A Longitudinal Look at School Climate and Students' Motivations for Attending University

This study takes a longitudinal approach to exploring the role of school climate during early childhood in predicting teens’ motivation to pursue post-high school plans. School climate was examined using ISAT scores in kindergarten/preschool and first grade. Twelve years later motivation for post-high school plans in adolescence was assessed. Zero-order correlations were conducted, and results indicated that school climate in preschool/kindergarten was positively correlated with adolescents having humanitarian motivation for post-high school plans that included attending college and/or working after high school. Results also indicated that school climate in first grade was positively correlated with humanitarian motivation and negatively correlated with default motivation for pursuing post-high school plans.