School Climate in Highly Effective Schools in the Autonomous Region of the Basque Country (Spain)

Although there is a growing interest in identifying the variables that enhance student school adjustment, there is a lack of understanding of the mechanisms involved in it during adolescence. Despite there being works that confirm the positive relationship between school climate and academic performance, it is still unresolved which of the more specific aspects of climate are linked to this performance, as well as the degree to which an individual variable such as resilience can play a mediating role between both; these unknown factors constitute the objective of this study. A total of 731 students (mean age, Mage = 15.20 years; Standard Deviation, SD = 1.62) from the Basque Country participated; they completed the PACE-33 -school climate scale-, the CD-RISC10 -resilience scale- and the EBAE-10 -perceived academic performance subscale-. The full mediation model and the partial mediation model were tested. The results show that the model of choice is that of partial mediation: the resilience mediates the relationship between two specific aspects of the school climate (peer relationship and teachers’ ability to motivate) and perceived academic performance, and a third specific aspect (teachers’ expectations) has a direct relationship with perceived academic performance. These findings highlight the importance of attending to variables specific to the context in which the subject interacts, with the role of the teacher being especially important, in addition to promoting the development of resilience, due to the weight it has on the perception that students have about their school performance.

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Criterios y modelos estadísticos de eficacia escolar

Revista de Investigación Educativa ◽

10.6018/rie.417881 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 311-327

Author(s):

Luis Lizasoain Hernández

Keyword(s):

Effective Schools ◽

School Effectiveness ◽

Linear Models ◽

Basque Country ◽

Outcome Variable ◽

Multilevel Regression ◽

School Effectiveness Research ◽

Regression Techniques ◽

Pais Vasco ◽

Selection Of

El objetivo de este artículo es presentar los criterios y modelos estadísticos empleados en un estudio de eficacia escolar desarrollado en la Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco empleando como variable criterio los resultados en matemáticas, comprensión lectora en lengua castellana y en lengua vasca, resultantes de las evaluaciones de Diagnóstico aplicadas en cinco años. Se definen cuatro criterios de eficacia escolar: puntuaciones extremas, residuos extremos, crecimiento de puntuaciones y crecimiento de residuos. Para ello se han aplicado técnicas de regresión multinivel empleando modelos jerárquicos lineales. Los resultados permiten una selección de centros tanto de alta como de baja eficacia que se basa en cuatro enfoques distintos y complementarios de la eficacia (o ineficacia) escolar. The aim of this paper is to present the statistical criteria and models used in a school effectiveness research carried out in the Basque Country Autonomous Community using as outcome variable the mathematics, spanish language and basque language scores. These scores come from the Diagnosis Assessments applied for five years. Four school effectiveness criteria are defined: extreme scores, extreme residuals, scores growth and residuals growth. Multilevel regression techniques have been applied using hierarchical linear models (HLM). Results have permitted a selection of both high and low effective schools based on four different and complementary school effectiveness approaches.

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Assessing students’ views of school climate: Developing and validating the What’s Happening In This School? (WHITS) questionnaire

Improving Schools ◽

10.1177/1365480212473680 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 47-66 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Jill Aldridge ◽

Kate Ala’I

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

School Climate ◽

Effective Schools ◽

Extensive Review ◽

School Students ◽

Validated Questionnaires ◽

Multi Stage ◽

Perceptions Of Bullying ◽

Development And Validation

This article describes the development and validation of a six-scale survey to assess school climate in terms of students’ perceptions of the degree to which they feel welcome and connected, together with a scale to assess students’ perceptions of bullying. The development of each survey involved a multi-stage approach, including: 1) an extensive review of research related to school climate to identify components that can be considered important for effective schools made up of diverse students; 2) elucidating the scales identified in step one; and 3) writing individual items within the scales. Items from previously validated questionnaires were examined and, if appropriate, adapted. We used Trochim and Donnelly’s (2006) framework for construct validity to guide the validation of the new questionnaire. When the questionnaire was administered to a sample of 4067 high school students from eight schools, various statistical analyses ensured the questionnaire’s discriminant, convergent, concurrent and predictive validity.

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Mathematics education at highly effective schools that serve the poor: strategies for change

Choice Reviews Online ◽

10.5860/choice.45-0993 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 45 (02) ◽

pp. 45-0993-45-0993

Keyword(s):

Mathematics Education ◽

Effective Schools ◽

The Poor ◽

Highly Effective ◽

Strategies For Change

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Asymmetry and (Dis)accommodation of Minority Nations in a Complex Constitutional Framework: Catalonia, the Basque Country and other Autonomous Regions within the Spanish Kingdom

European Yearbook of Minority Issues Online ◽

10.1163/22116117_01601006 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 123-151

Author(s):

Eduardo J. Ruiz Vieytez

Keyword(s):

Constitutional Law ◽

Basque Country ◽

National Character ◽

Federal State ◽

Complex State ◽

Autonomous Region ◽

Administrative Efficiency ◽

The Subject ◽

Constitutional System ◽

Cultural Features

The Spanish 1978 Constitution establishes a complex state. In constitutional terms, it is not defined as a federal state, but rather as a unitary state with significant scope for political decentralization. This complex constitutional arrangement is in response to both internal and cultural features, and to a search for greater administrative efficiency. The pluri-national character of the state is the subject of fierce debate in Spain, while the way in which certain minority nations (Catalonia and the Basque Country) are accommodated is a permanent source of friction. This paper seeks to provide an overview of this complex political/constitutional situation by analysing the historical, political and legal developments that have occurred during the last 40 years, with a focus on the last developments of the Catalan crisis. Although Spain is markedly asymmetric in political and identity terms, this asymmetry is not adequately reflected in Constitutional Law. In addition, the ongoing tension between unionism and separatism in some regions poses significant challenges to the Spanish constitutional system as a whole, in particular, through the pro-independence process in the autonomous region of Catalonia.

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