title: Measuring school climate in high schools: a focus on safety, engagement, and the environment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  School climate has been linked to multiple student behavioral, academic, health, and social-emotional outcomes. The US Department of Education (USDOE) developed a 3-factor model of school climate comprised of safety, engagement, and environment. This article examines the factor structure and measurement invariance of the USDOE model.
  
  
  METHODS
  Drawing upon 2 consecutive waves of data from over 25,000 high school students (46% minority), a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses examined the fit of the Maryland Safe and Supportive Schools Climate Survey with the USDOE model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results indicated adequate model fit with the theorized 3-factor model of school climate, which included 13 subdomains: safety (perceived safety, bullying and aggression, and drug use); engagement (connection to teachers, student connectedness, academic engagement, school connectedness, equity, and parent engagement); environment (rules and consequences, physical comfort, and support, disorder). We also found consistent measurement invariance with regard to student sex, grade level, and ethnicity. School-level interclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.04 to .10 for the scales.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings supported the USDOE 3-factor model of school climate and suggest measurement invariance and high internal consistency of the 3 scales and 13 subdomains. These results suggest the 56-item measure may be a potentially efficient, yet comprehensive measure of school climate.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 North Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21295. cbradsha@jhsph.edu.
authors.forename: Catherine P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Bradshaw
authors.forename: Tracy E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Waasdorp
authors.forename: Katrina J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Debnam
authors.forename: Sarah Lindstrom
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D058445:Bullying / Q000523:psychology; D004777:Environment; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005178:Faculty; D035082:Federal Government; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012449:Safety; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D012944:Social Support; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States
keywords: engagement; environment; measurement; safety; school climate; school improvement