School district focuses on climate and culture

Students, parents and teachers were recently asked to complete a survey looking at the climate and culture within Crook County School District. Not only was this an opportunity to find problem areas, says Superintendent Mark Broderson, it was part of an overall push to spread kindness and improve the general atmosphere across the district.

“The leadership team had a retreat last May and we tried to figure out what was the direction we wanted to focus on,” he says. “We chose to focus on creating a positive climate and making our buildings a place where everybody wants to be and enjoys being.”

Though bullying is included in this concept, Broderson says, it was not the sole focus. While bullying is certainly an example of how a school climate can be negative, the survey covered a wide range of issues.

“We have to look at how our students interact with one another,” he nods, explaining that it’s all about creating a foundation on which a student’s success can be built.

“If people like coming into our buildings to work and the kids like coming there to learn, everything else should work out.”

Broderson analyzed the surveys by looking for questions to which more than 20 percent of respondents answered that they disagreed or strongly disagreed with a given statement.

“Twenty percent was my threshold – that’s one out of five people who are disgruntled with how things are. The surveys were all asking comparable questions from three different populations,” he says.

“For the most part, they came back pretty positive.”

However, there were a few anomalies, such as the students who disagreed that they and their peers are able to solve problems without conflicts or fighting. “I’ve got 32 percent that disagree with that, so it needs addressed,” says Broderson.

Similarly, over 22 percent of students disagreed that the school teaches them specific things they can do when they see someone bullying others – again, he says, that needs to be looked at.

On the other hand, Broderson points out, around 70 percent of students said they step in or report it if they see a student being bullied or hurt in any way. The survey revealed plenty of strengths within the district’s current climate.

Some of the areas in which the students felt things are going well include: students and teachers treating one another with respect; general politeness; students reporting instances of bullying; clear rules against hurting other people physically; and that the school encourages kind actions.

Parents who responded to the survey felt that the district promotes academic success for all, treats all students with respect, makes it clear what happens if school rules are broken, gives opportunity for kids to participate in classroom activities, is a safe place and is an inviting place for students to learn.

Categories in which teachers felt positively towards the district included that people work within the schools because they enjoy it; that staff are empowered to make instructional decisions; that teachers enjoy one another’s company; and that the schools reflect a true sense of community.

But along with the strengths, the survey revealed areas where the district might think about making improvements. According to Broderson, some of the areas in which 20 percent of the students or more indicated they felt there was a problem included: students respecting each others’ property; effective disciplinary procedures for people hurting other people; teaching students what to do if they are being bullied; whether something gets done if bullying is reported; and whether students feel respected.

(Students in seventh grade and above were included in the survey.)

Parents meanwhile indicated possible problems with the availability of counseling and other ways to deal with social and emotional needs; rules being enforced equally for all students; and bullying.

The district has already been working on ways to improve the overall climate across the schools, Broderson says. One of the most visible efforts so far was the introduction of Rachel’s Challenge, with presentations held recently for every school population.

“Every week, I send out an email to staff that has the five things of Rachel’s Challenge, so that keeps it on their radar,” he says. “They have banners in their buildings that everybody has signed. We’re trying to keep that message alive throughout the year and our teachers are hopefully pushing that.”

The district is also focusing on setting expectations for each school building.

“After Rachel’s Challenge, all the teachers had to sit down and say, ok, what are our building expectations, what do we want our buildings to look like,” Broderson says.

“From there, the teachers were supposed to take it to the students and the students were supposed to tell them what they wanted their building to look like.”

Starting at the top is important, says Broderson, because “teachers set expectations.” Students will follow the lead of their teachers in how they interact with one another.

It’s thanks to a teacher’s position as role model they must stay positive at all times, Broderson adds.

“As a teacher, you don’t really get to have bad days because you’re dealing with kids,” he says. “There was a pretty big discussion on that and all the buildings created a document or product.”

Each school building was encouraged to work towards a solid end product in terms of expectations, says the superintendent, the real work had already been done.

“It wasn’t really about that product, it was more about the conversation,” he says.

“It’s not so much the finished product that they came up with. It’s the discussions and an awareness of how we are treating each other and how we are treating our students.”

Even the surveys weren’t just about finding problem areas; they were, in fact, another part of the process. Talking about issues demands that you think about those issues, Broderson says.

“Now, the kids are thinking, is there a problem with bullying? Am I nice to my neighbors? Do we respect each other’s property?” he says.

“It’s an awareness for them [of things] they maybe hadn’t thought about before. The parents [and teachers] are also looking at them, hopefully, and taking them into consideration.”

With everyone aware of the importance of culture, climate and – most importantly – kindness, Broderson hopes the district will move closer to its true end goal.

“We want the teachers to be kind to one another, we want the teachers to be kind to kids and we want the kids to be kind to each other,” Broderson says. “If we can get that to happen, everything else should fall into place.”