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Participation in Cambridge Public Schools’ school climate and belonging survey declined sharply this year, as several satisfaction metrics — many of which fall behind national averages — showed little year-over-year change.
The results of this year’s survey — which was distributed to families, students, and staff during the month of May — were presented at a school committee meeting Tuesday evening and made publicly available to the city Wednesday.
The survey, previously given in 2019 and then again last school year, is expected to be administered annually moving forward so that the committee can observe “year-to-year change.”
Separate surveys are administered to families, staff, and students with categories such as belonging, well-being, and culture. The survey identified “glow” and “grow” areas — highlighting the most and least favorable responses — for each question category presented in the survey.
Survey participation from students decreased significantly, specifically at the high school level. Results for grades 6-12 noted that the data was mostly representative of the climate of grades 6-8, due to such a low participation level from grades 9-12.
The survey was also administered near the end of the 2024-25 school year, while last year’s survey was issued in November. Members noted that this change may have contributed to the change in student participation.
Kennedy-Longfellow Elementary School families were given a different survey from the rest of the district, and K-Lo staff and students were not surveyed at all.
CPS Director of Communications Jackie Piques wrote that the district will not create action plans solely in response to this data, because the survey is a “non-scientific and non-academic collection of data” and the information is used to identify “potential areas of further inquiry.”
“The culture survey is one set of data points that school leaders will consult in the development of their school improvement plans for SY 25-26,” Piques said.
Staff Climate
Staff survey results continued to place below the national average in every category, though each saw slight year-over-year increases.
Two staff surveys were administered — one to school-based staff and another to central office staff and principals — which included categories of belonging, feedback and coaching, school climate, and well-being.
Central office staff and principals reported a nine percent increase in favorability to 54 percent in the school climate category.
When compared to national averages, belonging and school climate placed in the 20th-39th percentile. Well-being as well as feedback and coaching — the amount and quality of feedback received by faculty — placed in the lowest percentile.
Jennifer Amigone, CPS Director of Data, Assessment & Accountability, who presented the survey results at the Tuesday meeting, said that following poor results from last year’s staff survey, the district’s chief accountability officer Dr. Chad Leith has been “doubling down” on efforts to improve CPS’s feedback and coaching for staff members.
Faculty highlighted respect between staff and students, but noted a less favorable “degree to which school-based staff feel understood as a person.” Staff also praised the usefulness of feedback in the survey but the amount of feedback was less favorable in the survey.
Most notably, staff highlighted exhaustion in the survey as a “least favorable” aspect of well-being.
“I think it’s about 98% of respondents really value the work they do,” Amigone said. “However — and we saw this exact same finding last year — they are exhausted.”
Family Climate
The family climate survey showed year-over-year improvement in all favorability ratings regarding school climate and fit.
The survey reported that family’s perceptions of the social and learning environment of schools placed in the 60th-79th percentile nationally — a step up from last year’s placement between the 40th and 59th percentile.
Similarly, questions concerning school’s fit or belonging trended upwards, with an overall seven point increase in favorability.
While many statistics remained consistent with last year’s reponses, Amigone noted that matching school activities to student interests had emerged as a new improvement area.
Amigone described that in terms of barriers to engagement, childcare presented less of a concern this year than in 2023. She said, though, that as CPS designs their “family engagement plan” for next year, keeping in mind the busyness of family schedules as “the main barrier to families becoming more involved in those children’s schools” will be important.
Overall, the most favorable family responses from the survey came from families making less than $25,000 annually, as well as from families with elementary-aged children.
The survey’s least favorable responses came from families who chose not to report income levels and those with children in upper grade levels.
Student Climate
Very few categories in the student survey saw increases — school rigorous expectations reported a 2 point increase in the survey for grades 3-5, and school belonging increased by four points in grades 6-12.
Separate surveys were administered to students in grades 3-5 and students in grades 6-12, covering categories of school climate, belonging, valuing of schools, and school rigorous expectations.
All other categories saw decreases, most significantly in grades 3-5 valuing of school, which saw a five point jump down to 58 percent.
Valuing of school and school climate decreased in both surveys compared to last year, placing below the national average in the 20-39th percentile.
Two categories — school rigorous expectations and school belonging — are keeping up with the national average, being placed in 40th-59th percentile and the 60-79th percentile respectively.
Grades 3-5 highlighted the positive energy of the school, teachers’ encouragement, and support from adults, and grades 6-12 noted the fairness of rules, teachers’ push for students to explain answers, and a sense of belonging at school. Both surveys highlighted students’ desire to achieve academically.
“Students are very motivated. They want to do well,” Amigone said. “However, they’re not seeing a lot of application in what they’re learning to their daily life.”
While administrators at the school committee meeting acknowledge the improvements reflected in the survey, there are areas where growth is needed.
“It is evident additional strategies need to be employed to foster a strong sense of engagement and belonging among all stakeholders, especially students,” Piques wrote.
