title: Impact of Experience Corps(®) participation on school climate.
abstract: We examined the impact of the Experience Corps(®) (EC) program on school climate within Baltimore City public elementary schools. In this program, teams of older adult volunteers were placed in high intensity (>15 h per week), meaningful roles in public elementary schools, to improve the educational outcomes of children as well as the health and well-being of volunteers. During the first year of EC participation, school climate was perceived more favorably among staff and students in EC schools as compared to those in comparison schools. However, with a few notable exceptions, perceived school climate did not differ for staff or students in intervention and comparison schools during the second year of exposure to the EC program. These findings suggest that perceptions of school climate may be altered by introducing a new program into elementary schools; however, research examining how perceptions of school climate are impacted over a longer period is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA, jparisi1@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Jeanine M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Parisi
authors.forename: Christine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Ramsey
authors.forename: Michelle C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.forename: Qian-Li
authors.initials: QL
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: William A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Romani
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McGill
authors.forename: Teresa E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Seeman
authors.forename: Elizabeth K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Tanner
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barron
authors.forename: Erwin J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Tara L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Gruenewald
authors.forename: Ike
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Diibor
authors.forename: Linda P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Fried
authors.forename: George W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Rebok
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D015142:Baltimore; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000066553:Problem Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D012574:Schools; D012931:Social Environment; D012938:Social Perception; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population; D014838:Volunteers / Q000523:psychology*