MBUSD CHKS Survey Results

Click here to view CHKS reports for MBUSD.

California Healthy Kids Survey

Developing schools that are drug-free, safe havens for positive youth development is central to a school’s mission and ability to teach. The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) provides us with credible information on the scope and nature of health-risk behaviors and resilience factors that predict students’ success in school.

Healthy students learn better. Research has shown that meeting the basic developmental needs of students by ensuring that they are safe, drug-free, healthy, and resilient is central to improving their academic performance. Research studies and reviews over the past decade have consistently concluded that student health status and achievement are inextricably intertwined.  For more information on these studies, click here.

Youth Feedback & Involvement. Educators and community members should not underestimate the importance of asking students their opinion. Survey results can be most effectively used as an invitation to further explore with students their experiences on the school campus. This is one of the benefits of conducting the survey. Not only can you learn important information from discussing the findings with students, but the process itself can help foster resilience and positive youth development. It communicates to students that you value their opinion and that you care about them. It gives youth an opportunity for meaningful participation. It is important that adults ask youth questions such as “Why do they think a particular problem occurs?” and “Do they think current programs in school are helpful? If not, why? What would they do about it?”

California Department of Education and the CHKS. The CHKS was developed by WestEd and Duerr Evaluation Resources for the California State Department of Education to provide a resource for schools, districts, and counties to assess health-risk behaviors and resilience among their youth. The CHKS is anonymous and confidential. It is administered to students in grades 5, 6, 7, 9, and 11. It enables schools and communities to collect and analyze data regarding local youth health risks and behaviors, school connectedness, and protective factors.

MBUSD Health and Safety Committee. As part of our ongoing efforts to provide safe and drug-free, positive learning environments for students, the MBUSD Health and Safety Committee reviews the CHKS and advises based on its results annually. This committee is comprised of key school staff; community leaders in the field of substance use prevention, intervention, and safety; and representatives from parent groups.

Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP). The CHKS is also an important component of California’s new LCAP accountability system, which requires that LEAs objectively measure pupil knowledge, skills, and behaviors and set concrete and measurable goals for making improvements. At the heart of the CHKS is a research-based core module that provides valid indicators to promote student engagement and achievement, safety, positive development, health, and overall well-being.

How do our students compare to others in our area? Comparing CHKS results with other local, regional, state, or national data may help guide program decisions by placing the results in a larger context. How do students compare to others in their area? Are local trends also occurring on a large scale? If so, the local changes might be rooted less in local circumstances or programs than in broader sociocultural trends. To view CHKS results from other school districts, click here.

School programs and data-driven decision-making. Assessing and understanding CHKS results is a necessary first step in conducting a needs assessment, setting goals, and even program evaluation for schools. Moreover, children who perceive positive climates at their schools achieve higher scores on measures of academic achievement—including tests in language, reading, and math, and overall grade point average.