This 17th edition of "Education Week's" annual "Quality Counts" report takes aim at an issue freighted with emotional as well as policy implications: the impact of a school's social and disciplinary environment on students' ability to learn and on the teachers and administrators tasked with guiding them. National initiatives to improve schools tend to focus heavily on curriculum, testing, and personnel. But a growing consensus also recognizes that the elements that make up school climate--including peer relationships, students' sense of safety and security, and the disciplinary policies and practices they confront each day--play a crucial part in laying the groundwork for academic success. Those factors, along with resources and the ability of school staff members to meet students' needs, are seen as especially important for low-performing schools and at-risk students. In analyzing the ways in which school climate can support--or hinder--academic achievement, "Education Week's" reporters drew on the latest research and visits to schools putting into practice approaches intended to assure a secure, supportive learning environment.