In today's high-stakes, high-pressure world, students' healthy growth and achievement is challenged. One factor that affects student performance is school climate. Positive school climate is highly correlated with good behavioral, academic, and mental health outcomes for students, as well as greater job satisfaction and lower rates of burnout and absences among teachers.

School climate improves when all members of the school community:

Communicate with each other using language that demonstrates caring and respect.
Use science-based strategies that help people engage with each other and in a healthy learning process.

This course will provide key strategies to help you transform your school's climate starting today!

Objectives

List the five key factors that contribute to school climate.
Describe the relationship between school climate and student well-being.
Describe the short- and long-term costs of poor school climate on student achievement and lifelong success and satisfaction.
Assess your own school climate based on the criteria described in this course.
Identify factors that would enhance your school’s climate if they were improved.
Describe how a language of caring can improve school climate.
Describe a framework in which to work on improving school climate.

Target Audience: School staff (teachers, administrators, counselors, nurses), educators, parents.

Course is offered by the Institute of Wellness Education.

Course Instructors

Dr. David Mee-Lee

Instructor

David Mee-Lee, MD, FASAM (Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine), is a board-certified psychiatrist and expert in addiction medicine and the change process. Dr. Mee-Lee is Chief Editor of the new (2013) American Society of Addiction Medicine treatment guidelines for addictive, substance-related, and co-occurring conditions; and a member of the Operating Board for the Behavioral Medicine Center at Loma Linda in California.

INSTRUCTOR

Instructor

Dr. Deborah Teplow is an expert educator and trainer with broad experience in behavioral health. She oversees IWE’s day-to-day operations and helps professionals and local community members develop skills to make a lasting difference. She founded Health Focus, Inc., which created continuing medical education (CME) for physicians, and she served on the boards of the US and international associations of CME.

INSTRUCTOR

Course Designer

Dr. Yousef is a pharmacist and member of the IWE team. Each day with IWE is a humbling one, in which she has the pleasure of witnessing people take small steps toward making their lives happier, more enriched, and more fulfilled.