Beyond the parent-teacher conference: impact of feedback on student potentialJustin Lo, SurveyMonkey Hunter Gehlbach, Harvard Graduate School of Education

A Harvard-SurveyMonkey Joint…

This will be fun

You’ll learn about:• Designing surveys like a pro to get

the insights you need• Addressing implementation: strategy

and challenges• Applied questions: the good, bad and

ugly• Best practices from the Harvard-

SurveyMonkey education survey, deployed to nearly 900 schools across the country

…and by the time it’s all over, you’ll:

• Be a more educated creator – and consumer – of surveys

• Learn a few adaptation and implementation strategies

• Know right where to go for Parent-School relationship scales

The Survey Design

• Parent support (social and learning)

• Fit of the child at the school

• Self-Efficacy

• Child behaviors (positive and negative)

• Engagement

• School climate

• Communication

• Roles

Getting the scales right

Designing for insights on the parent-school relationship

Process Goals

Step 1 – Literature review of parent support

Determine how parent support is defined; identify items that could be adapted for our scale

Step 2 – Interviews & focus groups Ensure parent support construct reflected what potential participants experience

Step 3 – Compare literature review & interviews

Full conception of the parent support construct that both academics and participants agree with

Step 4 – Develop items & construct questionnaire

Representative construct coverage and develop items that adhere to best practices

Step 5 – Expert validation Establish content validity

Step 6 – Cognitive pretesting/interviewing

Ensure respondents understand the items as desired by survey developer

The Benefits

• Scales have been heavily vetted – high probability for being valid for your population

• Translated into Spanish

• Work across age groups

• You can pick the scales that matter for your school

• Easy data collection vehicle

We’ve done the work for you

SurveyMonkey

Why?How?

• Educators have used SurveyMonkey to get parent feedback since 1999

• Our goal is to help people make better decisions

Why listen to us?

How does it work?

Who is using the survey?

295 public districts

877 schools

~673,000 students

• Assess needs

• Compare different groups

• Measure change over time

• Evaluate interventions

• Comply with requirements

• Inform strategic planning

How are schools / districts using the survey?

Case Study: Randolph Public Schools

What has been effective?

• Keep the survey short (<15 minutes)

• Get parents the survey in a way they can respond to it

• Survey in the language of your respondents

• Consider incentives

• 30% response rate is a good target

• Get started at: www.surveymonkey.com/mp/harvard-education-surveys/

• Contact Justin for more information:– Justin Lo

justinl@surveymonkey.com650.543.8461

Interested in learning more?

thank you!

Appendix

• Social Support

• How often do you and your child talk when s/he is having a problem with others?

• To what extent do you know how your child is doing socially at school?• How well do you know your child's close friends?

• Learning Support

• How often do you have conversations with your child about what his/her class is learning at school?

• How often do you help your child understand the content s/he is learning in school?

• How often do you help your child engage in activities which are educational outside the home?

• How much effort do you put into helping your child learn to do things for himself/herself?

Parent Support

• How well do you feel your child’s school is preparing him/her for his/her next academic year?

• Given your child’s cultural background, how good a fit is his/her school?

• How well do the teaching styles of your child's teachers match your child's learning style?

• How well do the activities offered at your child’s school match his/her interests?

• How much of a sense of belonging does your child feel at his/her school?

• At your child's school, how well does the overall approach to discipline work for your child?

• How comfortable is your child in asking for help from school adults?

School Fit

• How confident are you that you can motivate your child to try hard in school?

• How confident are you in your ability to support your child's learning at home?

• How confident are you that you can help your child develop good friendships?

• How confident are you in your ability to make sure your child's school meets your child's learning needs?

• How confident are you in your ability to make choices about your child's schooling?

• How confident are you in your ability to connect with other parents?

• How confident are you in your ability to help your child deal with his or her emotions appropriately?

Self-Efficacy

• Positive Behaviors

• How much effort does your child put into school-related tasks?• How motivated is your child to learn the topics covered in class?• On average, how well does your child work independently on learning

activities at home? • How regularly does your child read for fun? • In general, how well does your child learn from feedback about his/her

work? • Negative Behaviors

• When working on school activities at home, how easily is your child distracted?

• How often does your child give up on learning activities that s/he finds hard?

• How often does your child struggle to get organized for school?

Child Behaviors

• How big of a problem are the following issues for becoming involved with your child's current school?

• How busy your schedule is• Transportation-related challenges• Childcare needs• Concerns about getting to the school safely• Your child does not want you to contact the school • Negative memories of your own school experience• You feel unsure about how to communicate with the school• The school is not welcoming to parents• The school provides little information about involvement opportunities• The school doesn't communicate well with people from your culture• School staff seem too busy• You worry that adults at the school will treat your child differently if you raise a

concern• You do not feel a sense of belonging with your child's school community

Barriers to Engagement

• How often do you meet in person with teachers at your child's school?

• In the past year, how often have you visited your child's school?

• In the past year, how often have you discussed your child's school with other parents from the school?

• How involved have you been in fundraising efforts at your child's school?

• How involved have you been with a parent group(s) at your child's school?

• In the past year, how often have you helped out at your child's school?

Engagement

• How well do administrators at your child’s school create a school environment that helps children learn?

• How motivating are the classroom lessons at your child's school?

• How fair or unfair is the school's system of evaluating children?

• To what extent do you think that children enjoy going to your child's school? 

• Overall, how much respect do you think the children at your child's school have for the staff?

• Overall, how much respect do you think the teachers at your child's school have for the children?

• How much does the school value the diversity of children's backgrounds?

School Climate

• Make time for doing fun activities that are unrelated to schoolwork

• Help children deal with their emotions appropriately

• Identify what children are most interested in learning

• Ensure good communication between home and school

• Call attention to decisions about learning that do not seem to be in the best interest of the children

• Make sure the children’s learning environment is safe

• Make sure children are supported to do their best in school

• Make sure that the children understand what is being taught at school

• Make sure that the children have an adult to talk to at school

• Make sure that children have enough time set aside to do all of their school-related work

• Ensure children have good relationships with their peers

Roles