Student perception is what matters most when we are talking about school climate. Students will base their behavior on whether they perceive the school as welcoming, tolerant of diversity, and emotionally safe. It might not seem harmful or unsafe to us as adults, but what’s important is how each student feels.
Here are the top 10 areas of school climate that demand our full attention: - Teach tolerance and acceptance of those with other viewpoints and ethnicities - Increase awareness of how we view and treat student “stars.” - Implement prevention programs to help keep kids socially and emotionally healthy, strengthen and build conflict resolution and coping skills, and promote higher self-esteem - Provide individual and group counseling opportunities for students - Employ a research-based suicide prevention program - Train all staff members on the warning signs of suicide - Train all staff members on the warning signs of violence - Refer and act on any sign of suicide or violence - Develop a process for assessing and managing concerns about suicide and violence - Prevent and Interrupt bullying behavior
If you'd like to assess your school's climate from the perspective of students, staff, and parents, consider administering a school climate survey. The National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE) maintains an online compendium of such surveys.
You can find the compendium here: https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/topic-research/school-climate-measurement/school-climate-survey-compendium. In addition, the National School Climate Center provides a wealth of resources on school climate and social-emotional learning. Visit their site at https://www.schoolclimate.org
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