Frequently Asked Questions
Why are we doing this survey?
Feeling respected, valued, liked, and cared about by adults and peers in school has been well established to be central for students’ engagement and motivation in school. Students who report a stronger sense of belonging at school are also less likely to experience stress and report increased physical and emotional health. Social exclusion and bullying, is of course, the antithesis of social belonging with particularly worrisome negative repercussions for social and emotional functioning, motivation, and cognition. However, current measures of school climate do not capture the perspectives of immigrant-origin youth. The Immigration Initiative at Harvard, Re-Imagining Migration, and YouthTruth are partnering to help you understand the school belonging climate at your school, across various groups of students.
What will my school receive?
Educators will receive free resources to help educators understand the experiences of all of their students at school. Including:
- Assistance in administering the survey
- A FREE report on their school climate and an interactive dashboard to drill into their results.
- Data aggregated across student identities, to help educators understand who feels a sense of connection and who feels less connected.
- Analysis and data revealing how your school compares to others across the country
- Opportunities to participate in Re-Imagining Migration online training
- Access to free self-paced professional development webinars and exercises
How will the student data be handled?
Your school data and student data will be entirely confidential. Student data is de-identified and aggregated and all schools will be assigned code numbers. YouthTruth will add your de-identified data to their existing data and Re-Imagining Migration will analyze and report on how immigrant-origin students are experiencing their school climate in comparison to their peers without identifying participating schools (beyond region and population density).
Are there any costs to participate?
Financial: Scholarships are available to cover the survey costs for the first 25 schools that register to participate. Sign up now to reserve a spot.
Student Learning Time: The survey will be conducted school-wide, in class on remote devices (phones, tablets, computers) and takes about 45 minutes. One class period should be allowed for orientation, administration, and transition.
