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Safe and Supportive Schools

Background

In October 2010, California became one of 11 states selected to receive a Safe and Supportive Schools (S3) grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. This four-year grant is intended to support statewide measurement of conditions for learning (known also as school climate), as well as targeted programmatic interventions to improve those conditions. The S3 grant addresses issues of school safety and bullying, substance abuse, positive relationships, other learning support, and student engagement. The grant will target California's comprehensive high schools (grades nine through twelve) with the greatest needs in multiple areas of school climate.

The four-year grant period runs from October 2010 through September 2014.

Participating Districts

Following federal grant guidelines, 95 districts with the lowest achieving high schools were invited by the California Department of Education (CDE) to participate in the S3 Program. See the 58 Participating Districts that have accepted the invitation and participated in the baseline data collection phase in 2010-11.

Project Goals

The CDE has established the following goals for S3:

• Improve conditions for learning, including school climate and school safety, in high schools with the greatest needs, as identified by data.
• Build local school district capacity to implement data-driven school improvements.
• Integrate school climate reform into school-wide improvements.
• Establish a comprehensive and sustainable model for school climate improvement to guide school and district efforts throughout the state.

Orientation Webinar

An orientation Webinar was hosted in January 2011 to provide S3 districts with an overview of the project.

• S3 Overview (PDF)
• Importance of a Safe and Supportive School Climate (PDF)
• Survey Administration (PDF)
• S3 Frequently Asked Questions

Baseline Data Collection

As part of the grant requirement, participating districts must administer the California School Climate, Health, and Learning Survey (Cal-SCHLS) system to collect survey data among their ninth and eleventh grade students, staff, and parents in Year 1 (2011) and Year 4 (2014). Cal-SCHLS is comprised of three interrelated surveys developed for and supported by the CDE:

• California Healthy Kids Survey
• California School Climate Survey
• California School Parent Survey

These surveys provide schools and districts with critical information about the learning and teaching environment, the health and well-being of students, and support for parents, school staff, and students that foster learning and school success. When used together, data from these three surveys help assess the needs, concerns, and successes of the school community—teachers, students, and parents—and allow schools and districts to compare perceptions about the status of these areas across stakeholder groups.

School Climate Index

To measure school climate and safety needs, each high school in participating districts will receive a school climate index (SCI) based on select CHKS indicators on school safety, use of alcohol and drugs at school, school connectedness, protective factors, etc., along with student incident data. To ensure accurate data representation, an SCI is only calculated when there is a response rate of at least 60 percent from the student CHKS.

A School Climate Report Card will be generated for each school receiving an SCI and will be posted annually at Data Quest, beginning in the summer of 2011.

Programmatic Intervention

Grants—Application and Requirements

Based on needs reflected by the SCI, local S3 grants were awarded to a select number of high schools, based on the successful completion of a noncompetitive application process.

• Safe and Supportive Schools Programmatic Intervention Request for Applications (2011-12)
• Safe and Supportive Schools Programmatic Intervention Funding Results (2011-12)

The CDE hosted an Application Webinar on June 8, 2011 to provide an overview on the SCI and the S3 RFA. An archive of the Webinar, along with the Frequently Asked Questions, is available at Cal-SCHLS S3 (Outside Source).

CDE S3 Consultants

S3 grantees should contact their assigned CDE consultant with question on grant requirements, budget changes, and submission of their annual progress reports, etc.

Intervention Framework

Intervention schools are expected to use grant funds to implement the following intervention framework:

• District and school commitment
• Integration of school climate into school improvement plans
• Systematic data-driven decision making
• Parent and community engagement
• Interventions for general and at-risk populations
• Adoption of evidence-based programs or research-based strategies

Technical Assistance

To assist intervention schools in addressing their school climate needs, CDE contracts with WestEd to provide training and technical assistance to S3 districts and schools on (1) understanding and using data to pursue comprehensive approaches to improving school climate, (2) instilling school climate as an essential element of all school improvement efforts, and (3) identifying and selecting effective strategies to address school climate and safety needs.

The technical assistance will be available to intervention schools and districts beginning in fall 2011, and will be accomplished through on-site workshops; the California S3 that will provide access to a wide range of resources, tools, and best practices; a series of Webinars on key topics; and a pool of expert consultants.

In addition, CDE also contracts with the California Healthy Kids Resource Center (CHKRC) to provide technical assistance to S3 districts and schools on selecting programs and curricula with empirical evidence of effectiveness. The CHKRC maintains an online searchable database and a free lending library of resources and materials. More information is available at the CHKRC .