Examining student perceptions of school climate, school personnel, and school discipline: Evidence from New York City

Abstract

Improving school climate is important to reducing disparities in exclusionary discipline, yet the relationship between school climate and school discipline remains poorly understood. Although prior studies have largely relied on students' perceptions to measure school climate, few studies have examined how school contextual factors such as prior disciplinary history or school personnel may affect students' perception of school climate. In the present study, we used student responses from the annually administered New York City School Survey to examine the relationship between student perception of school climate and school personnel, drawing on a longitudinal student-level sample for public middle and high schools for the years 2011–2012 through 2018–2019 (N = 3,988,020 student-years). Using linear regression analyses to predict student perceptions of school climate, we found that various student and school characteristics had small but statistically significant associations with student perceptions (all effect sizes <0.1). Black male students and Black students receiving special education services were most likely to have negative perceptions of school climate. Students' perceptions of school climate were shaped more by teachers than school leaders. Teacher experience was associated with more positive student perceptions, whereas teacher and school leader turnover were associated with worse perceptions of school climate. School personnel diversity (i.e., the percentage of teachers, principals, or assistant principals who were Black or Latinx) was negatively associated with students' perceptions of school climate, although there was evidence of a positive association between school personnel diversity and school climate specifically for Black and Latinx students. The study adds to calls for investments in school personnel to improve school climate to reduce racial inequality in exclusionary discipline.