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Cited by 986Educational Environments and Student OutcomesEducation, Psychology, and Social ResearchEducational Leadership and Practices

The Search for School Climate: A Review of the Research

Anderson, Carolyn S.·1982·Review of Educational Research
DOI 10.3102/00346543052003368
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Abstract

School climate has been studied with a multitude of variables, methodologies, theories, and models, resulting in a not easily defined body of research. This analysis of the school climate literature, based on over 200 references, uses an organizational theory taxonomy to organize the diverse body of research and to draw conclusions about common findings. The history of school climate research is reviewed, noting the influence of climate instruments developed to study climate in settings other than the total school building, such as business, college, and classroom settings. The difficulty of defining school climate is reflected in the diversity of climate typologies that have evolved, despite their often common roots. The debate about school climate is tied to differences among researchers in theory base, variables to study (and their hypothesized interrelationships), unit of measurement choices, and the validity of subjective and qualitative data (based on participant or observer perception). Some common conclusions about school climate (considered as an independent, intervening, or dependent variable) do emerge in the literature. The paper concludes with a summary of the methodological issues common to school climate studies and suggestions for dealing with the concomitant problems

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3102/00346543052003368

Cites

66 of 66 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • School climate is associated with improved academic success.

    “Association between school climate and improved academic success.”

    From Critical connections: health and academics (2015) · cites this paper as [77]

  • A positive and safe school climate is associated with increased attachment to school.

    “A positive and safe school climate has been shown to be associated with increased attachment to school.77–79”

    From Critical connections: health and academics (2015) · cites this paper as [77]

  • Student-teacher relationships influence academic success and behavioral outcomes for students.

    “Student-teacher relationships influence academic success and behavioral outcomes for students.77–79”

    From Critical connections: health and academics (2015) · cites this paper as [77]

  • Cooperative learning, group cohesion, respect, and mutual trust directly improve the learning environment and more distally the school climate.

    “Cooperative learning, group cohesion, respect, and mutual trust have been shown to directly improve the learning environment and more distally the school climate.77–79”

    From Critical connections: health and academics (2015) · cites this paper as [77]

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Authors
Anderson, C. S.
Affiliations
University of Arizona (US)
Corresponding author
Anderson, Carolyn S.
Venue
Review of Educational Research
Publisher
American Educational Research Association (AERA)
Published
1982-09
Volume
52
Issue
3
Pages
368-420
ISSN
  • 0034-6543 (ISSN-L)
  • 1935-1046
DOI
10.3102/00346543052003368
OpenAlex
W2152213316
Cited by
986
References
66
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 38 · 2018: 38 · 2017: 37 · 2016: 34 · 2015: 55 · 2014: 33 · 2013: 42 · 2012: 53
FWCI
96.55
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
Review of Educational Research (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Educational Environments and Student Outcomes
  • Social Sciences › Education › Education, Psychology, and Social Research
  • Social Sciences › Education › Educational Leadership and Practices
Keywords
school climate, organizational theory

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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

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