A school climate and culture that is safe and supportive can lead to increased student engagement, attendance, and achievement.

The following list highlights a rich variety of services, research, and resources designed to help schools and districts improve climate and culture, including:

Resources 

Trauma-Informed Practice & Resilience

Trauma-Informed Practice & Resilience at WestEd works to ensure all children thrive by supporting child- and youth-serving systems in these ways:

  • Ensuring adults recognize trauma and have effective tools and strategies to serve children and youth who are experiencing trauma and its effects
  • Encouraging awareness of the importance of staff self-care and wellness practices to improve the sustainability of trauma-informed practices
  • Promoting trauma-informed leadership, policies, practices, norms, and environments

WestEd Justice & Prevention Research Center (JPRC)

The JPRC highlights the rigorous research and evaluation work that WestEd researchers are conducting in the areas of school safety, violence and crime prevention, juvenile and criminal justice, and public health.

Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety

The Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety expands schools’ and districts’ knowledge and capacity to adopt evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL) and school safety practices and programs, and then integrate those policies and practices with academic learning.

A Climate for Academic Success: How School Climate Distinguishes Schools That Are Beating the Achievement Odds

This study adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting that school climate is an important factor for school success, and investigates not only if there is an association between climate and achievement but also if school climate helps understand how a subset of schools is consistently able to beat the odds and perform better than its peers.

School Climate Improvement Toolkit

Produced by REL West, this toolkit is designed to help schools, districts, and other education agencies develop a detailed and focused plan for carrying out and monitoring school climate improvement efforts. Watch this short video for more details.

Students Lead the Way: Creating a More Positive, Connected School Climate

Examining student survey data, starting small, celebrating wins. These are some of the strategies Jefferson Parish Public Schools, Louisiana’s largest school district, employed in their efforts to break down barriers amongst students and faculty and implement restorative justice practices. But the district’s key strategy? Giving students a voice. Read about their journey.

Webinars

Watch our four-part webinar series designed to help school leaders plan and implement policies and practices that improve climate, engage students and staff, and support the needs of all members of the school community.

Services

School Climate and Wellness Partnership: Working Together to Support Student and Staff Success

Create a foundation of safety, support, and health — the necessary conditions for effective teaching and learning. The School Climate and Wellness Partnership helps schools and districts build student and staff capacity, engage stakeholders, and design and implement a school climate and wellness improvement plan.

California School Climate, Health, and Learning Surveys (CalSCHLS)

Data from this trio of surveys informs districts aiming to develop a plan to improve school climate, student engagement, parent involvement, and academic achievement.

  • The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) is a modular, anonymous assessment recommended for students age 10 (grade 5) and above focused on the five most important areas for guiding school and student improvement: student connectedness, learning engagement/motivation, and attendance; school climate, culture, and conditions; school safety; physical and mental well-being and social-emotional learning; and student supports.
  • The California School Staff Survey (CSSS) provides a way to confidentially obtain staff perceptions about learning and teaching conditions to inform decisions about professional development, instruction, the implementation of learning supports, and school reform.
  • The California School Parent Survey (CSPS) provides a means to confidentially obtain parent perceptions about the school’s learning environment; school climate; student supports; and parent outreach and involvement efforts.

Visit our Health, Safety, & Well-Being web page to learn more about how to foster equitable, safe, supportive, and healthy environments.

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