Investigating differences in student perceptions of school climate for English Language Learners and their peers
Date
2021-08-25
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Abstract
As Canada increases in cultural and linguistic diversity each year through immigration, school environments need to adapt to adequately support their increasingly diverse student population. Many high schools have students who are English Language Learners (ELL) who are working towards both gaining proficiency in English and demonstrating an understanding of academic subject matter in English. ELL students can face unique challenges at school such as adjusting to a new culture while trying to learn English and course curriculum. Unfortunately, high school ELL students typically have lower academic scores and lower rates of high school completion than their non-ELL peers. These findings suggest that schools may not be properly supporting ELL students for success. To better understand how ELL students experience their school environment compared to non-ELL peers, a measure of school climate was used. School climate measures perceptions of school culture and experience that are shaped by the norms and values of a school environment. In this study the Meriden School Climate Survey Student Version (MSCS-SV) was used to assess perspectives of school climate for ELL and non-ELL students. Differences in school climate perceptions between ELL and non-ELL high school students were investigated. School climate ratings relationship with GPA was investigated in both ELL and non-ELL student groups. A significant difference was found in overall ratings of school climate between ELL and non-ELL high school students. However, the differences with specific factors of school climate were non-significant. This suggests that there may be differences in perceptions of overall school climate for ELL and non-ELL students. Only two factors of the MSCS-SV were predictors of student GPA in the non-ELL group. Adult Support at Home and Academic Support at Home were positive predictors of GPA for non-ELL students. Our study did not find a significant relationship between any factors of MSCS-SV and GPA for ELL students.
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Keywords
English Language Learner, ELL, ESL, School Climate, High School
Citation
Corrigan, K. (2021). Investigating differences in student perceptions of school climate for English Language Learners and their peers (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.