Investigating differences in student perceptions of school climate for English Language Learners and their peers

Corrigan, Kimberly

Investigating differences in student perceptions of school climate for English Language Learners and their peers

dc.contributor.advisor	Wilcox, Gabrielle
dc.contributor.author	Corrigan, Kimberly
dc.contributor.committeemember	Domene, Jose
dc.contributor.committeemember	Roessingh, Hetty
dc.date	2021-11
dc.date.accessioned	2021-09-07T14:48:26Z
dc.date.available	2021-09-07T14:48:26Z
dc.date.issued	2021-08-25
dc.description.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.	en_US
dc.identifier.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.	en_US
dc.identifier.doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/39162
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1880/113819
dc.language.iso	eng	en_US
dc.publisher.faculty	Werklund School of Education	en_US
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary	en
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.	en_US
dc.subject	English Language Learner	en_US
dc.subject	ELL	en_US
dc.subject	ESL	en_US
dc.subject	School Climate	en_US
dc.subject	High School	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Educational Psychology	en_US
dc.title	Investigating differences in student perceptions of school climate for English Language Learners and their peers	en_US
dc.type	master thesis	en_US
thesis.degree.discipline	Education Graduate Program – Educational Psychology	en_US
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary	en_US
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science (MSc)	en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopy	true	en_US