MEMORANDUM

TO:                             Superintendents and RESA Directors

FROM:                        Garry McGiboney

                                    Deputy Superintendent

                                    External Affairs

SUBJECT:                  School Climate Surveys

DATE:                        October 1, 2015

Please note that the school climate surveys for the 2015-2016 school year will officially open on Monday, October  5, 2015 and will remain open through Friday, February 26, 2016. It is critical for all schools to participate in each of the surveys. Although alternative schools with their own school ID number should participate in the surveys, virtual schools, alternative programs without a school ID number and other “non-traditional” schools or programs are not required to participate.

It is important to note that each school must have a 75% participation rate on the Georgia Student Health Survey and the Georgia School Personnel Survey this year. Failure to meet the 75% participation rate on these two surveys will result in a 0.00 score; thereby, significantly reducing a school’s School Climate Star Rating. Although there is no mandatory participation rate for the Georgia Parent Survey, schools that have no participation on the survey will receive a 0.00 score. Schools with less than 15 parent surveys will be designated as Low Participation (LP) and the results will not be calculated.  Either way, no parent or low parent participation will negatively impact a school’s School Climate Star Rating.

Please note that schools with no or low participation on the any of the surveys will not be permitted to receive the five (5) additional points for research/evidence-based programs/interventions they are implementing for Personalized Climate. This also applies to the 0.5 point awarded to the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) “Exceeding the Bar” indicator.

Georgia Student Health Survey 2.0

There are two versions of the Georgia Student Health Survey (GSHS) 2.0. The first version is for middle and high school students (grades 6 – 12), and the second version is a short survey for elementary students (grades 3-5). At least 75% of students at each grade level (3-12) must participate in the GSHS 2.0 to be eligible for the School Climate Star Rating. Please make plans for your elementary, middle and high school students to participate in the GSHS 2.0. Survey responses are anonymous and will be submitted directly to the Georgia Department of Education for analysis. The GSHS 2.0 is also available in Spanish. Students may select the Spanish version by clicking Español within the survey. The URL addresses for the high school survey is posted below.

Georgia Student Health Survey 2.0 - HIGH SCHOOL (grades 9-12)

http://apps.gadoe.org/schoolclimate/highschool.nsf/Survey.xsp

Georgia School Personnel Survey

The Georgia School Personnel Survey (GSPS) is modeled after the student survey and includes 31 questions. The GSPS is for all certified and classified staff members who work at least 50 percent of the day in the school. At least 75% of certified and classified staff members must participate in the survey to be eligible for the School Climate Star Rating. Most teachers should be able to participate in the GSPS using their classroom computer. The survey is also accessible using a tablet or smartphone. Survey responses are anonymous and will be submitted directly to the Georgia Department of Education for analysis. Individual data results from the Georgia School Personnel Survey will not be available to the public and will not be posted online. The URL address for the Georgia School Personnel Survey is posted below.

Georgia School Personnel Survey:

http://apps.gadoe.org/schoolclimate/personnel.nsf/Survey.xsp

Georgia Parent Survey

The Georgia Parent Survey is also modeled after the student survey and contains 24 questions. Parents may complete the survey using their personal computer, smartphones or tablet.  For parents that do not have access to the Internet, school administrators should consider scheduling dates and times to allow parents to complete the Georgia Parent Survey at school.  All parents should be encouraged to participate in the Georgia Parent Survey because the data will be used as part of the calculation of the School Climate Star Rating. Survey responses are anonymous and will be submitted directly to the Georgia Department of Education for analysis.  Individual data results from the Georgia Parent Survey will not be available to the public and will not be posted online.  The URL address for the Georgia Parent Survey is posted below.

Georgia Parent Survey:

http://apps.gadoe.org/schoolclimate/parents.nsf/Survey.xsp

Survey Administration

Each of the surveys is administered online through the provided web address. As soon as the school administrator enters the web address into the web browser, a drop-down menu will appear and the school administrator will use the drop-down menu to select their school district and their school. If there are new schools that wish to participate that are not included in the drop-down menu, please contact us using the contact information at the end of this e-mail and we will add the school to the list.

Survey Participation Website

The survey participation website is now available to monitor survey participation rates for each of your schools. The link to the survey participation website is:

http://apps.gadoe.org/schoolclimate/participation.nsf.

The survey participation website will allow you to check the participation rates for your student, personnel and parent surveys at any time.

To view your survey participation rates, simply enter your 3-digit school system ID number and it will provide you with participation numbers for each of your schools by grade level.  Please note that the survey participation website is current through the previous school day.

Remember, federal law requires that the student survey questions be made available for review by all interested parties; therefore, copies may be reproduced and made available to parents or other parties upon request.  Copies of the Georgia Student Health Survey 2.0 questions are available online<http://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Curriculum-and-Instruction/GSHS-II/Pages/Georgia-Student-Health-Survey-II.aspx>.

Please make sure that your parents/guardians know about the Georgia Student Health Survey 2.0 and are given the option to opt out if desired.

Thank you for participating in the school climate surveys.  If you have questions, please contact Marilyn Watson and/or Jeff Hodges.  Marilyn may be reached by email at mawatson@doe.k12.ga.us<mailto:mawatson@doe.k12.ga.us> or by phone at (404) 651-7179 and Jeff may be reached by email at jhodges@doe.k12.ga.us<mailto:jhodges@doe.k12.ga.us> or by phone at (404) 463-7891.

Garry

Garry W. McGiboney, Ph.D.

Deputy Superintendent

External Affairs

Georgia Department of Education

2053 Twin Towers East

205 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive SE

Atlanta, Georgia 30334

gmcgiboney@doe.k12.ga.us<mailto:gmcgiboney@doe.k12.ga.us>

404-656-0619

“Educating Georgia’s Future”