Transforming schools through student-centered, data-driven change
YouthTruth’s comprehensive K-12 culture and climate surveys help leaders improve student outcomes and make informed strategic planning decisions that reflect their community’s needs.
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3,359,706
Students Surveyed
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1,049,292
Staff & Families Surveyed
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42
States Served
Our Work With Schools
Since 2008, YouthTruth has helped educators rigorously collect, interpret, and take action on student, family, and staff experience data. Hundreds of school districts across the country have relied on YouthTruth as a trusted partner for managing system change.
Our Research Publications
In addition to our work with schools, YouthTruth draws on one of the nation’s largest student experience datasets to publish research that informs policy and drives meaningful change across education.
Read Our Reports
Learning From Students
Students struggle with stress, anxiety, and other issues, but sometimes we don’t know who to talk to or how to get help. Having more support and ways to talk about these things would really make a difference and help everyone feel safer.”
—8th grade student
Learning From Students
We need to make students realize that they can make a difference.”
—8th grade student
Learning From Students
Teachers need to understand that not all students learn the same or remember everything we get taught. Sometimes, students need a couple minutes one-on-one with a teacher.”
—11th grade student
Learning From Students
Giving students a real voice in setting homework policies, test schedules, and school start times could directly reduce burnout and make learning more effective.”
—9th grade student
Learning From Students
There’s so much division within my school based on race, sexual orientation, or interests … I’d like to direct the school’s attention to problems like these because I long for a campus where everyone feels as they belong.”
—12th grade student
School Climate and Culture Surveys
Our third-party validated surveys are associated with key student outcomes, including reading and math proficiency, retention, attendance, decreased suspension rates, and reduced chronic absence.
Interactive dashboards and a robust, comparative dataset make it possible for district and school leaders, teachers, and school boards to interpret survey results, make state and national comparisons, and take meaningful action.
Advisory Services
After every survey cycle, YouthTruth facilitates detailed data briefings to understand results, identify trends, and contextualize reports.
We provide professional learning, coaching, and student and staff workshops to deepen data fluency, strengthen community engagement, and develop practical action steps.
Connect With Us
Research
Drawing on decades of student, family, and staff experience data, YouthTruth publishes research on topics ranging from civic engagement and digital agency to chronic absenteeism and school safety. The data is used to track trends over time and surface connections between student experiences that schools and policymakers must act on.
Our reports have been cited by NPR, Politico, The Hechinger Report, The San Francisco Chronicle, Education Week, The 74, and K-12 Dive.
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elementary school students worry about staying safe at school
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of high school students say their school helped them develop skills needed for college-level classes
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students reporting missing school often or very often due to feelings of sadness
From Our Partners
“YouthTruth has become an essential tool for our district as we listen carefully to how our students experience school and different ways to empower their voices.”
—Dr. Eric Prater, Superintendent of San Luis Coastal Unified School District
From Our Partners
YouthTruth is helping us build a culture where we regularly ask, ‘For whom are our efforts working? Who is being left out?’ The way the results are presented makes it easy to identify patterns, especially when different groups are experiencing our school in different ways.”
—Chuck Wade, Principal of Analy High School
From Our Partners
With students working to determine how to make improvements in such areas as campus culture, safety, and engagement, our planning process is empowered with their voices and commitment. We see increases in perceptions of safety, engagement, and connection to adults.”
—Trenae Nelson, Superintendent of Apple Valley Unified School District
From Our Partners
Seeing ourselves in comparison to a national dataset has allowed us to celebrate what we do well and identify areas for growth that we do have control over.”
—Dr. Julie Kallio, Lead Researcher in the Peter Clark Center at The Breck School
From Our Partners
Our community has come to rely on YouthTruth to provide consistent information over time as a way to foster improvement.”
—Andrew Long, Assistant Superintendent of David Douglas School District
Youth-Inclusive Philanthropy
Our relationships with funders have supported vital education research and school improvement projects across the country.
