Psychometric Analysis of a School Social Climate Scale: Input Elements for the Investigation and Promotion of Well-Being

Measuring school social climate in Latin America: the need for multidimensional and multi-informant tests - A systematic review

Introduction

School social climate is central to understanding learning experiences in education environments. Previous studies describe various conceptual and operational definitions around the construct; however, there are no records of reviews focused on Latin America.

Aim

This study sought to analyze the available evidence and the quality of school social climate measures in Latin America through a systematic review of the literature based on the PRISMA methodology and the COSMIN checklist to assess the psychometric properties of the instruments.

Methodology

The Web of Science, Scopus, Psycinfo, and SciELO databases were consulted. A total of 582 records was identified, of which 27 fulfilled the inclusion criteria and methodological quality to be included in the systematization.

Results

The results show that the country with the greatest scientific production on the topic is Chile, the measures are centered mainly on the students' perspective and the most used instrument is the CECSCE. In addition, a common aspect to all the records is that they were not sufficient to capture the complexity of school social climate.

Conclusion

Multidimensional and multi-informant measures are needed to adequately assess the construct.

School violence negative effect on student academic performance: a multilevel analysis

The relative roles of school context and individual student factors are of special interest to educators in measuring academic performance. Little is known about the effect of school violence on a student's academic performance and well-being. The aims of this study were to examine the effects of three types of school violence (direct violence, discrimination, and cyberbullying) on students' academic performance in standardized tests of mathematics, reading and history, and to identify individual student factors that contribute to reducing the negative effect of exposure to violence at school. We used 10th grade Chilean student data from the representative cross-sectional test of the Education Quality Measurement System (SIMCE in Spanish) from 2015. Multilevel linear models, adjusted for gender, incorporated other school and environmental contextual factors, as well as individual student factors. The results show that school violence in its three forms had a negative effect on academic performance. Student self-efficacy, educational expectations and satisfaction with interpersonal relations with their teachers, were important in reducing the negative effect of exposure to violence. The implications for the school are discussed.

The Role of Junior Adolescents' School Well-Being/Ill-Being Characteristics in School Anxiety Variations

Difficulties that junior adolescents (aged 11-13 years old) experience in terms of academic adaptation, which are indicated through school anxiety and academic wellbeing characteristics, often lead to a dramatic decrease in academic performance, behavioral problems, and deterioration of their health. The purpose of this investigation is to determine the structure of characteristics of school wellbeing/ill-being of junior adolescents and their role in variations of school anxiety, which largely define academic adaptation. In this study, based on positive psychology and a systematic approach, the level of distinctiveness of characteristics of school wellbeing is carried out with the help of comparative analysis; the factor structure of these characteristics is identified; the characteristics of wellbeing and their coordinated combinations (factors) are determined as predictors of school anxiety. The sample consisted of 120 students of the 5th-7th grades, aged M = 11.5; SD = 1.04 (49.2% girls, 50.8% boys) who attended Saratov secondary schools. To study the level of school anxiety, we used the Philips' School Anxiety Scale (SAS), and indicators of school wellbeing were measured with the original scales developed by the authors of the study. Statistical processing of the results was carried out with regression analysis and factor analysis. The results showed that the school wellbeing of junior adolescents forms a complex structure that includes cognitive, personal, emotional, social, and psychophysiological characteristics of school life. It was found that from 16% up to 53% of the deviation of variables characterizing school anxiety is conditioned by the assessment of variables characterizing emotional states, the ability of self-regulation, cognitive capabilities, and interest in learning. The study determined a high level of tension in adolescents in the field of emotions' self-regulation, unpleasant physical sensations at school, before and after attending school, in the course of planning their school day and reflecting on educational activities. The most powerful factors of school anxiety in junior adolescents are physical distress, low ability to self-regulate and social adaptation, lack of independence in a learning activity, and personal immaturity.

Future Academic Expectations and Their Relationship with Motivation, Satisfaction of Psychological Needs, Responsibility, and School Social Climate: Gender and Educational Stage

The purpose of this study was to show the relationship between future academic expectations and the concepts of motivation, basic psychological needs, school social climate, and responsibility. Additionally, possible differences in future expectations were analyzed according to gender and educational stage. A total of 984 students (M = 12.87; SD = 1.84) from elementary and secondary school participated in this study. A single questionnaire composed of different scales was administered to check the values of motivation (EME), psychological need satisfaction (PNSE), school social climate (CECSCE), responsibility (PSRQ), sociodemographic differences, and a question to find out future academic expectations. Results showed that the group with the highest future expectations (do a degree or upper vocational training) had statistical differences of p < 0.001 with respect to the group with the lowest future expectations (finish compulsory secondary studies or basic vocational training and start work) and middle expectations (do a high school or middle vocational training) with regard to autonomous motivation, satisfaction of psychological needs, school and teacher climate, and social and personal responsibility. The group with the lowest expectations had higher values with respect to the other two groups in terms of amotivation (p < 0.001). Moreover, women and elementary school children had greater future academic expectations (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the promotion of basic psychological needs satisfaction, autonomous motivation, personal and social responsibility, and school social climate are related to higher academic expectations, and the improvement of these variables becomes especially important for boys and secondary students who could have a higher chance of dropping out of school.