Article by Molly Burke, RMS Research Analyst.

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A local public school district collaborated with Research and Marketing Strategies, Inc. (RMS) to conduct a districtwide school climate assessment. The objective was to gain valuable insights from three stakeholder groups—students, parents, and staff—that would enable the district to make informed strategic decisions on how to efficiently provide support and better serve its community members.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The study was designed to understand and address the needs of the school’s stakeholders, specifically looking to understand the district’s overall climate from these three different stakeholder perspectives. This school climate study involved gathering primary research data through a survey tool based on the national Department of Education’s School Climate Survey (EDSCLS). This tool is used across the nation to help schools understand how to keep their students safe while continuing to improve their learning environment.

The specific objectives of the study included:

  • Understanding how the school engages its stakeholders—behaviorally, emotionally, and cognitively;
  • Assessing the physical and emotional safety of the district;
  • Evaluating the instructional, physical, and mental environment of its three stakeholder groups;
  • Determining the impact of social media and Artificial Intelligence apps on students’ wellbeing;
  • Understanding the current mental health status of the district; and
  • Identifying opportunities to optimize the overall district climate.

METHODOLOGY: ONLINE SURVEY

  • RMS designed, conducted, and managed a 12–15-minute online survey for the three stakeholder groups. The survey included multiple-choice, Likert scale, and open-ended questions.
    • The survey tool was based on the EDSCLS instrument with additional questions specific to the school district.
    • Each stakeholder group was given a separate survey instrument that sought to obtain the different perspectives on the same topics of school engagement, safety, and environment.
  • RMS gathered feedback from over 3,000 participants using a contact list provided by the school district, which included students, parents/guardians, and employees.
    • Given the private nature of the sample used in this study, extra security measures were put in place when transferring the contact information from the district to RMS in order to protect the participants’ private information.
  • RMS then cleaned the responses from the three surveys, analyzed the data using simple statistics, and conducted advanced statistical analysis in order to triangulate the data across the three stakeholder groups.

IMPACT

The findings of the study suggested that the three stakeholder groups were largely satisfied with the overall climate at their school district, but for certain topics, there were opportunities for strategic improvements. RMS made recommendations to the school district that included targeted strategic planning efforts. The suggested recommendations could then be implemented to capitalize on the district’s strengths, such as safety and engagement, while allowing opportunity for growth in certain climate areas, such as mental health and the physical environment.

Relational RMS Blogs:

RMS Case Study: A School District’s Perception Survey
Get Reliable Survey Feedback from Your Staff, Parents, Community with RMS

About the Author – Molly Burke

Molly supports the design, administration, and analysis of RMS Research Analytics Division projects works to ensure that all reporting follows RMS guidelines for quality and leverages her industry knowledge to enhance recommendations, particularly for RMS healthcare clients.

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About RMS

Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. (RMS) is a full-service market research firm in Central New York. Formed in 2002, RMS helps organizations that are looking to know more about their customers and/or potential customers. They conduct surveys, focus groups, mystery shopping, studies and analysis. Each project is customized and gets personal attention by the best in the business. RMS has a reputation for getting results and offers an independent means to conduct telephone, on-line and mail surveying, In-depth interviews, intercept interviews, and participant recruitment as well as focus group hosting through QualiSight, its onsite call center and focus group facility. Taking advantage of the region’s reputation for being a great market study barometer, RMS recruits and moderates for focus groups, community forums and town meetings.