A Systematic Literature Review of the Associations Between Socioeconomic Background, Inequality, School Climate, and Academic Achievement

Background: Social work scholars argued that schools are important ecological contexts for children and youth development. Inequality in academic achievement due to social exclusion (“Achievement Gap”) has severe implications for individuals from excluded groups, as well as for the society as a whole. School social workers’ practice literatures suggest that intervention efforts to improve academic achievement are associated with positive school climate. In particular, several scholars suggested that positive school climate can compensate for disadvantages of low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds, mediate or moderatethe relationship between students’ SES background and their academic achievements. The empirical literature establishing links between SES background, school climate and academic achievement, however, is inconsistent in definitions, instruments, designs, and outcomes.

This comprehensive synthesis of the empirical literature examines the evidence for the claims that positive school climate mitigates the negative influence of weak SES background on academic achievement, so that positive climate reduces achievement gaps, and potentially increases social mobility.      

Methods: The study started with a comprehensive review of definitions of school climate and its' measurements. Three central components of climate were identified: positive teacher-student relationships, sense of safety, and student connectedness and engagement to school. Based on this preliminary analysis, four databases (Web of science/Web of knowledge, PUBMED, PSYCHINFO, ERIC) were systematically searched for peer-reviewed empirical studies published between 2000 and 2015 that contained terms associated with SES, school/classroom climate components and academic achievement. The search retrieved 704 citations, of them 78 articles met inclusion criteria. Both qualitative and quantitative studies were included.   

Results: Significant differences in climate definitions and measurements emerged, reflecting disagreement among researchers regarding the aspects comprising school climate. Studies relied mostly on students’ reports dismissing the perspectives of school staff and parents. Most studies focused either on the student (54%) or the school (8%) measurement level, failing to consider the hierarchical-nested nature of school climate. Studies were mostly based on correlational design (53%) that does not provide a basis for deducing causal relations between climate and academic achievement. Forty-two percent of the studies were longitudinal; however most of them were based on a limited number of measurements. Only three quasi-experimental studies were retrieved, all of them found that positive climate contribute to higher academic achievement.

Most studies (84%) indicated a compensatory positive contribution of positive climate to achievement. Other studies indicated mediating (17%) or moderating (13%) influence on the relationship between SES and academic achievement. Overall, the findings demonstrate the positive contribution of positive climate to academic achievement among all students, but especially those coming from excluded groups.          

Conclusions: Establishing a concrete definition for school climate is needed to better support scientifically sound climate evaluation and the development of successful improvement interventions.

Additional research is encouraged to establish the impact that positive climate has on academic achievement and the multi-level climate dimensions related to achievement in varied subjects. Finally, the study sketches practice recommendations for improving school climate and academic achievement and efforts to eradicate socioeconomic disparities through the school system, which is especially relevant for school social workers.