Student Surveys: Evaluate and Elevate Your School’s Tiers of Support
Student voice is already there. It’s not something we give. It’s something we honor. And we do when we listen.
– Monte Syrie, Teacher
INTRO
The Inflexion Approach incorporates core elements of a multi-tiered support approach to ensure each and every student gets what they need to be ready to thrive in the 21st century. During a Crowdsource webinar on April 20, 2023, Inflexion CEO Matt Coleman shared how the framework of the Inflexion Approach helps implement MTSS with aligned instructional supports across the school for every student, every period, every day.
In this segment, he shares examples of how focused and meaningful student surveys can help keep MTSS efforts, programs, and vision on-track to ensure ALL students are thriving and successful.
OBJECTIVES
- Evaluate your school’s tiers of support through your students’ perspective via meaningful student surveys connected to supports/maxims/learner profile/outcomes/etc.
- Brainstorm and plan new/updated student surveys to elevate your school’s supports to reach all students
ACTIVITY
This activity should be completed collaboratively with your leadership/ILT team(s).
1. Watch this 3-minute clip from the Crowdsource Webinar, MTSS and the Inflexion Approach
2. Reflect on the examples in the video
- What do you notice about the development of these different student surveys?
- How are they similar and/or different from the student surveys currently employed at your school?
- Could any of your students benefit from these examples of student surveys? If so: who? how? why?
3. Reflect on your school’s approach to administering student surveys and implementing the results as supports for students
- What student surveys are currently administered at your school?
- If any: reflect on and evaluate them.
- What do they assess?
- Who are they serving?
- Are they effective?
- Could they be elevated?
- How do you know?
- Are students a part of the development and evaluation processes for these surveys?
- Are they connected to what’s most important for your students and their ability to learn and thrive?
- Students’ sense of belonging, connection, support, etc.
- Maxims
- Learner profile
- Student outcomes
- If none: reflect on why none are administered.
- Have there been any in the past?
- If so, what happened to them?
- What are the main obstacles to providing student surveys?
- How can these obstacles be overcome?
- If any: reflect on and evaluate them.
- Brainstorm new or elevated ways to collect data on the student experience for your school:
- Which student groups need to be heard but aren’t?
- Ensure any language or learning barriers to completing the survey are considered beforehand. Provide supports so all students can make their voices heard clearly and equitably
- Begin planning the development of one new/updated meaningful student survey in the coming school year
- Be sure to also plan for how the survey results will be communicated, and most importantly, implemented
TIPS
- Notice that each of the examples in the video are unique to the school and its students. This activity is not asking you to replicate what others have done, but to really know your own students and community and sincerely ask to hear—and then act upon—their ideas, specifically for them and their needs.
- Surveying students without any noticeable, meaningful, timely action based on their input can have more negative consequences than not surveying at all. Respect builds trust, so respect students by honoring their input and making positive changes to support them.
- Need help getting started? Check out the Portico Student Experience Survey: Measuring Belonging, Connection, Engagement and How to Conduct Empathy Interviews.
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