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The Effective School Battery (ESB) provides a school district or a single school with objective measures of school climate. It provides a standardized and validated way to gather information needed to pinpoint strengths and potential problems. Monitor school safety, leadership, morale, respect, and fairness in schools using this research-based assessment tool.
Why assess school climate?
Students and teachers deserve a
safe, dignified environment in which to learn and work. Favorable school climate, especially
morale, educational leadership, and safety sets the stage in which effective instruction
and student learning can occur.
Why use the ESB?
An easy to use and comprehensive inventory based on surveys of teachers and students provides a more complete picture of schools than is available from other sources. The manual summarizes
extensive research to develop and validate the inventory. This standardized assessment has the
following features:
- Describes school
climate from teacher and student perspectives - Easy to administer
with a convenient and flexible scoring service - Inexpensive scoring and interpretive reports available for each school and for a district as a whole
- Profiles and summaries
of school climate and of teacher and student characteristics. - Reliable, valid, and
sensitive to changes as schools improve. - Obtain disaggregated
reports to summarize the attitudes and experiences of students of different
ethnic groups or grade level
What does the ESB measure?
Teachers report on nine facets of school climate:
* Safety * Morale * Planning and Action * Administrative Leadership
* Resources * Race Relations * Parent/Community Involvement
* Student Influence * Avoidance of the Use of Grades as a Punishment
Students report on six facets of climate:
* Safety * Respect for Students * Planning and Action
* Fairness of Rules * Clarity of Rules * Student Influence
Scales measure 7 teacher characteristics:
* Job Satisfaction * Pro-Integration Attitude * Interaction with Students
* Personal Security * Classroom Orderliness * Professional Development
* Nonauthoritarian Attitudes
Scales measure 12 student characteristics:
* Parental Education * Positive Peer Associations * Educational Expectation
* Social Integration * Attachment to School * Belief in Rules
* Interpersonal Competency * Involvement * Positive Self-Concept
* School Effort * Avoidance of Punishment * School Rewards
For what grade levels is the ESB used?
Use the ESB in schools with grades 6 through 12.
Is the ESB culture-fair?
The ESB was developed and tested in urban, suburban, and rural schools serving White, African American, Asian, and Latino students. Results are useful for all schools.
Can the ESB help meet the Safe and Drug-Free Schools "Principles of Effectiveness?"
Safe and Drug-Free Schools Coordinators and other
prevention specialists can use the ESB to address the Principles of
Effectiveness:
- Conduct
a needs assessment - Set
measurable goals and objectives based on the risk and protective factors
measured by the ESB - Select
research-based programs targeting ESB-measured objectives - Re-assess
schools to evaluate programs, provide evidence of effectiveness, and plan
improvements.
Can we get the information we need from ESB reports?
The ESB interpretive report includes profiles summarizing results, with separate graphs for school climate and for teacher and student characteristics. Results are presented as T-scores plus interpretations based on percentile ranges for schools. A section of the report provides technical results for evaluation specialists (means, SDs, standard errors . Suggestions for next steps and planning resources are provided.
The disaggregated interpretive report should be used when you need information about specific groups of students based on sex, grade, ethnic group, or participation in special programs. You get the information you need by telling the scoring service how to disaggregate the information.
Use the district-wide summary reports to compare schools within your district by displaying results for individual schools and providing a district summary.
How about Title I school-wide plans?
Principals and district Title 1 specialists also use the
ESB to assess needs and measure progress in school-wide plans.
What about research related to the ESB?
Please download this document to see selected research related to the Effective School Battery.