Annenberg Institute School Improvement
Tools
The Annenberg Institute web site now includes a school improvement
section with tools and step-by-step guides to help users examine
specific school-improvement concerns. Tools include observation
protocols, focus group samples and questions, surveys, and questionnaires.
They are organized by key focus areas: leadership; community connections;
professional development; school organization; school climate; student
supports; and comprehensive school improvement. Currently featured
is a "student voice" tool from the Northwest Regional
Laboratory to help engage students in survey analysis.
All of these school improvement tools and guides can be downloaded.
California Healthy Kids Survey
The Healthy Kids Survey is a comprehensive and customizable youth
self-report data collection system that provides essential and reliable
health risk assessment and resilience information to schools, districts,
and communities. Targeted at grades 5-12, the HKS enables schools
and communities to collect and analyze valuable data regarding local
youth health risks, assets, and behaviors. The student self-report
Youth Development and Resiliency survey module includes questions
related to school climate and connectedness. In addition, a staff
school climate survey has been developed recently. The purpose of
the survey is to obtain "staff perceptions of student behavior
and attitudes, school programs and policies, and the overall school
climate as they relate to student well-being and learning."
All of the surveys can be downloaded
in Spanish and English. The staff school climate survey is the
last one listed on the HKS page.
Chicago Public Schools Student Connection Survey
As part of the High School Transformation Project, Chicago Public
Schools (CPS) has produced a High School Score Card to share data
about schools with schools, and with the public. The Student
Connection Survey component of this scorecard shares information
about student perceptions of safety, educational expectations, school
support, social and emotional skills, and extracurricular participation.
CPS is the first large urban district to systematically measure
this information.
The Comprehensive School Climate Inventory (CSCI)
CSEE has developed an online data driven tool called the Comprehensive
School Climate Inventory (CSCI) to help schools measure, understand
and improve school climate. The CSCI can be used to conduct school-wide
needs assessments, initiate and sustain a community-wide school
improvement process and to evaluate the success of systemic and
pedagogic interventions as a pre - and post - measure. This inventory is fee-based (fees vary based on the number of students in the school), with additional fees for optional services.
To learn more about the CSCI, and to view sample surveys, visit
the CSEE
website.
Developmental Studies Center Child Development Project
Scales
The Developmental Studies Center has posted its Child Development
Project assessment scales on its site. These scales, developed and
validated for over 20 years, measure students’ social, emotional,
ethical, and academic development, as well as student involvement
in high-risk behaviors. The scales also measure aspects of school
climate, including student perceptions of the school community,
student-teacher relationships, and liking of school.
High School Survey of Student Engagement
The ultimate goal of HSSSE is to document, describe, and monitor
student engagement in educationally purposeful activities in secondary
schools nationally. HSSSE provides information that can be used
to stimulate discussions on teaching and learning and guide student
improvement activities. Participation in the survey requires a school
fee, and per/student costs. Go to their
website for more information, or to download a sample survey.
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control: Measuring
Violence Compendium
This compendium contains more than 170 measures, and provides researchers
and prevention specialists with a set of tools to assess violence-related
beliefs, behaviors, and influences, as well as to evaluate programs
to prevent youth violence. Most of the measures in this compendium
are intended for use with youths between the ages of 11 and 24 years.
The compendium also contains a number of scales and assessments
developed for use with children between the ages of 5 and 10 years,
to measure factors such as aggressive fantasies, beliefs supportive
of aggression, attributional biases, prosocial behavior, and aggressive
behavior. The last section of the compendium focuses on measures
of school climate (e.g., commitment and attitudes toward school,
prosocial involvement, and classroom climate).
School as a Caring Community Profile--II
This profile is a 43-question survey for the “4th and 5th
Rs.” The first 26 items relate to perceptions of students;
the final 17 items relate to perceptions of adults. The
survey is available here.
World Health Organization's Psycho-Social Environment Profile
As part of its Information Series on School Health, WHO has created
an extensive school social-emotional climate survey that is easy
to administer, fill out, and score. The document is entitled Creating
an Environment for Emotional and Social Well-Being. In addition
to the survey instrument, it includes a short background section
that summarizes research demonstrating the benefits schools gain
from attending to climate issues, gives suggestions on how the the
survey should be administered, specifies how the data can be used
to improve school climate, and includes worksheets for leading discussions
on each of the seven areas of climate assessed. The seven areas
are:
- Providing a friendly, rewarding, and supportive atmosphere
- Supporting cooperation and active learning
- Forbidding physical punishment and violence
- Not tolerating bullying, harassment, and discrimination
- Valuing the development of creative activity
- Connecting school and home life
- Promoting equal opportunities and participation
The
profile is available free of charge.
What Kids Can Do: Students As Allies in Improving Their Schools, Sample Surveys
The surveys designed and administered by SAA student-teacher research teams (at 20 high schools across five cities) included a common core of questions, along with questions students had developed specifically for classmates at their school. The common core addressed areas such as: school climate, student-teacher relationships, teaching styles, academic expectations, safety and discipline, student voice, and improving student learning.
The report discussing the survey results from participating schools is also available on the What Kids Can Do web site.
Wisconsin School Climate Survey
The Wisconsin Successful Schools intiative has posted student and
staff school climate surveys on its website as part of its school
improvement project. You
can find these surveys here. In addition to the climate surveys,
be sure to look at the "characteristics of successful schools"
surveys. They include surveys on school vision, leadership, school
family partnerships, and SEL-related standards. | 
