School Climate Index Interview Guide for District Level

Form Approved

OMB No. 0920-XXXX

Exp. Date xx/xx/20xx

Attachment 9: School Climate Index Interview Guide – District-Level Administrator Guide

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School Climate Index Interview Guide – District Level Administrator Guide

DOMAINS TO BE COVERED:

The district level interview guides will be used to assess Domain 1a: District Level Policy and Domain 4a: District Level Professional Development.

INTERVIEW PARTICIPANTS:

This interview will be conducted with one to two district staff who are either:

• Involved in policy inclusive of or focused on LGBTQ youth or addressing student conduct, safety or diversity

• Oversee, or are involved in, professional development requirements or activities, specifically in the areas of diversity, safe and supportive environment, and meeting the needs of LGBTQ students

INTERVIEW LENGTH:

Each district-level interview will last up to one hour. Each interview will cover Domain 1A, Domain 4A, or only portions of each. No interview will exceed 1 hour.

PRE-INTERVIEW DOCUMENT REVIEW:

Prior to the interviews, the following Document Review activities should take place:

1. Request and review policies provided by the school district (described in the protocol)

2. Request and review professional development guidelines, descriptions and schedules

Interviewers should bring copies of the documents to the interviews and refer to these documents. If no documents are provided in one or both areas prior to the interviews, staff can be asked to describe the content at the beginning of the interview and provide documentation after the interview.

I. CONSENT STATEMENT

Introduction: Thank you for agreeing to meet with us today. I am __________and I work for a company called ICF International. We are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH), Broward County Public Schools, and the Hetrick Martin Institute to help your district learn more about the school climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (or LGBTQ) students.

Before we begin, I would like to review a few points and confirm if you provide your permission to participate. These points are also reflected on the copy of the consent statement that I gave you:

• This interview is completely voluntary. You do not have to take part in this interview. Whether or not you take part in this project will not affect your job or the services your school receives from the district.

• With your permission, we will audio-record the interview.

• Your name will not be linked with the notes or audio recording from this interview. No quotes or comments you make will be linked with your name in any way. Your name will not be used in any publications or reports about these interviews.

• We will only share overall findings from these interviews with the school district, and we will protect your identity as a respondent.

• You may choose to not take part in the interview at any time. You may also choose to not answer certain questions and still continue in the discussion.

• We expect this interview to take about 60 minutes, and you will receive a $25 gift card to thank you for participating in this project.

In order for this process to be useful to the school and the district, it is important that you describe the school climate as it REALLY is, and not how it’s “supposed to be.” We would like to learn about all aspects of the school climate as they are now – as well as areas in which changes are being implemented or not – so that we have a basis for comparing changes that occur over time.

At the end of our discussion, we will also provide a list of resources that may be helpful to the school in improving the school climate for LGBTQ students. Your copy of the consent statement also has the contact information for the principal investigator of this evaluation, who you can contact if you have any questions about today’s interview.

Do you agree to participate? YES NO

Do I have your permission to record the interview? YES NO

If yes, continue: Thank you. ***TURN ON RECORDER***

DOMAIN 1A: POLICY

SUGGESTED INTERVIEW TIME: 1 HOUR

This part of the interview will help us understand the extent to which the school district has adopted policies supporting a safe and supportive school environment for LGBTQ students. We would like to hear about any of your policies that are specific to this area, or whether there are parts of existing policies that address this area, or if your district is currently working on developing new policies. We are here to gather information from you to understand the work that you have done, and are doing, district-wide and how the policies are implemented and guidance is provided to the schools regarding safe and supportive environment.

We are also interested in policies that were implemented at the state level that your district implements, so please share those too if they are related to supporting safe and supportive school environment. Please answer to the best of your ability, and feel free to ask questions at any time.

Note to interviewers: If policy documents were provided prior to the interview, show the policy to the interviewee and confirm that the interviewee is familiar with each policy. If no documents were provided prior to the interviews, begin the interview by asking:

To start with, please give me a short description of the policies your district has that support a safe and supportive school environment for LGBTQ students.

Note: request that the documents be provided AFTER the interview.

• We are interested in the general anti-bullying and anti-harassment policy, and also in any policies you have that specifically address, or call out, sexual orientation, gender orientation or LGBTQ youth.

• As you describe the policies, please let us know whether they are policies that your district adopted on its own, or whether they were adopted at the state level, and the district developed a policy to respond to a new requirement.

Note to interviewers: Allow the respondent to describe the policy background/history and use the subquestions below to fill in any gaps in information. The subquestions are designated as “primary” and “secondary”. The secondary questions should be asked as time permits.

PRIMARY QUESTIONS:

1. How were the policies developed?

• Is there a specific body or group within the district that develops or drafts policy?

2. How are the policies inclusive of, or specific to, LGBTQ students?

3. How are these types of policies implemented in your district?

4. What kind of guidance are school principals or other administrators given for implementing the policy by the district?

• How are parents and students notified of the policies?

• What is the range of school staff who are responsible for implementing the policies? (teachers, bus drivers, lunch room staff, etc.)

5. How does the district monitor implementation of policy at the individual school level?

6. How are policy violations handled?

7. Are there any additional policies relevant to LGBTQ youth that are in development?

• If yes, what is the process being used to develop these policies?
  Probe: Is there an advisory group or other responsible party working to develop policies that are specific to creating safe and supportive environments?

SECONDARY QUESTIONS:

1. Was there anything in particular that prompted the development of any of the policies?

2. How do you feel that the existing policies contribute to safe and supportive environments specifically for LGBTQ students? Please give specific examples, if you can think of any.

3. What feedback, if any, does the district receive from school staff or administrators about whether they feel the policies actively help keep students safe?

4. Has any of this feedback been specific to LGBTQ students? If so, please tell me about it.

5. How could any of the policies be strengthened to increase safety for LGBTQ students?

DISTRICT LEVEL ADMINISTRATOR INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR DOMAIN 4A: DISTRICT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

SUGGESTED INTERVIEW TIME: 1 HOUR

Interviewer instructions: If this is the first part of the interview, review the consent statement and ask for permission to record prior to proceeding. If there is one or more new interviewees, review the consent statement before proceeding.

In this part of the interview we will ask about the extent to which the school district requires and offers professional development on creating safe and supportive environments for LGBTQ students. We are interested in professional development that is designed to increase competency of all school staff—including teachers, school health staff, janitors, school safety staff, bus drivers, etc.—in responding to the needs of LGBTQ students and creating a safe and supportive school environment. We would like to hear about current requirements, current professional development opportunities, and also new professional development initiatives that may be in planning stages. For this discussion, we will use a broad definition for professional development—including training sessions, in-service, webinars, online training modules, resources provided on a website, and others that you might describe. We are interested in professional development that is sponsored by the district, is web-based/online or in-person, that takes place at the district office, or that the district offers directly to individual schools.

Please answer to the best of your ability, and feel free to ask questions at any time.

1. Please describe your district’s professional development requirements.

• We are especially interested in professional development requirements or expectations that address:

  • Bullying, discrimination or harassment of LGBTQ students, or responding to the safety needs of LGBTQ students

  • Responding to the needs of LGBTQ students in the area of mental or physical health services, social services or other support services

  • Promoting a school or classroom environment that embraces diversity

Note to interviewers: Allow the respondent to describe the district’s general professional development program and any elements that are tailored to address LGBTQ students/issues; use the subquestions below to fill in any gaps in information. The subquestions are designated as “primary” and “secondary” The secondary questions should be asked as time permits.

PRIMARY QUESTIONS:

1. How is professional development, especially covering LGBTQ students and their needs, delivered to the following school staff?

• School administrators (principals, vice principals, etc.)

• Teachers

• Counselors

• School health staff (school nurses, etc.)

• Other staff interacting with students: bus drivers, lunch room staff, office clerks, janitors, coaches, paraprofessionals, others)

2. Who delivers professional development?

• Are there district staff that deliver professional development covering the topics mentioned above?

• Does the district also use outside consultants to provide professional development in these areas?

SECONDARY QUESTIONS:

1. What training in this area is currently offered? Please describe in term of:

• Specific topic

• Format (in-service, online, bulletins, etc.)

• Frequency

• Provider

• Topic areas relevant to LGBTQ students or issues

2. Have you taken any of these trainings yourself? If so, how effective do you think they are in helping meet the needs of LGBTQ students?

3. Are there opportunities for optional professional development beyond what is required?

V. CONCLUSION

That was the last of my questions. Is there anything else you want to say about the ways in which your school creates a safe and supportive environment for LGBTQ students that was not already addressed during the interview?

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today. You have provided a lot of valuable information that will help us get a fuller picture of the climate in your district/school.

The Hetrick Martin Institute has compiled a list of resources related to this topic that may be of interest. (Provide a copy if respondent desires it.)

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