K2020 Hanover Student Climate & Mindset Survey Results

Background Information:

This report marks our third year of partnering with Hanover Research to deliver a social/emotional and school climate survey to our KPBSD students in grades 3-12. The current analyses for 2020 includes participation from 3,627 students in grades 3-12.  Here is an executive summary of the results.

Based on survey results, Hanover recommends that Kenai Peninsula Borough School District:

• Provide teachers with professional development on brain-based strategies for interacting with students individually as well as for supporting student interactions in groups. Responses across grade levels and items suggest that some students feel disconnected from their teachers and peers. For example, responses indicate that some students do not have an adult at school with whom they can discuss things that are bothering them and that some students do not always help each other if they’re not friends. Students also report that they do not always intervene when they see someone being bullied and that they have trouble advocating for themselves without putting others down. Providing training for teachers on developmentally appropriate and brain-based strategies to build connections with and between students may not only improve student perceptions of adult-student and student-student relationships but may also help students feel safer at school overall.
• Evaluate instructional depth throughout the district to determine if student perceptions are aligned with teacher practice. Some student responses indicate that teachers do not consistently engage students in cognitively challenging tasks. Through surveys or qualitative analysis such as interviews or focus groups, identify the practices teachers are not currently implementing, and provide professional development and monitoring to improve instructional quality.
• Engage students in evidence-based conversations about growth mindset and metacognition. Some students demonstrate fixed mindsets as it relates to learning and intelligence, and the extent of fixedness increases as students progress through school. Additionally, some students indicate they have trouble clearly describing their feelings, remaining calm under stress, and thinking about what may happen before making a decision. Design lessons or programming on brain science and the related concepts of growth mindset and metacognition, and collaborate with teachers to require students to incorporate these concepts into their academic work and routines.

 Key Findings from this year's survey are:

1. Overall Community & Connectedness:  Students consistently indicate that they care about their community and are encouraged to do their best, but they report low agreement on statements regarding communication and connectedness with adults and peers at their schools.

• From 2018 to 2020, Grades 6-12 students continue to agree that they care about their community (86% to 83%) and that they are encouraged to do their best (82% to 79%). Nonetheless, only half of these Grades 6-12 students report they have an adult at school they can talk to when something is bothering them (approximately 50% across all three years), and even fewer students agree that their principal frequently asks students about their ideas (approximately 45% across all three years).
• Similarly, in 2020, students in Grades 3-5 report caring very much about their community (86%) and are very much encouraged to do their very best (82%), but only 37% very much agree that they can talk to an adult at school about something that is bothering them. Additionally, only 29% of students in Grades 3-5 very much agree that their principal frequently asks about their ideas.
• Additionally, in 2020, only 39% of students in Grades 3-5 and 53% (down from 55% in 2018 and 2019) of students in Grades 6-12 agree that students help each other, even when they are not friends.

2.  Overall School Climate:  Students consistently agree that their school is welcoming; however, they are becoming more hesitant or unwilling to get involved when they see someone getting picked on or bullied.

• From 2018 to 2020, students in Grades 6-12 consistently agree that their school is welcoming to students and families (75% to 71%); however, there has been a significant decrease in agreement among students in Grades 6-12 that they step in when they see another student being picked on (55% to 48%).
• In 2020, students in Grades 3-5 provided similar responses, with most students (86%) indicating that their school is welcoming and only 43% indicating that if they see another student being bullied, they try to stop it. Furthermore, only 41% of students in Grades 3-5 say that other students treat them with respect, as compared to the slightly higher level of agreement with this statement for students in Grades 6-12 (59%) in 2020.
• Even though a majority of students across all grade levels feel safe at school (69% in Grades 3-5 in 2020; 72% in Grades 6-12 in 2020), more than a quarter of the student body does not agree that they feel safe at school.

3.  Overall Social Emotional Learning:  Students continue to believe they demonstrate greater strength in interacting with others than in engaging in personal reflection and regulation.

• In 2020, only 29% of students in Grades 3-5 and 49% of students in Grades 6-12 report being able to clearly describe their feelings. Students in all grade levels also admit difficulty with self-regulatory abilities, such as remaining calm under stress (39% in Grades 3-5; 60% in Grades 6-12) and being able to stand up for themselves without putting others down (58% in Grades 3-5; 71% in Grades 6-12). For students in Grades 6-12, all responses are consistent longitudinally.
• In contrast, a majority of students in all grade levels in 2020 agree that they respect others’ opinions, even if different from their own (70% in Grades 3-5; 81% in Grades 6-12) and that they get along with students who are different from them (65% in Grades 3-5; 78% in Grades 6-12). Year over year, students in Grades 6-12 are consistent in their responses to these questions as well.

 4.  Overall Student Mindset:  Student mindset may be KPBSD’s area of greatest strength, but responses indicate that students have a fixed mindset as it relates to learning and potential.

• As compared to other scales for students in Grades 6-12, student mindset continues to have the highest mean (5.16 in 2020). In 2020, students agree that that they know what they are good at (81%) and work hard to achieve their goals (78%), believing that they will graduate from high school (90%). The responses to these items remain consistent over time and generally align with 2020 responses for students in Grades 3-5: 81% of students in Grades 3-5 agree they know what they are good at, and 71% agree that they have a great future ahead of them.
• While students have positive perceptions of their futures, students across all grade levels agree that their intelligence and potential is fixed. In 2020, only slightly more than half of Grades 3-5 students agree that they can do well in subjects in which they are not naturally smart (56%), and the percentage increases for Grades 6-12 students (61%). Additionally, 24% of Grades 3-5 students agree that there are some things they are not capable of learning as compared to 43% of Grades 6-12 students, and 31% of Grades 3-5 students agree that their intelligence is not something they can change as compared to 51% of Grades 6-12 students.

 5.  Overall Instructional Depth (grades 6-12 only):  Instructional depth is KPBSD’s area in greatest need of improvement, as students consistently, both across all items per year and across all items over time, indicate that teachers do not frequently ask them to engage in cognitively challenging tasks.

• As compared to other scales for students in Grades 6-12, instructional depth continues to have the lowest mean (3.57 in 2020).
• Consistent from 2018 to 2020, students are more frequently asked to identify or define a problem than to seek out sources that go against their opinion or compare ways to solve a problem.