Agenda - 11-10-1998 - Attachment #11

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APPENDIX B - SSP MEASURES Social Environment Profile Measures (Student Evaluation of Situation) NOTE: Item number references are for the paper copy of the SSP. Neighborhood Neighborhood Satisfaction (Q21a, c -g): Assesses the degree of cohesion, encouragement, and support that students perceive in their neighborhood. Items include the interest neighboring adults show in the behavior of young people in the neighborhood, available activities, network support between neighbors, and the respondent's happiness with the neighborhood are examples. Six items define this sub - scale, and students are asked to "agree" or "disagree" with each item. Positive responses are counted to produce a summary score ranging from 0 to 6. Peer Culture (Q22a -g): Determines the likelihood that youth living in the neighborhood who are about the same age as the respondent will avoid negative behaviors and interactions (e.g., get in trouble with the police, use drugs, join a gang, drink alcoholic beverages) and engage in prosocial outcomes (e.g., graduate from high school, make good grades in school). Seven items define this sub - scale, and students respond to each statement as "likely" or "unlikely." Positive responses are counted to create a summary score ranging from 0 to 7. Neighborhood Safety (Q23a -1): Measures student perceptions regarding the safety in their neighborhood. It asks about specific incidents of violence and illegal activity that have occurred within the last 30 days in students' neighborhood (e.g., "you heard gunshots," "someone tried to sell you. illegal drugs," "a person was murdered," "a fight broke out between two gangs "). Students respond either "no" or "yes" to 12 items, with "no" being the positive response. A count score ranges from 0 (unsafe) to 12 (safe). School School Satisfaction (Q37a -d, f): The five items on this scale assess student perceptions of the general academic and social climate at school. Example items include "I enjoy going to this school, "I am getting a good education at this school," "Student needs come first at this school," and "Every student is important at this school." Students respond to each item as either "true" or "false." "True" responses are summed to create a scale ranging from 0 (negative working conditions) to 5 (positive working conditions). Teacher Support (Q39a -d, f -i): Students respond either "true" or "false" to a series of eight statements that describe various feelings about teachers at their school (e.g., "I get along well with my teachers," "My teachers care whether or not I come to school," "I receive a lot of encouragement from my teachers," "My teachers understand racial and cultural differences "). All statements are worded in a positive direction, and "true" responses are summed to create a scale ranging from 0 to 8. School Safety (Q45d, f -n): This summary scale captures student perceptions of the school's climate for learning and positive social interaction. Ten problem behaviors at school are listed and students respond to each as either "A Big Problem," "A Slight Problem;" or "Not a Problem." Example items include student fights among students, student use of illegal drugs, students carrying weapons, and racial tension. Responses are coded to range from negative to positive and summary scores range from 10 (low safety) to 30 (high safety). Friends Peer Satisfaction (Q48a -e): Perceived friend satisfaction is measured by five items that examined various aspects of peer support: loyalty in times of trouble, ability to talk over problems together, support for attempting new and different activities, responsiveness to feelings, and spending time together. A true /false response dichotomy is used with the number of "true" responses counted to form a summary index. Scores range from 0. (low) to 5 (high). 12