RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCHOOL CLIMATE AND SOUTH AFRICAN GRADE 9 LEARNER ACHIEVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE

"School climate has become a staple of organisational-educational research and is considered here in relation to learner academic achievement. In South Africa, poor learner achievement in mathematics and science has occupied the centre stage with the release of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMSS) 2019 results. At Grade 9 level, 39 countries participated, and South Africa was very last and second from the last in science and mathematics achievement, respectively. We used a quantitative design with a positivist philosophical stance. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was used as theoretical framework, as learners attending a school with a negative climate cannot devote their full attention to learning. We analysed cross-sectional TIMSS 2019 South African data by considering two models: one with the dependent variable being mathematics achievement and the other with it being science achievement. For both models, gender and socio-economic status were included as control variables, the sense of belonging scale was included as a predictor at learner-level, and nine predictors relating to school climate were considered at school-level. The multi-level analysis using HLM software showed that learners with a high sense of belonging, schools with sufficient instructional materials, and technologically competent staff are significant predictors of both mathematics and science achievement. We recommend that South African schools with insufficient instructional materials be prioritised for receiving the necessary material and that all South African teachers be trained in the use of technologies, as these are significant predictors of learner achievement. This will, in turn, enhance learners’ sense of belonging, which is also a significant predictor. Another recommendation is that stakeholders invest in school climate surveys and other interventions supporting a healthy school environment, as many researchers, including this study, have shown that a healthy school climate is a significant predictor of learner achievement. Additional research is encouraged to establish the nature of the impact that a healthy school climate has on learner achievement through longitudinal studies where causation can be proven."