Evaluating Outcomes of SEL

The District assessed students’, teachers’, and parents’ perceptions of social and emotional learning, the school environment, and self-reports about social and emotional competence and behavior in 2003 and 2007 in order to gather measures of school climate, student skill development and needs, and the alignment of teaching and learning with the Illinois SEL Standards.

Since 2008, the district has administered the Illinois Youth Survey to 6th and 8th grade students every other year. This survey includes questions related to social and emotional learning, students’ perceptions of their school environments, communities, safety, and personal behaviors.

In December 2016, students in 4th-8th grade, staff, and parents completed the Comprehensive School Climate Inventory (CSCI). This survey takes into account the perceptions of students, staff, and parents and measures five categories of school climate: Safety, Teaching and Learning, Interpersonal Relationships, Institutional Environment, and Professional Leadership and Relationships (for Staff only). The data from this survey is used in several contexts, as input for School Improvement Planning within the District and to provide information about schools across Illinois via the Illinois State Board of Education for the school report cards. Illinois mandates that all schools survey their students, staff, and parents every other year about school climate and the learning environment. The CSCI is an approved survey for this purpose. More information and the reports are available on the CSCI page of our website.