If you’re looking to assess the values, beliefs, and behaviors that define the environment of your school, creating a school culture survey is the way to go. A well-crafted survey with carefully chosen questions can help you improve morale, promote inclusion, or ensure the school aligns with its mission.
Below, we’ll first understand more about what a school culture survey is. Then, we’ll give you the best questions to include in your survey to capture the pulse of your school's culture effectively. Let’s get started.
Understanding the school culture survey
The word culture itself can seem abstract sometimes, so it’s essential to understand what school culture actually includes.
What is school culture?
School culture is the collective attitudes, values, and practices that shape the environment within a school. It includes everything from the school norms and traditions to how students and teachers interact and how the staff makes decisions. It is reflected in everything from how decisions are made to how discipline is handled and how inclusive the school’s environment feels.
What is a culture survey?
A culture survey is a tool designed to measure and get a sense of what a school’s culture is like. Through various carefully curated questions, it aims to measure the perceptions, values, and behaviors that define the environment of a school.
This survey gathers feedback from individuals about how they perceive the school’s culture in areas such as communication, leadership, inclusion, and overall morale. Below, we’ll give you some of the best questions to include in a culture survey for your school.
Benefits of a school culture survey
A positive school culture bolsters a school’s teaching philosophy while fostering a sense of community. It also promotes respect, support, and academic achievement with an all-round well-being for students. This is why it’s essential to evaluate a school’s culture.
Culture surveys help identify the school’s strengths and areas needing improvement. This allows the school leadership to make data-driven decisions in the right direction for continuous improvement. A sense of ongoing improvement further instills confidence and overall satisfaction in the school’s community.
6 best school climate survey questions for students
A school climate survey can be given to students, teachers, and parents associated with the school. While the questions may be phrased differently, the goal remains the same. Here are the six best questions to include in your survey to understand the prevailing sentiment within your school:
Do you feel like you are kept informed about important school events and changes?
Clear, open communication ensures that everyone in the school community stays informed and connected. This is essential to building a culture of trust and collaboration.
If directing the questions to the teachers, rephrase this question as ‘Do you think the communication between staff and school administration is effective? For students specifically ask, ‘Is it easy for you to communicate with your teachers when you need help?
Communication should always be in the green. So, on your survey, this should appear as a closed-ended question. Learn how to add closed-ended questions in a survey.
On a scale of 1 to 5, how approachable and responsive do you find the school leadership (principal, administration)?
Strong and responsive leadership sets the tone for the entire school, and the perceptions regarding them greatly influence the school culture. The question above caters to students and parents. For teachers, rephrase, ' On a scale of 1 to 5, how effectively does the leadership team support you in your teaching role?’
This is a linear scale or a Likert scale question. Linear scale questions are great for gauging and recording minute changes in results over time. Learn how to add a linear scale question to your survey.
Do you feel safe and respected at school by both peers and staff?
A safe and supportive culture is essential for students and staff to thrive academically and emotionally. The above question directly addresses this with the students. However, parents' perception of the safety of their children matters too, so rephrase the above question for parents: ‘Do you feel your child is safe at school, both physically and emotionally?’
In case you want to get a sense of the teacher's view on how safe and supportive the school culture is, rephrase again as ‘Do you feel that staff concerns regarding student safety and well-being are promptly addressed?’
Do you think teachers work together to make learning more interesting for you?
A culture of teamwork among students, staff, and parents strengthens relationships and helps resolve challenges more effectively. This, in turn, enhances both academic and social success. The above question is directed at the students.
You can gauge how teachers and parents feel regarding the level of cooperation and sense of teamwork at your school by asking, ‘Do you feel supported by your colleagues and other staff when it comes to teaching practices?’ and ‘Are there opportunities for you to be involved in school decisions or events?’ respectively.
Do you feel the school values and respects students from different cultural, ethnic, and social backgrounds?
Inclusivity fosters a more dynamic and enriched learning environment for all students. This is why it’s critical for all schools today to have a culture that values and respects diverse backgrounds.
You can include the question above in surveys meant for students and parents alike. For teachers specifically, you can ask, ‘Do you feel supported in creating an inclusive classroom environment for all students?’ or ‘Do you think that the school promotes inclusivity and diversity in its policies and practices?’
Would you like to offer any suggestions that can enhance school culture?
Finally, it’s a great idea to have a place where students, teacher, or parents can offer their unhindered views and thoughts regarding the school’s culture. This can help you gain insights into areas that you may not even have considered.
You can also rephrase the question above as ‘In your opinion, how does our school’s culture help or obstruct students in achieving their full potential?’. This would be an open-ended question. Using a school culture survey is an excellent step in the direction of making improvements in your school.
If your survey is directed primarily at students or teachers, you can also pair this survey with a parent satisfaction survey to get an insight into the parent’s viewpoints.
Automate school climate survey results with Form Publisher
The most cumbersome part about surveys is distribution and collection. Once you’ve crafted an effective school climate survey, you can automate its distribution and collection with Form Publisher.
Form Publisher ties in seamlessly with Google Forms and allows you to route your forms automatically through various stakeholders.
What’s more, when your respondents are done filling out your survey, Form Publisher can automatically save those form responses in a safe and secure location on your Google Drive for later analysis. The survey process is made faster and smarter with Form Publisher!