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Contents : IMPROVING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH IMPROVING SCHOOL CLIMATE AND STUDENT CONNECTEDNESS David Osher Elizabeth Spier Kimberly Kendziora & Cindy Cai American Institutes for Research Presented April 14 2009 at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting San Diego CA Learning is more than a cognitive process. Research suggests that there are powerful social and emotional factors that affect learning (Becker & Luthar 2002 Osher et al. 2008). These include how the student experiences his or her relationships with the teachers and other students as well as how students experience the care and support provided to teachers and other staff. Social and emotional factors students influence abilities to attend to learning their ability to direct their learning and their engagement in learning activities. These factors also influence teachers abilities to connect with challenge and support their students. The research presented here builds upon a suvey developed for the Association of Alaska School Boards (AASB) in order to evaluate the Alaska Initiative for Community Engagement (Alaska ICE) the goal of which was to engage adults in creating positive changes to promote the academic progress and overall wellbeing of their young people. As one component in the longitudinal evaluation of Alaska ICE AIR developed a school district survey for students and school staff. The data from the survey provide schools with information about how their students and staff perceive their school climate and how students perceive their connectedness to school each year. The survey is currently being implemented in 38 school districts. This research is part of a larger research program which includes the collection and analyses of survey data regarding how students experience the social and emotional conditions for learning and the relationship of these conditions and how they experience these conditions to academic outcomes of interest (e.g. Kendziora Osher & Chinen 2008 Osher & Kendziora forthcoming Spier Osher Cai 2008). What Are School Climate and Connectedness School climate refers to factors that contribute to the tone in schools and the attitudes of staff and students toward their schools. Positive school climate is associated with well-managed classrooms and common areas high and clearly stated expectations concerning individual responsibility feeling safe at school and teachers and staff that consistently acknowledge all students and fairly address their behavior. School connectedness refers to students school experiences and their perceptions and feelings about school. This includes feeling that they are a part of the school that adults at school care about them personally that their learning matters and is a high priority that they are close to 1 people at school and have supportive relationships with adults and that teachers and staff consistently treat them with respect. School climate is related to school connectedness because without a positive and welcoming school climate students are unlikely to experience connectedness. Research has found that the most powerful predictors of school connectedness are related to school climate (e.g. Abbott et al 1998). Climate can be thought of as assets external to students that indicate or promote connectedness whereas connectedness can be thought of as internal assets such as students feelings perceptions and beliefs. A growing body of research shows an association between the level of school climate and the level of connectedness and academic achievement (e.g. Klem & Connell 2004). The purpose of the current analyses was to step beyond associations and look at the relationship between observed changes in school climate and connectedness and the change in student achievement. This analysis asked whether changes in student and staff perceptions of school climate and changes in student feelings of connectedness to their school were associated with changes in student achievement over time How were School Climate and Connectedness Measured The School Climate and Connectedness Survey (SCCS) was administered to staff and students in a small number of Alaska school districts in 2005 and a larger number in 2006 and 2007. Students in grades 5 through 12 were eligible to participate in the SCCS. The 2006 SCCS sample was made up of 3 453 staff and 24 732 students from 148 schools across 15 districts. The 2007 SCCS sample was made up of 3 315 staff and 22 411 students from 150 schools across 14 school districts. A total of 114 schools from 11 districts participated in both the 2006 and 2007 SCCS. The sample was not selected to be representative of the state as a whole but did include a large number of participants from a broad variety of schools. For example in 2007 27.34 percent of all Alaska students from fifth through twelfth grade participated in the study.1 The items on the student version of the SCCS yielded scal

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