Prior to the 2026-2027 school year, the Quality of School Climate and Safety indicator was one of the state indicators in Kentucky's accountability system. The indicator used perception data from surveys that measured insight into the school environment. These surveys were administered in the Spring with the Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA) and the Alternate Kentucky Summative Assessment (AKSA). Effective July 1, 2026, per House Bill 257, the Quality of School Climate and Safety (QSCS) Survey is no longer a part of Kentucky's accountability system and is no longer administered alongside the KSA and AKSA. For districts that would like to continue administering the survey for informational purposes or as a measure for their local accountability, the surveys will remain available on KDE's website.
The Quality of School Climate and Safety survey contains two forms: Grades 3-5 and Grades 6-High School. Each form contains 27 statements for which students are prompted to respond whether they strongly agree, agree, disagree or strongly disagree.
The survey items are available for each form:
The survey was modified and the number of items was reduced for students who participated in the AKSA (10 QSCS Survey items).