by SUMMER HAMPTON
[email protected]
Karen Jordan, Public Information Officer for the school district, gave a presentation on the 2021 parent survey data on school quality. Jordan stated, “We approached this survey to be fast and efficient with awareness for busy parents.” The survey was 40 questions which ranged from topics like student demographic, communication, opportunities, learning objectives, leadership, staff support, and treatment of students, parents, and teachers. Following the meeting, Jordan plans to provide a dashboard of the survey on the district site for public access. Each school principal received their own unique data as well.
3492 parents answered the survey and top feedback came from Challenger K-8, Springstead High School, Nature Coast High School, Winding Waters K-8, and Chocachatti Elementary School. Each question did have a number of skipped responses, running between 200-700 parents. Karen has an educated guess on why this happened, this may be because of survey fatigue, meaning parents are skipping through the survey and choosing which questions they want to answer. They also might not have an opinion on the particular question or topic, the survey didn’t offer any neutral or no response options.
The majority of the questions asked received affirming results. A few interesting and important questions were;
-Do the teachers set high expectations for students?
Which majority answered agree and strongly agree, 300 skipped.
-Is my child’s teacher keeping me informed of how my child is graded and the academic process?
The majority of people answered strongly agree or agree, 300 skipped.
-Does the school offer a variety of academic courses and extracurricular activities that meet my child’s learning needs?
The majority answered agree or strongly agree, 300 skipped. This is important because the survey is K-12, ensuring not only high school students are being offered a diverse option of courses and activities.
-Does my child feel supported by the teacher, counselor, or other staff members to whom the student can go for it was a school-related or personal problem?
There was an overwhelming affirmation from Hernando families for both academic and personal support. There was also positive feedback from families on the schools providing excellent support services like counseling, college, or career planning.
-Do school administrators make decisions that are in the best interest of the students?
There was a solid positive response between strongly agree and agree, 430 skipped.
-Is discipline enforced fairly?
Strong response agreeing.
-Overall sense school is clean, in good repair, and is a pleasure to visit.
The majority of responses strongly agree or agree, 437 skipped.
-Are the schools using various methods to inform parents on school news, activities, and student performances? Monthly student news letters aren’t enough, are teachers exploring all avenues to reach you?
Overall parents agreed.
-Do staff members and students treat each other with respect?
The majority agreed, 665 skipped.
-Bullying is not tolerated. Students are treated fairly regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or disabilities.
The majority is strongly agree and agree, 667 skip
There were also questions regarding how parents want to be contacted and informed about rules, regulations, and safety during times of emergency or change. The majority of parents also responded that they would recommend their child’s school or the school district to a friend or colleague.
Karen Jordan stated that she has an interest in reaching out to the families that participated with a follow-up to the survey; for clarifications and suggestions to improve participation.
