Action Research ::: Abstract

Campus climate and culture affects every area of the life of a school.  From the way students behave in the hallways to the way the educational process works, and everything in between, is affected by the climate of the campus.  Campus climate can be a difficult thing to define or pin down, but educators know what it is and know when it is not very good.  Campus climate is one of those things that you can sense or feel, even as an outsider, when you step foot inside the halls of a campus.  When a negative campus climate is present, teachers have a tendency to feel stressed and under appreciated and students feel oppressed and under achieve.  When you have a staff functioning in a bad climate they are less likely to collaborate and have cohesion with a singular focus on student achievement and success.  This can be the most damaging aspect of the negative climate that is felt on a campus.  The research shows that it can be felt in many areas of the overall effectiveness of the campus.

For the purpose of this action research I chose to take a closer look at Community Middle School in Nevada, TX.  The problem that this campus was experiencing was a very negative campus climate, which had begun to affect virtually every aspect of the life of the school.  The initial intervention that was being applied was the implementation of Positive Behavior Interventions and Support, or PBIS.  PBIS is a decision-making framework that guides selection, integration, and implementation of the best evidence-based academic and behavioral practices for improving important academic and behavior outcomes for all students. ("What is school-wide," n.d)  The findings show that with the implementation of PBIS and some key changes in leadership over the course of the past year, the campus climate has changed drastically at Community Middle School.  The improvement in campus climate has been felt by all state holders and has had an immediately impacted on student achievement. 

JZS