Schools and districts often gauge the climate of their employees or schools through surveys. These surveys are crafted so that the data can be analyzed and assessed for areas of strength and growth. One such survey was created and sent to a high school staff of 100+ which included administrators (Principals and Assistant Principals), classified staff (custodians, paras, secretaries, etc), certified staff (teachers, SSPs, TOSAs, etc) with years of experience ranging from two to over 21 years of experience. A total of 24 individuals responded to the survey, 9 identified themselves as classified staff, and 15 identified themselves as certified staff. No administrators participated in the survey.
The Likert scale was used to answer the survey questions, with answer options being:
4 - Strongly Agree
3 - Agree
2 - Disagree
1 - Strongly Disagree
There were 11 survey questions, which fit into five themes that support a positive climate.
The themes were:
1. Recognition and Satisfaction
2. Clear Focus and Vision
3. Leadership and Support
4. Communication and Engagement
5. Growth and Development
The five themes and average rating in each theme are shown in the chart.
A much deeper analysis of these results could be considered, such as analyzing results as classified vs certified, years of experience, etc. After analyzing the overall rating results among the 24 surveyed staff members, recognition and satisfaction are rated the highest, while leadership and support are rated the lowest.
When analyzing each question, the top 15 bolded responses are identified as certified responses, and the bottom 9 are classified responses. Numeric values were given to each response as shown above and then averaged at the bottom of each column. As seen here, question 11, which asked about overall happiness, is the highest-rated question. Whereas question 4, which asked about communication within the school, is ranked the lowest.
To promote support and trust in building leaders, some suggestions would be:
1. Getting into classrooms and not just for observations
Grissom, Loeb, and Master (2013) classroom observations can not only have a positive impact on student outcomes but can also be used to build rapport between teachers and build leadership. Being present in classrooms also provides an insight into students, staff, and general day-to-day happenings in the building (Grissom et al, 2013). Increased accessibility and reliability of building administrators can support building relationships that foster collaboration and confidence for staff and administrators.
2. Encourage Teacher Leaders
Teachers should share in school leadership and play a role in decision making, instruction, assessment, and professional growth for themselves and their colleagues. Principals expand their leadership skills to teachers and better support the school and its stakeholders by empowering teacher leaders (Ghamrawi, 2011).
3. Honor Commitments
Making and keeping time to meet with teachers, parents, and students, observing in classrooms, and following through on promises.
4. Develop Coaching Skills
Supporting teachers with tools and strategies to not only help themselves be successful but also their colleagues as well to improve teaching practices and student outcomes (Newell, 2025).
5. Foster Risk Taking
Fail Forward, support to try something new, and even if it isn't successful, look for what can be learned from it and what next steps might be.
6. Openness
The way a principal communicates, shares information, and gets the staff involved in decision-making or just giving teachers a "heads up" about an event or initiative (Kuykendall & Slater, 2020).
Education Week writer Larry Ferlazzo (2025) shares responses to the question of the week, in which he asks, "What is one thing a Principal can do to support their teachers?". Wendi Pillars (2025) shared her illustration, which supports the tips above.
In what ways have you felt supported by your principal(s)? What specific actions was your principal taking to help you or your colleagues?
References
Ferlazzo, L and Pillars, W. (2025, February 13). 7 Ways Principals Can Support Teachers (Opinion). Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-7-ways-principals-can-support-teachers/2022/05
Ghamrawi, N. (2011). Trust Me: Your School Can Be Better--A Message from Teachers to Principals. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 39(3), 333–348. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143210393997
Grissom, J. A., Loeb, S., & Master, B. (2013). Effective instructional time use for school leaders: Longitudinal evidence From observations of principals. Educational Researcher, 42(8), 433–444. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24571227
Gruenert, S. (2008). School culture, school climate: They are not the same thing. Principal, 56–57. https://www.naesp.org/sites/default/files/resources/2/Principal/2008/M-Ap56.pdf
Kuykendall, B., & Slater, C. L. (2020). Servant-Leadership and Trust between Teachers and Principals. International Journal of Servant-Leadership, 14(1), 249–273. https://doi.org/10.33972/ijsl.31
Newell, A. (March 2025). Coaching for teachers: What school leaders need to consider. Blog. https://blog.irisconnect.com/uk/coaching-for-teachers#:~:text=%E2%80%9CIt%20is%20an%20opportunity%20for%20two%20individuals,lead%20to%20professional%20and%20personal%20success.%E2%80%9D%20%2D&text=In%20addition%20to%20helping%20teachers%20transfer%20new,a%20culture%20of%20learning%2C%20experimentation%2C%20and%20collegiality.
