EFFECTS OF SCHOOL CLIMATE ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND DISCIPLINE BEHAVIORS IN THREE URBAN HIGH SCHOOLS

This study examined the relationship between the teachers’ perceptions of the school climate in three urban high schools in a southwest district of Houston, Texas, and the TAKS test scores for 5,625 10th and 11th grade students during the 2010-2011 school year in mathematics and English. The study analyzed the relationship between the teachers’ perceptions of school climate and the number and severity of students’ office discipline referrals, ranging from offenses Level I such as not following the appropriate school dress code, to offenses level IV such as use or possession of drugs or alcohol, during the same school year.
Three hundred and eighty four teachers in the three high schools were invited to complete the Classroom & School Climate Survey for Secondary School Teachers, developed by Freiberg and Stein (2003). Student achievement was measured by the 10th and 11th grade TAKS tests scores generated during the 2010-2011 school year. Number and type of students’ office discipline referrals for the 2010-2011 school year were collected using the district’s archival data. The relationship between the teachers’ perceptions of the school climate and students’ achievement and discipline infractions was inconclusive due to the limitations of the data and the fact that the survey results on the three campuses were similar. While not statistically significant, a negative correlation was clearly noted between achievement and the number of discipline infractions. The negative correlations indicate that as the major/minor infractions increase, the English and mathematics TAKS test performance decreases.