Welcome to the GaDOE Positive School Climate webpage. This webpage offers practitioners, stakeholders, and K-12 grade schools/districts with resources to provide students with a safe positive learning environment that will improve instructional outcomes for all learners.
"For Georgia’s reform strategies aimed at improving education to take hold and succeed, students must be engaged and excited about going to school. School climate is the foundation of a successful school and positive educational outcomes for all of our students."
-Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education
GaDOE Teaching and Learning Supports for School Climate
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an evidence-based three-tiered framework to improve and integrate all of the data, systems, and practices affecting student outcomes (PBIS.org).
School Climate Star Rating gauges how well a school's climate is on a 1-5 star rating scale to help each school determine if they're on the correct path to improvement. Georgia is the first state in the nation to include school climate as an early indicator in its accountability system. The School Climate Star Rating is calculated based on data obtained from: student, teacher, and parent surveys; student discipline; safe and substance-free learning environment information; and attendance. See: School Climate Star Rating
Student Attendance and School Climate Committee
In order to address truancy and attendance, as well as school climate, Georgia state law (O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-690.2) now requires that communities and schools work together to address school climate and truancy through the recommendations of their local Student Attendance and School Climate Committee. See: Student Attendance and School Climate Committee
External Resources Related to School Climate
All districts/schools should consult their local policies and procedures for selection of any and all resources related to school climate.
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Strong4Life helps families raise healthy, safe, resilient kids.
Get Georgia Reading Campaign partners developed a clearly defined framework to create the conditions for every child in Georgia to become a proficient reader by the end of third grade. The process used by our partners to create the Campaign's framework consists of four research-based pillars that work together to provide a platform for success: language nutrition; access; positive learning climate; and teacher preparation and effectiveness. See: Get Georgia Reading
National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments offers information and technical assistance to states, districts, schools, institutions of higher learning, and communities focused on improving school climate and conditions for learning. We believe that with the right resources and support, educational stakeholders can collaborate to sustain safe, engaging, and healthy school environments that support student academic success. The National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Supportive Schools.
National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement (NCSCB) is dedicated to helping schools support students through crisis and loss. Crisis and loss can have unforeseen, lasting psychological, emotional, academic, and developmental effects on the well-being of children. Classroom educators and other school professionals are well-positioned, but too often are unprepared to support students and promote long-term recovery and resilience. The Center's services include:
- Crisis Response Free, immediate technical assistance as well as training to schools and communities that are responding to crises, with a focus on supporting their students in the short term and throughout long-term recovery.
- Education and Training Free education materials, as well as expert consultation and trainings for school professionals and communities preparing for or responding to crisis events.
- Advocacy and Research Promote policies that encourage best practices in crisis response and grief support in schools, and research in the fields of childhood bereavement and disaster preparedness.
