My colleague and I are two high school teachers who are sponsoring "the real women club." One of our main goals is to help young women develop a positive image of themselves. As a club we would like to survey our school to better define our school culture and attitudes towards young women. We would like to survey the student body at large, boys and girls, and wondered if you had any sample surveys or resources. Our goal is to design a survey that will generate honest answers and particularly touch on issues that concern the population we are dealing with. We have ideas for questions, but would love any additional input. Can you help?

Conveniently, I just read this workbook prepared by Catherine Steiner Adair. It's called Full of Ourselves and directly specifically at girls, but I do think that it could be adapted and expanded upon to included boys, too. The one main thing I would advise is that you leave room for open ended answers, not simply yes or no — for instance, "what do you like best about recess?" rather than "is recess your favorite part of the day?" The more specific the question, the more specific the answer. Also, I think that adult language can indirectly alienate kids — or ask them to conform, I think that you should make them a part of developing the survey and thus ensure that the questions are in their vernacular. Thanks so much for doing this; I am sure that your students will benefit.

—Amy