The state Superintendent of Schools, typically a remote figure, came to the library at Culver City High School yesterday morning to report on a climate-in-schools survey. On a decidedly overcast day, there was even less sunshine inside than out.
For no evident reason, Jack O’Connell, tall, slender and nervous, appeared ill at ease as he briefly presented a tightly scripted report that was both straight-forward and disappointing to educators.
In the wake of an explosion of students arriving in California from virtually every known culture on the planet, Mr. O’Connell declared two conclusions:
• In the new, non-traditional public school population environment where there is a heavy accent on student diversity, schools are not providing sufficient support to students in need. Correspondingly, support thins out as a student progresses through the system.
• The achievement gap between white and non-white students (with the notable exception of Asians) remains unacceptably wide.
Both Culver City School District Supt. Myrna Rivera Cote and Culver High principal Pam McGee said that the School District has participated in the decade-old program for a number of years. Perceived to be among the safest schools in the Los Angeles area, they said Culver City has reacted to the data by developing strategic programs where called for.
Participation in the surveys of attitudes and perceptions was anonymous.
Catalyst for Surveys
Not necessarily helpfully to the lay observer, the poll of school staff attitudes throughout the state is known as the California Climate Survey. (The student component is called the California Healthy Kids Survey.)
Mr. O’Connell said the polling was spawned by a desire “to better understand our organizational health.”
He emphasized the importance of adult support of children. “Students are much more likely to be engaged in learning,” he said, “if they feel supported and understood by their teachers, and if they have the support and the collegiality of their peers. Our teachers are much likelier to be effective if they can better understand the unique and diverse cultures that come into their classrooms.
“I am asking today for all of our schools and districts to conduct a climate survey to improve our educational environment. I am absolutely convinced this survey can help us make sure that all students reach their full and maximum potential.”
Speaking with a notably deliberate cadence, Mr. O’Connell indicated that the “preliminary” results he brought to town were not exactly fresh off of any press or assembly line.
Less Than New
No one called the data outdated, but:
A number of the staffers who were polled are gone by now. The survey covered the years ’04 to ’06.
Assured of confidentiality, about 68,000 school employees, said Mr. O’Connell, “took the time to share their honest perceptions of school climate.
“It is very clear that as students move from elementary schools to middle schools to high schools, that students are not offered much support, as much nurturing, caring and adult support the later on (they go) in school.”
Mr. O’Connell said 62 percent of elementary school staffers believe their schools are “quite supportive” of their students.
Only a Minority Hold Upbeat View
At the high school level, merely 40 percent of staffers said their schools provided “an inviting” learning atmosphere.
“These are very sobering statistics,” said Mr. O’Connell. “They have to be of major concern for all of us.
“We know we clearly have a long way to go to make sure our students and teachers are functioning in a very supportive, nurturing and positive learning environment.”
Educational consultant Greg Austin (Culver High, Class of ‘’65), said the data shows that “the more positive a school’s staff is, the higher its API scores are.”
