At the Appleton Area School District Board of Education meeting on 03/08/2021 the results of the most recent Studer Pulse survey were reviewed. Those results seemed to indicate a general overall improvement in the confidence parents had in the district. However, one issue with the results presented were that they combined the answers for both elementary and secondary students eventhough the educational situation being faced by both of those groups was markedly different. As a result, Board of Education member Deb Truyman asked them to disaggregate the data and separate the responses by elementary and secondary level. The information was then presented at the 03/22/2021 Board of Education meeting.
The disaggregated data shows that, while elementary parents have more positive feelings about where things are at in February vs in November, the feelings of parents at the middle and high school level have not changed much from where they were in November.
Question 1: I am confident that my child’s school is handling the Covid-19 challenge to keep my child safe.
November – Total score for both elementary and secondary: 3.71
February – Elementary: 4.17 (.46 increase)
February – Secondary: 3.85 (.14 increase)
Question 2: I am confident that my child’s school is focused on the social emotional well-being of my child.
November – Total score for both elementary and secondary: 3.20
February – Elementary: 3.89 (.69 increase)
February – Secondary: 3.26 (.06 increase)
Question 3: I have the resources needed to help my child learn.
November – Total score for both elementary and secondary: 3.38
February – Elementary: 3.91 (.53 increase)
February – Secondary: 3.38 (no change)
Question 4: I have access to my child’s teacher(s) when needed.
November – Total score for both elementary and secondary: 4.00
February – Elementary: 4.31 (.31 increase)
February – Secondary: 3.75 (.25 decrease)
Question 5: I receive feedback from my child’s teacher(s) about my child’s learning progress.
November – Total score for both elementary and secondary: 3.69
February – Elementary: 4.01 (.32 increase)
February – Secondary: 3.32 (.37)
Question 6: I am confident that my child will not fall behind in school.
November – Total score for both elementary and secondary: 2.79
February – Elementary: 3.46 (.67 increase)
February – Secondary: 2.80 (.01 increase)
Question 7: I receive timely communication on changes that occur at my child’s school.
November – Total score for both elementary and secondary: 3.79
February – Elementary: 4.09 (.30 increase)
February – Secondary: 3.77 (.02 decrease)
As you can see, there was minimal change in the score given by the parents of secondary students in February vs November, and the improvement in overall score was driven by the responses at the elementary level.
The percentage of parents at the secondary level who disagreed/strongly disagreed or agreed/strongly agreed remained similar from November to February.
Question 1: I am confident that my child’s school is handling the Covid-19 challenge to keep my child safe.
November
Disagree/Strongly Disagree: 15%
Agree/Strongly Agree: 63%
February
Disagree/Strongly Disagree: 9% (decrease of 6)
Agree/Strongly Agree: 71% (increase of 8)
Question 2: I am confident that my child’s school is focused on the social emotional well-being of my child.
November
Disagree/Strongly Disagree: 29%
Agree/Strongly Agree: 47%
February
Disagree/Strongly Disagree: 23% (decrease of 6)
Agree/Strongly Agree: 50% (increase of 3)
Question 3: I have the resources needed to help my child learn.
November
Disagree/Strongly Disagree: 23%
Agree/Strongly Agree:52%
February
Disagree/Strongly Disagree: 21% (decrease of 2)
Agree/Strongly Agree: 53% (increase of 1)
Question 4: I have access to my child’s teacher(s) when needed.
November
Disagree/Strongly Disagree: 8%
Agree/Strongly Agree: 78%
February
Disagree/Strongly Disagree: 10% (increase of 2)
Agree/Strongly Agree: 69% (decrease of 9)
Question 5: I receive feedback from my child’s teacher(s) about my child’s learning progress.
November
Disagree/Strongly Disagree: 15%
Agree/Strongly Agree: 65%
February
Disagree/Strongly Disagree: 24% (increase of 9)
Agree/Strongly Agree: 50% (decrease of 15)
Question 6: I am confident that my child will not fall behind in school.
November
Disagree/Strongly Disagree: 42%
Agree/Strongly Agree: 33%
February
Disagree/Strongly Disagree: 40% (decrease of 2)
Agree/Strongly Agree: 33% (no change)
Question 7: I receive timely communication on changes that occur at my child’s school.
November
Disagree/Strongly Disagree: 12%
Agree/Strongly Agree: 72%
February
Disagree/Strongly Disagree: 10% (decrease of 2)
Agree/Strongly Agree: 73% (increase of 1)
Most noticeably, parents at the secondary level do not seem to feel they have good access to their child’s teacher(s) and they do not seem to feel the teachers are communicating well with them regarding their children’s progress. There’s also nominal change in the feelings of the secondary level parents regarding their confidence that their children will not fall behind.
The Studer representative also spoke briefly about the comments that were submitted along with the surveys. Many comments expressed appreciation for teachers, gratitude about returning to in-person learning, to return students to in person learning, and a desire for increased connection and a sense of normalcy. A key difference was the strong desire at secondary for kids to return to in person learning. There were some comments expressing a desire for safety and not wanting to return to school, but there were more strongly worded comments around the desire to be back 100%.
After the results were reviews, the floor was opened for questions.
Jim Clemons said that there’s a certain percentage of parents/students that are uncomfortable going back to school and would like to remain virtual. Over the last couple months he’s heard different figures–anywhere from 15% to 18% to 25%. Based on the most recent survey, what is the percentage of families who are totally uncomfortable going back into school. He wondered if Judy had that information. The figures seemed to be all over the board.
AASD Superintendent Judy Baseman said that between 20-25% of 7-12 grade families, depending on the individual middle or high school, wanted to remain fully virtual and let their respective school’s principal know that they would like to remain fully virtual.
Jim Bowman said the survey data confirms a central issue they will face at their next board meeting which is the parts of the population that wants to return to full in-person education vs those who want to remain virtual and how can they satisfy those two populations. He thought a central factor in families’ feelings was the current level of community infections. He thought if the community level of infections were to go down significantly, that would solve the problem.
He went on to say that, as usual, when he looks at data like this he’s struck with the question of what do they do with the data? Do they change how they manage the district in response to it? He appreciated the increasing level of confidence from November to February and thought it was probably reflective of the fact that they’re going back to school and that the risk from the virus is going down. Other than that, he wasn’t sure what to make of the data and that was a frustration to him.
The Studer representative said the only response she’d have is that there are some things that are clear points of pride regarding the feedback of the respondents. Looking solely at the free-form comments specifically those that only touched on returning to school, there were more comments with people wanting to return. There was no doubt about that. While that should not make their decision, she thought it should influence them in terms of what they were considering.
Deb Truyman said she was the one who asked for the separation of elementary and secondary responses because they could almost be considered two different populations. Those back in school felt good about it. She wanted to know how the ones who weren’t in school felt about it.
There were no other questions on this topic.
You can view the video for the full Board of Education meeting here: https://youtu.be/BrDF0koYUg8
Be the first to reply