Abstract
Researchers and educators are giving increasing scrutiny to systems-level constructs that contribute to safe, supportive, and effective schools, including school climate. School climate is a multifaceted construct that is commonly conceptualized as school community members' subjective experiences of the structural and contextual elements of a particular school. Although all schools strive to provide a caring and supportive school climate, climate itself is not the ultimate objective. Rather, climate conditions facilitate students' physical and emotional safety, academic success, social engagement, and personal wellbeing. This chapter first discusses school climate definition and measurement issues. It then examines what is currently known about the positive correlates of school climate and offers guidance and strategies to assess climate at the school level. [This chapter was published in: S. R. Jimerson, A. B. Nickerson, M. J. Mayer, M. J. Furlong (Eds.), "Handbook of School Violence and School Safety. International Research and Practice" ISBN-978-0-4158-8461-7.]