Thu, 2011-01-20 17:53 — wzesner
Service and Support Staff Information
Service and Support Staff Survey Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are Learning Environment Surveys? Over the next few weeks, the district will be surveying students, parents, teachers and staff to gather feedback on how each of these groups feels about the learning environment in their school. The survey will ask questions about a) academic expectations, b) collaboration (working together), c) communication, d) engagement and e) safety and respect. There will be a different survey for students, parents and teachers – but all will focus on the same five areas.
2. Who takes the Staff Survey? Any school personnel who are not members of the teachers bargaining union of New Haven Public Schools.
3. What will the survey results be used for? The survey results will be used by each school to improve their operations as part of their school improvement plans. Results will also be used as a major factor in determining the school climate/student engagement component of the Annual School Progress Reports the district will use to tier the schools.
4. Will I be able to see the results of the survey? Yes. Once the results are collected and analyzed, the results will be posted on the New Haven Public Schools website at www.old.nhps.net
5. How did you decide what questions to ask? The surveys were designed by the Survey Committee which was formed as part of the historic teacher’s contract the district and the teacher’s union agreed upon last fall. The Survey Committee comprised of administrators, teachers, staff, and parents has worked hard to craft these surveys based on both national models and local experience and needs. In addition all the unions representing school staff were invited to review the staff survey and make recommendations or add questions where they saw a need. The results of the surveys are an important part of our overall effort to understand and improve our schools and will be a component of our annual School Progress Reports.
6. If a staff member works in more than one New Haven Public School, will they fill out multiple surveys? Staff should complete the survey for the school in which they work at least three days.
7. How will staff members get the survey? The survey will be available online from March 5th through April 13th for staff to complete. School based survey coordinators will distribute the randomly assigned, unique access codes which are necessary to complete the survey.
8. Can staff complete the survey from home? Yes. Staff can visit www.old.nhps.net to link to the survey or www.comet4children.com . However, in order to complete the survey online, staff must use the unique and anonymous access code they receive from the union stewards or school based coordinators.
9. Will the District be able to track what individual staff members say on their surveys? No. The surveys are completely anonymous. The access codes were generated by a third party survey company. That company will compile the results and report back to the district.
10. How long do staff members have to respond to the survey? All surveys must be completed online by April 13, 2012.
11. What if a staff member loses or never receives an access code? There are extra access codes available for staff available through the school based survey coordinator. You may also contact Carolyn Ross-Lee carolyn.ross-lee@new-haven.k12.ct.us or 203-691-2096 for an access code.