Target school-climate improvement within individual schools and communities, using schoolwide behavior systems, social-emotional learning, and compensatory supports¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 associational), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

The article recommends that because within-school racial gaps contribute most to the overall gap, much of the work should happen in individual schools or the communities they serve. Commonly employed strategies include "schoolwide approaches that involve all staff in establishing a positive behavior management system and student social and emotional learning approaches that rely on classroom social-skills instruction," plus restorative justice programs as alternatives to punitive discipline and transformative classroom management leveraging motivation and engagement.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Schools should regularly assess and monitor school climate as perceived by different racial/ethnic student groups to identify climate-related needs and guide efforts

Constraints¶

• The article states the causal third point—reducing climate disparities reduces achievement disparities—has not been empirically proven and rests on a conceptual argument

Target Learners¶

• African American, American Indian, and Hispanic students; low-socioeconomic-status students of color

Target Learning Goals¶

• Reducing racial disparities in achievement and in students' experiences of safety, support, and connectedness

Affordances¶

• School Climate Four Themes Achievement Lever

Claims¶

• 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 [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Provide universal schoolwide supports for educator wellbeing through peer-to-peer structures, leader actions, and shared community norms
• Identifying and Supporting Learners with Relationship Skills
• Positive Behavior Support
• Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports
• Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)
• Personalize the learning environment and instructional process to foster belonging
• School-level strategies for improving school climate

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• 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