Nurturing schools: Persistence improves when students feel safe, connected, and supported.
Students who feel that they are a valued member of a nurturing school community engage in learning more wholeheartedly than those who are afraid, disaffected or alienated.
The SurveyWorks data allow us to see how students feel about their school's culture and climate.
ABOUT THE SURVEY: Annually, for most years since 1997, RI has administered an opinions-and-perceptions survey to parents, teachers and students. There was a break, however, that took place during our cohort's middle-school years. Therefore our cohort only took the survey in the 8th-grade; parents and teachers did not, until the following year. So the percentages are for those 8th-graders only. The data are not identifiable by individual; survey results are reported in the aggregate for the school's 8th-grade as a whole.
RI was the first in the nation to survey its school communities, extensively, to understand the culture and climate of each school. Research is clear that student outcomes, including achievement, improve with welcoming, helpful, socially-positive school environments.
