Frequent School Transitions and Student Experiences of School Climate: A Latent Class Analysis

Background: School climate is recognized as a powerful influence on the experiences of students in schools. Positive school climate can protect against stressors, and is associated with improved academic outcomes and decreased risk behaviors. Frequent school transitions can negatively impact students’ academic achievement, emotional well-being, and their ability to connect with school communities. In other words, frequent transitions may interfere with students’ ability to access the potential protective influence of a school’s climate. This study will explore how student reports of school transitions predict their perceptions of school climate.

Methods: Data from the 2013 California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) were used for this analysis. A sample of 7^th, 9^th, and 11^th grade students (n = 11,489) were drawn from schools in Southern California. All questions were student self-report. School climate was measured with three scales assessing school connectedness, teacher support, and meaningful participation. One item assessed feelings of safety at school. Transitions were measured with one item asking how many times in the last 5 years students changed schools because their family moved. Latent class analysis was used to identify student profiles based on their perceptions of school climate. Then, student reports about transitions were used to predict membership in specific profiles of school climate.

Results: A 4-class model was the best fitting model for School climate. The Negative class (13%) reflects low reports of school connectedness, supportive relationships, meaningful participation and safety. The Typical class (50%) reflects the largest proportion of the sample, and higher ratings of connectedness, supportive relationships, and safety. The Low-connectedness class (2.6%) reflects lower levels of connectedness, but high support, participation and moderate safety. The High class (34%) reflects students with high ratings across all categories. Students experiencing 4 or more transitions in the last 5 years were more than 2 times as likely to be in the Negative class (vs. High class) (OR = 2.17, 95% CI 1.75-2.68), 1.39 times as likely to be in the Typical class (vs. High class) (OR = 1.39, 95% CI 1.15-1.69), and more than 2 times as likely to be in the Low-connectedness class (vs. High class) (OR=2.17, 95% CI 1.42-3.32).

Discussion: Our results indicate that students who experience frequent transitions are more likely to be in any school climate class other than the high climate class. For example, odds are more than double that students experiencing frequent transitions are likely to experience negative school climate. Results indicating that frequent transitions also predict membership in the low-connectedness class are of particular interest in this study, as these students endorse high levels of social support from adults in their schools, and high levels of meaningful participation, but do not feel they are a part of the school. Difficulty accessing the larger social structure of the school, or connecting with peers, may be key elements for understanding the experiences of these students. Overall, these patterns emphasize the need to identify students who move schools often, and develop practices that effectively support and integrate students into the school community.