Introduction

It is exceedingly difficult to generalize across the breadth of human experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in spite of the efforts of school communities to mitigate impacts, students have been struggling academically, socially, emotionally, and physically.1 Academic reports, news articles, and first-hand accounts collectively indicate that the same pandemic, economic, social, and political forces have also adversely affected many educators across roles and contexts. Given the substantial evidence indicating that adult wellbeing has an effect on both students’ wellbeing and their academic performance,2 school and district leaders need to develop a concrete understanding of this topic while building their toolkits of strategies to support teachers and staff.

Recognizing the critical connection between the wellbeing of adults and its mission to empower and motivate every learner, Lindsay Unified School District (LUSD) sought to gain greater understanding of educator and staff experiences. The district recognizes that members of their adult community have undergone a variety of experiences during the pandemic. While some may have suffered tremendous loss, others have thrived in the face of new opportunities. As a result, LUSD has partnered with The Learning Accelerator (TLA) to accomplish three goals:

1. Adopt a framework to guide a study of adult wellbeing within the LUSD community; 
2. Conduct a district-wide needs assessment to help LUSD prioritize responses to and support for adult wellbeing; and
3. Provide leaders and educators in the field with concrete language to talk about adult wellbeing in order to identify meaningful solutions that meet the specific needs of each school or district community.

This report draws from a series of focus groups with district leaders from across the country (see Appendix A for methodology) and over 60 diverse pieces of literature (see Appendix B for a literature summary). As such, it serves as a first step towards gaining a deeper understanding of adult wellbeing in the context of school communities and determining potential strategies for improvement. The report is organized into four sections:

1. Emerging Evidence of Adult Wellbeing: Challenges and Why It Matters
2. Drivers of Adult Wellbeing in School Communities
3. Actions Leaders Can Take to Invest in Immediate and Sustained Community Care
4. Taking It Forward: Sustaining Adult Wellbeing at School 

Adult Wellbeing in K-12 Communities: Emerging Evidence of Potential Challenges and Why It Matters

Adults in schools – just like their students – have had different experiences during the pandemic. For some, the challenges provided opportunities to think creatively and solve new problems. Those who could work from home may have found more autonomy as they no longer felt confined by specific school schedules. Yet, many other educators, leaders, and support staff reported significant, adverse experiences, indicating the potential of an emerging adult wellbeing crisis. Examples include:

• Nearly one in five teachers reported turning to alcohol and drugs to handle their stress during the pandemic.3 

• Over half of surveyed teachers indicated that they had considered quitting the profession altogether, with Black and Hispanic teachers even more likely to be making plans to leave.4 (It is notable, however, that although more teachers have reported thinking about leaving the profession, these resignations have not yet occurred.5 )

• School and system leaders have faced unprecedented rates of burnout,6 with the American Association of School Administrators reporting a significant uptick in superintendents leaving their roles at the end of the 2020-21 school year.7 

• School districts across the country have reported shortages of bus drivers, and some states have had to call in the National Guard to get students to school.8 

• Nutrition workers throughout the U.S. have continued to feed students during the pandemic, even when school buildings were closed, resulting in substantial additional stress as they worked to manage difficult logistics.9 

• School nurses have often had to take on the additional role of “chief COVID officer,” a task that required them to engage in COVID-19 testing, contact-tracing, and treating sick students at school. This additional role, layered on top of existing responsibilities, has left many of them feeling burned out and unable to address all of their duties.10 

With regards to this evidence, it is notable that in reviewing over 60 articles and reports, almost 70 percent focused primarily on the lives of teachers and administrators. However, the effects of the pandemic have touched adults both inside and outside of the classroom. Attempts to understand and respond to the impacts of the ongoing crisis must account for the lived experiences of these adults as well.

Bright Spots: Examples of Successfully Sustaining Adult Wellbeing Amidst Crisis

At the same time, examples from the field suggest individual protective factors and the supports organized by a school community mattered significantly. Some adults thrived in remote environments, and others found renewed engagement in rising to the challenges of the pandemic. Anecdotally, educators reported gratitude about being able to work from home, use the bathroom without worrying about class schedules or leaving learners unattended, and eating lunch regularly when they could not always do so inside the school building. In some districts, leaders actively sustained cultures where educators continued to experience high levels of wellbeing in person and online.

For example, at the Urban Assembly Maker Academy (UA Maker) in New York City, staff decided collectively to take a one-week break from academics to plan for remote learning when their building closed in March 2020. This collective decision-making continued throughout the pandemic as no single person made decisions that affected the entire community. It also had three tangible benefits in terms of adult wellbeing. First, it ensured that leaders did not make decisions in silos but sought input from a variety of stakeholders including teachers, parents, and students. Next, it created a culture of coherence because all staff members knew that they would be meaningfully involved in any decisions that directly affected them. Finally, it allowed all of the adults in the community to have a say in how their schools addressed the pandemic and its effects, mitigating the sentiment of being pulled in too many directions.11 By working together as a community, UA Maker also developed a roadmap for safely reopening school buildings in New York City. Although the City did not implement every recommendation, the act of collaborating and engaging in the process allowed many adults in the UA Maker community to retain a sense of autonomy and engagement.

Other leaders focused on collaborative planning time for teachers,12 which seems to have helped enhance educators’ wellbeing during the pandemic. Austin ISD, for example, used remote planning to allow teachers across the district to divide and conquer their planning tasks. Taos Academy Charter School also set aside dedicated time for teachers to plan lessons in whatever way made the most sense for them and their teammates. As a result, educators more efficiently and effectively transitioned to remote – and then hybrid learning.

Similar to the efforts in UA Maker, collaborative planning had tangible benefits for adult wellbeing in these districts. First, by dividing up the work of planning lessons, educators were able to reclaim some of their time, giving them a greater sense of autonomy. Next, sharing the workload helped teachers to find their work more sustainable over the course of the pandemic.  Finally, even as the school moved to remote instruction, collaborative planning allowed faculties to maintain collegial relationships. According to the leaders at Taos, these strategies continue to sustain adult wellbeing even as the pandemic’s challenges continue to affect educators and students.

These schools represent only a few examples of where leaders have been able to attend to adult wellbeing even as COVID-19 and the political climate have made schooling more complicated and complex. By establishing a common understanding of why and how these environments saw success, leaders can better attend to the adults who support their learners.

Why We Should Care: The Importance of Adult Wellbeing At School

While often considered an afterthought or nice-to-have, adult wellbeing is a nuanced, complex, and critical issue in schools and districts.13 A body of evidence connects adult wellbeing in schools with student outcomes, including academic performance, students’ own wellbeing, and lower psychological distress.14  Most notably, increased teacher wellbeing may be associated with increased student learning.15 

Adult wellbeing at school is also related to staff and faculty turnover.16 When harm to teachers’ wellbeing leads to attrition, it becomes problematic as turnover negatively affects student outcomes.17 Turnover of teachers of color is particularly problematic as emerging data suggests that having a same-race teacher can improve outcomes for students of color.18 

Notably, these studies on the effects of adult wellbeing were conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic. ​​Given the professional and personal hardship of the pandemic, novel and emerging political and social divisions, and the disproportionate effects carried by communities of color in the face of these hardships, understanding and improving adult wellbeing has become even more critical to ensuring student success in a system that was already underdelivering for the most vulnerable students. To have a productive dialogue about what exactly drives adult wellbeing, and to eventually identify strategies and solutions to improve it, leaders need a concrete framework that helps to make sense of adult wellbeing at school.

Framing the Challenge: Understanding the Drivers of Adult Wellbeing 

Adult wellbeing can be defined as a state of being emotionally, mentally, and physically healthy.19 To understand wellbeing in the context of school communities, we synthesized literature into four drivers: affect, autonomy, engagement, and relationships (see Appendix C for methodology). Illustrated by the figure below, these drivers should be considered interdependent and overlapping – not discrete silos.

The following sections dig into each of these driver areas. When people successfully attend to and receive support in all or most of these drivers, they can thrive. Conversely, many educators, community members, and leaders have faced and continue to navigate challenges in nearly every driver of wellbeing.

Affect encompasses the ability to name emotions and work through them.21 In practice, this driver is not about the absence of negative feelings or thoughts; rather, it is about accepting and acknowledging the reality of difficult feelings and striving for true positive emotions.22 

Many educators have reported threats to this driver and described negative feelings such as difficulty focusing or a sense of “drowning” due to the precarious state of the world.23 As the pandemic continues to have a range of effects on adults’ emotions, it is critical to remember that many adults have experienced substantial loss. Approximately 31 percent of school leaders reported the death of a loved one during the pandemic due to COVID-19.24 As leaders who participated in our focus group commented:

“A sense of dread has been pervasive… [There is] exhaustion from living through a world of ambiguity, back and forth, and whiplash.”

“Teachers are exhausted… There was no break. [The] district office is exhausted. Everything is the straw that broke the camel's back.”

Some leaders, however, have been able to attend to the affect of the adults in their communities by meaningfully addressing the difficulties posed by the pandemic.25 Whether by acknowledging what adults have experienced with moments of silence, memorials to those lost, or other appropriate rituals, leaders can take meaningful steps towards helping the members of their community develop a more positive state of being.

Autonomy describes a person's potential to take agency over all aspects of their life, including their time, working environment,28 and health – both physical and mental.29 Most obviously, the switch to remote learning, alongside changes in job descriptions, impacted educators’ autonomy over how to use their time, where they worked, and how they did their jobs. The changing nature of the pandemic – and the chaotic national response – made it difficult for educators to not only plan for student learning but also respond to their learners’ varying needs.30 With shifts happening between remote, hybrid, and in-person contexts, many educators found their autonomy threatened as these constant changes hindered their ability to make decisions and act independently.

While numerous reports indicated that some educators struggled to find autonomy during the pandemic,31 anecdotal evidence revealed that others felt as though they had more. Unlike when they operated on a fixed schedule at school, new ways of working helped educators assume more control over their days. In addition, schools and systems found success in supporting autonomy by making sure to include the broader community in decision-making processes, particularly in quickly changing situations.32 School leaders participating in The Deeper Learning Dozen, a multi-district professional learning community, described how they opened decision-making to as many stakeholders as possible.33 One leader explained that distributed leadership increased capacity and strengthened existing relationships, which made responding to the pandemic somewhat of an easier task. Not only did this leadership strategy positively support educators’ sense of autonomy, but it also helped to foster stronger collegial relationships and increase positive engagement.

When individuals experience high levels of engagement, they find meaning and value in their daily work and have the ability to sustain that work over periods of time, essentially avoiding burnout.35 Education has typically been marked as a profession of ‘moral rewards’36 stemming from the meaning and value educators find in their work. The resulting joy can often sustain them when difficult moments arise. However, many teachers reported a sense of loss as they shifted to online learning and then again to the in-person structures of COVID-19 mitigation. They struggled to maintain meaningful relationships through a screen and with social distancing in place.37 

With cameras transporting educators into their students’ homes, this sense of loss was heightened even more during remote learning as they witnessed how intensely social inequalities shaped their students’ lives. Participants from our focus group shared that many teachers were shocked to see some of their students’ home lives and to fully realize what it meant for them to be home alone. Consequently, many felt that their work was less meaningful in the face of all that they saw threaten their students’ wellbeing.

Professional engagement was similarly impacted by shifting job contexts and responsibilities. For example, at LUSD, those providing after-school care became cohort leads responsible for overseeing distance learning for groups of learners. Transitioning from one position to another left some of these educators more engaged while simultaneously, others struggled with the ambiguity and lack of sustainability.

Other leaders did report concrete ideas to help address educator engagement. For instance, common planning time presented a benefit. By working together, educators could find more meaning and value in their efforts, and sharing the workload often created more sustainable conditions.38 

As a driver, the term ‘relationships’ encompasses the act of meaningfully connecting with others.40 The pandemic undeniably altered this process across many school districts and systems. When schools went virtual, relationship-building through a screen became increasingly difficult.41 Educators, leaders, and colleagues lost opportunities to collaborate with peers as they focused solely on getting through the day in a virtual setting or under mitigation procedures.42 Notably, both teachers and students reported that relationships with each other were important to their wellbeing at school.43

According to our focus group participants, principals have particularly struggled with relationship-building. Particularly in a remote setting, developing the networks of relationships to make sure schools run smoothly has presented an enormous challenge. As one system leader commented:

“Principals used up all of their social capital during the quarantine, [as] they hadn’t seen some of these teachers in person for a while... because they weren’t having in-person meetings. People are missing the collegiality.”

Not all schools and systems struggled with collegiality and relationship building during the pandemic. Those that invested in creating a community of care even before the pandemic seemed particularly adept at maintaining relationships despite so much uncertainty and change. At Valor Collegiate, relationship building has always been a central component of their culture. They use the strategy of circle work on a weekly basis to encourage colleagues to discuss issues and build relationships. As a routine aspect of their professional lives, this circle work also provides an opportunity for educators to work toward positive affect and meaningfully engage in the work of school; and because it is embedded in their culture, it does not feel like an infringement on anyone’s autonomy.  

From Immediate Needs to a Culture of Care: Improving Adult Wellbeing Across Schools and Districts

No single solution exists for improving and sustaining adult wellbeing at school, and not every suggestion will work. The challenge that schools and districts face is to identify strategies that can be successful within their unique contexts. To provide a starting point, this section offers recommendations and strategies that address both individual and community-based needs.

This work of creating a community of care will be most successful if leaders take a systemic approach that pays attention to each driver of adult wellbeing, acknowledges the specific challenges within their unique school cultures, and includes a carefully planned strategic implementation process. Educators throughout the field expressed a need for both support as individuals and a systemic focus.

Ask People What They Need

Asking people what they need before designing new programs serves as the first step towards sustaining adult wellbeing at school. A recent study from the MIT Teaching Systems Lab highlighted just how divorced from the planning processes some educators felt. As one teacher explained, “Nobody has asked. Nobody cares. Even when they do ask, they’re not really listening to the response, and it’s really disheartening to feel that devalued as a human being.”47 

As a result of both this review of the literature and our focus group, we developed a survey in collaboration with LUSD that functions as a needs assessment. The instrument can be used to better understand the state of adult wellbeing within a school or district and garner feedback that can guide the implementation of new supports (see Appendix D for methodology and more information). Notably, this instrument encourages schools and districts to widen their definition of “educator” to include both those inside the classroom as well as support staff such as maintenance, transportation, and food services employees.

Beyond a formal survey, leaders can actively listen in a number of ways. For example, short polls asking what would be helpful before planning programs such as wellness classes or yoga can determine whether or not adults in the community will ultimately find them beneficial or a threat to autonomy. Such polls also indicate that leaders value the opinions of those across the school community. Checking in after the implementation of new programs further allows leaders to determine if programs had the desired effects. Each of these feedback mechanisms also provide data to inform future planning.

Meet the Unique, Immediate Needs of Each Adult

The following strategies emerged from the literature as well as conversations with educators and leaders in the field. These recommendations exist across a continuum that moves from focusing on supporting individuals with self-care to creating a broader community of care that systemically attends to the drivers of adult wellbeing.  

These individual supports can be rather quickly implemented after accounting for different school contexts and cultures. Most address multiple drivers as they are interdependent in nature. This list of strategies is not meant to be exhaustive, and other strategies to meet individual adult needs could emerge through active listening within different schools or districts.

Invest in Long-Term Supports

It can be easy to focus on strategies that immediately promote individual wellbeing – but these are just the beginning. Long-term strategies can help leaders build a sustained culture of community care that will serve their adults into the future. While immediate strategies can provide a starting point and act as short-term wins, these longer-term strategies require systemic shifts in ways of thinking and acting. Just like strategies addressing immediate needs, these must also be considered within the context of each school’s unique culture and should be based on documented needs.

Creating a culture of community care for all adults in a community happens iteratively. This process will be ongoing, and leaders will be a critical component.

Ongoing Leadership: Building a Community-Wide Culture of Care

While it can be tempting to focus on immediate solutions that support adults with their own wellbeing, transforming a school or district’s culture requires consistent, systems-level change. In order to accomplish this goal, leaders need to be authentic, mission-driven, and focused on building collegial trust.

• Authentic: By presenting their authentic, genuine selves, leaders can inspire others – particularly in challenging times. This requires that leaders are both aware of their own strengths and weaknesses and willing to be transparent about them.68 At the most basic level, leaders can demonstrate this trait by seeking input from the adults in their community, trying to thoughtfully meet their needs, and honestly communicating about what can feasibly be accomplished.

Particularly in today’s context, district leaders may also need to intentionally model authentic leadership for their principals and department or division heads. As one participant explained in our focus group, district leaders need to model how to create healthy cultures in schools as opposed to one-off events. This focus requires progressing beyond what another leader termed “nacho-party culture”  (i.e., solely focusing on pizza parties, ice cream socials, etc.) towards a more holistic culture that attends to every facet of adult wellbeing. They found particular success through common readings, journaling, and modeling culture creation at principal meetings.   

• Mission-Driven: Despite the best intentions, authentic leaders may still struggle to gain traction if their efforts are viewed solely as one-and-done initiatives. To transform a school or district such that it embraces a sense of community care also requires leadership that is mission-driven.69 With mission-driven leadership, every initiative, practice, decision, and program aligns to the broader strategic priorities of the district as well as its mission and values.

Notably, leaders from our focus group who stated that their districts kept their missions of empathy and equity central to their work also reported more positive outcomes in terms of adult wellbeing. When conversations arose about meeting specific student needs or how to handle difficult political situations, they felt authentic and not simply like an add-on or additional requirement. Even working with educators to prioritize the most important academic standards can help keep the focus on what districts value in terms of student learning. This focus on mission allows educators and leaders to plan more effectively, making work more sustainable, efficient, and engaging.

• Focused on Trust: Most critically, leaders need to foster a sense of collegial trust throughout their communities.70 For adults to feel as though they can maintain positive relationships, fully engage in their work, adopt a positive affect, and sustain a sense of autonomy, they need to trust their colleagues. The interdependent interpersonal relationships that exist within schools and districts have more influence over culture than a single leader in a position of authority. The leaders at Valor Collegiate provide one such example:

Taking It Forward: Sustaining Adult Wellbeing at School 

Though often considered an afterthought, adult wellbeing is central to schools and districts. Not only is it directly connected to student learning and wellbeing,71 it is also critical to ensuring that adults can effectively do their jobs. This has always been true, but the myriad, compounding challenges presented by the pandemic have heightened awareness around the importance and necessity of addressing wellbeing for all members of school communities. Now more than ever, school, district, and other system leaders must take action to directly address both individual and community needs.

To do this, leaders need the concrete framework presented in this report as it will allow them to discuss and act upon strategies within their professional context. These strategies span a continuum from short-term, individual wins to longer-term, systemic gains. To weather the pandemic as well as future disruptions, the ultimate goal for leaders should be to build a community-focused culture within their schools and districts that values wellbeing. These system-level changes only become sustainable when the onus for care transitions away from a single actor and towards the collective community.

As concrete action steps, we encourage leaders exploring this report to do two things:

1. Gather data. Before launching initiatives, remember to ask people what they need. Identify a strategy to gather specific data directly from educators and staff about what they believe would be beneficial and why.
2. Explore and plan together. Using this data as a starting point, have direct conversations that reflect on your status and progress in each driver area. We have provided a worksheet on the following page that teams can use for this purpose. To get started, we suggest:

• Build a team. Assemble a diverse team that includes adults from a variety of roles and demographics with the stated goal of having a robust and honest conversation to actively address adult wellbeing.
• Reflect individually. Have all participants complete the table below, reflecting on each driver and considering both short- and long-term strategies before coming together. This will allow each member to bring their own lived experience and perspective to the group conversation.
• Share reflections. Walk through each area as a team and encourage participants to share their reflections. In this first step, the goal is not to judge or come to full consensus or agreement. Leaders should set the expectation that all data are helpful data, modeling curiosity and interest.
• Surface differences and commonalities. Looking together at the data, identify what stands out. Does the group agree on specific ‘hot spots’ or challenge points? Are there obvious wins worth celebrating or building upon? Where are there differences and why? For whom? The goal is to actively listen, build a deeper understanding of the current state of wellbeing within the community, and reduce assumptions.
• Agree on specific actions. Together, identify a priority list of short- and long-term actions that meet specific individual and community needs and address the drivers of adult wellbeing. Leaders may want to use the strategies outlined in this report or consider areas where additional design processes may be needed.
  

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Worksheet: Sustaining Adult Wellbeing at School 

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42. Jones et al., 2021

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45. Gobir, N. (2021). Strategies for retaining teachers of color and making schools more equitable. KQED. https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/57280/strategies-for-retaining-teachers-of-color-and-making-schools-more-equitable

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47.  Esteves, N., Buttimer, C., Faruqi, F., Soukab, A., Fourkiller, R., Gutierrez, H. & Reich, J. (2021). The teachers have something to say. https://edarxiv.org/h8gac/.

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Appendix A - Focus Group Methodology

To begin to understand the state of adult wellbeing at schools, the research team conducted a focus group in August 2021 that consisted of five system-level leaders drawn from TLA’s Innovation Directors Network, representing school districts across the United States. First, we designed a set of questions to elicit feedback about adult wellbeing in each of the systems the leaders represented. As the adult wellbeing survey was also under development, we also asked this group of experts for feedback on specific questions.

After conducting a focus group session via Zoom, the research team coded their notes from the session, using a transcript to clarify any gaps. This qualitative data collection and analysis allowed the research team to hear directly from leaders in the field about adult wellbeing in their schools. Following the focus group’s meeting, the research team analyzed the transcript and team notes.

Focus Group Sample

This purposive sample was drawn from members of the Innovation Directors Network, a community of practice that brings together school system leaders who influence innovative efforts ranging from personalized learning, to career and technical education, to digital learning. Of the five attendees, four of the focus group members identified as female and one identified as male. One member was Black, one was Asian, one was white and Latina, and the other three identified as white. The members held a variety of systems-level positions as typical in public school districts.

Focus Group Questions

The research team designed a semi-structured focus group to elicit information about adult wellbeing in the systems the leaders represented.

1. Who are you, what is your role, are you already back / how are you planning to go back?
2. As you think about the last 18 months, how has the state of the world affected the way you think about your role as an educator?

Probe: Pandemic

Probe: Pandemic politics

Probe: Anti-racism/anti-anti-racism movements

Probe: Support for students who are transgender and support for other students from oppressed groups    

3. What concerns did you have, or do you have, about adult wellbeing as the start of the school year approaches?

Probe: How do you know? What conversations did your district have over the summer addressing adult wellbeing in your district?

4. What has your district discussed in terms of ways to address the wellbeing of not only teachers and administrators but also broader staff members in the coming year?

Probe: How did your district arrive at these plans?

Probe: What kinds of conversations has your district been having since the end of last year?

5. We’re planning to ask questions about how people are feeling in light of COVID-19 and the general state of the world for the last 18 months. How do you think people in your district would respond to such personal questions? Have you asked similar questions in your districts? If so, how have people responded? What recommendations might you have for us?

Appendix B - Literature Summary

The table below offers a summary of the study and the specific findings from the majority of the reports that the research team reviewed.

Note: As research continued to be published on the topics explored in this report, some articles were referenced but not reviewed given their date of publication. We also included relevant media reports that are not included in this summary.

Appendix C - Determining Common Drivers of Adult Wellbeing

The research team synthesized the literature to identify a common set of core drivers (i.e., contributing factors) of adult wellbeing within a school environment. This synthesis led to an initial list of potential drivers (n=70) that was then reduced to 19 based on commonalities. The team then analyzed the 19 drivers for frequency (see Figure C1).

Figure C1: Determining the most frequently used drivers of adult wellbeing

The most frequent drivers to emerge were autonomy, engagement, positive emotions, and relationships. The research team discussed these drivers with the LUSD research team and the focus group, and also conducted a cross-walk of the literature to ensure that these terms could be consistently applied. After this consultation, the research team decided that positive emotions was more accurately represented by the general term affect. The literature suggested that rather than focusing solely on positive emotions, the appropriate driver is instead defined by striving for true positive emotions (Turner & Theilking, 2019).

Appendix D - Survey Development and Further Information

The research team developed a 20-item questionnaire based on this review of the literature and the research questions posed by LUSD. Six questions were free-response, while the other 14 involved some form of multiple-choice selection or likert scale. Each item was designed to address one of the research questions. The research team also noted which driver(s) of adult wellbeing each question measured.

After the initial survey construction, the research team asked several experts in school leadership and adult wellbeing to review the instrument. With this feedback, the research team made final edits to the survey and then sent it to LUSD to distribute to faculty and staff using Qualtrics. Qualtrics analysis found the survey to have a concise and logical presentation. An upcoming report will explore the results of this survey.

Sample Survey

Sample Introduction

This district has committed to ensuring the wellbeing of every adult who works in the district and wants to know what supports may be beneficial in the coming months. To do this, we need to understand how you are feeling both in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and other events. The purpose of this survey is to begin to understand the needs of our adult community. The district will use this information to design and implement new programs for you and your colleagues.

This survey is both anonymous and voluntary. We are asking you to complete a combination of multiple-choice and short-answer questions. Your responses will be kept confidential. We highly value and appreciate your input and will only use generalized information to make recommendations about how the district can best support you and your colleagues.

Section 1: General Information

First, we would like to ask you a few demographic questions to help us understand how adult wellbeing might differ among groups within the adult community.

What is your gender?

Female

Male

Non-binary

Other_______

Prefer not to answer

Please identify your race (Choose all that apply)

Asian

Black

Hispanic/Latino

Indigenous

Pacific Islander

White

Other: __________

Prefer not to answer

Including the 2021-22 school year, how long have you worked in the district?

        This is my first year

        This is my second year

        3-5 years

        6-10 years

        More than 10 years

What position did you hold during these school years? Please check all that apply.

Where are you working during this current 2021-22 school year? (Check all that apply)

• (i.e., district office/not school-based)
• Name other school sites in your system  

How do you feel about the beginning of this school year? (Check all that apply)

• Anxious
• Excited to be back
• Exhausted
• Frustrated
• Nervous to be back
• Well-prepared for the year ahead
• Underprepared
• Unsure
• Other: ____________

Section 2: Questions about the 2020-21 School Year

These questions are intended for educators and staff to reflect on the 2020-21 school year and its impact on their wellbeing. Only those who chose a job for the 2020-21 school year will answer questions in this section.

Did your job description change a great deal during the 2020-21 school year? For example, if you were hired to work in an afterschool program, did you shift to lead an early return cohort?

Yes

No

IF YES: In what ways did your job change? How do you feel about these changes? (Open-ended response)

Did you have children at home during the 2020-21 school year?

Yes

No

Did you have caregiving responsibilities, besides children, at home during the 2020-21?

Yes

No

IF YES TO CHILDREN OR CAREGIVING: What, if anything, do you wish the district could have done to assist you with balancing childcare or caregiving and your work during the pandemic?

About how much of your work in 2020-21 was in-person?

Completely in-person

Mostly in-person

Equally in-person and remote

Mostly remote

Completely remote

FOR REMOTE WORKERS: While in a remote setting, how was the balance between your work and the rest of your life?

1 - Very well balanced

2 - Balanced enough

3 - I felt neutral about my work-life balance

4 - Unbalanced

5 - Very unbalanced

Overall, what was your general feeling about working remotely?  

1 - Very satisfied to work remotely

2 - Slightly satisfied working remotely

3 - Neither satisfied nor unsatisfied 

4 - Slightly unsatisfied working remotely

5 - Very unsatisfied working remotely

FOR ONSITE WORKERS:  While working onsite during COVID-19, how safe did you feel?

1 - Very safe

2 - Safe enough

3 - I didn’t feel safe or unsafe

4 - A little unsafe

5 - Very unsafe

FOR TEACHERS ONLY:

How confident did you feel facilitating learning in a remote environment?

1 - Very confident

2 - Mostly confident

3 - Neutral

4 - Slightly confident

5 - Not confident at all

Overall, how comfortable did you feel about teaching remotely?

1 - Very comfortable

2 - Mostly comfortable

3 - Neither comfortable nor uncomfortable

4 - Somewhat Uncomfortable

5 - Very uncomfortable

Beyond district-provided professional learning, what have you done to inform your own practice since COVID-19 closure? (Open-ended)

Section 3: Looking Ahead

These questions are intended for everyone currently working in the district with the exception of one question specifically for site leaders. We want to understand how to best support people moving forward.  

How well do you think you are currently coping with stress in your life?

1 - Very well: Either low stress or able to handle what stress there is

2 - Well enough: Can mostly cope with stress

3 - Neutral: Not really thinking about stress

4 - Not very well: Beginning to feel overwhelmed with stress

5 - Very badly: Overwhelmed with stress

Which term best describes your state of mind at the present moment?

Thriving: Doing well and living your best possible life

Surviving: Doing what needs to get done

Struggling: Having difficulty completing tasks and/or focusing

Other: _________

In what ways has the state of the world in the last 18 months affected your wellbeing? (Open-ended response)

From the list below, which district-provided supports for your wellbeing are familiar to you? Check all that apply.

• List any district-provided supports; if none, omit this question
• None of the above

What existing district-provided supports for your wellbeing have you used at any time? Check all that apply.

• List any district-provided supports; if none, omit this questions
• None of the above

IF USED ONE OR MORE SUPPORTS: To what extent did these supports help your overall wellbeing?

1 - A great deal

2 - A little bit

3 - I feel neutral about these supports

4 - Didn’t help much

5 - Didn’t help at all

BUILDING LEADERS ONLY: How confident do you feel that you will be able to facilitate a positive culture in your school this year?

Very confident

Mostly confident

Neutral

Only a little confident

Not confident at all

EVERYONE: What specific barriers and/or supports have you experienced in terms of your wellbeing since March 2020? (Open-ended response)

EVERYONE: What have we not asked about in terms of your wellbeing that you would like for the district to know? What do you hope may happen this year to improve or sustain your wellbeing? Please keep in mind that these results will be kept confidential and will only be used to design and implement support for you and your colleagues. (Open-ended response)