An Introduction to the School Climate Measure

The School Climate Measure (SCM) is a comprehensive measure of school climate that has demonstrated significant psychometric support and available free of charge. The goal of this research-informed commentary is to provide readers with necessary knowledge to make an informed decision of the appropriateness of the SCM for use in their school or district.

First, we review the development of the SCM with supporting peer-reviewed research. Second, we discuss the advantages of the SCM and ease in interpretation of scores. Finally, SCM applications are reviewed along with promising future steps. We conclude that the SCM can provide a comprehensive and nuanced look at students’ school environment perceptions, yielding valuable hypotheses about their school behavior, subjective wellbeing, and academic success.