ALERT: Kerkhoven-Sunburg-Murdock (KMS) School District to offer “National School Climate Center” Survey to its Elementary Students. This article is a re-post of the same survey from this past spring given to Orono schools. Again, if you are concerned about data collection and the nature of questions, parents may opt their child OUT. KMS is said to distribute the survey to students THIS WEDNESDAY and FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7th and 9th, 2015.  Other districts may be offering the survey, also.

This article is a re-post of the same survey from this past spring given to Orono schools.   Again, if you are concerned about data collection and the nature of questions, parents may opt their child OUT.   KMS is said to distribute the survey to students THIS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9th, 2015.

WELCOME to our third in a series of Minnesota Surveys on Parade!  We have collected a lot of surveys.  Have you seen these surveys in your public or private school?   Not only do they take up precious classroom time but also may have been distributed without parental consent.   This one is from Orono Schools.  Surveys are given weekly. Feel free to mail us your surveys at info@MNagainstCC.com.

“This is not a test!  We just want to know how you feel!”

by Anne Taylor

National School Climate Center (NSCI):  NSCI is an organization that helps schools integrate a climate that is safe and supportive while nurturing social and emotional, ethical, and academic skills.  According to the NSCI web-site, the aim is to enhance student performance, prevent drop outs, reduce physical violence, bullying, and develop healthy and positively engaged adults.

NSCI works with the entire academic community including teachers and staff as well as school-based mental health professionals.  Students are told, “This is not a test!  We just want to know how you feel.”  According to NSCI’s website, the U.S. Department of Education’s Safe and Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center recognizes CSCI as a reliable and valid measurement tool.  This is very telling who exactly is collecting your child’s answers.

For those of you convinced the survey may be a good thing, I would ask: What if the child didn’t understand the question, marked an answer incorrectly, or thought it would be funny to mark the worst possible answer?  Well, that answer is now recorded.

And while it is stated on the first page of the survey that answers are
anonymous and “no one from the school will ever see your answers and no identifying information,” in the world of technology we know that ALL technology IS completely traceable.

In 2015, 6th graders in the Orono school district were asked in the
questionnaire several times sexual orientation and gender.  This made some parents feel uncomfortable as some of the questions were not deemed developmentally appropriate for all students, and could be considered ‘grooming’ if the child has not been exposed to this language.

Again, if the parent did NOT receive information on the option to opt-out, that child likely participated in the survey under what is called “passive consent.”  We will be discussing this more at length in another article soon.

CLASSROOM TIME USED:  20 Minutes

You can check the NSCI website here:
http://www.schoolclimate.org/climate/csci.php