No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation is an important policy intervention aimed at changing school, district, and state department of education policies and practices to improve student outcomes. These efforts are compromised because NCLB does not prioritize the conditions necessary for improving academic outcomes. One such necessary condition is a nurturing, positive school climate. Social workers play a central role in creating a positive school climate because of their expertise in ecological systems perspectives and interdisciplinary collaboration. Creating a positive school climate requires data-informed decision making, such that data about student needs and organizational factors are used in improvement planning to create the conditions for academic success. A case example illustrates how data collected in one school district reveal aspects of school climate that are comparatively strong as well as those that may need improvement. These data are then applied to district improvement plans. Finally, this article proposes a data-informed theoretical framework for developing a positive school climate by providing opportunities, skills, and reinforcement.