The National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES) is pleased to announce the completion of a new survey and dashboarding tool to help member schools assess culture and climate. Funded through a grant from the Edward E. Ford Foundation, the NAES Culture and Climate Survey for Administrators, Faculty, and Staff will be a valuable resource for school leaders wishing to evaluate, strengthen, and sustain their commitment to Episcopal identity and inclusion.
Constructed using Google Workspace for Education, the Culture & Climate Survey consists of two main components—a highly detailed survey that can be distributed to school faculty and staff members to collect information, and a dashboard powered by Google Looker Studio to help filter and present the data. The survey is broken into sections, each covering one of the four key pillars of Episcopal identity—School Worship, Religious Formation, Community Life, and Social Justice. (See: About Episcopal Schools, 2nd Ed.) The survey also collects demographic information to enable the dashboard to visualize the data effectively.
“This new tool to assess school climate and culture will have a wide-ranging impact on the life of the school,” said the Rev. David A. Madison, D.Min., NAES Executive Director. “We hope this survey becomes a regular part of our members’ annual evaluation and assessment efforts—appropriate use of this data can have a profound effect on everything from staff recruitment and retention to Episcopal identity, chapel and worship, and beyond.”
On January 28, 2025, NAES held an online training and overview session on how to set up and use the survey. A recording of that training session can be found in the NAES resource library. NAES members can begin using the survey by visiting the Culture & Climate Survey webpage here.
Additionally, as NAES prepares to launch the survey to the wider school community, schools should take note of the answers to the following frequently asked questions.
Who can use the survey?
The survey and dashboard templates are exclusively for NAES member institutions. Members must sign an agreement form, acknowledging that if their membership lapses for any reason, they are no longer entitled to use this tool.
Who owns the data?
The survey is designed so that each school retains control of its own data. NAES will have no way to view or access data collected by schools using this tool.
Is data identifiable?
The dashboards are designed with safeguards in place to prevent demographic data from being used to identify any individual respondents. If no more than five individual responses are present for any given demographic question, the dashboard will return a null value.
What are the technical requirements?
The survey uses Google products, so schools must have a Google Apps for Education license in order to deploy the survey and the dashboard. In order to use Google Looker Studio (which generates the dashboards), participants’ accounts must be set as an adult (18+) user.
Who should take the survey?
This survey is designed to collect feedback from school administrators, faculty, and staff. The survey is not designed to collect data from other constituents, such as students or families.
Can I customize the survey?
No. Changing the survey questions or format in any way will break the connection between the survey and the dashboard, making the tool unusable.
The National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES) is an independently incorporated, voluntary membership organization that supports, serves, and advocates for the vital work and ministry of those who serve approximately 800 Episcopal schools and early childhood education programs throughout the Episcopal Church, as well as school establishment efforts. Chartered in 1965, with historic roots dating to the 1930s, NAES is the only pre-collegiate educational association that is both national in scope and Episcopal in character. The Association advances Episcopal education and strengthens Episcopal schools through essential services, resources, conferences, and networking opportunities on Episcopal school identity, leadership, and governance, and on the spiritual and professional development of school leaders.