety), (ii) relationships (e.g. respect for diversity, school con-
nectedness/engagement, social support, leadership, and students’ race/ethnicity
and their perceptions of school climate), (iii) teaching and learning (e.g. social,
emotional, ethical and civic learning; service learning; support for academic
learning; support for professional relationships; teachers’ and students’ percep-
tions of school climate), (iv) institutional environment (e.g. physical surrounding,
resources, supplies), and (v) the school improvement process (p. 358).
Notwithstanding the contributions and value of the above frameworks, we believe
that a broader categorisation of school climate dimensions is needed. Therefore, in
our conceptualisation (see Table 1) we follow the lead of researchers (e.g. Cohen,
2006; Loukas, 2007; Marshall, 2004; Wang & Holcombe, 2010; Voight et al., 2011;
Zullig et al., 2011) that viewed it as a multidimensional construct including broadly
defined physical, social and academic dimensions. Loukas (2007) argued that the cli-
mate of a school is not necessarily experienced in the same way by all of its members;
rather, there is variability in individual perceptions of a school’s climate. It is possible
that individuals within the same school have different perceptions of school climate
owing to the differences in their experiences, perspectives, or roles in the school struc-
ture (Booren et al., 2011). These individual subjective perceptions of the environ-
ment influence individual outcomes and behaviours. Moreover, individual
characteristics may impact these perceptions: individuals with an optimistic outlook
may view the climate as more positive, while those who are pessimistic or aggressive
may perceive their school climate more negatively.
As school climate influences not only the day-to-day experiences of the teachers
and other on-site professionals, but also impacts the quality and effectiveness of the
Table 1. Dimensions of school climate
Physical Social Academic
Appearance of the
school building and
its classrooms
School size and ratio of
students to teachers in
classrooms
Order and organisation
of classrooms in the
school
Availability of resources
Safety and comfort
Quality of interpersonal
relationships between
and among students,
teachers, and staff
Equitable and fair
treatment of students
by teachers and staff
Degree of competition
and social comparison
between students
Degree to which
students, teachers,
and staff contribute
to decision-making
at the school
Quality of instruction
Teacher expectations
for student achievement
Monitoring student
progress and promptly
reporting results to
students and parents
School climate, safety, student achievement and well-bring 109
©2015 British Educational Research Association
educational experience for students, researchers emphasised the significance of a
positive school climate in satisfying the academic, emotional and social needs of
students (Black, 2010; Cohen, 2006). The aforementioned multidimensional frame-
work provides a foundation to examine the literature related to the impact of physical,
social and academic dimensions of school climate on students.
How does the physical dimension of school climate impact students?
Challenging school climates with a disorderly school environment are characterised
by the presence of vague rules and expectations, low academic achievement and high
antisocial behaviours. Such climates can be highly problematic for students who need
clear expectations and structure (Jimerson et al., 2006). Another concern is the qual-
ity of the educational infrastructure and its relation to student outcomes, including
both achievement and attitude, as well as teacher attitude and behaviour (Uline &
Tschannen-Moran, 2008). Researchers investigating the impact of school facility
condition on student learning and behaviour, as well as teacher turnover, reported a
positive relationship between facility condition and student achievement (O’Neill &
Oates, 2001). Conversely, school buildings in poor shape lead to reduced learning;
while poorly managed schools lead to poor achievement (Buckley et al., 2004). Sev-
eral other reviews documented relationships between various school building design
features and academic outcomes (Earthman, 2002, 2004; Higgins et al., 2005; Le-
masters, 1997; Schneider, 2002). Specific building features related to human comfort
that have been shown to be related to student achievement include building age, cli-
mate control, indoor air quality, lighting, acoustical control, design classifications and
overall impression (Uline & Tschannen-Moran, 2008).
There is likely a complex dynamic of how physical features may influence individ-
ual attitudes and behaviours. In a study of the relationship between building condi-
tion and learning climate, learning climate was perceived to be related to overall
building condition, size and organisation of instructional spaces, and ongoing mainte-
nance (Lowe, 1990). Learning climate in this study was defined in terms of teacher,
student and parent perceptions about self, student achievement, organisational rules
and policies, and the facility itself. In another study, teachers perceived that cleanli-
ness, orderliness and the general character of a school building influenced student
behaviour (Lackney, 1996). The quality of school physical building has also been
related to student attitudes and behaviour, including vandalism, absenteeism, sus-
pensions, disciplinary incidents, violence and smoking (Schneider, 2002). The study
of specific design classifications and features and various other discrete physical
building conditions (Uline & Tschannen-Moran, 2008) underscored the importance
of perceptions of building quality in fostering school climate that is conducive to stu-
dent learning. Research increasingly shows that there is a clear link between environ-
mental quality of schools and educational performance (Berry, 2012; Marzano, 2003;
Rutter et al., 1979; Wentzel & Watkins, 2002): (a) facility management systems
determine environmental quality in schools; (b) the quality of the school environment
shapes attitudes of students, teachers and staff; (c) attitudes affect teaching and learn-
ing behaviour; (d) behaviour affects performance; and (e) educational performance
determines future outcomes of individuals and society as a whole.
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The physical conditions of classrooms and class size greatly influence the order/dis-
cipline in schools (Gregory et al., 2010; Osher et al., 2010). As one example, schools
with higher studentteacher ratios have more negative teacher attitudes, lower expec-
tations of students, higher student suspensions and poorer academic performance
(Jimerson et al., 2012). In contrast, differences in school size have not shown a con-
sistent effect on school climate and student achievement (Ma & Klinger, 2000).
How does the social dimension of school climate impact students?
At the heart of an excellent school is a school climate that is defined by excellent
teaching, high-quality leadership, motivated staff and students, and a sense of com-
munity (Alliance for the Study of School Climate, 2011). The quality of relationships
is pivotal in shaping school climate. Studentteacher, teacherteachers, studentstu-
dent (peer), teacherprincipal, parentteacher and schoolcommunity relationships
are all important in shaping the social dimension included in school climate (Dema-
ray et al., 2012). Bosworth et al. (2011) concluded that organisation/discipline and
caring relationships are the two components of a school’s climate that determine per-
ceived safety in schools. They continued that in a well-organised school where rules
are clearly outlined, adults are caring towards the students, and where relationships
between adults were respectful, professional and caring, people in the school felt
safer.
Jimerson et al. (2012) described the importance of relationships in schools in rela-
tion to students’ self-perceptions and behavioural outcomes: ‘Positive relationships
are likely to result in students making increased positive life-course decisions and hav-
ing more positive perceptions of their self-control, cooperation, self-efficacy, cogni-
tive abilities and social problem-solving ability’ (p. 9). Further, teachers’ feelings
toward students help to form the basis of the relationships they have with their stu-
dents. Positive relationships help to create a school environment in which students
are more likely to feel safe. High-quality relationships among students and teachers
decrease the probability of violence (Loukas, 2007). It is important that teachers also
receive the support they need from the principal and other school administrators in
schools in order to adequately support students (Hansen, 1991; Hoy & Miskel,
2005). Hoy and Miskel (2005) discussed the importance of having a healthy informal
organisationthe interlocking social structures governing people’s practice, the net-
work of social relationships that form as people interact with each other in a work-
place and aspects of the organisation (e.g. actual power vs formal power) that are
absent or vaguely mentioned in the formal structure.
Greene (2005) emphasised that school climate has a large impact on the nature
and scope of school violence and prevention. Demaray et al. (2012) noted how both
perpetrators and victims of school violence tended to perceive lower amounts of posi-
tive social supports from significant peers and adults in their lives compared with stu-
dents who are uninvolved in school violence. Student support (from peers, teachers
and parents), school safety and academic achievement are interactive and oftentimes
interdependent (Hoy & Hannum, 1997; Osher et al., 2012). Strong and consistent
sources of student support and care can act as a protective factor to combat aggressive
and antisocial behaviours in students (Papacosta, 2012).
School climate, safety, student achievement and well-bring 111
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When working with students exhibiting antisocial and aggressive behaviours,
school systems and professionals are presented with a challenge to minimise the effect
of personal risk factors by maximising and emphasising the development of personal
protective factors (Jimerson et al., 2012). This means that schools’ systems (espe-
cially teachers and principals) need to know and understand their students’ personali-
ties and social circumstances in order to provide them with equitable and fair
treatment. Personality is viewed as a complex self-regulatory system including habit-
ual behaviours, knowledge structures, and coping mechanisms; therefore, assessing
individual differences in personality can be a useful approach in understanding
aggressive conduct (Alessandri et al., 2012). Beyond personal factors, schools may
also shape students’ behaviour through group (e.g. peer affiliations) and school-wide
(e.g. disorderly school environment) influences (Jimerson et al., 2012).
An important factor that determines the strength of social ties in schools is collabo-
ration in decision-making processes (Loukas, 2007). This sort of collaboration is
often navigated by the school leader/principal. Principals, who share decision-making
responsibilities with other school staff and even students, give agency to all those
involved in the educational experiences. By doing this, principals were found to influ-
ence teachers to give their students more opportunities to become involved in deci-
sion-making processes (Kelley et al., 2006; Shochet & Smith, 2012). Although the
issue of student involvement in schools’ decisions-making processes remains a con-
tested viewpoint as to the extent and areas of involvement, researchers (Fielding,
1997; Huddleston, 2007; Rudduck & Flutter, 2000) argued that it is important to
recognise students’ social maturity and experience by giving them responsibilities and
opportunities to share in decision-making that extends beyond student-related issues
into wider aspects of school life, as well as to society beyond the school. According to
Huddleston (2007), students should have opportunities for involvement in all major
areas of school life, in particular in a school’s ethos and climateincluding rules,
rewards and sanctions; curriculum, teaching and learning; and, management and
development planning. Similarly, others have found that involvement in decision-
making can be a valuable guide to school improvement, restructuring and program-
matic efforts (Kushman, 1997; Hord & Robertson, 1999; Rudduck & Flutter, 2004).
As a result of involvement, students feel more connected to their school, and school
connectedness is considered ‘a powerful predictor of adolescent health and academic
outcomes and violence prevention’ (Cohen et al., 2009, p. 185).
How does the academic dimension of school climate impact students?
School climate is considered to be one of the most important ingredients of a success-
ful instructional programme. As Hoyle et al. (1985) argued, ‘without a climate that
creates a harmonious and well-functioning school, a high degree of academic achieve-
ment is difficult, if not downright impossible to obtain’ (p. 15). It has been found that
the presence of a positive school climate is associated with higher student achieve-
ment and fewer discipline problems (e.g. Bulach & Malone, 1994; Bulach et al.,
1995; Chiu & Chow, 2011; Creemers & Reezigt, 1999; Freiberg et al., 2009). A posi-
tive school climate can enhance staff performance, promote higher morale and
improve student achievement. In contrast, a negative school climate can be a signifi-
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cant barrier to learning (Freiberg, 1998; Goddard et al., 2000; Heck, 2000). As an
example, the competition among students can play a role in the social and academic
dimensions of school climate by decreasing the connectedness and belonging. In con-
trast, concerted effort can result in improved student behavioural and emotional
functioning and, in turn, increased academic motivation and achievement (Loukas,
2007).
Classrooms serve as quintessential settings where students and teachers build and
negotiate a climate that influences academic, behavioural and social adjustment of all
students within the group (Farmer et al., 2010). As Urban (1999) argued, unless stu-
dents experience a positive and supportive climate, some may never achieve the most
minimum standards or realise their full potential. It is for this reason that teachers’
skills and personal characteristics can serve as risk factors or protective factors for stu-
dents’ development of antisocial and aggressive behaviours (Farmer et al., 2010).
Teachers’ expectations for students influence the academic performance of their stu-
dents. When teachers expect students to perform poorly, students doubt their abilities
and become disengaged from the learning process (Shochet & Smith, 2012). On the
contrary, in schools with a high level of academic press (Hoy et al., 2002), teachers
set high goals, the principals assist in achieving these goals, while students respond
positively to the challenge of these goals and they work hard to achieve them. Aca-
demic press has repeatedly been demonstrated to be strongly related to student
achievement (e.g. Hoy et al., 1998; Hoy & Sabo, 1998; Hoy et al., 1991, Tschannen-
Moran & Tschannen-Moran, 2011; Tschannen-Moran et al., 2006). Hoy et al.
(1990) found that long-term improvement in academic achievement was related to
schools with strong academic emphasis within healthy and open school climates.
The quality of classroom instruction is influenced by teachers’ and students’ per-
sonal factors along with some factors beyond the immediate control of school staff
(e.g. school size, location and the average social economic status (SES) of the school)
(e.g. Ma & Klinger, 2000). Students who attend schools with a higher mean SES
are more likely to succeed academically, particularly in reading, writing and
mathematics.
Furthermore, Ma and Klinger (2000) found that disciplinary climate, concerning
rules and compliance, was the most important determinant of academic achievement.
Disciplinary climate falls under the physical dimension of school climate as discussed
by Loukas (2007). Moreover, DeAngelis and Presley (2011) noted a correlation
between schools with high levels of safety and order (disciplinary climate) and schools
with teachers who have high qualificationsschools with teachers who have higher
qualifications tend to be employed in schools that have higher levels of safety and
order. In turn, schools that are perceived to have positive/healthy physical and social
environments generally have higher student achievement (DeAngelis & Presley,
2011). Finally, among the controllable factors that influence student achievement
and outcomes, teachers offer the greatest opportunity for improving the quality of
learning and social outcomes experienced by students (Stronge, 2010). Stronge sum-
marised the importance of the high-quality teachers:
If we want to improve the quality of our schools and positively affect the lives of our stu-
dents, then we must change the quality of our teaching. This is our best hope to systemati-
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cally and dramatically improve education. We can reform the curriculum but, ultimately,
it is teachers who implement it; we can provide professional development on new instruc-
tional strategies but, ultimately, it is teachers who deploy them; we can focus on data
analysis of student performance but, ultimately, it is teachers who produce the results we
are analyzing. (p. 1)
Not only do teachers’ qualifications, perceptions of their school climate and their
implementation of the curriculum influence students’ own perceptions of school cli-
mate and overall achievement, but according to Ma and Klinger (2000), ‘low student
academic achievement correlated with negative family attitudes and beliefs’ (p. 51).
In fact, four in five Grade 6 students agreed that what their parents thought of them
was important, most students noted that their parents expected too much from them
academically and boys reported feeling more pressure to do well at school than girls
(Freeman et al., 2011). Therefore, high-quality teachers who have a positive percep-
tion of the climate of the school they work in and students who have positive experi-
ences with their teachers and parents are more likely to have a higher academic
achievement.
Understanding school safety and schools’ responses to bullying and school
violence
As mentioned above, the subjective perceptions of the environment influence individ-
uals’ views about the level of school safety and the overall school climate. The most
commonly explored aspects of safety are those related to bullying and violence, which
unfortunately continue to appear to be part of the school experience (Lunenburg,
2010; Wolke & Woods, 2003). Researchers found that most people involved in bully-
ing situationsthe bully, the victim and the bystanderare negatively affected by
their experiences (Boulton et al., 2008; Connolly et al., 2000; Rigby & Slee, 1991;
Roland, 2002).
Not surprisingly, bullying is a multidimensional construct, and it is often concep-
tualised in different ways. For instance, some educators do not differentiate between
bullying and aggressive acts. According to Ross et al. (2009), some bullying preven-
tion programmes focus on specific, undesirable behaviours, regardless of intentional-
ity, frequency of behaviour and power differentials. Furthermore, ‘some educators
only see bullying as involving physical harm, but this is changing because of policies
that are redefining bullying’ (Rigby, 2012, p. 398). These unclear understandings of
bullying contribute to differences in the subjective perceptions of the school environ-
ment and individual experiences. A clear understanding of bullying needs to be devel-
oped by all members of the school community (i.e. school staff, principal, students,
parents) in order to consistently and effectively implement bullying prevention poli-
cies and programmes (Rigby, 2012). Furthermore, despite vast research into whether
students are positively impacted or not by anti-bullying programmes (Beran & Shap-
iro, 2005; Bickmore, 2011; Cousins et al., 2005; Ferguson et al., 2007; Gueldner
et al., 2008; Osborn et al., 2008; Wolke & Woods, 2003), much of the data consis-
tently portray the impact of anti-bullying initiatives as having a minor significance in
impact or a non-significant impact on positive outcomes and does not offer potential
solutions and suggestions.
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While many members of school communities and the larger public still feel schools
are generally safe (Bracy, 2011; Han, 2010; Safe Schools Action Team, 2008), they
are more concerned with school safety issues because of school climates that are now
shaped by increased security measures (e.g. metal detectors) and surveillance (e.g.
security cameras) that accompany school safety and disciplinary policies (Casella,
2010; Kupchik & Bracy, 2010). While some studies (e.g. Joong & Ridler, 2006; Safe
Schools Action Team, 2008) report these methods of safety precaution increase the
feelings of safety among students, teachers and school administrators, other studies
(e.g. Casella, 2010; Steeves, 2010; Weiss, 2010; Williams, 2005) report these mea-
sures create avenues for racial profiling, coercion and social reproduction of stereo-
types and prejudices.
Astor et al. (2006) noted what constitutes an ‘unsafe’ or ‘safe’ school is still vague
because of the absence of empirically based criteria. However, students with low-
functioning social skills and high rates of aggressive behaviour often create unsafe
environments for others (Fitzgerald & Edstrom, 2006) and are segregated with peers
with similar behaviour issues, making them more antisocial (Osher et al., 2010).
These antisocial skills and aggression do not exist in a vacuum; milder incidents (e.g.
teasing and bullying) often result in aggressive behaviour (Cornell & Mayer, 2010).
In thinking about creating a positive school climate, there is a need to first recognise
factors that contribute to the experiences of the most vulnerable sub-populations to
understand how negative school climates affect them. It is important to recognise that
gender, race, ethnicity, ability, sexual orientation and social status also do not exist in
a vacuumthey interact.
Sub-populations disproportionately affected by bullying and school violence
Although there are a number of ambiguities in school climate and school safety
research, many researchers (e.g. Bracy, 2011; Benbenishty & Astor, 2005; Cor-
nell & Mayer, 2010; Cowie et al., 2003; Daniel & Bondy, 2008; Jull, 2000; Raby
& Domitrek, 2007; Vavrus & Cole, 2002; Williams, 2005) agree that students
from certain sub-populations (e.g. racialised groups; exceptional learners; students
in sexuality or gender identity-based groups) are: (a) more involved in violent
incidents (e.g. fighting and incidents involving weapons) and are consequently
suspended and expelled more from schools; (b) bullied and victimised more fre-
quently; and (c) overrepresented in alternative schools and programmes than
their peers belonging to the mainstream population (e.g. White students without
exceptionalities).
Racialised students
Disciplinary policies in schools are largely based on exclusionary punishments such as
suspensions and expulsions (Cornell & Mayer, 2010). Punishments that exclude stu-
dents from their school community add to their feelings of disconnectedness, lessens
their motivation and they actually become more involved in law-breaking activities
(Bracy, 2011; Dei et al., 1997; Gregory et al., 2010; Losen & Skiba, 2010; Vavrus &
Cole, 2002). Initially implemented to promote school safety, it seems that policies
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based on zero-tolerance philosophies often promote exclusionary punishments that
alienate and de-motivate students (Kutsyuruba & Hussain-Kelly, 2010). The use of
out-of-school suspension has approximately doubled since 1973, with much steeper
increases for racialised students, and in the American context, Black students in par-
ticular (Losen & Skiba, 2010). This report employs the term racialised students to refer
to non-White students who share similar experiences as a result of being non-White.
In exploring the moments that result in student suspensions, Vavrus and Cole
(2002) conducted an ethnographic study in two science classrooms of a multiethnic
high school located in a large metropolitan area in the US Midwest. Data included
field notes and transcriptions of focus group sessions with students, individual inter-
views with teachers, administrators and safety personnel, and video recordings of
classroom everyday interactions (including moments where suspensions became very
likely and were later issued by the vice-principal or principal). Data were also gath-
ered from individual questionnaires completed by students. Researchers concluded
that, teachers who decide that students have disrupted the classroom and send them
to the office to be suspended are greatly influenced by their own cultural understand-
ings and experiences. According to Vavrus and Cole, unclear understandings and/or
disagreement about what constitutes disruption, leads to excessive suspensions of rac-
ialised students. Furthermore, the researchers noted that teachers are largely influ-
enced by race and gender biases that are not addressed in school discipline policies.
Using data from US national study, Han (2010) supported the notion of teachers’
discriminatory attitudes toward racialised students; building on an argument that rac-
ialised students were expelled from school three times more frequently than White
students (Rausch & Skiba, 2004). While Cornell and Mayer (2010) claimed the cul-
tural mismatch between teachers and students is largely responsible for systemic dis-
crimination via the employment of disciplinary sanctions, they noted that more
research is needed to address the conscious and unconscious processes that result in
differential treatment of some racialised groups.
The largely subjective nature of school discipline policies often perpetuate racism
and gender discrimination (Bracy, 2011; Vavrus & Cole, 2002; Williams, 2005).
Additionally, these subjective discipline policies add to racialised students’ overall
feelings of powerlessness (Raby & Domitrek, 2007). During the summer months of
2004 and 2005, Raby and Domitrek (2007) conducted focus group sessions with
diverse young people attending secondary school in southern Ontario to investigate
high school students’ perceptions and experiences with their schools’ codes of con-
duct. Raby and Domitrek located most of their research participants by visiting com-
munity organisations (e.g. boys’ and girls’ club, a drop-in centre for homeless youth)
and by word-of-mouth (via other students or community organisations). Focus group
sessions were conducted in public spaces (not in schools); this encouraged more can-
did conversations about school rules (Raby & Domitrek, 2007). The researchers
explored students’ unquestioning acceptance (compliance) of many school rules.
Raby and Domitrek concluded that while racialised students were especially impacted
by disciplinary policies that resulted in their exclusion and alienation from the educa-
tion system, they seldom questioned rules because they were aware of how they might
come across as troublemakers. Additionally, racialised students reported feeling help-
less as actors in decision-making processes about their behaviour and punishments. A
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few students challenged minor school rules (e.g. no cell phone allowed in class-
rooms), but were disheartened when they realised that their voice was insufficient to
bring about any policy changes. Some students felt insignificant with respect to the
policymaking process.
Despite the ongoing school disciplinary policy reform in public schools worldwide
(e.g. Benbenishty & Astor, 2005; Bracy, 2011; Bongers et al., 2003; Cowie et al.,
2003; Huybregts et al., 2003; Joong & Ridler, 2006), high security schools and strict
punishments (e.g. zero tolerance) for problem behaviour do not seem to be curbing
the number of violent incidents that occur in schools (Bracy, 2011; Joong & Ridler,
2006; Williams, 2005). However, there has not been a significant increase in the
number of students who feel unsafe in schools either (Williams, 2005). Williams
(2005) discussed the importance of empowering Black American male students who
are deeply affected by school safety and disciplinary policies by giving voice to their
school experiences and overall social contexts. In her study conducted in western
New York, she interviewed students who were expelled from mainstream schools for
possessing weapons and visited some of the students’ homes and spoke with their
family members. Williams also interviewed teachers at the alternative school. The
majority of students were Black and all teachers were white. She focused on under-
standing how students’ lives outside of school were organised. She noted that 79% of
students lived with single-parent female-headed households. Some of these students
had part-time jobs and were responsible for taking care of younger siblings. Williams
discovered that the students accepted and normalised violence in their lives; many of
them viewed physical violence, weapons and gangs as tools for safety in their commu-
nities, including schools. However, they learned that their tools were not tolerated in
mainstream schools, and this intolerance was demonstrated in the interactions and
relationships they had with others in their previous mainstream schools. In regards to
the bullying experiences of racialised groups of students, students who have been bul-
lied about race and/or ethnicity have lower grade point averages and miss more days
at school than students who are not bullied about race and/or ethnicity (Scherr, 2012;
Scherr & Larson, 2010). Typically, students who bully others in elementary schools
are highly popular in their own peer groups and belong to families with a high socio-
economic status (Garandeau et al., 2010).
Gender
Researchers reported differences in student perceptions of violence, bullying and
school safety by gender and grade level (Booren & Handy, 2009; Varjas et al., 2009)
and by individual character traits (DeRosier & Newcity, 2005). It is not unusual for
boys to display more physical aggression than girls. Garandeau and colleagues (2010)
discussed the climate of unequal social relations in schools that sometimes results in
incidents of bullying, harassment (including sexual harassment) and high-level school
violence:
Importantly, gender inequality in school may be a reflection of gender issues in the society
at large. If one particular group enjoys greater power in the community, it may impact the
peer ecology at school. This question is certainly not restricted to gender. Belonging to an
ethnicity that is more or less dominant in the larger cultural context may influence chil-
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dren’s social status at school, as well as the perception of their aggressive behaviours. (p.
126)
Researchers, who focus on the area of bullying, need to consider school bullying in
the context of gender roles and the development of socially acceptable norms of mas-
culinity and femininity in the dominant cultural context (Felix & Green, 2010). For
example, at the elementary level, boys and girls pursue different goals in their rela-
tionships with peers. Girls tend to seek intimacy and friendships, while boys tend to
be more concerned with competitiveness and the pursuit of high status (Garandeau
et al., 2010).
The most recent (at time of writing) Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children
Canada-wide survey (Freeman et al., 2011) emphasised gender differences related to
emotional states of students who were victimised and/or who bully their peers:
Across genders, young people who neither bully nor are victimized have the lowest levels
of emotional problems. In general, girls have more emotional problems than boys. Young
people who are victimized tend to have high levels of emotional problems (30% of boys
and 42% of girls). Bullying is clearly related to these emotional health problems. (p. 177)
It has been found that positive school climate perceptions are protective factors for
boys and may supply high-risk students with a supportive learning environment yield-
ing healthy development, as well as preventing antisocial behaviour (Haynes, 1998;
Kuperminc et al., 1997).
Exceptional learners
Students with exceptionalities and emotional and behavioural disorders are bullied
and victimised more than their peers who do not have these conditions (Cummings
et al., 2006; Osher et al., 2010; Skiba et al., 2012). Bullying is a relationship problem,
not a problem solely with an individual child’s aggression (Craig & McCuaig-Edge,
2011; Craig & Pepler, 2007; Cummings et al., 2006). Aggressive behaviour remains
to be one of the most common reasons for referral of students to mental health profes-
sionals (Sugden et al., 2006). According to Sugden et al. (2006), aggressive behav-
iours have various roots (e.g. impulsivity, emotional instability, predatory behaviour);
these can be linked with various mental health diagnoses (e.g. bipolar disorder, anxi-
ety and autism). However, conduct disorder (CD) has been of particular interest to
researchers who study antisocial and aggressive behaviours in children and adoles-
cents who are involved in violent incidents in schools (Jimerson et al., 2012).
When studying the relationships between students with exceptionalities, bullying/
victimisation and academic achievement, it is important not to make sweeping gener-
alisations about the experiences of these students. Students with exceptionalities
include those with various physical, learning, intellectual and emotional abilities. It is
important to keep in mind that very little research has focused specifically on bullying
problems among students with physical exceptionalities (e.g. mobility, sight and hear-
ing challenges; Cummings et al., 2006).
There is a larger body of research about bullying/victimisation and students with
learning exceptionalities compared with those with physical exceptionalities. There is
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convergent evidence that students with learning exceptionalities are at greater risk to
be bullied and are characterised as less socially skilled, less cooperative, more shy and
having fewer friends than their peers without learning exceptionalities (e.g. Mishna,
2003; Root & Resnick, 2003). According to Cummings and colleagues (2006),
‘There is a significant rate of overlap between LD [learning exceptionalities] and
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), with 22% of children with LD
reported to have comorbid ADHD’ (p. 200). In a Canadian study conducted by
McNamara et al. (2005), bullying prevalence was compared among 230 adolescents
with learning exceptionalities (92 with comorbid learning exceptionality and
ADHD), and 322 students without learning exceptionalities or ADHD. Students
with comorbid learning exceptionalities and ADHD reported the highest levels of vic-
timisation (direct and indirect); this was statistically significantly greater than the lev-
els reported by student with learning exceptionalities and without learning
exceptionalities. Furthermore, students with learning exceptionalities reported statis-
tically significantly greater levels of victimisation than students with neither learning
exceptionalities nor ADHD.
There is a paucity of research about the link between students with intellectual dis-
abilities (ID) and bullying/victimisation (Cummings et al., 2006). ID, also termed in
different geographical locales as intellectual development disorder (IDD), develop-
mental disability, or general learning disability, is formerly known as mental retarda-
tion (MR) (note, that MR is a controversial term that is still in use by the World
Health Organization and in various professional settings around the world). Horner-
Johnson and Drum (2006) conducted a review in which they discussed and defined
maltreatmentforms of maltreatment included verbal abuse, theft, neglect, physical,
emotional and sexual abuse. According to Horner-Johnson and Drum (2006), chil-
dren, youth and adults with ID faced disturbingly higher rates of all forms of maltreat-
ment compared with persons without ID. Maltreatment can exacerbate emotional
exceptionalities. The latter category has been seldom highlighted by researchers in
the area of bullying/victimisation. Fourteen per cent of Canadian children have men-
tal health conditions, which affect their experiences in schools (Cummings et al.,
2006).
Sexuality or gender identity-based groups of students
Students from various sexuality or gender identity-based groups are also dispro-
portionately affected by bullying and school violence. Researchers (Clarke &
Russell, 2009; Robinson & Espelage, 2011; Scherr, 2012) found an alarming
number of students who self-identify as LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-
gender, or questioning) in mainstream schools feel unsafe, unwelcomed and are
more frequently bullied and victimised than their non-LGBTQ peers. As a
result, many LGBTQ students who feel unsafe in schools have a high number
of absences, are less engaged in the academic and social processes in schools
and are less likely to pursue post-secondary studies (Clarke & Russell, 2009).
Scherr (2012) noted that LGBTQ students who are also racial/ethnic minorities
are at ‘elevated risk of victimization and, therefore, diminished access to educa-
tional opportunities and compromised mental health and poor academic out-
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comes’ (p. 105). When students are bullied about their sexual orientation they
report lower levels of school engagement. Transgender students who are bullied
about their sexual orientation report lower school engagement than their LGBQ
peers who are also bullied. Numerous LGBTQ students skip school out of fear
for their safety; in fact, three to five times higher than their non-LGBTQ peers
(Scherr, 2012). According to Scherr, although no reliable drop-out statistics
have been calculated for this sub-population (i.e. LGBTQ students who are
racial/ethnic minorities), many of them eventually drop out of school. The more
school days missed, the lower the grade point average may be. Bisexual boys
who are bullied have been found to have lower grade point averages than other
students belonging to the LGBTQ communities (Robinson & Espelage, 2011;
Scherr, 2012), but their transgender peers do not follow too far behind (Grey-
tak et al., 2009). In addition, LGBTQ students who are racial/ethnic minorities
and are bullied about their sexual orientation or gender expression and racial/
ethnic differences lack plans for post-secondary education immediately after sec-
ondary school. Furthermore, gay students who are ethnic minorities report
lower educational aspirations, regardless of bullying history, than their White,
gay peers (Hunt & Jensen, 2007). Hunt and Jensen’s study was conducted in
the British context. Scherr (2012) noted that nearly half of LGBTQ students
show interest in post-graduate degrees later on. LGBTQ students are at ele-
vated risk of substance use and abuse, sexual risk-taking and mental health
problems (Bontempo & D’Augelli, 2002; Scherr, 2012).
It is important to remember that within the LGBTQ community there are smaller
communities, and it is pivotal for researchers to acknowledge their diverse experi-
ences. For instance, in a longitudinal study conducted in British Columbia, LGB
were two to seven times more likely than their heterosexual peers to have become
pregnant or impregnated someone (Saewyc et al., 2008). Then there is contention
about the rate of suicidal tendencies among LGBTQ students. Robinson and Espe-
lage (2011) found that LGBTQ youth are at a much greater risk for suicidal thoughts,
suicidal attempts, victimisation by peers, cyber-bullying and elevated absences from
school than their heterosexual peers. Robinson and Espelage (2011) underscored a
dire need to improve the psychological and educational outcomes for LGBTQ stu-
dents. The earlier a LGBTQ student ‘comes out’/reveals their sexual orientation to
their peers, they are at higher risk for being bullied and victimised (Scherr, 2012).
In regards to intervention, the majority of LGBTQ students who are bullied
because of their sexual orientation or gender expression do not report bullying to
school staff because they feel like nothing will be done about it (Hunt & Jensen,
2007). According to Hunt and Jensen (2007), when school staff intervene regarding
homophobic comments, students report feeling safer at school and having stronger
support networks that include adults. However, the pervasiveness of homophobic lan-
guage in schools among students and school staff suggests that most school environ-
ments are hostile towards LGBTQ students (Robinson & Espelage, 2011). Teaching
about bullying and school violence in classrooms and bully prevention programmes
may help prevent bullying against LGBTQ students, but they are insufficient as a
stand-alone approach (Kosciw et al., 2012). In fact, students in schools with generic
bullying policies report similar levels of victimisation as those with no safety policies
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(Kosciw et al., 2008). Lastly, research suggests ‘intervention at reducing truancy
among LGBTQ students should begin early, as this group is at increased risk in mid-
dle school’ (Robinson & Espelage, 2011, p. 324).
The increasing focus on emotional and mental health
Students’ emotional health is reportedly more influenced by their connections with
their peers than their interactions with teachers, although studentteacher interac-
tions are also important factors (Freeman et al., 2011). The quality of peer relation-
ships is important as is the types of activities peers engage in with each other.
Negative peer relationships can lead to negative behavioural and emotional outcomes.
Moreover, Freeman and colleagues (2011) noted that students are reportedly less
connected to school as they progress through grades; this is concerning because it is
in their later years that their emotional well-being is most vulnerable (see p. 64).
Researchers (e.g. Craig & McCuaig-Edge, 2011; Craig & Pepler, 2007; Ttofi & Far-
rington, 2011) recognise the long-term effects that bullying/victimisation can have on
students. For example, students who bully are at risk for long-term problems as adults
such as antisocial behaviour, gang involvement and substance abuse, and students
who are bullied are at risk for anxiety, depression and physical symptoms (Craig &
McCuaig-Edge, 2011).
More recently, researchers (Freeman et al., 2011) have started to also focus on
mental health among students in Canadian schools and underscored ways in which
mental health can determine academic performance and social outcomes among stu-
dents. While the HBSC Canada-wide survey (Freeman et al., 2011) did not make
direct links between the state of students’ mental health and their academic perfor-
mance, implications of this relationship were frequently mentioned by youth who par-
ticipated in the Healthy Advice Workshop (i.e. a two-day youth engagement event
held in March 2011 consisting of approximately 20 young people in the HBSC age
range from across Canada, adult participants from the federal government and the
Joint Consortium for School Health, and researchers from HBSC Canada). One quo-
tation from a student at the Healthy Advice Workshop that stands out in the final
HBSC report is, ‘People who are fighting aren’t doing well in school, don’t have good
friend ... not living their life right’ (Craig & McCuaig-Edge, 2011, p. 180). It seems
appropriate to remind researchers, policymakers, school staff, school leaders/princi-
pals, teachers, parents, community organisations and students of the following
message:
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) [...] identifies adults as
responsible to protect children from all forms of physical and mental violence, injury or
abuse. The UNRC further asserts that children with mental or physical disabilities ‘should
enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and
facilitate the child’s active participation in the community’. Bullying and harassment con-
stitute abuse at the hands of peers and violate the rights of children and youth. (Cummings
et al., 2006, p. 194)
Furthermore, the Canadian Index of Wellbeing most recent report (Guhn et al.,
2010) reminds us of the continuity in the educational process; that is, ‘the learners of
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today are the teachers of tomorrow, and any education gap in one generation will
inevitably affect following ones’ (p. 1). Education is not to be mistaken to mean the
same thing as schooling, as education is a process that begins before school age and
extends beyond secondary school, post-secondary institutions and apprenticeships.
Notably, high-quality childcare has positive effects on children’s emotional, social
and academic outcomesthe positive effects are greatly pronounced for children
from disadvantaged minority backgrounds (see p. 2, Guhn et al., 2010). Acknowledg-
ing and respectfully responding to the mental health needs and well-being of students
encourages fair and equitable treatment of students by teachers and other school staff,
and therefore, improves the social and academic dimensions of school climate.
Leadership, school climate and student achievement
Undoubtedly, school climate affects the behavioural and academic outcomes of
students, and developing ways to improve the various dimensions of school cli-
mate is vital. Many researchers have suggested that the critical role in fostering a
safe school climate and working conditions lies within the scope of the roles and
responsibilities of school leaders (Boyer, 1983; Blase et al., 1986; Loukas, 2007;
Pepper & Hamilton Thomas, 2002; The Wallace Foundation, 2011). The cli-
mate of a school has been related to the actions and behaviours of the school
principal directed as maintaining of positive and safe learning environments (Bu-
lach et al., 1998; Kelley et al., 2006). Smith et al. (2005, p. 753) found that
school administrators who invested their time, effort and allocated funds to anti-
bullying initiatives yielded valuable returns by ‘helping to create school environ-
ments that are safer and more peaceful for children, and, by implication, more
conducive for learning and healthy development’.
Several studies have established relations between instructional leadership and the
climate of the school (Lane, 1992; Hallinger & Murphy, 1987; Hoy et al., 1991). Spe-
cifically, principals’ instructional leadership behaviours were found to affect the cli-
mate and instructional organisation, which in turn were linked to student
achievement (Bossert et al., 1982). However, it is acknowledged that principals do
not directly affect student achievement, but rather indirectly influence learning by
impacting on the climate of the school (Hallinger & Heck, 1998; Witziers et al.,
2003). Researchers have also pointed out that principals’ influence is mediated by
their interactions with others, situational events and the organisational and cultural
factors of the school (Hallinger & Heck 1998; Hoy et al., 2006, Leithwood et al.,
2004).
Principals as leaders must be able to correctly envision the needs of their teachers,
empower them to share the vision and enable them to create an effective school cli-
mate (Kelley et al., 2006). Principals tend to have the power, authority and position
to impact the climate of the school by developing the feelings of trust, open communi-
cation, collegiality and promoting effective feedback. Hoy and Hannum (1997) found
that collegial leadership and the influence of the principal had interdependent effect
on student achievement. Collegial leadership (friendly, supportive, egalitarian and
open) is important in setting a healthy environment, but it is not sufficient for student
achievement; likewise, principal’s influence will do little to improve teaching and
122 B. Kutsyuruba et al.
©2015 British Educational Research Association
learning unless it is connected to efforts in the classroom. Teachers are instrumental
in improving instruction; they have to decide that they want to improve before it will
happen (Hoy & Forsyth, 1986). If the leadership of the principal is to have any impact
on student achievement, it needs to be linked to substantive activities in the classroom
that make a difference in teaching and learning (Hoy & Hannum, 1997; Hallinger &
Heck, 1996; Pounder et al., 1996).
In their comprehensive review of the research on the role of the principal in
school effectiveness, Hallinger and Heck (1996) concluded that achieving results
through others is the essence of leadership; however, a finding that principal
effects are mediated by other in-school variables does nothing whatsoever to
diminish the principal’s importance. As Hoy and Hannum (1997) argued, the
leadership role of the principal remains important, but it is neither as simple nor
as linear as many researchers have assumed; not only do other school variables
interact with the efforts of the principal to constrain or enhance leadership initia-
tives, but such efforts are often indirect and frequently require different strategies
for different goals.
Since school climate is largely based on the quality of relationships at schoola
strong interdependence on connections among peopletherefore, it helps to recog-
nise that healthy relationships are built on trust. In fact, ‘Trust functions as a lubri-
cant of organizational functioning; without it, the school is likely to experience the
overheated friction of conflict as well as a lack of progress toward its admirable goals’
(Tschannen-Moran, 2004, p. xi). The school principals are largely responsible for
creating, maintaining, sustaining and restoring trust within their school (Kutsyuruba
et al., 2010, 2011). Their fulfilment of this large responsibility lies in the type of lead-
ership style they demonstrate (Tschannen-Moran, 2004) and their ability to serve as
change leaders in school reform (Kelley et al., 2006).
Strong school leadership contributes largely to the physical, social and academic
dimensions of school climate (Kelley et al., 2006; Tschannen-Moran & Tschannen-
Moran, 2011), and school climate is a significant factor in successful school reform
(Bulach & Malone, 1994). Furthermore, researchers (e.g. Kelley et al., 2006; Waters
et al., 2004) suggest that student achievement is highly influenced by the presence or
absence of a strong educational leader, the climate of the school and attitudes of the
teaching staff largely shaped by teacherprincipal reciprocal relationships. Tschan-
nen-Moran (2009) found that degree of teacher professionalism is related not only to
the professional orientation of school leaders but also to faculty trust. She posited that
for schools to foster greater teacher professionalism, school leaders need to resist
adopting a bureaucratic orientation, with its implicit distrust, but instead exercise
their administrative authority with a professional orientation, extending adaptive dis-
cretion to teachers in the conduct of their work and adopting practices that lead to
strong trust among school leaders, teachers, students and parents. Summarising the
findings of empirical research on trust consequences, Forsyth (2008) reported that
teachers’ trust of a principal is positively related to the principal’s authenticity, trans-
formational leadership, teachers’ trust of school organisation and colleagues, and
school climate.
School climate, safety, student achievement and well-bring 123
©2015 British Educational Research Association
Final thoughts and implications
The findings in this review suggest that positive school climate, safe school environ-
ment and well-being of students are significant and strongly interrelated antecedents
of meeting students’ academic, emotional and social needs. Therefore, researchers
(e.g. Cohen et al., 2009; Jimerson et al., 2012; Loukas, 2007; Ma & Klinger, 2000;
Osher et al., 2012) posited that a nested approach to monitoring, evaluating and
addressing the various layers/elements of school climate is required. Often, previous
research has neglected to focus on more than one element of school climate in their
study, and this calls into question the validity of their findings and claims. Not only
are there several elements that encompass school climate, but researchers need to
consider that a student’s educational experience occurs within classrooms, within
peer groups, within a school, within a school board and within a neighbourhood. Cor-
respondingly, researchers are called upon to gather and give attention to nested struc-
tures of educational data (Ma & Klinger, 2000). In this final section, we focus our
discussions on how education policymakers, school leaders and teachers can play
important roles in improving the physical, social and academic dimensions of school
climates. In our recommendations, we are cognisant of the contextual relevance of
our findings predominantly to the North American and European systems of educa-
tion, and encourage researchers in other locales to critically review their consideration
for other contexts.
Implications for policy
Because of the complex dimensions that comprise school climate and the multivariate
understandings of the associated phenomenon such as school safety, bullying and vio-
lence, researchers have only offered ideas that support correlation between school
bullying/victimisation/violence with students’ academic achievement. While many
studies (e.g. Bracy, 2011; Benbenishty & Astor, 2005; Cornell & Mayer, 2010; Cowie
et al., 2003; Daniel & Bondy, 2008; Jull, 2000; Raby & Domitrek, 2007; Vavrus &
Cole, 2002; Williams, 2005) summon attention to the relationship among school
environments, school disciplinary policies and student achievement, ultimately, social
contexts impact students’ understanding of what constitutes a safe environment and
the frequency of violent incidents. Considering the fluidity of social contexts across
time and space, researchers, policymakers, school leaders, teachers, parents and com-
munity organisations need to embrace the perspective that factors that contribute to a
safe school environment can also vary across time and space (Benbenishty & Astor,
2005; Scherr, 2012).
Bullying prevention policies and programmes must explicitly prohibit discrimina-
tion based on sexual orientation and gender expression, but this is still not the case in
some contexts (Scherr, 2012). Methods for reporting bullying and intervening in bul-
lying incidents should be clear and publicised to school staff, students and parents.
More research is needed to understand the mechanisms of the many roles of social
support in the bullying dynamic, and more intervention research is needed to better
inform families and schools of the types of what socially supportive behaviours are
effective to prevent, interrupt and aid recovery in bullying situations (Demaray et al.,
124 B. Kutsyuruba et al.
©2015 British Educational Research Association
2012). Additionally, ‘what schools have been doing in countering bullying thus
appears to be making some headway. What is not yet known is what works best and
why’ (Rigby, 2012, p. 404).
Partnerships between schools and community organisations that support students’
mental, social and physical well-being and academic achievement should be increased
and/or strengthened. These partnerships are also important factors in support school
climate (Craig et al., 2010). Booren et al. (2011) noted that counseling strategies car-
ried out by mental health professionals could potentially support teachers within their
classrooms to establish safe school environments. Crepeau-Hobson et al. (2005) sug-
gested that mental health professionals (separate from school teachers) should take
the lead in creating violence prevention and intervention programmes. These pro-
grammes should be systematically researched to determine their effectiveness and be
disseminated for use only when there are data to indicate that they actually make a
difference in school climate and safety (Greene, 2005; Peterson & Skiba, 2001). Fur-
thermore, school climate research can contribute to the development of smarter poli-
cies, which will enable and support good schools as well as help the unsuccessful ones
(Thapa et al., 2013).
Implications for leadership
School leaders have an important role in building safe school climates and col-
laborative school cultures by establishing, maintaining, sustaining and brokering
trust relationships in schools (Kutsyuruba et al., 2010; Walker et al., 2011). One
of the most important dimensions of principals’ work is building trust in rela-
tionships with teachers, which often results in acquisition and exercise of influ-
ence, authority, control and power through conflictive and cooperative-
consensual behaviours (Goldring, 1993). In order to counteract the impact of
micropolitics, principals need to exercise wisdom and make timely and prudent
decisions in the interests of the social systems involved (Day, 2009). As Moye
et al. (2005) suggested, principals need to empower staff in their positions. As a
result, teachers may be more inclined toward positive relationships with their
supervisors; such relationships are dependent on a substantial, discernible level
of interpersonal trust.
If a principal and their school staff have a positive rapport, and teachers feel
empowered in their positions to adequately and actively participate in their own
professional development, it is more likely that the relationships between teachers
and students will be healthy. Bullying incidents and other incidents related to
violence in schools are the outcome of unhealthy relationships. If stakeholders
collectively work to increase and improve the relationships that students have
with their peers and adults in their lives, and also demonstrate what healthy rela-
tionships look like, schools can reduce bullying and school violence that hinder
students’ health, behavioural and social outcomes, and academic achievement.
Therefore, it is necessary to further explore how leadership practices affect school
climate through teachers, and how teacher morale and attitudes, in turn, can
affect student achievement and students’ attitudes about their educational experi-
ences.
School climate, safety, student achievement and well-bring 125
©2015 British Educational Research Association
Implications for teaching
Marzano (2000) found an association between classroom management and
achievement and student engagement. In his summary of meta-analyses, Hattie
(2009) found a relatively strong effect for classroom management, falling in his
range of ‘desired effects’. The average effect size (0.52) he found across meta-
analyses was larger than that found for principal leadership (0.38) and similar to
that of home environment (0.57). Hattie concluded that ‘teacherstudent rela-
tionships were powerful moderators of classroom management’ (Hattie, p. 102).
The key appears to be classrooms with clear behavioural expectations and rules
that were negotiated with students. Further, well-functioning classrooms pro-
moted group cohesion and mutual respect among students. Hattie also noted
that group cohesion also had a strong positive effect on student outcomes (effect
size: 0.53). Based on his analyses of classroom climate studies, Hattie identified
a set of common classroom features (attributes) that seemed to promote student
learning. These ‘attributes’ included ‘goal directedness, positive interpersonal
relations, and social support’ (p. 103).
Teachers can be most instrumental in providing the increased and improved
emotional support for students as they move further along through their school-
ing (Freeman et al., 2011). It is possible that school safety to students is still
primarily defined as harm prevention and not necessarily well-being enhance-
ment (Booren et al., 2011). Therefore, teachers can assist students’ development
of knowledge and skills needed for a safe school environment (i.e. confidentiality
and recognising signs of violent behaviour). Finally, teachers can work with par-
ents of the students, emphasising that parental knowledge about the roles they
play in supporting the climate of schools need to be increased and made more
accessible (Craig et al., 2010).
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the grant from OttawaCarleton District School Board
(OCDSB), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
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Penelitian ini mengeksplorasi peran locus of control dalam pengelolaan kecerdasan emosional guru dan dampaknya terhadap kualitas pendidikan. Kajian ini menggunakan metode kajian pustaka, dengan tujuan untuk mengumpulkan dan menganalisis literatur terkait untuk mengidentifikasi bagaimana keyakinan tentang kontrol mempengaruhi kompetensi emosional guru. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahwa locus of control memiliki hubungan signifikan dengan kecerdasan emosional dalam pendidikan. Guru dengan locus of control internal, yang percaya bahwa mereka memiliki kendali atas hasil dan situasi, cenderung menunjukkan kecerdasan emosional yang lebih baik, lebih efektif dalam mengelola emosi mereka, dan berinteraksi secara positif dengan siswa. Sebaliknya, guru dengan locus of control eksternal, yang merasa hasil dipengaruhi oleh faktor luar, mungkin menghadapi kesulitan dalam pengelolaan emosi dan kelas. Dalam konteks pendidikan, locus of control berperan penting dalam bagaimana guru mengelola kelas dan beradaptasi dengan tantangan, dengan guru yang memiliki locus of control internal menunjukkan resiliensi dan adaptasi yang lebih baik. Kajian ini menyarankan bahwa pengembangan profesional guru harus memfokuskan pada pelatihan yang meningkatkan locus of control internal, yang dapat memperkuat rasa tanggung jawab guru terhadap hasil pengajaran dan meningkatkan kecerdasan emosional mereka.
... The characteristics of mentally retardation students are abstract knowledge, forgetting quickly, physical disabilities, and lack of movement development (Widodo, Prihatiningsih, et al., 2021). Mentally retardation students tend to be quiet and calm with themselves (Kutsyuruba et al., 2015). In essence, mentally retardation students need special education services and special attention (Spiel et al., 2014). ...
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p>Mental retardation is a condition of someone who has intellectual skills below average. For this reason, the learning process for mentally disabled students requires a different strategy when compared to learning for regular students. Mathematics has the characteristics of an abstract concept. Learning requires media so that the message conveyed by the teacher to students can be adequately achieved. For this reason, learning mathematics requires media such as pictures. In this regard, the purpose of this study was to determine the increase in the creativity of mentally disabled students in solving mathematical problems using media images. This study used one subject with mental retardation characteristics selected by purposive sampling. This single-subject research uses an ABA design. The instrument used in this study was a mathematical creativity test given to subjects in each session. Data analysis techniques use visual techniques, including analysis within and between conditions. The results showed that the subjects were in stable condition at the first baseline, with an average of 66.63. The issues were stable at the intervention, with an average of 79.18. in the retrieval or the second baseline phase, the subjects were in an unstable situation with an average of 62.72. Apart from that, in between conditions, it was found that between the first conditions had increased. Between the second condition, it decreased because media images were not used in learning mathematics. These results indicate that using media images can improve the creative mathematical abilities of mentally disabled students.</p
... This research is driven by the declining awareness of school safety among adolescents (Kenney & Watson, 1993;Matthews, 2023). Schools can become unsafe environments for teenagers who witness or experience violence and intimidation (Kutsyuruba, Klinger, & Hussain, 2015). This issue is exacerbated by the high rates of bullying among teenagers (Kokkinos & Panayiotou, 2004). ...
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Objective: This study aims to support the implementation of literacy programs in schools to enhance the school safety climate. The program targets the negative impacts of bullying and violence and helps students develop conflict resolution skills to reduce harmful incidents. Theoretical Framework: Academic literacy is defined as the ability to read and comprehend texts within specific content areas in a school setting. This includes understanding simple texts as well as addressing difficulties with more complex materials often encountered in school. Method: A quantitative approach with path analysis and purposive sampling was used, with the Taro Yamane method applied to select relevant samples. The study examines five dimensions of the school safety climate: Teacher-Student Relationship Quality, Student Character and Behavior, Peer Relationships, School Safety Climate Quality, and Bullying Frequency. Results and Discussion: The findings reveal that Teacher-Student Relationships,