School climate as a protective factor of school performance in unfavorable socioeconomic conditions

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to verify the relationship between school climate and performance in public high schools representative of a Brazilian state, based on the perceptions of students, teachers and managers. The school climate was evaluated using questionnaires covering eight dimensions. However, the performance was based on results of the 2015 ENEM. 2731 students, 426 teachers and 173 managers from 46 schools representative of a Brazilian state participated in the survey. The results of the analysis of the school effect, controlling for the socioeconomic level indicator variable, showed a positive relationship between climate and performance, demonstrating that the school climate acted as a protective factor to achieve better academic performance.