California School Staff Survey

About the CSSS

The CSSS is an online staff survey that was developed as a companion staff survey for the California Healthy Kids Survey to assess staff perceptions of the overall school climate, student behavior and attitudes, and school programs and policies.

The CSSS is a confidential, anonymous modular survey with a core module along with four modules assessing staff's perceptions of student mental health, trauma-sensitive school, learning support for students with special needs and in military families.

The core survey provides a means to assess the learning and teaching environments to regularly inform decisions about professional development, instruction, the implementation of learning supports, and school improvements. It provides valuable comparable data to the student California Healthy Kids Survey and can be customized with additional questions to meet a school’s specific needs. Underlying the survey is research and theory supporting the importance of fostering school environments that are academically challenging, caring, participatory, safe, and healthy.

The CSSS is part of the California School Climate, Health, and Learning Survey (CalSCHLS) System. CalSCHLS is a comprehensive learning support data system providing comparable data from students, staff, and parents. CalSCHLS was developed by WestEd for the California Department of Education (CDE) and includes the California Healthy Kids Survey for Students and the California School Parent Survey, in addition to the CSSS for staff.

CSSS Reports

The CSSS reports were publicly posted at the district and statewide levels and can be found at CSSS Reports, Public Dashboard and on Data Quest.

Technical Assistance for School Districts

The CDE contracts with WestEd to assist districts in administering the CSSS. WestEd provides free survey administration and data use training and technical assistance to districts via phone, online, and virtually.

To get more information or to sign up for CSSS, contact your Regional Technical Advisors where contact information can be found at the CalSCHLS Web page.