• Completion rate
  • Response rate
vs

A research study conducted by NCEE found that the academic performance of a student is directly related to the school climate.

In 2020, the world was forced to slow down and get the best out of education technology. Schools, colleges, and universities had to depend on online education more each day, resulting in an e-learning boom. Now, educators are faced with the challenge of keeping students' emotions surrounding schools in check. After all, creating a safe environment is just as important virtually as it is physically.

A positive school climate can help the student thrive in all aspects of education holistically. Whereas a negative climate can have the opposite impact. The right survey and questions can help you assess the school climate and give you valuable insights on how to improve the student experience. Here is a list of effective questions that can lead you to better evaluation:

  • Identify how students feel about school in general
    • Do you enjoy learning at school?
    • Do you look forward to attending university?
  • Focus on the social behaviour of a student
    • Have you developed close bonds with your fellow peers/classmates?
    • How could the school help improve socialization on campus?
  • Determine the amount of time spent with peers
    • How often do you spend time with your peers outside of class? Where do you go to spend time with your peers?
    • What are these gatherings for?
    • How could the school offer better places to spend time with peers?
  • Identify student satisfaction with respect to the course
    • Do you enjoy the school activities conducted in conjunction with your course?
    • Do you have any suggestions for other kinds of school activities, whether on or off campus? Please list your ideas below.
  • Lastly, ask what the student needs.
    • What can be improved regarding your experience at this school? Please list your suggestions below.
 

Identify how students feel about school in general

Do you enjoy learning at school?

A simple question like this can help you understand the impression that school has made on a student's mind. Find out what the student feels about learning at school in general to understand where the school stands in creating a positive climate. This question is framed with a set of multiple choice options, where each choice defines what the respondent feels about school in general.

Do you look forward to attending university?

The effect one's school has on an individual may impact whether they want to pursue higher education by attending university. This question focuses on the interest a student has towards learning and how willing they are to attend another educational institution. This also helps you understand the role that school climate has played towards a student's choice concerning higher education.

Focus on the social behaviour of a student

Whether students are building meaningful relationships and displaying appropriate social skills is one of the criteria school climate is measured by. Therefore, having a set of questions focused on the social behaviour of a student will help you gain more insight. Relevant questions like 'How sociable have you been since attending school?,' or 'How is the relationship between you and your lecturers?' can determine how the student has evolved in their social skills with peers as well as teachers.

Have you developed close bonds with your fellow peers/classmates?

Social alienation of peers is one of the major problems schools have been trying to tackle. Years of research suggests that school climate has a direct impact on victimization of peers, especially in a public school environment. Asking this question will help you understand the mindset of a student and where they stand in terms of bonding with peers. Understanding how close they feel to peers will help you gauge the school climate.

How could the school help improve socialization on campus?

Students thrive in an environment where they feel safe and protected, both physically and emotionally. This is a primary driving factor in building relationships and forming meaningful bonds at school. For this, the school needs to understand where they are doing well or lagging behind in terms of facilities, infrastructure, or peer programs.

This short answer question type can be included as a follow-up question, where the respondent can briefly express how they feel about their opportunities to socialize on campus. Constructive criticism on how the school can improve in providing better facilities and infrastructure can go a long way.

Determine the amount of time spent with peers

One of the most important factors in building meaningful friendships is the amount of time spent with others. If students seem to be spending time with peers more off campus than on campus, chances are that the school climate isn't working as intended. To determine the amount of time spent with peers outside of class, you can ask the following questions.

How often do you spend time with your peers outside of class? Where do you go to spend time with your peers?

These are direct questions to gain insight into the frequency of peer meet-ups outside of class. Follow the question up with multiple choices, ranging from more frequent to less frequent. This will help you determine how often the students meet outside of class, where the students prefer to meet, and most importantly, if there is an urgent need for the school to intervene to provide safe environments and prevent students from falling into unhealthy patterns.

What are these gatherings for?

Understanding the reason behind these gatherings outside of class is crucial. To cater to the needs of the student, it's important to identify why peers are meeting outside of class. Students are more susceptible to the dangers of society, such as substance abuse or bullying, outside of campus than on campus. This question can include a simple text box, along with primary options to draw focus on all the activities occurring outside of class.

How could the school offer better places to spend time with peers?

It's important for the school to support students and address their needs. To determine if the school needs to help students in terms of education or recreation, you can ask this question in a long answer question format. This is so the respondent has enough space to express how the school can better address the needs of students.

Identify student satisfaction with respect to the course

Do you enjoy the school activities conducted in conjunction with your course?

The quality of education provided by school is better in an ideal school climate than in a negative school climate. By asking this question in your survey, you can identify the satisfaction levels of students and their involvement in activities specifically related to their subjects. It's important to conduct course related activities to increase student interest in their studies. It's equally important to make sure these activities are enjoyed by the students. This question serves as feedback to the effort that has been put in by teachers to make the subject more likeable. It can also be included with a rating scale question type.

Do you have any suggestions for other kinds of school activities, whether on or off campus? Please list your ideas below.

Schools play an important role in the life of a student, both on and off campus. Engaging in activities on campus can increase student interest in specific subjects, whereas a school's involvement in off-campus activities can significantly reduce the likelihood of students getting involved in unhealthy activities.

With simple 'Yes' or 'No' options, logic can be added to the question to elaborate on suggestions that students may have. They can share their ideas to improve activities in school that are specifically designed to build meaningful bonds with peers and teachers, both on and off campus.

Lastly, ask what the student needs.

What can be improved regarding your experience at this school? Please list your suggestions below.

To obtain solid actionable feedback, all you have to do is ask. By including a long answer text box, you provide space for the student to express what they would like to change or improve about their experience at school. This will give you a good idea on where to start improving, whether it's the teacher's approach towards a subject, recreational areas on campus, or peer bonding programs. This feedback can help you start working towards building a positive school climate.

With these questions in mind, you can frame a simple yet effective survey, which will put the students' concerns in perspective. This makes it easy for schools to create a respectful and safe environment, where their students can thrive and become better individuals.

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