Leadership magazine Nov/Dec 2016 V46 No. 2 | Page 24

Climate survey platform provides planning tools

Earlier this year , the U . S . Department of Education released new school climate surveys and a quick guide on making school climate improvements to help foster and sustain safe and supportive environments .
The ED School Climate Surveys ( EDSCLS ) and Quick Guide on Making School Climate Improvements provide states , local school districts and individual schools with a platform to collect and act on nationally validated school climate data in real-time . These new free and adaptable resources aim to enable educators , administrators , and school system leaders to understand and create environments where every child can be successful .
Research shows that students learn best when they are in environments in which they feel safe , supported , challenged and accepted . Positive school climates foster trust , respect , communication and cooperation among students , school staff , parents and the community at-large . By improving school climate , schools lay the foundation for improving daily school attendance and high achievement by all students .
These new resources build on two Obama Administration initiatives : the Now is the Time plan and My Brother ’ s Keeper , which recommended the DOE work on the issue of school climates . As part of Now is the Time , the department announced efforts to place a high priority on helping schools create safer and more nurturing school climates . One result was that the DOE funded the National Center for Education Statistics to develop a school climate measurement platform in coordination with the Office of Safe and Healthy Students .
The new school web-based climate surveys are designed for middle and high school students , instructional staff , non-instructional staff , and parents and guardians . Moreover , the platform can process real-time data and provide user-friendly reports . Education agencies and schools administering the survey can store school climate survey data on their state , local or school-based data systems . The federal government is planning to conduct a sample-based study using the surveys for benchmarking , but will not collect or store data generated by the schools using the surveys for any other purposes .
– https :// safesupportivelearning . ed . gov / edscls arduous task : “ Even though we had some barriers to my ideas ,” Bliss said , “ working collaboratively we ended up getting a shared calendar for IEPs , and it ’ s going to benefit the department ; it ’ s going to benefit the school . I did not say , ‘ hey , you need to do this !’ and send it in an email .”
Rather than making unilateral decisions to force change on an organization , Bliss ’ managerial style provides the compass for the direction of the school , but much of the steering is the shared responsibility of the stakeholders .
Bliss states , “ I could spend our money on technology and tell people that ‘ you need this ,’ and a few of my teachers are happy . But there ’ s really no shared leadership there . I think a better way is to have a technology committee and say , ‘ Here are my ideas , what do you think ?’ and then people talk about it , and as a group we own it .”
The necessity of establishing trusting relationships with all participating change agents forms the foundation of successful school climate . Not only is it apparent in John Bliss ’ thriving personal administrative model and as a pillar in the Working Triangle for Leadership , but also lays the foundation as a core concept for development . The relationship allows for the initial connection between administrator and stakeholders that hopefully evolves into a much deeper connection , where the participating parties are involved in each other ’ s lives .
Element 3-D : Fiscal and Human Resources
A veteran administrator once said to me , “ When you hire a teacher , you just signed a 30-year contract with them .” I have always thought this a rather ominous predicament . Teacher tenure presents a special and challenging aspect of managing a learning environment . Underperforming teachers are very difficult to dismiss , and therefore , one person can have a disastrous impact on school climate .
After having in-depth discussions with a former and well-respected principal , I ’ ve found that even veteran administrators find this to be part of the job that can most test their resolve . Indeed , there is rarely an easy
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