Well-Being Index

Each student has unique strengths and needs that are dynamic and guide how they engage and learn. Educators informally try to assess how students are doing with quick chats in the hall or through the observation of behavior, and this may give educators some information – but it’s challenging to know exactly what’s happening with every student, every day. The Well-Being Index (WBI) is a tool designed to help educators collect holistic student data – physical, social, psychological and emotional well-being – systematically, directly, quickly and in real time. Collecting well-being data is something educators can incorporate into their daily practice and use to personalize student supports, interactions and experiences. This approach increases student voice, empowers students to own their stories, and invites them into the problem-solving process.

Below, you will find:

• A WBI Educator Guide that introduces the purpose and use of the Well-Being Index, provides detailed instructions on how to score the data, how to review and reflect on the data, and next steps to consider
• Printable, PDF versions of the Elementary and Secondary WBI (with accompanying Excel scoring tools)
• Online (Google Form) versions with (Google Sheets) reports of Elementary and Secondary WBI, along with step-by-step video tutorials on how to use them

What students are saying:

“I think students are asked these questions to have an understanding of how students feel and are dealing with situations during these times.”

“On a scale of 1-10, I would rate the [WBI] a perfect score of ten in relevancy. This is because I have been having personal struggles for some time now, and the survey offers me a moment of peace to reflect on myself.”

“They want to find out the well-being of students to see how their health is and how the educational system can be beneficial instead of detrimental.”

There is a 3-step process to implementing the tool:

STEP I: Administer

• The Well-Being Index can be administered as often as once a week.
• We suggest creating a routine around when you administer and find that it works best when educators have already set aside time to connect with students, such as in homeroom or Advisory.
• When introducing the tool to students, explain to them its purpose – e.g., “This is for you to share how you are doing – not just in math, but how you are feeling lately so I can better support your needs.” Let them know that this is not a test, and that the data will not go on their “report card” but will be used by educators to inform conversations and improve student experiences.

STEP 2: Review

• After completing administration, educators will be able to see a profile of scores for each student and the class overall.
• We encourage educators to look at individual student data first and then classroom averages.
• Supplementary tools are provided in our Well-Being Index package of tools to serve as running reports that can be used to see real-time changes in student and classroom well-being over repeated administrations of the Well-Being Index.

STEP 3: Reflect

• The educator guide of the Well-Being includes a protocol for educators to reflect on student data holistically, considering the students’ context and attuning to their strengths and differentiated needs. We recognize that educators are experts of their own context and have therefore provided reflection prompts and suggestions for next steps without prescribing rigid solutions.
• Next steps may look like establishing 1:1 time with students to understand them better, taking the data to grade-level meetings to collaborate with other staff, or administering more often to observe real-time changes in the data.

Printable or Desktop Versions

These versions of the Well-Being Index are in fillable PDF format. They can either be printed and shared with students in person, or sent as a fillable PDF, which students can fill out and return (via email, google classroom, etc.). Below, you will also find accompanying Excel scoring tools, where you can manually input the data from the printed student surveys.

Online Versions

These versions of the Well-Being Index are in online Google Forms. Student responses can be automatically sent to the accompanying Google Sheet, so that you see summarized reports across time. For step-by-step instructions, see the Google Form and Sheet Setup tool below.