Poor School Achievement: A Concern For American Schools Today

Poor school achievement is certainly a concern for American schools today. In its own right, it is the focus of most current school improvement efforts. However, Hawkins, Lishner, Catalano, & Howard, addressed that poor achievement is also a concern because it is an identifier of problem behaviors in late elementary school, as well as, middle and senior high schools (as cited in Schaps, E., PHD. (n.d.). pg. 2). Research suggests that one part of poor school achievement is the school climate and by climate, I do not mean the weather. I mean the product of interpersonal relationships among children, families, teachers, support staff and administrators, within a school family. When you have a negative school climate the people inside the school family do not mesh well. …show more content…
A positive school climate promotes a caring school family where children feel; safety, belonging, independence, and competence. As Bulach, Malone, and Dellar, put it “School climate is among the most frequently mentioned concepts relevant to student achievement and has been identified an essential component in the successful implementation of school reform” (as cited in Grace, R. A., & Harrington, S. Y. (2015, August 31) pg.1). This, in turn, leads us to the question that most of the education system is looking at; does school climate hinder academic performance in children? To answer this we need to research why it is important to promote school families, how school climate affects student development and what we can do as educators to improve school