<p>Although liberal attitudes toward homosexuality have been increasing in recent years, sexual minority youth continue to face bullying and isolation at school. Gay-straight alliances (GSAs) have recently emerged as a solution to this problem. While research demonstrates positive effects of GSAs, little is known about the specific processes through which GSAs work to improve the school climate. We must also consider that GSAs operate in high schools which function as their own bounded social worlds with unique sets of rules and social hierarchies. These hierarchies influence both gay and straight youth’s experiences, including who gets bullied, and who carries out the bullying. Using qualitative research methods, including semi-structured interviews with 50 students from 6 Windsor high schools, including 21 lesbian, gay, bisexual, bi-curious, pansexual and queer (LGBPQ) youth, this study explores these issues. I begin by examining how status hierarchies in high schools vary based on the size of the school and average parental income. In doing so, I argue that status hierarchies should be re-conceptualized from being thought of as simply vertical to accommodate multiple sources of status and varying competition. I then delve into an examination of how status and bullying are interconnected. Here, I find that for both gay and straight students, social networks work to prevent isolation as well as bullying. Bullying in high schools also takes on a situational nature, as bullying episodes often predominate in certain areas and in front of certain status group audiences. Finally, I explore how social networks intersect with gay-straight alliances in various social hierarchies, and how GSAs work as social networks that have a protective ability against bullying. I find that GSAs can work to improve school climate and challenge existing hierarchies, but this is tempered by the hierarchies in place. Implications for anti-bullying strategies are also discussed.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This study explores mechanisms involved in small scale schooling and student engagement. Specifically, this study questions the validity of arguments for small scale schooling reforms that confound the promised effects of small scale schooling structures (such as smaller enrollments, schools-within-schools, and smaller class sizes) with the effects of the school climates assumed to follow from these structural changes. Data to address this issue was drawn from the Philadelphia Educational Longitudinal Study - one of the few publically-available datasets to include student-level measures of school-within-a-school participation and relative quality - and supplemented by school-level data from the National Center for Education Statistics' Common Core of Data. Regression analyses were designed to examine whether academic press and/or personalized teacher-student relationships - two aspects of school climate often associated with small scale schooling - mediate the relationships between small scale schooling structures and student engagement. The results suggest a pattern of widespread connections between small scale schooling structures and students' emotional engagement in school, but only a loose connection between these structures and students' behavioral engagement in school. Furthermore, school climate does, in fact, mediate many of the relationships between small scale schooling structures and emotional engagement; however, it does not fully mediate the relationship between small scale schooling structure and behavioral engagement. Findings relating student engagement to the quality of small learning communities relative to others in the same school suggest that comprehensive schools that are broken down into smaller within-school units may create a new mechanism for tracking students. Those who participate in relatively high quality small learning communities like school more and participate in more extracurricular activities/sports than students who participate in relatively low quality small learning communities or in no small learning community at all. These relationships are not mediated by school climate. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that the results of small scale schooling reforms are largely dependent on the school climates where they are instituted. / Urban Education

The study examined the relationship between building conditions and overall student behavior as well as the relationship between building conditions and the behaviors of student subgroups that include Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Students with Disabilities (SWD). The study controlled for over-crowdedness, socioeconomic status, and attendance. The study included 10 school facilities in a medium-sized school division in Virginia. Building conditions were determined through facility engineering and educational condition. Facility Condition Indexes (FCIs) described facility engineering conditions. The Revised Commonwealth Assessment of Physical Environment (CAPE) instrument initially developed by Cash (1993) and revised by Cash and Earthman (2019) assessed facility educational conditions. The CAPE instrument provided overall, structural and cosmetic facility condition scores and was administered to principals. Student behavior was determined by student overall behavior indexes as well as subgroup-based behavior indexes representing the ratio of discipline incidents divided by student population. School-specific over-crowdedness indexes were utilized. Free and reduced lunch percentages were used as a measure of socioeconomic status. For attendance, the study used attendance indexes described by the percentage of students who were absent for at least 10% of the academic year. To establish the potential relationships between building conditions and student behavior in each student subgroup, the study used quantitative analysis utilizing hierarchical multiple-variable regression and analysis of variance (ANOVA) through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The researcher conducted individual single-predictor and multiple-variable hierarchical regression models. ANOVA was utilized to explain the total variance in the regression model, and the variance due to each predictor. The researcher identified regression relationships, their statistical significance, and interpreted results to reach a conclusion addressing each research question. Potential relationships between building conditions and student behavior were highlighted. The study identified that higher numbers of disciplinary incidences were related to higher absenteeism rates within all student groups. Further, lower numbers of Hispanic student disciplinary incidences were associated with poorer student populations. In terms of facility conditions, lower numbers of Hispanic student and SWD disciplinary incidences were associated with improved cosmetic facility conditions and lower numbers of SWD disciplinary incidences were associated with improved overall facility conditions. / Doctor of Education / The study examined the relationship between building conditions and overall student behavior as well as the relationship between building conditions and the behaviors of student subgroups that include Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Students with Disabilities (SWD). Over-crowdedness, socioeconomic status, and attendance were mediating factors. The study included 10 school facilities in a medium-sized school division in Virginia. Building conditions were determined through facility engineering and educational condition. Facility Condition Indexes (FCIs) described facility engineering conditions. The Revised Commonwealth Assessment of Physical Environment (CAPE) instrument initially developed by Cash (1993) and revised by Cash and Earthman (2019) assessed facility educational conditions. The CAPE instrument provided overall, structural and cosmetic facility condition scores and was administered to principals. Student behavior was represented by the ratio of discipline incidents divided by student population for overall students and student subgroups. School-specific over-crowdedness measures were utilized. Free and reduced lunch percentages were used as a measure of socioeconomic status. For attendance, the study used the percentages of students who were chronically absent. To establish the potential relationships between building conditions and student behavior in each student subgroup, the study used quantitative analysis utilizing hierarchical multiple-variable regression and analysis of variance (ANOVA) through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The researcher assessed the impact of each facility condition individually as well as collectively on student behavior. ANOVA was utilized to explain the total contribution attributed to each predictor. The researcher identified relationships, their statistical significance, and interpreted results to reach a conclusion addressing each research question. Potential relationships between building conditions and student behavior were highlighted. The study identified that higher numbers of disciplinary incidences were related to higher absenteeism rates within all student groups. Further, lower numbers of Hispanic student disciplinary incidences were associated with poorer student populations. In terms of facility conditions, lower numbers of Hispanic student and SWD disciplinary incidences were associated with improved cosmetic facility conditions and lower numbers of SWD disciplinary incidences were associated with improved overall facility conditions.

This qualitative case study explores student, parent, and teacher perceptions of school racial climate and its impact on students’ academic and personal lives at a charter middle school in South Los Angeles. The study also explores teacher handling of the impact of racial tensions at this school with a majority Latin@ student enrollment and a predominantly Black teaching staff. School climate refers to the perceived quality of interpersonal interactions among teachers, students, staff, and parents. A positive school climate is associated with increased academic achievement and decreased disciplinary problems. Conversely, schools wrought with interethnic conflict or a poor racial climate divert focus and resources away from student learning and toward chronic disciplinary problems and teacher attrition. This case study demonstrates how Black administrators handled displacement by a large immigrant Latin@ population by instituting a system of Black privilege to protect political and economic space. The massive immigration of Latin@s offered a critical opportunity for coalition building with Blacks. However, a competition-based framework emerged, rendering this case study a microcosm of missed opportunity in South Los Angeles and beyond.

AND KEYWORDS This diploma thesis deals with the impact of school climate that has a strong effect on the success in integration of handicapped pupil into the mainstream school. In this respect main terms which are related to "school climate" and "integration" are defined. Work more specifically focuses on individual types of handicaps, analyses principles of various handicaps and specific educational requirements needed for social relations. It furthers deals with the subjectivity of success in integration. Presented diploma thesis further concentrates on the social status of the handicapped pupil among his schoolmates, his social interactions and the role of the teacher as the main factor in the problem of integration. Empirical survey is oriented in a narrative way; the key method used is narrative dialogue, as it is able to recognise autobiographical experience of respondents. Each narrative dialogue is interpreted and completed by narrative reconstruction of core narration. Keywords: - school climate - integration and inclusion - pupil with specific educational requirements - handicap, disablement - success in school integration - family - school - teacher - chicane - relations among schoolmates - diagnosis of school climate - narrative attitude - narrative dialogue

One of the challenges facing the education system in South Africa is a lack of the culture of teaching and learning. It is this challenge that prompted this research. The research investigated how the principaL as an instructional leader, can restore the culture of teaching and learning in previously disadvantaged schools. A qualitative approach was used and three schools were selected in the Sambandou Circuit of the Northern Province. The research results showed that there are general and management factors that contribute to a lack of the culture of teaching and learning. Management factors include, amongst others, lack of staff development programmes and discipline. The general factors, on the other hand, include amongst others, poor physical conditions and infrastructure in schools. In conclusion, the research recommended, amongst others, that principals conduct staff development programmes and supervise the work of educators and learners / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

The focus of the study was to investigate the role of Learning and Teaching Support Materials (LTSMs) in determining a school performance and quality education. For sampling purposes, a rural disadvantaged school was selected to reveal how such schools organise and implement their instructional programs devoid of LTSMs. A school library, school laboratory and computer technology were prioritised for their bearing on National Curriculum Statement (NCS) implementation. According to the study‘s findings, the prioritised LTSMs were found to be vital in modernising, appropriating and improving a school performance and the quality of education. The study argued that without relevant LTSMs, schools can neither hope nor manage to successfully implement outcomes based education. Hence, learners in those schools are still excluded from quality education. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Curriculum Studies and Didactics)

La relation élève-enseignant (REE) est reconnue comme étant optimale lorsqu’elle est fortement chaleureuse et faiblement conflictuelle. Sur le plan empirique, plusieurs évidences montrent que la qualité de la REE est liée significativement à divers indicateurs de la réussite scolaire. De façon générale, celles-ci affirment que plus un élève entretient une relation optimale avec son enseignant, plus ses résultats scolaires sont élevés, plus il adopte des comportements prosociaux, et plus il présente des affects et des comportements positifs envers l’école. Des études précisent également que l’influence de la qualité de la REE est particulièrement importante chez les élèves à risque. Si les effets positifs d’une REE optimale sont bien connus, les facteurs favorisant son émergence sont quant à eux moins bien compris. En fait, bien que certains attributs personnels de l’élève ou de l’enseignant aient été identifiés comme participant significativement à la qualité de la REE, peu d’études ont investigué l’importance des facteurs psychologiques et contextuels dans l’explication de ce phénomène. Souhaitant pallier cette lacune, la présente étude poursuit trois objectifs qui sont: 1) d’examiner les liens entre les stresseurs, le soutien social, la santé psychologique au travail (SPT) et la qualité de la REE; 2) de vérifier l’effet médiateur de la SPT dans la relation entre les stresseurs, le soutien social et la qualité de la REE, et; 3) d’examiner les différences quant aux liens répertoriés auprès d’élèves réguliers et à risque. Afin d’atteindre ces objectifs, 231 enseignants québécois de niveau préscolaire et primaire ont été investigués. Les résultats des analyses montrent que les comportements perturbateurs des élèves en classe prédisent positivement le conflit entre l’enseignant et les élèves à risque. Ils montrent également que le soutien des parents et le soutien du supérieur prédisent respectivement la présence de REE chaleureuses chez les élèves réguliers et à risque. La SPT de l’enseignant prédit quant à elle positivement la présence de REE chaleureuses et négativement la présence de REE conflictuelles. Les résultats de cette recherche montrent aussi que le soutien social affecte indirectement la présence de REE chaleureuses par le biais de la SPT de l’enseignant. / An optimal student-teacher relationship (STR) is generally recognized as being closer and less conflictual. In the scientific documentation, many studies show that the quality of the STR is significantly associated with several indicators of school performance. More precisely, the results of these investigations demonstrate that the more a student share an optimal relationship with his teacher, the higher are his results at tests and exams, the more he adopts prosocial behaviors, and the more he presents positive affects and behaviors towards school and learning. Many studies also show that the influence of the quality of the STR is more important for students at-risk. However, even if the positive effects of an optimal STR on school performance are known, the knowledge about the factors that facilitate its emergence is still very limited. Although some predictors related to personal attributes of students or teachers have been highlighted, few studies have investigated the importance of psychological and contextual predictors of this phenomena. In an attempt to alleviate this deficiency, this research pursues three objectives that are : 1) to verify the relationship between stressors, social support, psychological health at work (PHW) and the quality of the STR; 2) to examine the moderating effect of PHW in the relationship between stressors, social support and the quality of the STR, and; 3) to verify the differences highlighted in the results for regular and at-risk students. In order to verify these three objectives, 231 teachers from the province of Quebec teaching in kindergarten and elementary school have been studied. The results from the analyses show that the disruptive behaviors of students in class predict positively the conflict between teachers and students at-risk. The results also show that social support from parents is positivelly related to closeness for regular students, whereas social support from the director is positivelly related to closeness for students at-risk. Teacher’s PHW also predicts positively closeness and negatively conflict for both regular and at-risk students. The results of the analyses also demonstrate that social support is indirectly related to closeness for regular and at-risk students, through PHW.

La gestion des activités éducatives par la direction et le climat de l’école sont souvent étudiés en relation avec leur influence sur la variation de la réussite des élèves (Leithwood, Harris et Hopkins, 2008; Marzano, Waters et McNulty, 2005; Sherblom, Marshall et Sherblom, 2006; Witziers, Bosker et Krüger, 2003). Mais peu d’études abordent de façon explicite le lien entre la gestion de la direction et le climat d’école. La présente recherche veut donc contribuer à une meilleure compréhension du rapport entre ces deux dimensions du fonctionnement de l’école. Des analyses de type corrélationnel sont réalisées sur des données de questionnaire recueillies dans 49 établissements, auprès de 59 enseignants, 823 élèves de 2ème année du 3e cycle et 521 parents. En tenant compte des caractéristiques sociodémographiques des enseignants, des élèves et des écoles, les résultats tendent à montrer que l’estime des élèves envers leurs enseignants est liée à la fréquence des interventions de la direction en matière de supervision de l’enseignement ou celles visant à améliorer l’apprentissage et le rendement des élèves. / School leadership and school climate are often studied through their influence on the variation of the success among pupils (Leithwood, Harris & Hopkins, 2008; Marzano, Waters & McNulty, 2005; Sherblom, Marshall & Sherblom, 2006; Witziers, Bosker & Krüger, 2003). But few studies explicitly approach the link between school leadership and school climate. Thus, the present study seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between these two dimensions of the functioning of the school. Analyses of corelational type are realized on data collected by surveys in 49 schools, with 59 teachers, 823 pupils of 2nd year of the 3rd cycle and 521 parents. By taking into account sociodemographic characteristics of teachers, pupils and schools, the results tend to show that the respect of the pupils to their teachers is connected to the frequency of the interventions of the leader in the supervision of teaching or those to improve the learning and the outcomes of the pupils.

Le sujet de la présente étude est la violence scolaire, phénomène complexe et polysémique qui préoccupe légitimement le monde de l’éducation depuis plus de trente ans. À partir des analyses factorielles exploratoires, analyses de variance factorielle et finalement analyses multivariées de covariance, cette recherche vise plus précisément à dégager la relation entre le climat scolaire, le contexte scolaire et les différents rôles adoptés par les élèves du niveau secondaire lors d’une situation de violence scolaire. Les données de la présente étude ont été collectées par Michel Janosz et son équipe pendant l’année 2010, dans quatre établissements éducatifs provenant d’une commission scolaire de la grande région de Montréal. L’échantillon de départ est composé de 1750 élèves qui fréquentent des classes ordinaires et spéciales du premier et deuxième cycle du secondaire âgés entre 10 et 18 ans. Pour fins d’analyse, deux petites écoles ainsi que les classes spéciales ont été retirées. Il demeure donc 1551 élèves dans l’échantillon initial analysé. Les résultats des analyses permettent de constater d’une part, la relation significative existante entre les dimensions du climat scolaire et l’adoption des différents rôles lors d’une situation de violence scolaire, les climats d’appartenance et de sécurité étant les plus importants, et d’autre part d’observer des différences dans les perceptions que les élèves ont de la violence scolaire selon le niveau et selon l’école. / The present study pertains to a complex and polysemic phenomenon that has preoccupied people working in the field of education since at least thirty years, that is, school violence. Using factor analysis, analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of covariance, this research aims at exploring specifically the relationship between school climate, school context and the various roles adopted by students at the high school level when they face a situation in which school violence in present. Data for this study were collected by Michel Janosz and his team in 2010, within four schools, all in the same school board of the Montreal region. The original sample comprises 1750 students who attend both standard special classes, between 10 and 18 years of age. The analyses presented are based on a reduced sample where the special classes and the two small schools have been withdrawn. Therefore, the answers from 1551 student s are used. The results show that first, there is a significant relationship between the various dimensions of school climate and the different roles adopted by students facing a situation in which violence is present, perceptions of belonging and of security being the most important. Second, all things being equal, there are significant difference between schools, and school levels.