CalSCHLS Surveys

Each year, the San Marino Unified School District (SMUSD) seeks to gather information from all staff, parents and students in grades 5, 7, 9 and 11 through the CalSCHLS system which is comprised of the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS), California School Staff Survey (CSSS), and the California School Parent Survey (CSPS). These survey reports: 

• enable similar schools and districts to compare their results;
• provide aggregated county and statewide data to guide policies and programmatic efforts at these broader geographic levels, and serve as norms for comparison to local results; and
• create a dataset about California youth, schools, and parents in order to improve understanding of the factors affecting successful school and youth outcomes and how they vary across the state.

CalSCHLS, developed with the assistance of Expert Advisory Committees, is a research-based assessment of all the major domains of school climate as it affects students, staff, and parents:

• student, teacher, and parent engagement;
• school academic expectations and rigor;
• student academic mindset and learning motivation;
• positive interpersonal relationships among and between students, staff, and parents;
• opportunities for meaningful participation, decision-making, and engagement;
• school safety (social-emotional & physical), violence, victimization (bullying);
• discipline and order; clarity of rules and behavioral expectations;
• mental and physical health, including substance use, depression/suicide risk, and other health risks and learning barriers;
• student social-emotional learning and development;
• respect for diversity and equity;
• school/district supports, services, and policies related to students, staff, and parents; and
• school physical environment and facilities.

The content of the three surveys is aligned so that responses on common questions and summary measures can be compared across students, staff, and parents.