Meriden School Climate Survey & Intervention

Meriden School Climate Survey for Students (MSCS_SV)

Scale for items 1 to 20:

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Undecided
Agree
Strongly Agree

Scale for items 21 to 47:

Never
Rarely
Sometimes
Very Often
Always

1. My teachers want me to work hard and do well

2. I feel safe at school

3. There are teachers at my school who care about me

4. I know the school rules

5. At my school, I have a friend who I can really trust

6. This school wants all students to do their very best

7. At my school, there is a teacher or other adult whom I can trust

8. At home, I have a parent or other adult who expects me to follow school rules

9. When I have a problem, I find someone to talk with

10. Students in my school respect differences in other students (different ...)

11. At home, I have a parent or other adult who cares about my school work

12. In the future, I feel I will be successful in life

13. At my school, there is a teacher or other adult who always wants me to do my best

14. I have a friend about my own age that really cares about me

15. I try to understand how other students feel

16. At home, I have a parent or other adult who talks with me about my problems

17. Other students in this school are polite and listen to what I say

18. At home, I have a parent or other adult who always wants me to do my best

19. I have a friend about my own age who talks with me about my problems

20. In class, I try to understand other students who disagree with me

21. I try to do my best at school

22. I worry about people being mean to me in school

23. I feel safe on my way to and from school

24. I feel sad in school

25. The teachers in my school make learning fun

26. I am happy to be at this school

27. During the past few months, I have hit or pushed other students at school in anger

28. During the past few months, I have spread mean rumors or lies about other students

29. I do my homework on time

30. There are teachers in my school that help me to really want to learn

31. At school, the color of my skin can get me in trouble

32. There is physical fighting between students at my school

33. Other students in my school hurt my feelings

34. I get hit or threatened by other students (OE)

35. Other students at school have spread mean rumors or lies about me (OE)

36. At my school, there is a teacher or other adult who tells me when I do a good job

37. The adults in my school treat all students fairly

38. At home, I have a quiet place to do my homework

39. Students being mean to other students (harassment) is a problem in my school

40. The adults in my school treat students with respect

41. At home, I have time to do my homework

42. My school handles student behavior problems fairly

43. At my school, there is a teacher or other adult who listens to me when I have something to say

44. At home, if I need help with homework, a parent or adult will help me

45. A person’s skin color can cause problems at my school

46. During the past few months, I have hit, pushed or spread mean rumors at the bus stop or on the bus

47. At home, I have a parent or other adult who listens to me when I have something to say

Examples Of Students' Comments

Many of the written student perceptions of mean behaviors may seem minor, but to the student there is a problem and a counselor should help the student cope. Some third grade students write about something that happened in kindergarten; the student may have misunderstood the question or there may also be some type of displacement – something else may be the real problem, something at home or in school now that the student is afraid to tell. It is up to the counselor to develop a trusting relationship with the student to see if there is something else.

Some typical, unedited student comments to trigger emails are shown in the table below. Student demographics and achievement levels are reported in the left column.

Case 1
Hispanic, male, grade 7, Free Lunch, not special education, not ELL, Language exposed to Spanish but English Dominant, Basic Math, Basic Reading	there are some people who call me names and … people start rumors about me that i dont like sometimes i want to die and kill myself before the next day. i feel like everyone hates me and for no reason. ive sometimes been nice but when they bring up the rumor i say realy bad things to keep them away … one day i was thrown a note saying im ###. and it was my by bestfriend ... i lost the only thing that i can trust. i was alone for a long time. if this is un healthy then pleace help me …
Case 2
White, male, grade 5, Pay Lunch, not special education, not ELL, Language is English, Goal Math, Proficient Reading	At school some people dont like me so they bully me and pick on me. I feel horrible and I feel like I want to stay at home doing nothing than get bullyed at school.
Case 3
Hispanic, female, grade 9 (retained), Free Lunch, Special education, has ELL services, Language is Spanish, Below Basic Math, Basic Reading	they realy dont say anything but they just say im ugly nd that im by-sexual nd really its getting really annoying people are just roud and they dont have a life but just to talk to people and i trust this school nd i know this school can help me with this situation

Case 4
Hispanic, female, grade 8, Free Lunch, special education, not ELL, Language exposed to Spanish but English Dominant, Basic Math, Basic Reading	they make threats about how there going to fight me after school then i always have to keep looking overmy shoulder. the make fun of my red hair , and my race also they say mean thing like they spread rumer about me that are not true and most of the kids belive that they are true and that make me mad when i have no one to talk to about the things happening to me
Case 5
White, female, grade 11, Free Lunch, not special education, not ELL, Language is English, Advanced Math, Goal Reading	People have spread lies about me sleeping around and being pregnant. People have spread rumors that I slept with teachers to get good grades
Case 6
White, female, grade 9, Pay Lunch, not special education, not ELL, Language is English, unknown Math, Goal Reading (transferred from non-public)	There are many people who call me a fat whore that should go to hell and the no bullying policy really needs to start working because it is affecting my life
Case 7
White, male, grade 8, Free Lunch, not special education, not ELL, Language is English, Proficient Math, Goal Reading	i get pushed around because people think its funny. also i get called the ginger alot because i have red hair, i have also been called gay for no reason
Case 8
Black, female, grade 3, Pay Lunch, not special education, not ELL, Language is English, Goal Math, Goal Reading	The kids at school hit me because of my skin color

Student Factors With Items

Factor 1 - Teachers Care