Hello. My name is Mya Martin-Glenn. I’m the Webmaster for the PreK-12 Educational Evaluation Topical Interest Group (TIG) and have worked for the past 13 years in Aurora Public Schools in Aurora, the last 9 of which have been as the Assessment Director for the District. Lately, we have noticed the surveys our district administers have gotten low response rates. Additionally, we know that we have many evaluators and researchers who want to administer surveys in our district.
We all know surveys can provide a quick and easy way to collect data for an evaluation or research study. When online surveys first became a viable option, I remember how excited we were with the higher response rates and the ease of analyzing the data. However, now that people have become accustomed to online surveys, we find response rates are no longer impressive.
As school districts have become increasingly reliant on surveys to measure student and parent engagement, they have seen a dramatic decline in survey response rates. Our district is no exception. This lack of response can lead to inaccurate and possibly biased results, making it difficult to identify areas of need or improvement within the district. If you plan to administer a survey to school personnel, students, parents, or community members, consider the following hot tips.
Hot Tips
1. Understand the district’s research process. Most districts have some type of research review process that needs to be followed, and often there is a specific timeline for when the request needs to be submitted, reviewed, and approved. It’s best if you are already working with someone in the district who can help explain and expedite the process.
2. Check with the district to determine what surveys are already administered. Often the data the district collects will overlap with various questions one might ask in a program evaluation or research project. Avoid duplicating efforts.
3. Make the survey user-friendly. Most surveys these days are conducted online, so it’s important to make sure that the survey is easy to navigate and understand. Consider using visuals and making sure the survey is mobile-friendly to ensure that all respondents can access it. Also avoid using acronyms or unfamiliar terms.
4. Consider district demographics. In our district, 42% of our students and their families speak English as a second language. We ask that surveys are translated into the top 5 languages spoken by our students and their families.
5. Provide incentives. Offering a prize or a gift card for completing the survey can be an effective way to encourage participation.
6. Make the survey short and to the point. Nobody likes to spend hours filling out a survey. Keep the survey short and make sure it only includes questions that are absolutely necessary.
7. Make it clear why the survey is important. If people understand why the survey is important to the district, they are more likely to take part. Be sure to explain why the survey is being conducted and how it will benefit the students, parents, and the community. Indicate the plan of action from the results. If there is no intention to change practice or policy based on the results, then it may not be in your best interest to send out a survey.
8. Consider providing a paper option. Sometimes people fear that their responses are being tracked with online surveys. Offering a paper option for them to complete helps alleviate that fear.
Rad Resources
Strategies for Successful K-12 Survey Administration
The Top 5 Ways to Raise Survey Response Rates
The American Evaluation Association is hosting PreK-12 Ed Eval TIG Week with our colleagues in the PreK-12 Educational Evaluation Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to AEA365 come from our PreK-12 Ed Eval TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this AEA365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the AEA365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an AEA365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to AEA365@eval.org. AEA365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators. The views and opinions expressed on the AEA365 blog are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the American Evaluation Association, and/or any/all contributors to this site.