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Safe Measures™ School Climate Assessments

20 Years of School Climate Leadership & Action Research

W.K. Preble, Ed. D.

Overview

We began evaluating student-to-student bullying, and racial and sexual harassment in schools, as well as the effects of student voice, empowerment and leadership on school climate and school change in 1997, two years before the school shootings at Columbine. Through thousands of student interviews and focus groups we came to understand these issues more clearly, which led us to develop the first Safe Measures™ School Climate Surveys in 2001. We have continually re-evaluated, revised, and updated our school climate assessment system for the past 20 years, as we have used it in hundreds of schools across the US, with thousands of students, teachers and school leaders.

The SafeMeasures School Climate Assessment System includes;

  • An Art-Therapy-based assessment process for grades K-2

  • A K-2 School Climate Survey, administered with adult or older student assistance

  • Elementary surveys for grade 3-6 students and their teachers and parents

  • Middle school and High school qualitative and quantitative assessments for students, teachers staff and parents, and

  • Our new College/University Campus Culture and Climate Collaborative Action Research Process.                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

The latest versions of our assessment instruments were completed in 2018, with our new surveys featuring more in-depth analysis of school safety, additional assessments of student engagement and student and teacher voice, along with detailed assessments of school discipline and student behavioral supports, personalized teaching and learning methods, the quality of school relationships, and adult culture, respect and collaboration among school leaders, teachers and parents.

Using School Climate Research and Data to Drive Dialogue and Action

We use the Safe Measures™ School Climate Assessment System as part of a comprehensive, two-year Collaborative Action Research process. The data we collect capture the voices and perceptions of students, teachers, staff and parents. Diverse teams of students and representative groups of teachers and staff form School Climate Leadership and Design Teams to help guide the improvement process in their schools and communities. Students of all ages participate in data collection, data analysis, goal setting and action planning, based on their interpretation of their school’s results. They commit themselves to working on both short and long-term school climate leadership projects to address the unique needs reflected in their school’s data. These school climate partners and leaders develop a theory of school climate change that guides their thinking and action over a minimum of two years and often much longer. These teams typically see their efforts to improve school climate correlate with parallel improvement in student learning and academic achievement!

 

Assessment Domains and Related Research-based Foundations

SafeMeasures School Climate Survey Reliability

We recently evaluated the validity and reliability of our new School Climate Survey and are happy to report that the reliability of our new survey is very strong.

 

School Climate Factor

Cronbach’s Alpha

Factor #1: School Safety: 

(0.758 - high internal consistency)

Factor #2: Discipline/Student Support: 

(0.826 – very high internal consistency)

Factor #3: Respectful Relationships: 

(0.788 - high internal consistency) 

Factor #4: Student-Centered Learning

(0.875 - very high internal consistency) 

Factor #5: Student Engagement- 

(0.714 - high internal consistency)

Factor #6: Student Voice- 

 

(0.839 - very high internal consistency) 

 

Research Confirms School Climate Key to Educational Success

 

A growing body of research indicates that school climates that are safe, supportive, caring, challenging,

and participatory contribute to students’ feelings of connectedness to their school. In  turn, these students are more likely to attend school, be engaged in learning, and perform better  academically (Blum 2005; Cohen, 2006; Gordon & Crabtree, 2006; National Research Council,2004).

 

Research on school success by the California Healthy Students Research Project (CHSRP) also showed school climate is an important key to educational success. In their analysis of data over 3 years, researchers found that students in the schools with the best climate performed in the highest quintile on state tests, even when researchers controlled for ethnicity, parental income, etc. (Hanson, T., Austin, G., & Zheng, H., California Healthy Students Research Project, (CHSRP) Brief No. 1.)

 

 

Additional research conducted by our research team in Sullivan County Tennessee (Preble, W., Newman, A., 2006) showed that academic achievement rose nearly 10% in the schools that  showed the greatest improvement over three years in school climate as measured by our

SafeMeasures School Climate Surveys.

 

Other major studies conducted by the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress)   showed that students in schools reporting an above-average climate had higher mean NAEP mathematics scale scores than students in schools reporting average or below-average school

climate on the same measure (Greenberg, Skidmore, Rhodes, & Nesbitt, 2001).

 

Researchers in Alaska replicated these NAEP studies and found similarly positive effects of school climate on student achievement in all academic areas (Spier, Osher & Kendziora, 2009).

 

In his review of research on school climate improvement David Osher, of the National School Climate Technical Assistance Center reported that a school can improve school climate and learning by focusing on these four school climate areas:

 

Improve School Safety

• Physically safe

• Emotionally safe

• Everyone is treated fairly and equitably

• Help students avoid risky behaviors

• Ensure the school is safe and orderly

 

Improve Student Support, Care, & Connections

• Meaningful connection to adults

• Experience of care & respect

• Strong bonds to school

• Positive peer relationships

• Effective and available support

 

Provide Challenge & Engagement

• High expectations

• School is connected to life goals

• Strong personal motivation

• Academic engagement

• Rigorous academic opportunities

 

Help Students Develop Social & Emotional Competency

• Emotional intelligence

• Self Regulation

• Cultural competence

• Responsible and persistent

• Cooperative team players

• Contribute to the school community

                                                                                                     

Seligman’s Five Elements of Well-Being and Happiness (The Hope Circuit, 2018)

  1. Positive emotion

  2. Engagement

  3. Relationships

  4. Meaning

  5. Accomplishment

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