Identifying profiles of school climate in high schools.

This cross-sectional study analyzed data from 364,143 students in 492 high schools who completed the Georgia School Climate Survey during the 2017-2018 school year. Through latent profile analysis, we identified that student perceptions of school climate could be classified into three distinct profiles, including positive, moderate, and negative climate. Using multinomial logistic regression, we then identified school and student characteristics that predicted student classification in the student profiles using the total sample and subsamples by race/ethnicity. Among the key results, we found that most of the school characteristics (e.g., percent of students receiving free or reduced lunch, schools with higher percentages of minoritized students) predicting classification in the negative and positive school climate profiles were different for White students compared to minoritized students. For example, Black students in primarily non-White schools were more likely to view school climate positively, whereas the opposite was the case for White students. We also found that Black and Other (e.g., multiracial) students were more likely to be classified in the negative school climate profile and less likely to be classified in the positive school climate profile compared to White students. In contrast, Latino/a/e students were more likely to be classified in the positive school climate profile and less likely to be classified in the negative school climate profile. Implications for research and practice are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

A multinational study exploring adolescent perception of school climate and mental health.

School climate is a topic of increasing importance internationally. The current study investigated the established measurement invariance of an eight-factor school climate scale using a multinational sample of secondary students. School climate factor means across 14 international groups were compared and findings on the association between school climate factors and mental health were also investigated. Findings, from this study, illustrate several cross-national similarities regarding the ways in which secondary students perceive school climate and the influence of school climate on student mental health. These findings can support school psychologists' efforts to identify strategies and supports that improve the school environment in areas that are most consistently related to student experiences, such as school safety and school connectedness. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Datasets from an impact evaluation of a targeted prekindergarten program.

Given general trends in extant research on the impact of prekindergarten and that the structure and implementation of prekindergarten programs vary by state, researchers, educators, and policymakers are raising questions about what works, for whom, under what conditions, and the cost-benefit of such endeavors. Yet not all states have formally examined program impacts and few datasets have been expressly collected to evaluate effects. The current data article represents empirical examinations in the state of Connecticut on the comparability of treatment and control groups, tests of the robustness of impact estimates, and the psychometric properties of outcome measures. Stata code for replication purposes is included.

Does parental involvement matter for students' mental health in middle school?

Middle school is a risky period, marked by increased peer victimization, and the onset of several mental disorders, including suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). Parental involvement is critical to students' well-being; however, few studies have examined the role of parental involvement among middle school students or its effect on their mental health. This study examined the effects of perceived parental involvement and victimization on adolescents' mental health difficulties (MHDs) and STBs. We also investigated whether these effects varied across demographic groups, and whether perceived parental involvement buffers the relationship between victimization and students' mental health outcomes. The sample consisted of 301,628 students (50.7% female) from 615 middle schools (Grades 6 to 8) in Georgia (United States). Hierarchical linear modeling showed that higher student-level perceived parental involvement was related to fewer MHDs (b = -0.20) and STBs (b = -0.10), and higher school-level perceived parental involvement was related to fewer STBs (b = -0.11). However, higher student-level (b = 0.25, 0.08) and school-level (b = 0.37, 0.10) traditional victimization were associated with more MHDs and STBs. Student-level perceived parental involvement was also more positively related to MHDs and STBs for 6th (b = 0.06, 0.04) and 7th graders (b = 0.03, 0.02) than for 8th graders, and it was more negatively related to MHDs (b = -0.24) and STBs (b = -0.13) for girls than for boys. Perceived parental involvement also moderated the relationships among traditional victimization, cyber victimization MHDs, and STBs. Implications are discussed relating to how schools can promote parental involvement and student mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

A brief measure of adolescent perceptions of school climate.

Student perceptions of school climate represent the ways students feel about the school environment. These include perceptions regarding safety, teaching and learning, and relationships within the school. It has been found that student perceptions of school climate are positively correlated with academic achievement (Brookover et al., 1978), and negatively correlated with risky behaviors (Bandyopadhyay, Cornell, & Konold, 2009; Bayar & Ucanok, 2012; Wang, Berry, & Swearer, 2013). The Georgia Brief School Climate Inventory (GaBSCI) is a measure of student perceptions of school climate. The brevity of the 9-item instrument makes it ideal as a general measure that can be used to monitor student perceptions of school climate. The survey was anonymously administered to 130,968 sixth- and eighth-grade students in the state of Georgia. Cronbach's alpha for the scale was 0.71. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses verified the scale's structure. Student perceptions of climate from the GaBSCI varied based on race/ethnicity, gender, and grade. Additional support for the construct validity of the GaBSCI was obtained based on its relationships with several behaviors related to bullying, and the moderating effects of grade and gender on these relationships. Implications for research and practice are discussed.