This report from the Alliance finds that schools that struggle most with providing a positive school climate more often disproportionately serve students of color and low-income students. It also confirms that students of color and students from low-income families are less likely to have access to rigorous course work and experienced teachers, and are more likely to be suspended than their white and wealthier peers. "Climate Change: Creating an Integrated Framework for Improving School Climate" is the first in a series that analyzes data from the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) to determine how this data can be used to support effective secondary school reform, with a particular focus on the nation's lowest-performing secondary schools. The report posits that school discipline, curriculum, and teaching are interconnected and any effort to address one issue will be limited unless the other two are addressed as well. When addressed as a whole, these issues make up school climate. [Contains endnotes. This paper was prepared by members of the Alliance for Excellent Education's federal advocacy and policy staff. For "Climate Change Series: Federal, State, and Local Policy Recommendations for Creating a Positive School Climate," see ED557933.]