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What's New
HHS/Office of Adolescent Health Updates State-by-State Adolescent Mental Health Facts. The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Adolescent Health has recently updated its state summaries that focus on adolescent mental health. Each state page reports on positive social skills, depressive symptoms, depressive episodes and suicidal thoughts, attempts, and injuries. Learn More
Environment |
School environment refers to the extent to which school settings promote student safety and student health. Environment is inclusive of all aspects of a school – its academic components, its physical and mental health supports and services, its physical building and location within a community, and its disciplinary procedures. The following products, research articles and briefs, and tools provide a definition and discussion of school environment, tools to assess climate, and strategies to promote healthy and safe school environments.
Clean School Bus USA
Provides information on how to reduce children’s exposure to diesel exhaust and the amount of air pollution created by diesel school buses.
Climate Change: What You Can Do At School
Presents suggestions about how students, educators and school administrators can all play a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Drinking Water in Schools & Child Care Facilities Program
Provides information about lead in drinking water.
Environmental Education Portal for Educational Resources
Provides lesson plans, materials, and other information to facilitate the teaching of students about environmental issues, including awards, grants, and training opportunities.
Healthy School Environmental Resources
Provides on-line resources to help facility managers, school administrators, architects, design engineers, school nurses, parents, teachers and staff address environmental health issues in schools.
Indoor Air Quality Design Tools for Schools
Provides Information, tools and guidance for comprehensively improving indoor air quality in schools.
Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Action Kit
Shows schools how to carry out a practical plan to improve indoor air problems at little- or no-cost using straightforward activities and in-house staff; provides best practices, industry guidelines, sample policies, and a sample IAQ management plan.
Integrated Pest Management Program (IPM)
Provides information about available pest control methods, without using chemical pesticides, and with the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment.
Safe and Healthy School Environments: an Overview
Provides a broad overview of the issues related to children’s environmental health in schools and describes how one administrator successfully manages environmental health issues for the largest public school district in California using a software tool designed by the district.
Safeguarding Our Children: An Action Guide
Provides a comprehensive model that can lead to safer schools and information about technical assistance centers and evidence-based resources that schools can draw upon to develop a comprehensive plan that addresses the particular safety needs of their schools and communities.
TOXMAP: Environmental Health e-Maps
Explores on-site toxic releases and hazardous waste sites from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL).
2012 OSHS Grantee TA Symposium: Resources to Support Improved School Climate
Documents descriptions and links to a variety of guides, briefs, tools, and websites by the school climate content areas of programmatic intervention, measures, school climate (engagement, environment, and safety), and special populations.
Websites
American Federation of Teachers
Houses free products and tools on topic it calls "Safe, Orderly and Healthy Schools" and serves as a membership organization for teachers, providing members a wealth of resources on teaching, including periodicals and videos.
Office of Safe and Healthy Students
Provides information on programs, grants, and policies addressing drug and violence prevention, character and civic education, and physical education.
News Clips
Asthma, Linked to Reduced Achievement, Rising Among Children
Asthma, a common childhood illness, has been linked to higher rates of school absenteeism, and from there to lower grades and test scores. The illness, more common among children living in poverty and from minority groups, may be a symptom of those children's living conditions. These kids are also disproportionately more likely to attend schools with lower indoor air quality.
Exercise Balls Improve Student Behavior in IN Class
Fifth-grade teacher Sara Wright is using exercise balls instead of chairs to improve students' attention spans and cooperation during class. Studies show using exercise balls improves behavior and "legible word productivity" of students with attention-deficient/hyperactivity disorder.
Setting Students Up for Success
Students need a learning environment that encourages success, but how can a teacher create such a place? Teacher Chavi Abramson suggests considering how the physical layout of the classroom, the academic schedule, and teacher behavior in class affects students’ ability to succeed. Classroom practices should provide students with the path of least resistance to academic success. Facilitating students’ cooperation, independence, and ability to focus is the key.
Study: Policies Reducing Lead Poisoning Have Academic Benefits, Too
High lead levels in children are connected to lower academic performance, and programs that reduced the rate of lead exposure and poisoning can also be tied to improved academic achievement, says a new Massachusetts study from the National Bureau of Economic Research. A decline in the gap in rates of high lead exposure between higher- and lower-income students was also connected to a 1 percentage-point reduction in the student-performance gap between those groups of students.
Lead-Exposure Problems Spotlighted in Detroit
A new study pulls together public-health and education data to draw attention to the large numbers of Detroit children who have been exposed to lead. Lead has been linked to negative trends in school performance, especially among poor and African-American students, in Chicago, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Texas, among other places, but there is little research on how schools can help affected children.
School Building Boom Led to Gains for Young Students in L.A.
A study of a $19.5 billion, decade-long school construction program in the Los Angeles school district found that elementary school students moving from overcrowded facilities into new buildings showed achievement gains that were the equivalent of up to 35 additional days of instruction a year.
Can Standing Desks Make Kids Healthier?
In a recent study, researchers provided first-graders in four Texas classrooms with "stand-biased" desks, which encourage standing but come with stools students can sit on. At the end of six weeks, 70% of the students never had used the stools and the other 30% stood most of the time.
Detroit Clears School Routes of Vacant Homes
The $10-million state-funded plan to demolish hundreds of decrepit houses, which will start with 250 structures in the MorningSide neighborhood, is a result of a program to create safe walking routes to schools. In April, the Free Press chronicled the experiences of several students in tough neighborhoods, as they wound their way through dark streets to get to and from school each day.
Finland Rethinks Factory-Style School Buildings
Education watchers have dissected Finland’s educational leadership on international tests from practically every angle, but a new traveling exhibit suggests one more: the buildings themselves support student achievement. School design has become of increasing concern to American and international educators alike, as buildings age and research emerges on the effects of schools’ physical structure on student health, safety, and motivation.
EPA Releases K-12 School Environmental Health Program Guidelines for Public Comment
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released for public comment the K-12 School Environmental Health Program Guidelines for States, Tribes and Territories. The guidelines are primarily intended to be used as a resource for the establishment of a state, tribal, or territorial K-12 school environmental health program.
To post comments, visit http://www.epa.gov/schools.
New Census Measure Finds Fed Programs Lower Child Poverty
Nearly 2 million children in the U.S. are staying out of poverty because of federal programs. The data suggest that child poverty is still on the rise, but that social initiatives, such as national school-meal subsidies and other programs, are helping keep poverty at bay for some.
Group Urges More Money to Pay for Support Services Outside of School
The Campaign for Educational Equity, a group of education experts at Teachers College at Columbia University in New York, is recommending the state increase annual education spending by $4,750 for each poor student to pay for support services outside the classroom.
Pollution May Play Role in Childhood Obesity
Exposure to high levels of air pollution from motor vehicles and secondhand smoke appears to be associated with an increase in body mass index in adolescents, researchers found.
Obese Kids May Face Social, Emotional Woes
Obese 8- and 9-year-olds are more likely to suffer socially and emotionally than their normal-weight peers, a new study finds.
U.S. to Award Green Ribbon Honors for Schools' Environmental Efforts
The U.S. Department of Education, following in the footsteps of its well-known Blue Ribbon Schools recognition program, is set to launch a Green Ribbon Schools initiative to salute environmental achievers.
EPA: Back to School Environmental Education Information and Resources
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is highlighting key environmental education information and resources available to improve energy efficiency, save money, and better protect people’s health and the environment during the school year.
NY Charter School Throws Foster Kids a Safety Net
Many schools cater to disadvantaged children, but Haven Academy is unique because it houses hundreds of counselors in the same building. The school features a small student-teacher ratio, an extended school day, many tutor options and special training to keep teachers consistent in the language they use and their responses to problems.
EPA Selects Environmental Achievement Award Winners
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s mid-Atlantic region announced 11 winners of its annual environmental achievement awards including two from Philadelphia Area.
Buildings That Conserve and Educate
Sustainable school buildings, says a green-schools architect, can be powerful teaching tools to help students monitor and change their own energy-consumption behavior.
School Climate Survey Compendium (as of December 20, 2011)
To assist educators and education agencies in locating a valid and reliable needs assessment that suits their needs, the Safe and Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center is developing a compendium of student, staff, and family surveys that can be used as part of a school climate needs assessment. Below is an initial list of school climate survey batteries. (Alternatively, click here to download a summary table (PDF) of each survey by respondent type.)
Please note that the Office of Safe and Healthy Students does not endorse any particular scale or survey presented in this compendium. Additionally, the database presented is not an exhaustive listing of available measures or survey instruments. If you would like to nominate a survey that is not currently included in the compendium, click on the link below.
Nominate a Survey
Alaska School Climate and Connectedness Survey
Constructs |
|
Respondents |
Students, Staff |
Reports |
|
Survey Instruments |
These survey instruments are not publicly available. Please contact Kim Kendziora at kkendziora@air.org for more information about this survey. |
American Institutes for Research Conditions for Learning Survey
Constructs |
Safe and Respectful Climate, High Expectations, Student Support, Social and Emotional Learning |
Respondents |
Students |
Reports |
|
Survey Instruments |
There is no charge for using this survey. Please contact David Osher at dosher@air.org for additional information. |
California Healthy Kids Survey
Constructs |
School connectedness, School supports - caring relationships, School supports - high expectations, School supports - opportunities for meaningful participation, Community supports - caring relationships, Community supports - high expectations, Community supports - opportunities for meaningful participation, Tobacco, alcohol, or drug use at school, Physical/ verbal/emotional violence victimization, Physical/ verbal/emotional violence perpetration, Harassment victimization, Peer supports - caring relationships, Peer supports - high expectations, Home supports - caring relationships, Home supports - high expectations, Home supports - opportunities for meaningful participation, Problem solving Self-efficacy, Cooperation and communication, Empathy, Self-awareness |
Respondents |
Students |
Reports |
|
Survey Instruments |
Please note that while a copy of the survey instrument is publicly available at http://chks.wested.org/administer/download, it is copyright protected. Information on obtaining the survey instrument can be found at: http://chks.wested.org/. |
California School Climate Survey
Constructs |
Collegiality, Resource provisions and training, Professional development – instruction, Professional development – cultural competence, Professional development – meeting student needs, Positive student learning environment, Caring and respectful relationships, High expectations of students, Opportunities for meaningful participation, Cultural sensitivity, Clarity and equity of discipline policies, Perceived school safety, Learning facilitative behavior, Learning barrier – risk behavior, Learning barrier – interpersonal conflict and destructive behavior |
Respondents |
Staff |
Reports |
|
Survey Instruments |
Please note that while a copy of the survey instrument is publicly available at http://cscs.wested.org/training_support, it is copyright protected. Information on obtaining the survey instrument can be found at: http://cscs.wested.org/. |
California School Parents Survey
Constructs |
Facilitation of parent involvement, Positive student learning environment, Opportunities for meaningful participation, Cultural sensitivity, Clarity and equity of discipline policies, Perceived school safety, Learning barriers |
Respondents |
Parents |
Reports |
|
Survey Instruments |
Please note that while a copy of the survey instrument is publicly available at http://csps.wested.org/, it is copyright protected. Information on obtaining the survey instrument can be found at: http://cscs.wested.org/. |
The Center for Research in Educational Policy School Climate Inventory
Constructs |
Orderly School Environment; Instructional Leadership; Positive Learning Environment; Parent and Community Involvement; Well-Developed and Implemented Instruction; Expectations for Students; Collaboration among Administration, Faculty, and Students |
Respondents |
Teachers, Administrators and Professional Staff |
Reports |
|
Survey Instruments |
This survey instrument is not publicly available. Please contact the Center for Research in Educational Policy at CREP@memphis.edu or 1-866-670-6147 for more information. |
The Center for Social and Emotional Education Comprehensive School Climate Inventory
Constructs |
|
Respondents |
Students, Staff, Parents/Guardians, Community Members |
Reports |
|
Survey Instruments |
These survey instruments are not publicly available. Please contact Darlene Faster, COO and Director of Communications, at the National School Climate Center at dfaster@schoolclimate.org or (212) 707-8799 x22 for more information on these surveys. |
Communities That Care Youth Survey
Constructs |
|
Respondents |
Students |
Reports |
|
Survey Instruments |
The 2010 survey instrument is not publicly available. Please contact Michael Arthur at marthur@u.washinton.edu for information about this survey. |
The Consortium on Chicago School Research Survey of Chicago Public Schools
Constructs |
|
Respondents |
Students, Staff |
Reports |
|
Survey Instruments |
Student surveys are available at http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/downloads/17242009_my_voice__9th-11th_student_codebook_.pdf and http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/downloads/23532009_my_voice_senior_student_codebook.pdf. Staff survey is available at http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/downloads/2009/HS_Teacher_Survey09Cdbk_8-6.pdf. Please note that the student and staff surveys are currently being updated and are copyrighted. Please contact Nick Montgomery at nmontgomery@uchicago.edu for additional information on these surveys. |
Culture of Excellence & Ethics Assessment
Constructs |
|
Respondents |
Students, Faculty/Staff, Parents |
Reports |
|
Survey Instruments |
These survey instruments can be used free of charge, subject to the conditions of the User Agreement, and can be found at: http://excellenceandethics.com/assess/ceea.php. Please contact Vlad Khmelkov at vkhmelkov@excellenceandethics.com for additional information. |
Effective School Battery
Constructs |
|
Respondents |
Students, Teachers |
Reports |
|
Survey Instruments |
Additional information and order forms for these survey instruments can be found at: http://www.education.umd.edu/EDCP/schoolassess/Tools/ESB/ESB.html. Please contact Eva Yui at climate-assess@umd.edu for additional information. |
Perceived School Experiences Scale
Constructs |
Academic Motivation, Academic Press, School Connectedness |
Respondents |
Students |
Reports |
|
Survey Instruments |
There is no charge for using this survey. Please contact Dawn Anderson-Butcher at anderson-butcher.1@osu.edu for additional information. |
Pride Learning Environment Survey
Constructs |
School climate; teacher and student respect; student discipline; school safety; teacher to student relationships; teacher collaboration; student engagement; student encouragement; frequency of substance use; effect of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; age of first substance use; perceived harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; parents’ feelings towards alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; place of substance use; time of substance use; violence; bullying |
Respondents |
Students |
Reports |
|
Survey Instruments |
Please note that while a copy of the survey instrument is publicly available at http://dbdemo.pridesurveys.com, it is copyright protected. Information on obtaining the survey instrument can be found at: |
Pride Teaching Environment Survey
Constructs |
Like Teaching, Like Administrators – My School, Like Administrators – Instructional Leadership, Effective Teaching, Teacher Evaluation, Principal Support, Teacher Respect, Participatory Decision-making, Staff Collegiality, Desired Involvement in Improving Teaching Practices, Current Involvement in School Policies and Practices, Desired Involvement in Teaching Practice Policies, Student Discipline, Student Conduct Rules/Policies, Teacher Stress, Classroom Support, Teacher Attitude, Interpersonal Relationships, Student Engagement, Teacher Pay, Facilities and Resources, Teacher Workload |
Respondents |
Faculty |
Reports |
|
Survey Instruments |
Please note that while a copy of the survey instrument is publicly available at http://dbdemo.pridesurveys.com, it is copyright protected. Information on obtaining the survey instrument can be found at: |
Search Institute Creating a Great Place to Learn Survey
Constructs |
|
Respondents |
Students, Staff |
Reports |
|
Survey Instruments |
These survey instruments are not publicly available. Please contact the Search Institute for additional information at http://www.search-institute.org/survey-services. |
Secondary Classroom Climate Assessment Instrument
Constructs |
Discipline environment, Student interactions, Learning assessment, Attitude and culture |
Respondents |
Students, Staff |
Reports |
|
Survey Instruments |
Survey instrument is not publicly available. Please contact John Shindler, Director of the Alliance for the Study of School Climate at jshindl@calstatela.edu for additional information on the CCAI. |
Secondary School Climate Assessment Instrument
Constructs |
|
Respondents |
Students, Faculty, Parents |
Reports |
|
Survey Instruments |
This survey instrument is not publicly available. Please contact John Shindler, Director of the Alliance for the Study of School Climate at jshindl@calstatela.edu for additional information on the SCAI. |