California Safe and Supportive Schools

Statewide Principals Survey Summary Report 2021-22 School Year

Research Publication

Statewide Principals Survey Summary Report 2021-22 School Year

by

View the infographic.

Through Project Cal-Well, the California Department of Education and its partner local education agencies implemented a variety of programs to increase awareness of students’ mental health needs and access to mental health supports.

This 2022 report summarizes findings from a statewide survey of principals conducted by the University of California, San Francisco to assess their perceptions of the availability of existing mental health services, barriers to service provision, and staff professional development needs related to student mental health in California schools. The 1,347 respondents represent 95% of California counties, 54% of California school districts, and 13% of California public schools. Although the convenience sample may represent principals with a stronger interest in mental health concerns and services, the findings hold important relevance for understanding principals’ perspectives on students’ mental health needs, as well as the landscape of mental health service provision in California schools.

A Climate for Academic Success: How School Climate Distinguishes Schools That Are Beating the Achievement Odds (Report Summary)

by

A growing body of research suggests that school climate may be an important variable in explaining why some schools are more successful than others. The study featured in this report contributes to this research by exploring the climate of a handful of secondary schools that have had extraordinary success compared to that of other schools, including those that consistently underperform.

School success is often defined in absolute terms, such as average standardized test scores; however, such criteria are known to be strongly correlated with the socioeconomic characteristics of a school’s student body. The fact that a largely affluent student body is linked to school success offers little useful direction for those trying to improve achievement in struggling schools with low-income student populations.

To address this limitation, this study’s design and methodology take student characteristics into account: a successful school is defined as one whose test scores are better than would be predicted based on its student characteristics. Using this definition, the study investigates how two factors—school climate and school personnel resources—differed among three groups of California secondary schools.

In addition to the Report Summary, a Full Report and an updated list of California Beating-The-Odds Schools are also available.