RUNNING HEAD: Multilevel Analysis of Climate Effects Doubly Latent Multilevel Analyses of Classroom Climate: An illustration

Many classroom climate studies suffer from two critical problems. They: (a) treat climate as a studentlevel (L1) variable in single-level analyses instead of a classroom-level (L2) construct in multilevel analyses; and (b) rely on manifest-variable models rather than latent-variable models that control measurement error at L1 and L2, and sampling error in the aggregation of L1 ratings to form L2 constructs. Based on an analysis of 2541 students in Grades 5 or 6 from 89 classrooms, we demonstrate doubly-latent multilevel structural equation models that overcome both these problems. The results show that L2 classroom climate (a higher-order factor representing classroom mastery goal orientation, challenge, and teacher caring) had positive effects on self-efficacy and achievement. We conclude with a discussion of related issues (e.g. the meaning of L2 constructs versus L1 residuals, the dimensionality of climate constructs at L2) and guidelines for future research.