Measuring School Contexts

This article describes issues in measuring school contexts with an eye toward understanding students’ experiences and outcomes. I begin with an overview of the conceptual underpinnings related to measuring contexts, briefly describe the initiatives at the National Center for Education Statistics to measure school contexts, and identify possible gaps in those initiatives that if filled could provide valuable new data for researchers. Next, I discuss new approaches and opportunities for measurement, and special considerations related to diverse populations and youth development. I conclude with recommendations for future priorities.