Assessment of Inclusivity and Multiculturalism (AIM)

The Assessment of Inclusivity and Multiculturalism (AIM) is a comprehensive assessment tool that engages your school community in evaluating inclusivity and multiculturalism. It delivers tangible results your school can use to strategically plan for building and sustaining inclusive independent school communities.

Why are climate surveys useful?
An April 18, 2007, article in Education Week, "How Measuring School Climate Can Improve Your School," reports that "It is now apparent that how we feel about being in school and these larger group trends shape learning and student development. This is what an extraordinary and growing body of educational research over the last three decades has shown. Positive school climate is associated with and/or predictive of academic achievement, effective risk-prevention efforts, and healthy youth development." The article goes on to say, that "[W]hen we use evaluation of school climate as a springboard for school improvement, we are doing much more than promoting academic achievement."

What are the goals of AIM?

The overarching goal of AIM is to provide an instrument useful to schools in assessing inclusivity and multiculturalism for three practical purposes:

1. As a stand alone exercise orchestrated by the school’s Diversity Task Force or board-empowered committee.
2. As part of a school’s larger self-study for accreditation purposes.
3. As a data-gathering element for a school’s strategic planning process.

The specific goals of AIM are to:

• Determine progress in meeting diversity and multiculturalism goals;
• Identify current diversity and multiculturalism initiatives;
• Encourage participation of all affiliation and affinity groups in assessing the school’s level of inclusivity;
• Facilitate meaningful dialogue;
• Provide benchmarking opportunities; and
• Support a positive community building process/experience.

How does AIM work?

There are two parts of AIM, the Self-Assessment Process and the campus-wide Online Climate Survey.

The AIM Self-Assessment Process is similar to a school’s accreditation or re-accreditation process. It is completed by Discovery Committees that include involvement by all affiliation and affinity groups within the school community. These Discovery Committees discuss and report on the following aspects of the school:

• School governance and leadership;
• Policy and administration;
• Admissions, including financial aid;
• Faculty/Teacher;
• Teaching and learning;
• Student life;
• School publications and environment;
• Staff involvement and life;
• Parent/guardian involvement; and
• Alumni involvement and investment.

The AIM Online Climate Survey engages your community in a confidential online survey that asks each constituency group to give feedback on school climate and culture. AIM then delivers to your school summarized survey results. These results come in an easy-to-digest format the school can put to use in strategic planning and in follow-up training and programming.

AIM is more than a self-assessment and survey tool. It is a comprehensive assessment process. AIM takes up to one year to complete. It involves a commitment of the entire school community, a commitment that will lead to real, tangible data on where your school stands and how it can become more inclusive.

Sign up Today to Take AIM

1. Designate an AIM coordinator.
2. Download your AIM brochure and registration form.
3. Mail/fax your completed registration form.
4. Participate in the AIM coordinator training.
5. Convene Discovery Committees.
6. Confidential Online Climate Survey is administered.
7. NAIS sends summarized survey report.