A racial school-climate gap exists: White and Asian students generally report higher safety, support, and connectedness than African American, American Indian, and Hispanic students¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2013 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2018: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Compared with African American, American Indian, and Hispanic students, White and Asian students generally reported higher levels of safety, support, and connectedness at school. → Voight 2013 q2 i? White students reported the highest school connectedness, followed by Asian, American Indian and Hispanic, and lastly African American students, confirmed across two reports using different data years. → Voight 2013 (2)

Evidence¶

Voight 2013¶

Voight, A. (2013). The Racial School-Climate Gap. A report from the Region IX Equity Assistance Center at WestEd. San Francisco: WestEd. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED580366

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Student survey analyses summarized in Table 1 (Austin et al., 2010; Austin & Hanson, 2012) reporting percentages of students by race and school level perceiving high levels of connectedness, caring adult relationships, high expectations, safety, and respect.

"compared with African American, American Indian, and Hispanic students, White and Asian students generally reported higher levels of safety, support, and connectedness at school."

Voight 2013 (2)¶

Voight, A. (2013). The Racial School-Climate Gap. A report from the Region IX Equity Assistance Center at WestEd. San Francisco: WestEd. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED580366

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Two reports using Cal-SCHLS data from different years confirmed significant connectedness disparities with the ordering White > Asian > American Indian and Hispanic > African American. White students were most likely to report a caring adult relationship and high expectations; Hispanic students least likely.

"Two reports using data from different years confirmed that there were significant disparities in students’ sense of connectedness to school, with White students having the highest levels of connectedness, followed by Asian students, American Indian and Hispanic students, and, lastly, African American students."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Race and Ethnicity — predictor: outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause

Related Claims¶

• Racial achievement gaps persist among California middle and high school students, with Asian and White students reporting higher academic achievement than African American, American Indian, and Hispanic students — related
• White and Asian staff report more positive school climates than African American and Hispanic staff, irrespective of their school's student racial composition — related
• Black and Latinx students generally feel less safe at school than their White peers — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Large majorities of Gateway students report feeling cared for, part of the school, safe, and connected — related
• In one study summarised in a policy brief, students and teachers who learned their commonalities through getting-to-know-you surveys reported more positive relationships, students earned higher grades, and achievement gaps for Black and Latinx students closed by more than 60% — related
• African American secondary school staff perceived their schools' instructional equity less positively than staff of other races/ethnicities — related
• A welcoming campus racial climate fosters African American students' sense of belonging and intent to continue enrollment in mostly White schools — related
• White teachers' deficit thinking about Black students produces a negative campus racial climate and unfriendly teacher-student relationships — related
• Hispanic parents feel least able to support their children's high school work and report the least school support — related
• National racial violence significantly reduced belonging and confidence among Black and Latinx STEM students relative to white peers — related
• Campus symbols such as antebellum architecture signal belonging to White and high-SES students and unwelcomeness to marginalized students — related
• Minoritized students reported lower belonging where peers endorsed more fixed mindset beliefs, with an asymmetric pattern — related
• Teachers' empathetic caring is associated with stronger mathematics classroom connectedness among Black and Latine students than transactional care — related