Feasibility of developing and implementing an educator survey on place attachment and the school built environment

Introduction Educators spend substantial time in school buildings, yet comparatively little research has examined their emotional relationships with the school built environment. Methods This feasibility study examined associations among school staff members' place attachment, resource perceptions, and ratings of environmental quality within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child framework. A survey was distributed using QR codes and optional paper copies during staff meetings at three schools in the mid-south United States. Thirty-four of the 62 invited staff members were retained for analysis. Results The place attachment and resource-perception item sets demonstrated high internal consistency ( α = 0.90 and α = 0.95, respectively). Resource perceptions and place attachment were moderately correlated (r = 0.56, p < .001). Resource perceptions showed greater estimated between-school clustering (ICC = 0.597) than place attachment (ICC = 0.122). In exploratory mixed-effects models, classroom-quality ratings demonstrated the strongest association with resource perceptions, whereas overall building quality demonstrated the strongest association with place attachment. Because the sample was modest and included only three sites, these estimates should be interpreted cautiously. Discussion The findings support continued investigation of educators' structural appraisals and affective experiences within a WSCC-informed approach and further instrument development in larger, more diverse samples.