California Safe and Supportive Schools

Reframing and Understanding Staff Resistance to Advance Positive School Climates

Brief

Reframing and Understanding Staff Resistance to Advance Positive School Climates

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Efforts to improve school climate can face resistance from school staff. Leaders who recognize resistance as a natural phenomenon and who understand its root causes are better prepared to successfully manage change initiatives.

This guide, examines some common root causes of staff resistance, such as burnout, a lack of trust, and fear. It offers actionable strategies for leaders to mitigate the effects of resistance by encouraging them to recognize such resistance as a source of vital information that productively illuminates important gaps or opportunities in initiative implementation. By reframing their approach as one of openness and curiosity, leaders can create favorable conditions for school staff to support the school climate initiative. Questions throughout the guide provide opportunities for leaders to reflect on the best staff engagement approaches.

Making Data Meaningful in Educator-to-Family Communication

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Schools collect vast amounts of data about students—the sources range from attendance records, classroom activities, and standardized assessment scores to homework completion, behavior, and local school climate surveys. School leaders and educators are becoming increasingly skilled in sharing and using data to make important decisions about programs, interventions, resources, and policies.

This document describes strategies for sharing data and engaging in data-driven discussions with families to improve student and school outcomes. It includes tips for considering how to invite families into data conversations, effectively engaging with families around student and school data, and determining which data to share with families. A vignette from Azusa Unified School District in California illustrates how collaborating with families to make data-informed decisions can build trust and draw on community assets to improve school outcomes.

Youth Mental Health and Supports: 2022 Elementary Students Perspective

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Through Project Cal-Well, the California Department of Education and the University of California, San Francisco review and analyze data collected from the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) to identify mental health needs of students and barriers to service provision. This brief describes data from the CHKS Core & Mental Health Supports modules on the mental health needs of elementary students during the 2021-22 school year.

Youth Mental Health and Supports: 2022 Secondary Students Perspective

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Through Project Cal-Well, the California Department of Education and the University of California, San Francisco review and analyze data collected from the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) to identify mental health needs of students and barriers to service provision. This brief describes data from the CHKS Core & Mental Health Supports modules on the mental health needs of secondary students during the 2021-22 school year.