SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A group of officials in South Dakota is working to define “school climate” and identify ways to measure it.

School climate basically means a school’s conditions for learning. It’s one part of South Dakota’s new accountability system for public schools that is replacing requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind education law.

South Dakota was granted a waiver from the federal requirements this summer but the Argus Leader newspaper reports that the school climate component is still a work in progress. The work group met for the first time last week and plans to meet again in late October. The goal is to complete the work in time for next year’s legislative session.