Perceptions held by stakeholder groups (e.g., students, parents, teachers) about the physical, social, and learning environments of a school may influence both the processes and outcomes that occur. Unlike measures of satisfaction in which each individual as respondent is asked to give a personal affective reaction, climate is measured by asking each individual to serve as an informant: i.e., to respond to each item in terms of what he or she believes most people hold to be true about that characteristic of the school's environment. 

The shared perceptions of climate represent what most people believe, not the individual's personal reaction to the environment. These shared perceptions tend to be persistent and stable over time. Just as meteorological climate is largely unaffected by daily shifts in temperature, the climate of the school is a relatively stable phenomenon. 

Measurement of the climate solely by what most people believe, rather than as a collection of climate and individual satisfaction responses, is the primary difference between the NASSP School Climate Survey and most other measures of climate. A second difference is the emphasis in the NASSP Model on the collection of perceptions of climate from all major stockholder groups.  A third difference is the description of climate as a mediating variable rather than as an outcome measure. 

The NASSP School Climate Survey was developed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  Funds to support development were provided by NASSP and by Teachers College and the Layman Fund (a university research grant) of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. An item bank was created for the development of this instrument. This item bank was generated from a comprehensive review of both the climate and effective schools literature and an analysis of existing climate instruments used by both researchers and practitioners. 

After initial pilot tests, two forms of the instrument were further refined in a national pilot 
study. A second national study was conducted to collect normative data for form A of the 
instruments (the final version). These two national studies and related data analysis were conducted at Western Michigan University. Both studies were supported by NASSP and 
by the College of Education at Western Michigan University. 

The NASSP School Climate Survey is normed for use with students in grades 6-12, and 
for use with teachers and parent or citizen groups. Instrument readability is rated at grades 
5-6. Assessment of all major stakeholder groups, rather than a single group, is recommended. Broader assessment allows for comparison of perceptions between and among groups. These comparisons can be useful in discerning and planning for appropriate interventions to improve school environments. 

The NASSP School Climate Survey collects data about perceptions on 10 subscales: 

• Teacher-Student Relationships. Perceptions about the quality of the interpersonal and professional relationships between teachers and students.
• Security and Maintenance. Perceptions about the quality of maintenance and the degree of security people feel at the school.
• Administration. Perceptions of the degree to which school administrators are effective in communicating with different role groups and in setting high performance expectations for teachers and students. 
• Student Academic Orientation. Perceptions about student attention to task and concern for achievement at school. 
• Student Behavioral Values. Perceptions about student self-discipline and tolerance for others. 
• Guidance. Perceptions of the quality of academic and career guidance and personal counseling services available to students. 
• Student-Peer Relationships. Perceptions about students' care and respect for one another and their mutual cooperation. 
• Parent and Community-School Relationships. Perceptions of the amount and quality of involvement of parents and community members in the school. 
• Instructional Management. Perceptions of the efficiency and effectiveness of teacher classroom organization and use of classroom time. 
• Student Activities. Perceptions about opportunities for and actual participation of students in school-sponsored activities.

* National Association of Secondary School Principals