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Healthy Kids Survey

Every two years, freshman and junior students will take the California Healthy Kids Survey. This survey, sponsored by the California Department of Education, is an important tool for the San Mateo Union High School District staff in that it helps us learn more about the views and needs of our students.

The survey gathers information on student behaviors such as physical activity and nutritional habits; alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; school safety; environmental and individual strengths and assets; and gender- or sex-based harassment. There are no questions on the survey that relate to a student’s personal beliefs or practices in sex, morality, and religion. In addition, students, who participate, only have to answer the questions they want to answer. The survey is anonymous and confidential; no names will be recorded or attached to the survey forms or data.

The survey is developed by WestEd, a public, non-profit educational institution, and it’s being used throughout California schools to capture important information about our students. You may examine the survey at the Healthy Kids website.

Students completed the Core Module, the Closing the Achievement Gap (CTAG) Module, the Gender & Sex-Based Harassment Module, and Social Emotional Health Module.  You can see the 23/24 results to the right.

Core Module 

The core module collects demographic data (age, sex, race/ethnicity) and covers key questions in five priority areas: pupil engagement, student supports, bullying, substance use, and school climate and safety.

 

Closing the Achievement Gap (CTAG) Module 

For the CHKS, a short 10-question supplementary CTAG Module was developed that assesses student perceptions concerning extra help with school work, academic rigor, the cultural relevance of lessons, equity in opportunities, and fair and respectful treatment of all students. 

 

Gender Identity & Sexual Orientation-Based Harassment Module 

This module addresses students’ perceptions of harassment experiences at school. It seeks to gather the opinions of students who identify as, or are perceived to be, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, or gender nonconforming. Items include bullying frequency, negative attitudes and language expressed by peers and school staff, pro-bullying attitudes, peer and staff intervening behaviors, willingness to seek help, and availability of school-based prevention and intervention. 

 

Social Emotional Health Module 

This module enhances the value of the CHKS as a strength-based assessment of positive emotions, engagement, ability to build and maintain relationships, and other social-emotional capacities linked to not only student mental health and well-being but also academic success and career and college readiness. The survey includes scales assessing youth empathy, self-efficacy, self-awareness, persistence, emotional self-regulation, behavioral self-control, gratitude, zest, and optimism. 

 

You may request that your student be excused from taking the survey if you notify the Assistant Principal at your student’s school in writing. If you have questions about this survey or about your rights, call the District’s Student Services Department at 650-558-2206.