An Exploration of the Authoritative School Climate Construct Using Multilevel Latent Class Analysis

The authoritative school climate construct, or the degree to which schools demonstrate student support and disciplinary structure, predicts several important student outcomes (e.g., racial suspension gap, student disengagement). To better understand this construct, we used multilevel latent class analysis to identify latent classes of student perceptions of school climate, model school-level variation in student experiences, and examine the relation between school climate and student and school demographics. Using a nationally representative sample of public high students in the USA, results show that student perceptions of school climate fall into four classes, Authoritative, Permissive, Authoritarian, and Uninvolved, which are consistent with authoritative school climate literature. Student gender, ethnicity/race, and SES all impact a student's likelihood of membership in these classes. Schools tend to have a predominant school climate experience, although considerable variability in individual student experiences within a school exists. Findings address gaps in the authoritative school climate literature and have important implications for future research and policy.