… a massive survey of student behaviour and a key resource for schools – has unveiled extensive revisions that put a stronger focus on students’ emotional health. The change reflects a growing interest among educators in school climate, a broad term that includes whether students and teachers feel supported and engaged, both socially and academically.
Adding to the interest in school climate is a new requirement in the recently added K-12 school finance law that calls for districts to pay more attention to student well being. In addition to measurements of academics, districts must now also track eight state priorities that include school climate, pupil engagement and parental involvement. By July 1, 2014, governing boards of school districts are required to establish an annual “Local Control and Accountability Plan” to show how they intend to meet the state priorities, as well as their own goals. A survey of students, parents and teachers is mentioned in the law as a way to measure school climate.
Michael Furlong, director of the Center for School-Based Youth Development at UC Santa Barbara, led the development of the new social and emotional section and has had a long interest in “figuring out how to measure positive things about kids,” he said. He said traits such as youth empathy, self-awareness, persistence, emotion regulation, gratitude, zest and optimism can be measured with the correct tools. The data can then be used to target positive interventions or develop programs to better meet student needs in and out of the classroom.
“We’ve been getting pushback from schools that say, ‘We don’t want to do a survey that’s all about drugs,’”
Source: http://www.edsource.org/today/2013/revised-student-survey-reflects-focus-on-school-climate/39243