School climate, safety and well-being of students are important antecedents of academic achievement. However, school members do not necessarily experience school climate in the same way; rather, their subjective perceptions of the environment and personal characteristics influence individual outcomes and behaviours. Therefore, a closer look at the relationship between school climate, safety, well-being of students and student learning is needed. This review of the literature explores the relationship among school climate, school safety, student academic achievement and student well-being. Using a systematic review approach, we conducted an overview of empirically based research findings and technical reports that address the following aspects: (a) school climate as a social construct and its connection with school safety; (b) the conditions that contribute to an environment in which students feel safe; (c) the characteristics of particular groups of students who feel unsafe; and (d) the impact of a negative school environment (e.g. a school environment where bullying, victimisation and violence are prevalent) on student achievement, ultimately, secondary school completion and student well-being. We summarise the state of school climate research, discuss the implications for school policies and practices in the areas of school climate, safety and student success, and provide recommendations for future research.

RationaleIn 2015, Queen's University embarked on an institution‐wide transition to a competency‐based medical education (CBME) curriculum for all 29 postgraduate medical education programmes. On 1 July 2017, this goal was accomplished. With this mass transition came the requirement to assess the efficacy of implementation through a programme evaluation process, which included the use of outcome harvesting (Wilson‐Grau). Outcome harvesting identified the intended and unintended outcomes of CBME implementation, which helped us understand how the intervention was achieved and how the relationship between behaviours and stakeholders contributed to the successful transition.MethodsA systematic approach to document analysis was used to categorize the eight identified areas of implementation: governance, scholarship, faculty development, resident leadership, curriculum, assessment, communications, and technology. Documents (N = 443) were organized per project area and then coded thematically. Documents were then categorized for attribution to outcomes using the outcome harvesting approach. Outcomes were validated via interrater reliability and substantiated by stakeholders to verify accuracy of formulation and plausibility of its influence on the outcome.ResultsThe harvest produced 38 outcomes, either intended or unintended, that can be attributed to CBME implementation at Queen's University.ConclusionUsing outcome harvesting to assess the efficacy of CBME implementation produced a robust set of themes and resultant outcomes that can be categorized as requirements for success of implementation of any curricular innovation. Emergent themes included collaboration, community of practice, and stakeholder commitment. More unique observations noted through the harvest process included new policy development, creation of learner ownership, and an increase in the output of scholarly activity involving CBME.

Although school climate has been a focus of research for many years, there still exist definitional and conceptual challenges in positioning it as a meaningful construct. Most often school climate is referred to as a set of feelings and attitudes that are elicited by a school's environment, or the quality and character of school life based on patterns of people's experience of school life that reflect norms, goals, values, interpersonal relationships, teaching and learning practices, and organisational structures. Closely related to school climate (and often, used interchangeably) is the notion of school safety. In safe learning environments students flourish emotionally, socially and academically based on the quality of relationships among students, parents, school personnel and the community. In this paper, we explored the relationship among school climate, school safety, student academic achievement and student well-being by reviewing empirically based research findings and technical reports that address: (i) the school climate as a social construct and its connection with school safety; (ii) the conditions that contribute to an environment in which students feel safe; (iii) the characteristics of particular groups of students who feel unsafe; and (iv) the impact of a negative school environment (e.g. a school environment where bullying, victimisation and violence are prevalent) on student achievement, and ultimately, secondary school completion and student well-being. Implications for Policy and PracticeSchool climate has been helpfully conceptualised in the research literature as a multidimensional construct that includes physical, social and academic dimensions.