With the emphasis on parent engagement and stakeholder input in the development of the LCAP, there is increased discussion and focus on the use of surveys.
Evaluation and feedback are important, and late in the school year is an ideal time to find out opinions about specific topics or issues.
Expert insights are available through a number of resources. Following are key steps that are most useful for school administrators:
Decide what you want to learn from the survey first.
Don't try to collect too much data. Carefully think through the specific answers you want to gather. Set objectives and stay focused.
Determine your target audience.
Stay focused -- for example, do you need only opinions of parents from a certain grade level, or a specific group of staff?
Choose the type of survey method.
The most practical options are probably mailed/emailed questionnaires or telephone interviews. Mail surveys can be neglected and may require a second mailing or incentive to obtain enough feedback. Telephone interviews involve personal communication and are more likely to result in more usable returns.
Develop a timeline.
This step will establish survey expectations and help to keep everyone on task. If this is your first survey, build in extra time as you may run into unforseen challenges.
Draw the sample.
If you're going to survey a small population, such as readers of your staff bulletin, you'll probably seek opinions from all involved. However, if you're testing the attitudes of your school community, you will want to select a random sample. You can do this by choosing every "nth" name from a list of your total population. The key is determining how many representatives you need to have a valid survey.
Develop and test the questionnaire.
You should have questions to cover all objectives, but only questions needed to reach those objectives. After drafting the questions, edit them and eliminate terminology that many people won't understand.
Tabulate data, analyze results and report the findings.
Depending on the sophistication of the questionnaire, you may want to ask a research expert to provide professional advice. With a simple questionnaire, you can tabulate the answers and make your call on where changes or improvements are needed. Always let people know the survey results. Volunteers, respondents, staff will want to hear what people think.
If you need assistance developing, implementing and analyzing a survey for your district or school, LCOE communication staff offers customized support. Contact Shelly Mascari for more information, smascari@lakecoe.org.
