Abstract
Using longitudinal and cross-sectional data, the present research sought to identify school social climate predictors of teachers’ perceptions of classroom behavior problems. The social climate and classroom behavior in 107 public and private French speaking Canadian high schools was evaluated by 1399 teachers. The present analysis is unique in its ability to control for school differences in the enrollment of students with a history of problem behavior. As hypothesized, between-school variation in the proportion of students with histories of disruptive problems predicted high school classroom behavior problems. Moreover, when controlling for these between-school differences, concurrently measured school-level variables (type of school, location of school, and academic emphasis) are found to be significant predictors of classroom behavior problems. The theoretical and practical implications of the present findings are examined and recommendations are made for future research.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson C.S. (1982). The search for school climate: A review of research. Review of Educational Research 52, 368–420
Bolger K.E., Patterson C.J., Thompson W.W., Kupersmidt J.B. (1995). Psychosocial adjustment among children experiencing persistent and intermittent family economic hardship. Child Development 66, 1107–1129
Brantlinger E. (1991). Social class distinctions in adolescents’ reports of problems and punishment in school. Behavioral Disorders 17, 36–46
Broidy L.M., Nagin D.S., Tremblay R.E., Bates J.E., Brame B., Dodge K.A., Fergusson D., Horwood J.L., Loeber R., Laird R., Moffitt T.E., Pettit G.S., Vitaro F. (2003). Developmental trajectories of childhood disruptive behaviors and adolescent delinquency: A six site, across national study. Developmental Psychology 39, 222–245
Bryk A.S., Driscoll M.E. (1988). The high school as community: Contextual influences and consequences for students and teachers. Madison, WI, US, National Center on Effective Secondary Schools
Bryk A.S., Lee V.E., Holland P.B. (1993). Catholic schools and the common good. Cambridge, Harvard University Press
Bryk A.S., Lee V.E., Smith J.B. (1990). High school organization and its effects on teachers and students: An interpretative summary of the research. In Clune W.H., Witt J.F. (eds). Choice and control in American Education Volume 1: The theory of choice and control in education. Hampshire, The Falmer Press.
Bryk A.S., Raudenbush S.W. (1992). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications
Côté S., Tremblay R.E., Nagin D.S., Zoccolillo M., Vitaro F. (2002). Childhood behavioral profiles leading to adolescent conduct disorder: Risk trajectories for boys and girls. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 41: 1086–1094
Farrington D.P. (1994). Early developmental prevention of juvenile delinquency. Criminal Behavior and Mental Health 4, 209–227
Felson R.B., Allen E.L., Scott J.S., McNulty L.T. (1994). The subculture of violence and delinquency: Individual vs. School context effects. Social Forces 73, 155–173
Fergusson D.M., Lynskey M.T., Horwood J.L. (1997). Attentional difficulties in middle childhood and psychosocial outcomes in young adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines 38, 633–644
Gaziel H.H. (1997). Impact of school culture on effectiveness of secondary schools with disadvantaged students. The Journal of Educational Research 90, 310–318
Gottfredson G.D., Gottfredson D.C. (1985). Victimization in schools. New York, Plenum
Gottfredson D.C., Gottfredson G.D., Hybl L.G. (1993). Managing adolescent behavior: A multiyear, multischool study. American Educational Research Journal 30, 179–215
Gottfredson G.D., Gottfredson D.C., Payne A.A., Gottfredson N.C. (2005). School climate predictors of school disorder: Results from a national study of delinquency prevention in schools. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 42, 412–444
Houghton S., Wheldall K., Merret F. (1988). Classroom behavior problems which secondary school teachers say they find most troublesome. British Educational Research Journal 14, 297–312
Ingersoll R.M. (1996). Teacher’s decision making power and school conflict. Sociology of Education 69, 159–176
Jenkins P.H. (1997). School delinquency and the school bond. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 34, 337–367
Kasen S., Johnson J., Cohen P. (1990). The impact of school emotional climate on student psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 18, 165–177
Kennedy J.J., Cruickshank D.R., Myers B. (1976). Problems of beginning secondary teachers in relation to school location. Journal of Educational Research 69, 167–172
Lee, V. E., Bryk, A. S., & Smith, J. B. (1993). The organization of effective high schools. In L. Darling- Hammond (Ed.), Review of research in education, 19, 171–267. Washington: American Educational Research Association.
Leitman R., Binns K. (1993). The metropolitan life survey of the American teachers—1993: Violence in American’s public schools. New York, Louis Harris and Associates
Loeber R. (1982). The stability of antisocial and delinquent child behavior: A review. Child Development 53, 1431–1446
Lorion R.P. (2003). Exposure to urban violence: Contamination of school environment. In Elliott D.S., Williams K.R., Hamburg B. (eds). Violence in American schools. New York, Cambridge University Press, pp. 293–311
Ma X. (2002). Bullying in middle school: Individual and school characteristics of victims and offenders. School effectiveness and school improvement 13, 63–89
Maughan B. (2001). Conduct disorder in context. In Hill J., Maughan B. (eds). Conduct disorders in childhood and adolescent. New York, Cambridge University Press, pp. 161–201
Maughan B., Pickles A., Rutter M., Ouston J. (1991). Can Schools change? 1. Outcomes at six London secondary schools. School Effectiveness and School Improvement 1, 188–210
McLoyd V.C. (1990). The impact of economic hardship on black families and children: Psychological distress, parenting, and socioemotional development. Child Development 61, 311–346
Moffitt T.E., Caspi A., Dickson N., Sylva P., Stanton W. (1996). Childhood- onset versus adolescent-onset antisocial conduct problems in males: Natural history from 3 to 18 years. Development and Psychopathology 9, 399–429
Nagin D.S., Tremblay R.E. (1999). Trajectories of boys’ physical aggression, opposition, and hyperactivity on the path to physically violent and nonviolent juvenile delinquency. Child Development 70: 1181–1196
Nagin D.S., Tremblay R.E. (2001). Parental and early childhood predictors of persistent physical aggression in boys from kindergarten to high school. Archives of General Psychiatry 58, 389–394
National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. (1996). Survey instruments. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.
Ostroff C. (1996). The relationship between satisfaction, attitudes, and performance: An organizational level analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology 77, 963–974
Pagani L., Boulerice B., Vitaro F., Tremblay R.E. (1999). Effects of poverty on academic failure and delinquency boys: A change and process model approach. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines 40, 1209–1219
Pallas A.M. (1988). School climate in American high schools. Teachers College Record 89, 541–554
Patterson G.R., Forgatch M.S., Yoerger K., Stoolmiller M. (1998). Variables that initiate and maintain an early or trajectory for juvenile offending. Development & Psychopathology 10, 531–547
Robins, L. N., & Ratcliff, K. S. (1979). Risk factors in the continuation of childhood antisocial behavior into adulthood. In L. N. Robins & K. S. Ratcliff (Eds.), Psychological explanations of crime. USA: Dartmouth Publishing Company Limited.
Rowan B., Raudenbush S.W., Kang S.J. (1991a). Organizational design in high schools: A multilevel analysis. American Journal of Education 99, 238–266
Rowan B., Raudenbush S.W., Kang S.J. (1991b). School climate in secondary schools. In: Raudenbush S.W., Willms D.J. (eds). Schools, classroom and pupils. San Diago, Academic Press, pp. 203–223
Rutter M., Maughan B., Mortimore P., Ouston J. (1979). A fifteen thousand hours: Secondary schools and their effects on children. Boston, Harvard University Press
Sanders M.G. (2000). Schooling students placed at risk: Research, policy, and practice in the education of poor and minority adolescents. New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Shouse R.C. (1996). Academic press and sense of community: Conflict, congruence, and implications for student achievement. Social Psychology of Education 1: 47–68
Stewart E.A. (2003). School social bonds, school climate, and school misbehavior: A multilevel analysis. Justice Quarterly 20: 575–604
Tremblay R.E., Loeber R., Gagnon C., Charlebois P, Larivée S., LeBlanc M. (1991). Disruptive boys with stable and unstable high fighting behavior patterns during junior school. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 9: 285–300
Tremblay R.E., Mâsse L.C., Perron D., LeBlanc M., Schwartzman A.E., Ledingham J.E. (1992). Early disruptive behavior, poor school achievement, delinquent behavior, and delinquent personality: Longitudinal analyses. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 60: 64–72
Tremblay R.E., Pihl R.O., Vitaro F., Dobkin P.L. (1994). Predicting early onset of male antisocial behavior from preschool behavior. Archives of General Psychiatry 51: 732–739
Van der Doef M., Maes S. (2000). Teacher-specific quality of work versus general quality of work assessment: A comparison of their validity regarding burnout, psychosomatic well-being and job satisfaction. Anxiety Stress and Coping 15: 327–344
Veenman S. (1984). Perceived problems of beginning teachers. Review of Educational Research 54: 143–178
Watt T.T. (2003). Are small schools and private schools better for adolescents’ emotional adjustment? Sociology of Education 76: 344–367
Welsh W.N. (2000). The effects of school climate on school disorder. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 567: 88–107
Welsh W.N., Greene R., Jenkins P.H. (1999). School disorder: The influence of individual, institutional, and community factors. Criminology 37: 73–115
White J., Moffitt T.E., Earls F., Robins L., Silva P.A. (1990). How early can we tell? Predictors of childhood conduct disorder and adolescent delinquency. Criminology 28: 507–533
Wilcox P., Clayton R.R. (2001). A multilevel analysis of school-based weapon possession. Justice Quarterly 18: 509–541
Wilson D.B., Gottfredson D.C., Najaka S.S. (2001). School-based prevention of problem Behaviors: A meta-analysis. Journal of Quantitative Crimminiology 17: 247–272
Winbinger B.A., Katsiyannis A., Archwamety T. (2000). Disciplinary practices in Nebraska’s public schools. Journal of Child and Families Studies 9: 389–399
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
LeBlanc, L., Swisher, R., Vitaro, F. et al. School social climate and teachers’ perceptions of classroom behavior problems: a 10 year longitudinal and multilevel study. Soc Psychol Educ 10, 429–442 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-007-9027-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-007-9027-x