Development Of School Climate Scale And Relationship Between School Climate And Adolescents’ Academic Achievement

School climate refers to "a relatively stable and persistent psychosocial environment characteristic that is experienced by individuals or group members in school and has an impact on their psychology and behavior,usually reflecting the organizational structure,teaching practices,norms,goals,values and interpersonal relationships of the school".Positive school climate plays an important role in promoting academic success,promoting social development and preventing risk behaviors.Therefore,the construction of school climate has been increasingly valued.However,the existing studies still have controversies and limitations on the definition and measurement of school climate.First,school climate is a complex and multi-dimensional construct,there is no tool that can fully cover the key domains and dimensions suggested in the literature reviews when measuring school climate.Researchers mostly selectively understand and capture this construct according to different needs.Second,in view of the broad and hierarchical nature of school climate,a clear theoretical framework should be used to evaluate it.However,the existing measurement tools have weak theoretical foundations,most scales lack corresponding theoretical basis when selecting and including school climate dimensions.On the other hand,school environments under different cultural backgrounds have different characteristics,and local characteristics should be combined when evaluating school climate.However,the existing scales are mostly based on Western culture,and only a few scales were developmented under Chinese culture,and these scales also have above limitations.In addition,a large number of studies have focused on the relationship between school climate and academic achievement,but few studies have explored the specific mechanism of school climate affecting academic achievement,and it is difficult to provide specific guidance for practical work.In order to measure the school climate more accurately and effectively,and answer"how" and "when" the school climate affects adolescents’ academic achievement,this study attempted to scientifically develop a school climate scale adapted for Chinese adolescents based on a systematic review of existing literature,then used the scale to test the moderated mediation model between school climate and adolescents’ academic achievement.In terms of participants,469 adolescents(Mage=14.55,SD=1.39;50.96%male)were randomly selected from a junior high school and a high school in Wuhan,Hubei for the first implement of school climate scale in Study 1;820 adolescents(Mage=14.52,SD=1.43;50.12%male)were selected from two junior high schools and two high schools in Wuhan,Hubei and Fuzhou,Fujian,respectively,for formally implement after the revision of scale in Study 1,as well as for Study 2.Based on a systematic review of 38 measurement tools in 375 literatures relating to school climate,and under the guidance of ecological systems theory,systems view of school climate,authoritative model of school climate and four domain models of school climate,Study 1 followed 6 basic principles of scale development,attempted to develop the school climate scale for middle school and high school students under the Chinese cultural background.This study used exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to test the structure of the scale,while examining the internal consistency reliability,test-retest reliability and validity of the scale,the simplified version of the scale was derived on this basis.The school climate scale consists of 51 items(10 dimensions in 4 domains),specifically,relationship domain(teacher-student relationship,student-student relationship,school connectedness),teaching and learning domain(teaching climate,learning climate),institutional environment domain(home-school partnership,opportunities for autonomy,school resources),security and order domain(discipline and enforcement of rules,school safety).The results suggested that the reliability and validity of school climate scale was satisfactory.The confirmatory factor analysis further suggested that the fitness of model was acceptable,that is,the structural validity was good;In terms of reliability,the Cronbach’s α of total scale was 0.97,the test-retest reliability was 0.74;In terms of criterion validity,school climate was significantly positively associated with NSCC school climate(r=0.68,p<0.001)and school life satisfaction(r=0.58,p<0.001),and negatively associated with depression(r=-0.26,p=0.01 1)and delinquency(r=-0.27,p=0.007).At the same time,the 11-item simplified scale(r=0.90,p<0.001)derived by the classification and regression trees and the 10-item simplified scale(r=0.91,p<0.001)derived by the highest factor loading method was highly associated with the total scaleUnder the guidance of stage-environment fit theory,risk and resilience perspective,self-determination theory,and model of environmental sensitivity,Study 2 attempted to examine the moderated mediation model between school climate and academic achievement.Specifically,the present study examines three mediation models(parallel,sequential,and hybrid)of basic psychological needs satisfaction and learning motivation in the relationship between school climate and academic achievement,as well as the moderating roles of future orientation and environmental sensitivity.Mediation analysis suggested that after controlling for a series of covariates,school climate significantly predicted academic achievement in two indirect ways:(1)school climate was positively related to basic psychological needs satisfaction,which was in turn associated with learning motivation and finally impacted academic achievement among adolescents;and(2)school climate could also indirectly impact academic achievement only through learning motivation.Moderated mediation analysis further suggested that environmental sensitivity could moderate the relationships of basic psychological needs satisfaction with learning motivation and basic psychological needs with academic achievement.The relationship between basic psychological needs satisfaction and learning motivation was strongest among individuals with low environmental sensitivity,but basic psychological needs satisfaction could only significantly predict academic achievement in individuals with high environmental sensitivity.However,the future orientation could not significantly moderate the mediation model.To sum up,this study promoted an effective measurement of school climate by developing a culture-appropriate and age-appropriate school climate scale,and expanded the research in this field by clarifying the complex mechanism between school climate and adolescents’ academic achievement.The results of this study have important implications for the research and intervention of school climate.First of all,future study should try to adopt a comprehensive scale when assessing school climate to fully capture various domains and dimensions.Secondly,in addition to common domains such as relationships and academics,future study and teaching practices should also pay attention to institutional environment and safety domains in order to comprehensively improve school climate.Thirdly,practitioners can try to focus on basic psychological needs satisfaction and learning motivation,promoting the effect of school climate on academic achievement in a two-pronged approach.Finally,the impact of school climate can be different among adolescents with different individual characteristics,and attention should be paid to individual environmental sensitivity to carry out precise interventions.