ABSTRACT
Shanghai outperforms other countries (economies) on reading achievement in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009, although the specificities there are not clear. In this study, the authors examine the prediction of school climate on reading achievement in Shanghai. Hierarchical linear analyses, based on PISA 2009 Shanghai datasets, reveal that each aspect of school climate varies in explanatory power. Five aspects together explain 73.05% of the between-school differences in reading achievement. Schools with a positive climate (with the exception of students’ attitudes towards school) perform better because such schools tend to have more students with advantaged background characteristics, fractionally because the favorable school resources, and partly for reasons unrelated to these factors. It would be effective in converting “weaker schools” into “stronger schools” if policy-makers and educators in Shanghai could find ways to improve school climate while accounting for student background characteristics and school composition issues.
