Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Written by
Brad Niebling, Ph.D.

As an education community, we are in the business of providing all children and youth in Iowa an opportunity to learn knowledge and skills that will help them positively contribute to society. Here at the Scanlan Center for School Mental Health (SCSMH), we know that an important ingredient for schools to provide these opportunities is to ensure that the conditions for learning create an environment for students that is safe, welcoming, and productive. We see this in our ongoing work with districts and schools. The research is also clear: improving the conditions for learning in schools improves both academic and well-being outcomes for students (Iowa Department of Education, 2022). In this blog post, I provide a case example of how schools in one state (Iowa) go about improving conditions for learning.

What are “Conditions for Learning”?

First things first, let’s get on the same page with some common definitions. For the purpose of this post, I define school climate as the personality of the school, how the environment impacts students and staff alike. It’s about behavior and interactions amongst those in schools. School culture is about things like shared norms, beliefs, and expectations amongst students and staff (Roach & Kratochwill, 2004). 

Conditions for Learning includes aspects of school climate and culture, but in a very specific way. In Iowa, “… positive Conditions for Learning (CfL) is defined as a school climate that fosters a safe, healthy and welcoming learning environment, strengthens caring and respectful relationships, promotes adults to support high expectations, and enables students to thrive in academics and in social-emotional-behavioral health. CfL is part of a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) at the systems level, and serves as a foundational characteristic of a functioning educational agency” (Iowa Department of Education, 2022). In other words, conditions for learning is how school climate and culture impact student outcomes. 

Roadmap for Enhancing Conditions for Learning in Your School

Since we know that conditions for learning play an important role in impacting student outcomes, how can schools work to enhance the conditions for learning? Whenever we go on a journey, it helps to have a map. This is particularly important if it matters how and how quickly you get to your destination. I contend that how and how quickly we get to improved student outcomes is critically important. There are many indicators I can point to:

  • Student academic outcomes have been relatively flat in Iowa for over two decades with reading in both 4th and 8th grade down since 2003, mathematics unchanged in 4th grade since 2003, and down in 8thgrade since 2003 (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2024). 
  • Suicide was the 2nd leading cause of death amongst Iowans ages 5-44 in 2021 (Iowa Department of Education, 2024). These data are similar across the country.
  • The number of deaths by suicide amongst teenagers in Iowa has increased since 2018 (Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, 2023).
  • There is an upward trend in the number and rate of children and youth in Iowa with a diagnosis of social-emotional disturbance (SED) and in need of treatment since 2020 (Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, 2023).

There is an urgent need to address these academic and social-emotional-behavioral health needs amongst our students. In some cases, our work can be a matter of life and death. This is likely not news for anyone reading this blog post. But how can we go about improving the conditions for learning in a school to positively impact these critical student outcomes? What’s the roadmap?

The Iowa Department of Education developed an outstanding resource called the Conditions for Learning Guide (2022) that provides schools with that roadmap. The Guide provides schools with information on how to use the continuous improvement process (a road map!) to improve conditions for learning. This is a five-step process that includes: (1) Assess, (2) Prioritize, (3) Plan, (4) Implement, and (5) Evaluate. For extensive review of how to navigate this process, you should definitely check out the Guide linked above. There are, however, two specific items I do want to highlight here.

Assessing the Conditions for Learning

The first step on the journey to improving the conditions for learning in your school is to assess those conditions for learning. One quick and efficient way to assess conditions for learning is to use a survey. The Iowa Department of Education created a survey for just this purpose, called the…wait for it…Conditions for Learning Survey! The centerpiece of these tools is a student survey, though there are teacher and parent/caregiver surveys as well. It is a powerful method for getting student voice about their experiences in school.

There are two CfL Surveys for students, one for grades 3-5, the other for grades 6-12. There are questions in three domains (Safety, Engagement, and Environment) within five constructs: Physical Safety, Emotional Safety, Adult-Student Relationships, Student-Student Relationships, and Expectations/Boundaries. Iowa schools access this survey through the Iowa Department of Education.

Once data are collected, there are two ways to access and use the data: (1) the Iowa School Performance Profile (ISPP), and (2) the Student Success data system. Since the ISPP is publicly available to anyone, that might be easier for you to access and use if you aren’t working in an Iowa school. Since data are collected anonymously, there is no risk of linking any of the data to a specific student. The data are summarized as the percentage of students positively responding to all items overall, and by each construct. This is a straightforward way to understand current reality, set goals for improvement, and to monitor progress towards those goals from year to year as part of the continuous improvement process.

Selecting Evidence-Based Improvement Strategies

Once you have data, and prioritize where to focus improvement efforts, it’s time to plan for improvement! Your district or school likely has a format for action planning, so I won’t get into those details here. Regardless of the format of your plan, it is important to select evidence-based strategies for improving the conditions for learning in the areas you have targeted. 

The Iowa Department of Education has compiled a list of evidence-based strategies that are publicly available for anyone to access and use. Examples include Check and Connect, skill instruction strategies, and building adult-student relationships. At the SCSMH, we also provide services like training on classroom management, greetings at the door, and relationship mapping. Depending on your needs, any of these strategies can positively accelerate student achievement and well-being. Key to successful improvement is selecting strategies aligned to your priorities based on analyzing conditions for learning data.

Call to Action

My goal with this blog post is to draw attention to the powerful role improving conditions for learning can play in improving outcomes for students by creating a positive environment for teachers and students alike. Regardless of your role within your school, you can play a part in improving the conditions for learning. 

  • Be an advocate for the work. Share this blog post with someone in your school that can help move the work forward. 
  • Support data collection. If you are in Iowa, work with the Iowa Department of Education to ensure the data is available to administer and collect the data this spring. If you work outside of Iowa, explore measures of school climate and culture that match your local needs.
  • Support effective interventions based on data. Use the resources available through the Iowa Department of Education that I have linked to in this post. Contact your local AEA for support. Or reach out to us at the SCSMH. We have passionate, experienced staff that can work with you and your school to improve the conditions for learning. You can make a huge difference in the lives of students and teachers as a champion for conditions for learning!

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