This 17th edition of Education Week鈥榮 annual Quality Counts report takes aim at an issue freighted with emotional as well as policy implications: the impact of a school鈥檚 social and disciplinary environment on students鈥� ability to learn and on the teachers and administrators tasked with guiding them.
National initiatives to improve schools tend to focus heavily on curriculum, testing, and personnel. But a growing consensus also recognizes that the elements that make up school climate鈥攊ncluding peer relationships, students鈥� sense of safety and security, and the disciplinary policies and practices they confront each day鈥攑lay a crucial part in laying the groundwork for academic success. Those factors, along with resources and the ability of school staff members to meet students鈥� needs, are seen as especially important for low-performing schools and at-risk students.
Policymakers have begun responding to such concerns in recent years by focusing on aspects of students鈥� well-being beyond simply their academic health. A number of federal initiatives reflect the shift. They include a set of school climate grants awarded to 11 states (now in their third and final year), White House-led programs on bullying awareness and prevention, and a partnership among federal agencies designed to change the way schools discipline students.
鈥淭he conditions for success in schools include not just having high-quality teachers, but ensuring that they are working in schools designed for success. In schools designed for success, there鈥檚 a growing interest in ensuring that school climate supports students,鈥� says Deborah Delisle, the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education.
Multiple Factors
In analyzing the ways in which school climate can support鈥攐r hinder鈥攁cademic achievement, Education Week鈥榮 reporters drew on the latest research and visits to schools putting into practice approaches intended to assure a secure, supportive learning environment.
They trace the rise, and the fall from favor, of punitive, often discriminatory 鈥渮ero tolerance鈥� discipline policies, along with the emergence of promising alternative models that seek to reduce conflict and ensure schoolhouse safety without resorting to expulsion or out-of-school suspension.
In the classroom arena, they document ways in which educators are working to bolster students鈥� ability to cope with academic and personal pressures that can interfere with learning and lead to peer conflict and bullying. They look at the challenges that teachers, administrators, and school-level support personnel face in fulfilling their mission amid constraints involving time, training, and staff resources.
Finally, this package examines factors often left out of the school climate discussion: the role of parents and community groups鈥攁nd even of a school鈥檚 physical design and layout鈥攊n the learning environment.
Field Survey
To complement Education Week鈥榮 reporting, the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center conducted an online survey of registered users of the Education Week website. More than 1,300 school-based personnel, responded to questions on a range of issues involving school climate, safety, and discipline.
The results of the survey offer insight into the views of teachers, instructional specialists, principals, and other building-level administrators who have valuable, first-hand experience with efforts to craft a safe, supportive school environment.
State of the States
Quality Counts 2013 continues the EPE Research Center鈥檚 annual practice of ranking the states on a range of key education indicators鈥攚ith detailed tracking for each of the three categories updated in this year鈥檚 report鈥攁nd of awarding summative letter grades and scores for the states and for the nation as a whole across all six categories that make up the report鈥檚 grading framework.
This year, the report updates Quality Counts鈥� signature Chance-for-Success Index, which looks at the connection between education and beneficial outcomes at each stage of a person鈥檚 life; school finance indicators, which capture the level and equitability of school funding; and transitions and alignment, examining how states work to coordinate K-12 schooling and other aspects of their education systems at various stages of a student鈥檚 career.
Three additional categories鈥攌-12 achievement; standards, assessments, and accountability; and the teaching profession鈥攚ere updated in the 2012 edition.
Grading Highlights
Taken together, all six categories form the basis of the report鈥檚 state-by-state summative scores and rankings, and the grades for the states and the nation overall.
Maryland, for the fifth consecutive year, receives the top grade in the nation, with a B-plus. In second place is Massachusetts, with a B, followed closely by New York state and then by Virginia. (All four states took the same slots in Quality Counts 2012 and have consistently ranked high in past reports.) Joining the top-10 list for the first time is Kentucky, which earns a B-minus.
At the other end of scale, South Dakota for the second year in a row takes the bottom spot, with a grade of D-plus. The nation as a whole receives a score of C-plus鈥攋oining 19 states in that tier. Overall, a large majority of states鈥�37, plus the District of Columbia鈥攔eceive grades ranging from C-minus to C-plus in this year鈥檚 report.
Standouts
Even with most states clustered in the middle tiers of the grading scale, performance in certain categories included notable standouts:
- Massachusetts captures the top ranking in the Chance-for-Success Index for the sixth year in a row, earning an A-minus.
- In the category of transitions and alignment鈥攚hich puts a particular focus on early-childhood education, college readiness, and career readiness鈥擥eorgia becomes the first state to earn a perfect score for these policies.
- In the school finance category, West Virginia leaps to second in the nation, with an A-minus, up from 14th place last year. Wyoming once again tops the list in that category, receiving the only grade of A.
