Student engagement is key to building a safe, positive, and creative school culture that increases achievement and decreases boredom, alienation, and drop-out rates.
NAIS partners with Indiana University's Center for Evaluation, Policy, and Research (CEPR) to administer the High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE) and Middle Grades Survey of Student Engagement (MGSSE) and support schools in using the data to enhance the student experience. Since 2011, hundreds of independent schools have participated in these surveys to gather data on students' attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs about their schoolwork, the learning environment, and their interactions within the school community.
Participating schools have used the results to:
- Change or modify class sizes
- Modify classroom management and instruction techniques
- Provide more differentiated instruction
- Increase student‐counselor visits
- Assess the presence of bullying in their school
- Create a safer and kinder school culture
- Identify professional development needs on student engagement
- Identify engagement gaps among students by race & ethnicity and/or gender
- Understand how students spent their time in school work and extracurricular activities
- Identify student participation in school-sponsored activities
- Evaluate student interaction with the school community
- Create marketing/admission materials
To encourage participation, NAIS subsidizes the costs of participation for independent schools. This makes the HSSSE and MGSSE a very affordable way to gather data.
When Your School Can Take the Survey
- September 1, 2026: Fall Survey Registration Opens
- September 14, 2026: Fall Survey Administration Begins
- November 13, 2026: Fall Survey Registration Closes
- December 4, 2026: Fall Survey Administration Ends
- Early February 2027: Reports Sent to Schools
Get Survey Updates
If you want to be notified about future administration dates or would like to stay informed about the Student Engagement surveys, sign up here.
User's Guide and Toolkit
The User’s Guide and Toolkit for the Surveys of Student Engagement: The High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE) and the Middle Grades Survey of Student Engagement (MGSSE) contains essential information for school administrators interested in administering HSSSE or MGSSE. The guide explains why student engagement is important and provides steps and strategies that will help you prepare for and launch the surveys, interpret your school’s numbers, and use them to drive improvement.
Use the links below to download PDFs of the guide in full or by chapter. This valuable resource is available to all NAIS member schools.
- User's Guide and Toolkit for the Surveys of Student Engagement (full report)
- Introduction
- What Is Student Engagement and Why Is It Important?
- Improving Student Experience, Growth, and Learning
- Data-Informed Decision Making: A Short Primer
- About the HSSSE and MGSSE
- Launching and Managing the HSSSE-MGSSE: Key Steps to Make It Successful
- Interpreting Your HSSSE and MGSSE Results: Nine Noteworthy Tips and Techniques
- Sharing and Communicating HSSSE and MGSSE Results: Five Strategies
- Using the HSSSE and the MGSSE to Drive Improvement
- Appendices
- Driving Engagement: Case Studies on Using Engagement Surveys to Improve the Student Experience
Why This Survey Matters
The actionable data your school receives as a survey participant is useful for a variety of purposes, including:
- Accountability
- Accreditation self-studies
- Assessment and improvement (helping answer the question, “How can we do better?”); as part of a School Improvement Process
- Benchmarking
- Communication with internal and external stakeholders
- Examining trends or changes over time
- General education reform
- Institutional advancement
- Staff development
- Stimulating discussions about teaching and learning
How the Survey Works
HSSSE and MGSSE are offered online or as paper surveys. High school and middle grade students will need approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete them.
What Your School Receives
Once the information is tabulated, you will receive a comprehensive, user-friendly report that describes your students’:
- cognitive/intellectual/academic engagement
- social/behavioral/participatory engagement
- emotional engagement
The report also provides comparisons to other participating independent schools.
Pricing
Fee | |
Survey Participation/User Fee Nonrefundable participation fee to cover the costs of data analysis and reporting | $400 for either HSSSE or MGSSE $700 for both surveys |
Survey Fee Per-student fee, based on the number of students participating in the survey Online survey Paper/pencil survey | $1.50/student $2.00/student |
Optional Hard copy report fee Longitudinal report fee (available to schools that have participated in more than one administration of the HSSSE survey) Special analysis fee
| $50.00/copy $400
|
If you have questions or need assistance, please email us (hssse@iu.edu).