Safety in the physical school environment is an essential component of school climate and belonging. Refer to Act 29 of 2023 School Safety and Security and the Vermont School Safety Center School Safety Planning Resources for important information related to school safety protocols and emergency operations planning.

Questions about School Climate and Belonging?

Email: Michele.Hartje@vermont.gov

What gets measured, gets managed, gets improved, gets done. (Paraphrased from the work of Peter Drucker)

Best practice and educational research findings reinforce using data and progress information to enhance instruction and support and promote positive student outcomes. This concept applies to academic and non-academic skills. Here are some resources to measure the dimensions of school climate. More information will be added to this section with each future update.

School Climate Surveys

School climate surveys offer educational leaders a way to understand the perceptions of the students, staff, and parents in a school, district or supervisory union; monitor progress; make data-driven decisions; involve stakeholders; and adapt to shifting needs related to school climate.

The State of Vermont does not currently offer a state-wide school climate survey rather this is measured locally. The following school climate survey resources are available to Vermont schools without charge:

VTPBIS offers the School Climate Survey Suite which is a set of four multidimensional surveys to measure student, teacher, administrator, faculty, and family/caregiver perceptions of school climate.

The National Center on Safe and Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE) has published several climate survey resources at Learn About ED School Climate Surveys.

Continuous Improvement Approach

An effective way to positively impact School Climate is to use a continuous improvement systems approach. If you are interested in engaging in this process, here is a link to the Education Quality Assurance Continuous Improvement framework with several actionable resources, templates and toolkits.

A positive school climate that invokes a strong sense of belonging does not happen by chance but is the result of a collective effort by the members of a school’s community. The collective school community's belief system helps shape the culture of a school and ultimately serves as the measure of school climate and culture. The goal of this page is to provide easy access to resources that will be helpful for Vermont educators and families to collaboratively cultivate school environments that foster strong and trusting family relationships while also being responsive to the differing needs of all students.

Students with a strong sense of belonging at school are more likely to be engaged and perform well academically. Research findings demonstrate better outcomes for students when their needs for belonging and respect are met.

Sense of belonging refers to the extent to which students feel personally accepted, included, and supported at school, and includes school-based experiences, students’ relationships with teachers and peers, and students’ general feelings about school (National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, 2024).

Strategies

Consider using the TIES Center Belonging Reflection Tool to examine how your school community is doing across ten measures of belonging. This resource can be used by individuals or with teams.

The following high leverage practices can be used to intentionally foster a culture of belonging in a school building or classroom (Institute of Education Sciences (IES), 2023):

• Maintain and communicate high expectations for all students.
• Commit to building a caring classroom and school community.
• Seek and leverage knowledge of student backgrounds.
• Cultivate respectful communication about differences across culture, ability, and lived experiences
• Promote and develop student agency over their school experiences.
• Engage families as partners to support student success.

Culturally responsive practices include educator actions that recognize, value, and incorporate students’ lived experiences and cultures into teaching, learning, and the school environment. Strategies that prioritize building positive student–teacher relationships have shown to be strong predictors of student sense of belonging.

Refer to this IES infographic for more information about The Importance of Student Sense of Belonging.

Successful school and life outcomes for students depends upon our collective efforts to build healthy and trusting relationships and develop comprehensive systems of support in our schools. The Vermont Multi-tiered Systems of Supports (VTmtss Framework) guides educators as they work to support students when and how needed to access high-quality education. 

A positive and healthy school climate enables learning by providing students with healthy adult-student relationships, rigorous expectations for learning, conditions of mental and emotional safety and belonging among students and staff—all of which are essential to student success (Aspen Institute, 2021).