title: School climate, peer victimization, and academic achievement: results from a multi-informant study.
abstract: School-level school climate was examined in relation to self-reported peer victimization and teacher-rated academic achievement (grade point average; GPA). Participants included a sample of 1,023 fifth-grade children nested within 50 schools. Associations between peer victimization, school climate, and GPA were examined using multilevel modeling, with school climate as a contextual variable. Boys and girls reported no differences in victimization by their peers, although boys had lower GPAs than girls. Peer victimization was related to lower GPA and to a poorer perception of school climate (individual-level), which was also associated with lower GPA. Results of multilevel analyses revealed that peer victimization was again negatively associated with GPA, and that lower school-level climate was associated with lower GPA. Although no moderating effects of school-level school climate or sex were observed, the relation between peer victimization and GPA remained significant after taking into account (a) school-level climate scores, (b) individual variability in school-climate scores, and (c) several covariates--ethnicity, absenteeism, household income, parental education, percentage of minority students, type of school, and bullying perpetration. These findings underscore the importance of a positive school climate for academic success and viewing school climate as a fundamental collective school outcome. Results also speak to the importance of viewing peer victimization as being harmfully linked to students' academic performance.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa.
authors.forename: Weijun
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5923-6083
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa.
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vaillancourt
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa.
authors.forename: Heather L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Brittain
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McDougall
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa.
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krygsman
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University.
authors.forename: Charles E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Haltigan
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia.
authors.forename: Shelley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hymel
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D058445:Bullying / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012574:Schools; D057566:Self Report; D012931:Social Environment; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires