School Climate And Youth Academic Achievement:The Mediating Role Of School Engagement And The Moderating Role Of Self-Control

Academic achievement is not only the core indicator to measure students’ academic development,but also an important basis to measure the quality of school teaching,which is the focus of current school reform.Besides sleeping at night,teenagers spend most of the day at school,and school climate has a significant impact on their academic achievement.Therefore,it is necessary to investigate the relationship between school climate and youth academic achievement.However,most previous studies used cross-sectional designs,which made it difficult to reveal the time sequence and longitudinal associations among variables.In addition,in order to further study “how”and “when” school climate affects youth academic achievement,researchers call for further exploration of the potential process and mechanism of school climate affecting youth academic achievement,and reveal the complex relationship between them.Thus,it provides theoretical basis and empirical support for effectively improving youth academic achievement,and provides instructive suggestions for school administrators and the majority of educators.On the basis of previous theoretical models and empirical studies,the current study using a two-and-a-half-year longitudinal design to examine whether school climate has long-term effects on youth academic achievement after one and a half years and two and a half years,and to explore its potential mechanisms.Considering that the adolescents’ psychological processes(school engagement)and individual characteristics(self-control)are important factors affecting the relationship between school climate and youth academic achievement,the present study would focus on the mediating role of school engagement in the influence of school climate on youth academic achievement.It also investigated whether self-control moderated the direct or indirect effects of school climate on youth academic achievement and whether there were gender differences among these relationships.A sample of 1,918 students(55.3% male;mean age = 12.68 years)recruited from two junior middle schools in Yancheng,Jiangsu province and Shiyan,Hubei province were surveyed once a semester from the fall semester of 2018 to the spring semester of2020.The last data collection scheduled for the spring semester of 2020 was postponed to the fall semester of 2020 due to the pandemic.It was collected four times.School climate and demographic information on adolescents were measured at T1,school engagement was measured at T1 and T2,self-control was measured at T1,and academic achievement was measured at T1,T3(before the epidemic)and T4(in the normal period of the pandemic).After controlling all covariates(i.e.,school,gender,age,parents’ education,parents’ occupation,family financial status,family structure,school engagement at T1 and academic achievement at T1),our findings revealed that:(a)school climate at T1 had no long-term predictive effect on youth academic achievement at T3 and T4;(b)school climate at T1 significantly positively predicted adolescents’ school engagement at T2,and then significantly positively predicted school achievement at T3 and T4,indicating that school engagement plays a mediating role between school climate and youth academic achievement;(c)self-control at T1 had no moderating effect on the indirect effect of school climate(T1)on youth academic achievement(T3 and T4),indicating that the mediating effect of school climate on youth academic achievement through school engagement is not affected by individual characteristics(self-control),and is robust to different individuals;(d)there is no gender difference in the above relationship,indicating that the mediating effect of school climate on youth academic achievement through school engagement is not affected by gender and is robust in boys and girls.The current study highlights the mediating role of adolescents’ psychological processes(school engagement)between external situational factors(school climate)and developmental outcomes(academic achievement),and expands our understanding of the influencing factors and mechanisms of youth academic achievement.It provides valuable information for school administrators and educators to improve the school climate perceived by adolescents from aspects of teaching ethos,teacher-student relationship,and autonomy opportunities,and then increase their school engagement and ultimately improve their academic achievement and reduce the possibility of dropping out of school.