Perceptions of the School Social Context Across the Transition to MiddleSchool: Heightened Sensitivity Among Latino Students?

Guadalupe Espinoza and Jaana JuvonenUniversity of California, Los Angeles

The current study was designed to examine the ways in which perceived behavioral norms among grademates and school social climate vary across the transition to middle school. The main goals of the studywere to test whether Latino students may be more sensitive to the school social climate than Whitestudents and whether perceived behavioral norms might help explain this association. Cross-sectionalanalyses comparing Latino and White students (N � 383) revealed that perceptions of school socialclimate and behavioral norms became more negative across the middle school transition. Multipleregression analysis showed that school climate perceptions predicted self-reported academic complianceand rule breaking only for Latino students. Mediational analysis revealed that the association betweenperceived climate and self-reported rule breaking was partially accounted for by perceptions of behav-ioral norms for rule breaking only among Latino students. Taken together, the results suggest thatcompared with White students, Latino students are more sensitive to school social climate as it relatesto their school conduct.

Keywords: adolescence, behavioral norms, Latino students, school climate, school transitions

A substantial body of research guided by the stage–environmentfit by Eccles and colleagues (Eccles et al., 1993; Eccles & Roeser,1999) suggests that it is critical to understand the ways in whichchanges in school environments interact with changing develop-mental needs of young adolescents. Most of the empirical researchguided by this approach has focused on the school organizationalfeatures and instructional methods at the classroom level (Eccles &Roeser, 2009). We extend this framework by investigating studentperceptions of the school social climate and behavioral normsamong classmates, across the grades spanning the transition fromelementary to middle school. It is presumed that perceptions ofbehavioral norms among grade mates become increasingly nega-tive and views of the school social climate become less positiveacross the grades bridging the transition to middle school. Thesenegative shifts in perceptions of the school social context mightthen help us explain in part why middle school students are lesslikely to comply with the academic requirements and behavioralrules endorsed in middle school than in elementary school (Roeser,Eccles, & Sameroff, 2000).

In the present study, we also extend past research by testingwhether sensitivity to the school social context (i.e., school socialclimate, behavioral norms) varies across demographic groups bycomparing Latino and White students. By school social climate,we refer to general sense of belonging, support, and safety withinthe school. Behavioral norms are defined as student perceptions oftheir classmates’ conduct. Given our focus on grade levels span-

ning the transition to middle school, we examine behavioral normsmost likely to change (Roeser et al., 2000), namely academiccompliance (i.e., behaving consistent with academic expectations)and rule breaking (referring to antisocial conduct). In the followingsections, we briefly review research on perceived school socialclimate, perceived behavioral norms among peers, and studentschool conduct. Thereafter, we review existing research suggestingthat sensitivity to the school social context may vary across de-mographic groups. The focus is on studies suggesting that Latinostudents may be particularly sensitive to school social climate andbehavioral norms.

Perceived Social Climate, Behavioral Norms, andStudent Conduct

A majority of studies examining school social context havefocused on the role of perceived climate that captures perceptionsof the quality of relationships and interactions among students andbetween teachers and students (Emmons, Comer, & Haynes,1996). Consistent with Finn’s (1989) proposition that sense ofbelonging and identification with the school are critical to protectstudents from disengagement and alienation that may ultimatelylead to school dropout, there is compelling evidence supporting thelink between school social climate and indicators of psychological,academic, and social adjustment (see Osterman, 2000, for a re-view). For example, perceptions of lack of teacher and peer sup-port are related not only to low self-esteem and increased depres-sion but also to problem behaviors, such as cutting class orskipping school (Way, Reddy, & Rhodes, 2007; see also Stewart,2003). Lack of respect and unfair treatment of students, in turn, arerelated to more frequent misconduct (Gottfredson, Gottfredson,Payne, & Gottfredson, 2005; Welsh, 2000), and perceived frictionamong classmates predicts conduct problems and depressive

This article was published Online First June 20, 2011.Guadalupe Espinoza and Jaana Juvonen, Department of Psychology,

University of California, Los Angeles.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Guadal-

upe Espinoza, Department of Psychology, University of California, 1285Franz Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563. E-mail: g.espinoza@ucla.edu

Journal of Educational Psychology © 2011 American Psychological Association2011, Vol. 103, No. 3, 749–758 0022-0663/11/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0023811

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symptoms 1 year later (Loukas & Murphy, 2007; see also Wang,2009). Thus, perceptions of school social climate can help usunderstand adaptive functioning both concurrently and over timeat least among middle school students.

Although it is not surprising that perceptions of relationshipsand interactions among students and between teacher and studentsare related to better psychosocial adjustment (Osterman, 2000),little is known about the role of behavioral norms endorsed byclassmates. It is possible that school social climate is associatedwith student conduct only as much as the climate reflects thepositive (or negative) behaviors of its student body (cf. Koth,Bradshaw, & Leaf, 2008). Hence, perceptions of grade mates’conduct (e.g., academic compliance, rule compliance) may in partexplain the association between perceived school social climateand student conduct.

Although perceptions of behavioral norms have been studiedrather extensively in the context of risky or health-compromisingbehaviors (e.g., Baker, Little, & Brownell, 2003; Kinsman, Romer,Furstenberg, & Schwarz, 1998; Scholly, Katz, Gascoigne, &Holck, 2005), this framework is underutilized in research onschool conduct. One exception is a study demonstrating associa-tions between perceived behavioral norms among classmates andrespective social (e.g., acting friendly toward others) and academicbehaviors (e.g., try their best in class; Masten, Juvonen, &Spatzier, 2009). Thus, it is possible that students emulate thebehaviors of their classmates, much like they may want to wear theright type of clothes favored by other teens (e.g., Prinstein &Dodge, 2008). It is therefore important to examine student percep-tions of the prevalence of various behaviors among their class-mates.

Latino Students More Sensitive to Behavioral Normsand School Climate?

Previous research suggests that there may be differences innormative peer influence between White and Latino students giventhe distinct cultural value systems of each group. Research showsthat Latino students tend to endorse more collectivistic goals andvalues compared with White students, who typically endorse in-dividualistic goals (e.g., Freeberg & Stein, 1996). In keeping withthe individualistic and collectivistic cultures framework (Triandis,1995), it is logical to presume that conformity is especially im-portant among youth whose cultural origins emphasize the impor-tance of the collective (cf. Markus & Kitayama, 1991). In ameta-analysis of culture and conformity, Bond and Smith (1996)indeed showed that social conformity was stronger among adultsfrom collectivistic cultures than from individualistic cultures.Whether adolescents growing up in families and communities withstrong collectivistic value systems are particularly sensitive togroup norms is less clear. One study found normative peer influ-ences regarding smoking to be equally strong among students ofdifferent ethnic groups (Unger et al., 2001). In another study,behavioral norms were more strongly related to recent marijuanause among students of Mexican and Mexican American heritagecompared with non-Hispanic Whites (Elek, Miller-Day, & Hecht,2006).

Not only may Latino youth be more likely to conform tobehavioral norms in some circumstances, but they may also bemore affected by their perceptions of the school social climate than

other ethnic groups. For example, Goodenow and Grady (1993)found that the association between sense of belonging in schooland motivation was stronger for Latino than African American andWhite middle school students. Examining the importance ofschool-level factors among elementary school students, Han(2008) demonstrated that Latino students’ academic trajectorieswere more affected by school-level climate than those of childrenfrom most Asian (e.g., East Asian) cultures. Given that Latinostudents, especially recent immigrants, are likely to face a varietyof external stressors, such as discrimination (Suarez-Orozco &Suarez-Orozco, 1995), a positive school social climate might beparticularly important for them (e.g., Garcia-Reid, Reid, & Peter-son, 2005; Sanchez, Colon, & Esparza, 2005). Also, if the transi-tion to middle school is more challenging for Latino students thanfor other ethnic groups (Akos & Galassi, 2004; Wampler, Munsch,& Adams, 2002), then it is particularly important to understandwhether Latino students perceive the school social climate morenegatively than other groups.

Current Study

The current study was designed to examine the ways in whichstudent perceptions of school social climate and behavioral normsamong classmates relate to academic compliance and rule-breaking behaviors across the grades bridging the transition tomiddle school. Three specific goals guided the present cross-sectional study. Our first goal was to understand how Latino andWhite students’ perceptions of school social context differ be-tween the end of elementary school and middle school based ondata collected before (upper elementary grades), during (sixthgrade), and after (seventh grade) the transition year. In line withprior research findings (Kuperminc, Leadbeater, & Blatt, 2001;Way et al., 2007), we hypothesized that, across the three phases,students view the school climate less positively and that norms ofacademic compliance are less prevalent, whereas norms of rulebreaking are more prevalent. Moreover, on the basis of pastcomparative studies (Akos & Galassi, 2004; Wampler et al., 2002),it was expected that Latino students view the school social contextmore negatively than White students across the three phases,particularly following the transition to middle school (i.e., sixthand seventh grades).

The second goal of this study was to examine the relationbetween perceived school social context and students’ self-reported school conduct. Guided by the social-cognitive approach(Bandura, 2001), we relied on students’ subjective perceptions oftheir school social context and conduct at school. We expected thatpositive school climate perceptions would be associated with morefrequent academic compliance and less frequent rule breaking.Perceptions of behavioral norms were also expected to be posi-tively associated with the respective behaviors. To examinewhether these associations vary by ethnicity, grade, or level ofacculturation, we tested moderator effects. We hypothesized thatthe association between perceived school social context (socialclimate and behavioral norms) and students’ self-reported conductwill be moderated by ethnicity. The associations between schoolsocial context perceptions and school conduct were presumed to bestronger among Latino youth than White students. Additionally,differences within the Latino sample based on parent educationand home language use were tested. Among immigrant groups,

750 ESPINOZA AND JUVONEN

such as Latinos, home language use is one indicator of accultur-ation level (e.g., English, Kharrazi, & Guendelman, 1997; Yu,Huang, Schwalberg, Overpeck, & Kogan, 2003) that may affectstudents’ sensitivity to social settings. Given limited prior researchexamining differences among Latino students, this question wasexploratory. Although less central to our study, we also testedpossible grade-level differences in the strength of associationsbetween perceived social context and school conduct inasmuch asstudent conduct may be most influenced by social perceptionswhen they have just entered middle school (i.e., when they try tofit in and navigate within the new school; Juvonen & Galvan,2008).

The third goal of the study was to investigate the mechanismsunderlying possible adjustment difficulties associated with themiddle school transition. We tested whether perceptions of behav-ioral norms might explain the association between school socialclimate and school conduct. It was expected that perceived behav-ioral norms partly mediate the association between global climateperceptions and school conduct (i.e., academic compliance andrule breaking). As far as we know, such a meditation model has notbeen tested because there is little research on perceived behavioralnorms and no studies on both school social climate and behavioralnorms.

Method

Participants

Data from Grades 4–7 were obtained from students from twopublic schools in the Los Angeles area (one kindergarten- throughfifth-grade elementary school that was a feeder into a sixth-through eighth-grade middle school) within the same school dis-trict. Both the elementary school and the middle school wereethnically diverse. Parents were also invited to respond to a brief,optional survey including demographic information (e.g., level ofeducation, languages spoken at home). Of the 67% of parents whoconsented for their child to participate in the study, 96% alsocompleted the parent questionnaire.

The overall sample was diverse and included 520 students ofwhom 39% identified as White, 35% as Latino, 8% as AfricanAmerican, 8% as mixed, 6% as Asian, and 4% as other. Werestricted the analyses sample to Latino (n � 182) and White (n �201) students. Hence, the final sample included 383 participants ofwhom 53% were male. Independent sample t tests comparingfourth and fifth graders indicated no differences between the twogrades across all variables of interest, suggesting that perceptionsof the school social context remain relatively stable in the lastyears of elementary school. Combining the fourth and fifth gradersinto one pretransition group enhanced the statistical power of theanalysis and made the sample size more comparable to the tran-sition (i.e., sixth grade) and posttransition groups (i.e., seventhgrade). There were 134 pretransition students (31% Latino), 136transition students (61% Latino), and 113 posttransition students(50% Latino).

Across the change in schools, the percentages of total enroll-ment for Whites and Latinos differed between the elementary andmiddle school. That is, White students were the majority group intheir elementary school (54% of total enrollment) but were nolonger the majority group in middle school (34% of total enroll-

ment). Latino students had the reverse process occur: They were aminority group in elementary school (30% of total enrollment) butbecame the largest group in middle school (47% of total enroll-ment).

Parent report of their level of education was measured and usedas a proxy for socioeconomic status (SES), as has been done inprevious youth research (e.g., Halle, Kurtz-Costes, & Mahoney,1997; Woo, Dolan, Morrow, Geraghty, & Goodman, 2008). In thisstudy, parents’ level of education was categorized into threegroups: parents who completed some high school and/or a highschool degree (i.e., low SES), parents who completed some college(i.e., middle SES), and parents who obtained a college degree (i.e.,high SES). Latino students were more highly represented in thefirst two groups than the White students, 76% compared with 27%,respectively, �2(4, N � 323) � 90.75, p � .001. Due to thesedifferences, parent education is included as a control variable in allanalyses. To examine within-group variability among the Latinosample, we used parent reports of languages spoken at home toassess the family acculturation level. Among Latinos, 19% spokeonly English in the home, 33% spoke only Spanish, and 48%spoke both English and Spanish, whereas among White students amajority spoke only English in their home (92%).

Measures

Students completed individual questionnaires in their class-rooms as one researcher read the items aloud and another re-searcher answered questions privately. Measures included studentself-reported demographics (i.e., age, ethnicity), perceptions ofschool social climate, perceived behavioral norms of academiccompliance and rule breaking, and self-reported academic compli-ance and rule-breaking behaviors. To ensure that the three schoolsocial context measures were indeed independent constructs, wetested the reliability of the structure with confirmatory factoranalysis by relying on the larger cross-sectional sample. Resultsrevealed that indeed the three-factor model (i.e., school climate,behavioral norms of academic compliance, behavioral norms ofrule breaking) provides reasonable fit to the data (root-mean-square error of approximation � .068, 90% CI [.059, .076]). Thefactor loadings for each of the constructs ranged from .50 to. 68 forschool social climate, .64 to .76 for academic compliance norms,and .59 to .86 for rule-breaking norms.

Parent data regarding their level of education and languagesused at home were used as proxies for SES and acculturation,respectively. As mentioned above, parents indicated their level ofeducation with options including some high school, high schooldiploma, some college, or college degree. For languages spoken athome, parents responded whether they spoke English, Spanish,and/or other languages (multiple responses were allowed).

Perceptions of school social climate. Perceived school socialclimate was assessed with a composite of six items in whichstudents were asked to mark how often each sentence was true forthem. Sample items included “I feel I belong in my school,” “I feelunsafe at school” (reverse coded), and “Teachers at my school treatstudents fairly.” These items tapping into the interpersonal climateperceptions are similar to those used in previous research measur-ing specific school climate subscales such as fairness (Gottfredson,1984), belongingness, and safety (Welsh, 2000). Items were ratedon a 5-point Likert scale ranging from not at all (1) to all the time

751PERCEPTIONS OF SCHOOL SOCIAL CONTEXT

(5); higher values indicated more positive climate perceptions.Internal reliability of the climate scale was good (� � .74).

Perceived behavioral norms. To assess perceptions of be-havioral norms, we asked students to estimate the number of grademates engaging in specific academic and social behaviors. Theyresponded to “How many of the kids in your grade ___?” on a5-point Likert scale ranging from almost no one (1) to almost allthe kids (5). Four self-report items were combined to assess aca-demic compliance (e.g., pay attention in class, listen to yourteachers and do what they say), and five items were combined toassess rule-breaking behaviors (e.g., take things from school with-out permission, make fun of other kids). The internal reliabilitiesof the behavioral norms scales were high (� � .77 for academiccompliance, � � .82 for rule breaking). Higher scale scoresindicated that the respondent perceived the behaviors to be moreprevalent among his or her peers.

Self-reports of school conduct. Students rated how fre-quently they engaged in behaviors capturing academic complianceand rule breaking. Items used to assess self-reports parallel theitems used to assess perceived norms. Students were asked “Howoften do you ___?” and responded to items on a 5-point scaleranging from never (1) to very frequently (5). For academic com-pliance and rule-breaking behaviors the internal reliability was thesame (� � .74). The higher ratings indicated that a student wasmore highly academically compliant or engaged in more rule-breaking behaviors.

Results

Plan for Data Analysis

The results were divided into four sections. First, differencesbetween White and Latino student perceptions of the school socialcontext were examined at the three phases (pretransition, transi-tion, posttransition) and by gender in 2 � 3 � 2 analyses ofvariance. This set of analyses allowed us to test our hypotheses (a)that student perceptions of the school social context are morenegative in middle school than in elementary school and (b) thatLatino students perceive the school social context more negativelythan White students across the transition. Second, we performedcorrelation analyses among all main variables separately for Whiteand Latino students to examine general patterns of associationsamong our variables of interest.

Next, we conducted a series of three-step hierarchical regressionanalyses to examine the contribution of perceived school socialcontext variables in explaining variance in self-reports of academiccompliance and rule breaking after accounting for control vari-ables. We also conducted regression analyses to test moderatoreffects of school climate and behavioral norms between Latino andWhite students and subsequently within Latinos. Following themultiple regression procedures for testing moderation effects setby Fairchild and McQuillin (2010), in Step 1, we entered gender(dummy coded; boys as reference group), ethnicity (dummy coded;Latinos as reference group), parent education (dummy coded; somecollege as reference group), and grade (dummy coded; pretransi-tion as reference group) as control variables. Perceived schoolclimate and perceived behavioral norms were entered in Step 2. Inthe final step, interactions among grade and ethnicity with each ofthe student-perceived school social context variables were tested

(e.g., School Climate � Ethnicity, School Climate � Grade).Interactions were added in the model to test our hypothesis that theassociations between school social context perceptions and the twosets of behaviors are stronger for Latino than White youth ordepending on the transition phase. Prior to testing the moderatoreffects, we centered the perceived school social context variablesto avoid multicollinearity (Fairchild & McQuillin, 2010).

Finally, to test the mediator hypotheses that perceptions ofbehavioral norms explain the association between school socialclimate and rule-breaking school conduct, we conducted additionalregression analyses. In particular, we followed the guidelines setforth by Baron and Kenny (1986) in which three regression modelsare estimated and provide the test for the meditational model.

Grade, Ethnic, and Gender Differences in PerceivedSchool Social Context

It was important to understand ethnic and gender differences inthe school context variables across the three transition phases,before trying to understand how these predictor variables mayexplain self-reported school conduct. Within the analyses of vari-ance,1 no gender differences were found for any perceived schoolsocial context indicators. Table 1 provides means and standarddeviations for each of the three perceived school social contextindicators based on grade and ethnicity.

School social climate. A significant main effect of grade forperceived school climate was found, F(2, 336) � 22.44, p � .001,�2 � .11. Consistent with our predictions, post hoc (Tukey’s)comparisons revealed that averaging across the two ethnic groups,the pretransition students (M � 4.20, SD � 0.48) reported per-ceiving a more positive school climate than transition students(M � 3.80, SD � 0.65) and posttransition students (M � 3.67,SD � 0.63).

Perceived norms of academic compliance. A significantmain effect of grade was obtained, F(2, 348) � 42.69, p � .001,�2 � .18. Across both ethnic groups, the pretransition studentsreported the highest prevalence of academic compliance (M �4.05, SD � 0.50) among their classmates. Transition students(M � 3.59, SD � 0.68), in turn, perceived more of their classmatesengaging in these positive behaviors than the posttransition stu-dents (M � 3.35, SD � 0.63), who reported the lowest levels ofperceived academic compliance among peers. Additionally, a sig-nificant main effect of ethnicity revealed that Latino students (M �3.73, SD � 0.65) reported more positive behavioral norms ofacademic compliance than White students (M � 3.64, SD � 0.69),F(1, 348) � 10.05, p � .001, �2 � .03.

Perceived norms of rule breaking. Only a significant maineffect of grade was obtained, F(2, 341) � 50.54, p � .001, �2 �.21. Across both ethnic groups, the pretransition students (M �1.53, SD � 0.44) reported less rule breaking among their peersthan transition students (M � 2.19, SD � 0.69) and posttransitionstudents (M � 2.35, SD � 0.73).

In sum, the analysis of variance results revealed significantdifferences in students’ perceptions of the school social contextacross the three phases bridging from elementary to middle school.

1 All descriptive analyses are tested against the more conservative sig-nificance level of .01.

752 ESPINOZA AND JUVONEN

Perceptions of school social climate and peers’ academic compli-ance declined, and perceptions of peers’ rule breaking increasedacross the three groups. Latino students differed from their Whitepeers only regarding their perceptions of academic compliance.Contrary to our expectations, however, Latino students perceivedmore of their peers to be academically engaged before, during, andafter their transition to middle school than White students.

Correlation Analysis

Pearson correlation coefficients (see Table 2) among all mainvariables were examined separately for Latino and White students.The three indicators of perceived school social context were sig-nificantly related with one another in the expected direction forLatino and White students. For example, higher ratings of schoolclimate were correlated with lower perceived behavioral norms ofrule breaking. Correlations between school conduct variables andperceived school social climate were moderate to high. Althoughschool social climate was strongly correlated with self-reportedacademic compliance among Latino and White students, climateperceptions were more strongly correlated with self-reported rulebreaking among Latinos than Whites (z � 2.17, p � .03), sug-gesting that perceptions of the school climate matter more toLatino students than to White students. Correlations among per-ceived behavioral norms and self-reported conduct were similarfor all students.

Regression Analyses Predicting School ConductBehaviors

One of our hypotheses for the regression analysis predictingschool conduct was that the association between school social

context perceptions and school conduct will be strongest whenstudents have just entered middle school. Contrary to our expec-tations, the strength of the associations did not depend on thetransition phase. Because of these nonsignificant effects, we re-tained the most parsimonious model and excluded the grade inter-action terms from the final models presented below.

Predicting academic compliance. The hierarchical regres-sion tested the contribution of school climate and perceived be-havioral norms of academic compliance and also assessed whetherthe association between school climate and self-reported academiccompliance varied by ethnicity. The final model accounted for21% of the variance in self-reported academic compliance, F(9,281) � 8.49, p � .001, and according to effect size index criteriaset by Cohen (1992), the effect size (f 2 � .27) for the model ismedium to large. As can be seen in Table 3, among the variablescontrolled for in Step 1, gender, ethnicity, and high parent educa-tion were associated with academic compliance. Specifically, girlscompared with boys, White students compared with Latino stu-dents, and students who have a parent with a college degreecompared with students who have a parent with some collegeeducation reported more frequent academic compliance. Afteraccounting for the demographic variables, both school climate andperceived norms independently predicted academic compliance.More positive school climate perceptions were associated withmore frequent academic compliance (� � .41, p � .001).Perceptions of academic compliance among peers (� � .14, p �.035) were also predictive of self-reported academic compli-ance. At the third step, a significant interaction of perceivedschool climate with ethnicity was found (� � �.17, p � .044),suggesting that the strength of the association varies betweenLatino and White students.

Table 1Means and Standard Deviations for Perceived School Social Context Based on Grade andEthnicity

Variable

Pretransition Transition Posttransition

M SD M SD M SD

School climateLatino 4.12 0.57 3.83 0.64 3.81 0.60White 4.23 0.44 3.73 0.68 3.52 0.63

Academic compliance normsLatino 4.13 0.46 3.74 0.64 3.41 0.64White 4.01 0.52 3.32 0.67 3.28 0.62

Rule-breaking normsLatino 1.58 0.54 2.05 0.70 2.27 0.79White 1.51 0.39 2.45 0.61 2.43 0.65

Table 2Correlations Among Context and School Conduct Variables for Latino and White Students

Variable 1 2 3 4 5

1. Academic compliance — �.43 .43 .23 �.242. Rule breaking �.49 — �.52 .23 .493. School climate .33 �.33 — .46 �.524. Academic compliance norms .26 �.30 .58 — �.555. Rule-breaking norms �.30 .41 �.61 �.63 —

Note. Correlations for Latinos are presented above the diagonal and for Whites below the diagonal. Allcorrelations were significant at p � .01.

753PERCEPTIONS OF SCHOOL SOCIAL CONTEXT

Following the guidelines set forth by Aiken and West (1991),we examined the association between perceived school socialclimate and self-reported academic compliance for Latino andWhite students at high (1 standard deviation above the mean) andlow (1 standard deviation below the mean) levels of perceivedschool climate (see Figure 1). The significant interaction wasfollowed up with a test of the simple slopes. Among Whitestudents, perceived school climate was not predictive of self-reported academic compliance (� � .16, p � .099), whereasamong Latino students, positive perceptions of school climatepredicted more frequent academic compliance (� � .39, p � .001),as expected.

Predicting rule breaking. Table 3 summarizes the findingsfrom this analysis. The final model accounted for 28% of thevariance in self-reported rule breaking, F(9, 274) � 11.68, p �.001. Moreover, the effect size of the final model is large (f2 �

.39). Among the control variables, only an effect of gender wasfound such that boys reported engaging in rule breaking morefrequently than girls. Consistent with our predictions, both per-ceived school climate and behavioral norms significantly predictedself-reported rule breaking. More positive perceptions of theschool social climate were associated with less frequent self-reports of rule breaking (� � �.34, p � .001), whereas moreprevalent rule breaking among peers was related to more frequentself-reported breaking of rules (� � .33, p � .001). In the thirdstep, the school climate effect was qualified by ethnicity (� � .20,p � .014), suggesting that the association varies across the ethnicgroups. Follow-up analyses (see Figure 2) indicated that Whitestudents’ perceptions of the school social climate were not relatedto their conduct (� � �.06, p � .546), whereas Latino studentsreported lower levels of rule-breaking behaviors when they per-ceived a more positive school climate (� � �.36, p � .001). Thatis, a positive perception of the school climate seemed to act as abuffer against Latino students engaging in rule-breaking behaviors.

Table 3Hierarchical Regression Analysis Summary Predicting Self-Reported Academic Compliance(N � 286) and Self-Reported Rule Breaking (N � 279)

Variable

Academic compliance Rule breaking

� t R2 � t R2

Step 1 .07�� .09���

Gender .11 2.09� �.14 �2.69�

Ethnicity .15 2.28� �.05 �0.73Low parent education .09 1.40 �.10 �1.61High parent education .17 2.49� �.02 �0.24Transition group .13 1.89 .03 0.48Posttransition group .01 0.19 .07 0.95

Step 2 .20��� .26���

School climate .41 4.85��� �.34 �4.10���

Behavioral norms .14 2.12� .33 4.87���

Step 3 .21��� .28���

School Climate � Ethnicity �.17 �2.04� .20 2.48�

Note. Reference groups for dummy variables: male, Latino, medium parent education (i.e., some college),fourth to fifth grade (pretransition). The variables in Step 2 and cross-products in Step 3 were centered.� p � .05. �� p � .01. ��� p � .001.

Figure 1. Interaction of school climate by ethnicity in predicting self-reported academic compliance.

Figure 2. Interaction of school climate by ethnicity in predicting self-reported rule breaking.

754 ESPINOZA AND JUVONEN

Latino Students: Within-Group Analysis

To examine whether the association between school social con-text perceptions and school conduct vary for Latino studentsdepending on parent education and home language use (cf. accul-turation), we conducted additional regression analyses. Gender,grade, parent education, and language use (dummy coded; Englishand Spanish spoken at home as reference group) were entered atStep 1. Step 2 remained consistent from previous models (i.e.,school climate and behavioral norms), and in Step 3, two-wayinteractions were tested between parent education and each schoolsocial context variable and between languages spoken at home andthe school social context variables. Languages spoken at home andparent education were not associated with academic compliance.In predicting rule breaking, there was a significant main effect oflow parent education (� � �.19, p � .024); Latino students withparents with no college education were less likely to engage in rulebreaking than those with parents who had some college education.The two-way interactions did not reach statistical significance.

In summary, the hierarchical multiple regression analyses re-vealed that perceptions of the school social context were related toschool conduct among Latino and White students across the threestages of the middle school transition. Whereas perceptions ofbehavioral norms were associated with students’ self-reportedschool conduct, perceived school social climate predicted aca-demic compliance and rule breaking only for Latino students. Nosupport was found for variations within Latino students based onlevel of parent education or level of acculturation (estimated basedon home language use).

Mediation Model of Behavioral Norms for RuleBreaking

Previous analyses suggested that Latino and White studentsdiffer in their sensitivity to perceived school climate. The questionthen is whether behavioral norms could account for the associationbetween school climate and school conduct among Latino youth(collapsing across grade level). Given that our measure of per-ceived school climate specifically assesses perceptions of safetyand belonging, we tested whether student views of behavioralnorms of rule breaking accounted for the association betweenschool climate and self-reported rule breaking.

To test the mediation hypothesis, first, we established the rela-tion between school social climate and the mediator, perceivednorms of rule breaking (� � �.48, p � .001). In the next step,school climate significantly predicted self-reported rule-breakingbehaviors (� � �.52, p � .001), and in the third step, self-reportedrule breaking was predicted from perceived norms of rule breakingwith school climate in the model. Behavioral norms were signif-icant predictors of rule breaking (� � .30, p � .001), and theassociations between school climate and rule breaking decreasedin strength (although it remained significant) when behavioralnorms were included in the model (� � �.38, p � .001). Thisreduction in strength between the predictor variable and outcome,in the presence of the mediator, suggests that the mediator isaccounting for some (although not all) of the relationship betweenthe predictor and the outcome (Baron & Kenny, 1986).

We subsequently conducted path analyses to estimate direct andindirect effects between school climate and rule-breaking behav-

iors (see Figure 3). As indicated by MacKinnon, Fairchild, andFritz (2007), the indirect path (or the mediated effect) is indicatedby the product of the coefficients derived from the first and thirdsteps of the mediation analysis. The test of the mediated effect(Sobel, 1982) resulted in a significant mediation effect (z � �3.21,p � .001). The results suggest that behavioral norms of rulebreaking partially mediate the relationship between school socialclimate and rule-breaking behaviors among Latino youth. That is,the association between perceived school climate and rule break-ing was partially accounted for by perceived behavioral norms ofrule breaking, implying that the climate of a school fosters normsthat, in turn, relate to Latino students’ rule breaking.

Discussion

The current study extends previous research in three main ways.First, to better understand the challenges associated with the mid-dle school transition, we assessed not only perceptions of schoolsocial climate but also behavioral norms of academic complianceand rule breaking among grade mates. Second, central to ouranalyses was the assumption that Latino youth are more sensitiveto the social context across the grades bridging the transition tomiddle school. Third, although we presumed that both perceptionsof the school social climate and perceived behavioral normsamong grade mates are each related to school conduct, we testedwhether perceived norms can partly account for the associationbetween social climate and rule-breaking behaviors.

The results from the current study highlight that in addition toschool interpersonal climate, perceived behavioral norms amonggrade mates are indeed an important index of the school socialcontext associated with school conduct. The more normative stu-dents perceived academic compliance among their grade mates,the more likely they were to participate in class, listen to theirteachers, and do what they say. The more normative studentsperceived rule breaking, the more likely they were, in turn, toengage in behaviors such as damaging school property or makingfun of other kids. Hence, assessment of perceived behavioralnorms is important to consider when accounting for school-basedconduct during early adolescence.

Unlike those of their White classmates, Latino students’ viewsof school social climate predicted both self-reported academiccompliance and rule breaking, suggesting greater sensitivity. La-

Figure 3. Mediation model with behavioral norms of rule breaking as themediator. Model controls for socioeconomic status, gender, and grade.Standardized regression coefficients are presented. The value in parenthe-ses indicates the effect of school climate when behavioral norms is in themodel. �� p � .01. ��� p � .001.

755PERCEPTIONS OF SCHOOL SOCIAL CONTEXT

tino students’ dependence on social cues and increased sensitivityto cues in the school environment in framing their perspectives onschool climate has been discussed in previous work. For example,in a study of third graders, Latino students underscored the im-portance of peers, the classroom setting, and the moral order of theschool when describing the climate of their school more so thanAfrican American students (Slaughter-Defoe & Carlson, 1996).Taken together, the comparative studies previously reviewed(Goodenow & Grady, 1993; Han, 2008; Slaughter-Defoe & Carl-son, 1996) and the results from the current study suggest thatcompared with youth from other ethnic groups, Latino studentsmay have a heightened sensitivity to school climate as it relates totheir academic and social behaviors.

In an effort to understand the mechanism by which school socialclimate perceptions predict school conduct, we found that amongLatino students, a positive school climate is associated with per-ceptions of a peer culture where rule breaking is not perceived asnormative among peers, which, in turn, is associated with theirown conduct. This finding is consistent with those obtained byKoth et al. (2008), showing that school climate perceptions (e.g.,order and discipline) among elementary school children wereinfluenced by disruptive classroom behaviors. That is, studentsperceived their school less positively when there was a greaterproportion of students with behavior problems in their classroom.

Latino students’ perceptions of the school social context acrossthe transition were not more negative than those of White students.Rather, Latino students perceived behavioral norms of academiccompliance as more normative than their White peers. What canaccount for the more positive views of Latino students across thetransition? Some researchers have stressed the importance of un-derstanding the ethnic composition of students’ schools (Graham,2006), particularly changes across school transitions (Benner &Graham, 2007). As previously noted, in the current study, Latinostudents’ enrollment increased proportionally such that Latinostudents were surrounded by more ethnically similar peers afterthe school transition. This may have allowed them to feel agreater sense of connectedness and not experience the transitionany more difficult than White students. For example, Goldsmith(2004) found that Latino students’ proschool attitudes and opti-mism improve in the presence of similar, minority peers. A recentstudy among urban youth found that Latino students whose nu-merical representation declined significantly across the transitionfrom middle school to high school found the transition morechallenging than Latino students who experienced ethnic congru-ence across the transition (Benner & Graham, 2009). Specifically,Latino students reported less school belonging and were morelikely to be absent from school when their ethnic group becamesmaller in high school. Thus, future research should not onlyexamine changes in perceptions of the school context across thetransition from elementary to middle school but also account forthe changing ethnic compositions between schools.

Although distinct associations between school climate percep-tions and conduct were revealed across the two ethnic groups, theassociations between perceived behavioral norms and conduct didnot differ between the Latino and White students. These findingsare consistent with those examining smoking: Unger et al. (2001)found no evidence for greater peer influence among Latino youthcompared with their White peers. Given the lack of evidencesuggesting that Latino students are more easily influenced by

norms (due to cultural conformity pressures), it may be that thecollectivistic and individualistic distinction is not quite as clear-cutbetween White and Latino ethnic groups living in the United States(Oyserman, Coon, & Kemmelmeier, 2002). Alternatively, per-ceived behavioral norms among peers might be developmentallypotent correlates of behavior across all demographic groups. Theresults are not to suggest that the collectivistic and individualisticdistinction is not important to consider in school-based researchwith adolescents. In fact, research by Klassen (2004a, 2004b) inparticular highlights the importance of examining differences incollectivistic and individualistic distinction as they relate to stu-dents’ sense of efficacy and related motivational constructs.

Given the increasing heterogeneity within groups, studies ex-amining the role of school context among minority students havecalled for research examining similarities and differences withingroups (e.g., Han, 2008). The current study tested whether theassociation between school social context and school conductvaried by Latino parents’ education level or languages spoken athome. No support was found suggesting that Latino students’increased sensitivity to the school social context is consistentregardless of parent education or language use.

Limitations and Future Directions

The cross-sectional sample does not allow us to make inferencesabout the direction of associations among our variables of interest.It would be, therefore, important to obtain longitudinal data to testwhether initial perceptions of school climate indeed predictchanges in academic compliance and rule breaking. Additionally,a larger sample made up of students from more than one schooland across many classrooms would allow us to account for possi-ble district, school, and classroom variables that are not accountedfor in the current analyses. Moreover, comparisons across schoolswith different ethnic compositions would allow us to test whetheran increase in the representation of one’s own ethnic group acrosselementary to middle school indeed positively affects perceptionsof the new setting.

Additional behavioral data (e.g., based on teacher reports)would further strengthen the scientific rigor of the study. Guidedby a social-cognitive approach (Bandura, 2001), we relied solelyon students’ subjective perceptions of their social environment andtheir behaviors at school. In addition to capitalizing on moresources of data, it would be interesting to expand on our unidi-mensional school social climate variable. For example, differentrelationship components (e.g., peer vs. teacher–student relation-ships) or other facets of the organizational and instructional cli-mate (e.g., Astor, Benbenishty, Vinokur, & Zeira, 2006) mightmatter differently to various demographic groups.

Implications

In addition to extending one’s understanding of Latino andWhite students’ school social context perceptions across a criticaldevelopmental period, the results of the current study have impli-cations for educators. Specifically, the examination of mediatingmechanisms is important because it allows us to identify possiblepoints of intervention (Shrout & Bolger, 2002). Given the findingsof the current study, focusing on how to change perceived normsof rule breaking may be one way to avoid negative school conduct.

756 ESPINOZA AND JUVONEN

Although not specifically aimed to address normative changesassociated with transition to middle school, schoolwide preventionprograms have been shown to be effective in reducing bullying andviolence by changing the peer group norms. Using the concept ofpeer group power in their antibullying program, Salmivalli, Kauki-ainen, and Voeten (2005) found decreases in frequency of bullyingand victimization experiences and changes in attitudes about bul-lying 12 months after the program. Similarly, students in schoolswith a schoolwide Responding in Peaceful and Positive Waysprogram, designed to alter school norms (Farrell, Valois, Meyer, &Tidwell, 2003), reported lower rates of aggressive behavior andpositive changes in some indicators of school norms, such as theapproval of nonviolence, 2 years after the program. Thus, preven-tion programs aiming to change negative behavioral norms mighthelp alleviate the undesirable behavior changes associated with thetransition to middle school.

A challenge for future empirical research and applied workwithin schools is to identify and develop successful strategies toprevent negative behavior changes as youth acclimate to a newmiddle school setting. The results of the current study underscorethe importance of perceptions of the school social context inunderstanding academic and social behaviors among ethnic mi-nority youth, such as Latino students, who appear to be especiallysensitive to the school social climate.

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Received December 4, 2009Revision received March 28, 2011

Accepted April 5, 2011 �

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