School Climate, Bullying, and the Influence of Principals and Teachers: Insights on Arab Countries from PIRLS 2021 Data

Abstract One of the main challenges related to school climate is the difference in perception between students, teachers, and principals. In fact, school policies may fail to address bullying issues effectively due to the misidentification of the magnitude of the issue. To investigate this challenge, we used data from the 2021 Progress in International Reading and Literacy Study (PIRLS) assessment gathered in the Arab countries, and created two separate measures of school climate using Item Response Theory—one for students and one for teachers and principals. We then examined the main correlates of these measures checking for existing differences between the regressions. The results show how emphasis on academic success improves school climate perception significantly more for teachers and principals than it does for students. Moreover, teachers and principals report a better school climate when there are fewer shortages and issues with teaching, but these variables have no significant association with school climate as reported by students. There is also evidence of a worse school climate as reported by students in urban schools, while teachers and principals do not show a significant coefficient for this variable.