What is the Vermont Teaching and Learning Conditions Initiative?
Who will take the survey?
Who is conducting the survey?
Who is administering the survey?
How long is the survey?
How is my anonymity protected?
How do I get an access code to take the survey?
What if I lose my code or have problems taking the survey?
How will the EDUCATOR and ESP responses be reported?
How will the PRINCIPAL responses be reported?
How will the results be used?
Where else has this been administered?
How have the results been used elsewhere?
Still have questions?
What is the Vermont Teaching and Learning Conditions Initiative?
The Vermont Teaching and Learning Conditions Initiative starts with an online, anonymous survey of all public school educators and support professionals in Vermont of their perception of their school environment. The survey will be available for educators to complete between March 30 and April 27, 2009.
The survey is a unique opportunity to gather information about school conditions from those whose views matter most—school faculty and staff. The purpose of the survey is to support sound educational policies and practices based on the views of those working in our schools. Respondents will be asked for their perceptions on a variety of issues related to student achievement and teacher retention, including the adequacy of facilities and resources, time, empowerment, school leadership, community support, professional development, and mentoring and induction services.
This is more than a survey, it is an initiative. It is not just about learning what you think, but collectively acting on the information. The results of this survey will provide educators, stakeholders and policymakers with guidance on what is working well, and what could be working better, in our schools. The Vermont-NEA will provide tools and assistance to schools in facilitating the conversations.
Back to top
Who will take the survey?
All employees in Vermont public schools will take the survey. There are three parts to the survey: Education Support Professionals (ESP) Questions, Educator Questions and Principal Questions.
Education Support Professionals Questions: will be answered by all instructional and non-instructional ESP in the school. Questions were designed specifically for ESP and therefore responses will be reported separately. The survey is for any staff member in the school.
Educator Questions: will be answered by teachers, school-based administrators and certificated non-classroom professionals.
- All PreK-12 classroom teachers, including vocational-technical teachers, and special area teachers.
- All certificated personnel, including guidance counselors, speech and language therapist, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and special education team leaders. School-based administrators including principals and assistant principals will also answer questions about teaching conditions.
- A limited number of questions specifically related to new teacher and principal support and mentoring will be addressed to our newer colleagues.
Principal Questions: a limited number of questions will be answered by principals only. Data will only be reported at the state level in order to protect the anonymity of principals. These questions are designed to gauge principal perception of district supports to create positive school conditions.
Back to top
Who is conducting the survey?
The Vermont Teaching and Learning Conditions Survey is being conducted under the leadership of the Vermont-NEA under the belief that it is critically important to listen to educators' and ESP’s views when shaping school improvement strategies.
Back to top
Who is administering the survey?
The New Teacher Center (NTC) is a national organization dedicated to supporting the development of a high-quality teaching force. NTC has conducted similar surveys in other states and provides induction and professional development for teachers and principals across the country. In 2008, NTC conducted surveys in seven states and one large school district, hearing directly from more than 215,000 educators and providing data to more than 6,000 schools.
Back to top
How long is the survey?
The survey should take about 20 minutes. Participants will be asked to share their perceptions on a scale of one to five on a series of questions. Participants may preview the survey online prior to taking it at www.vtteachingandlearning.net.
It is important to know that the survey can NOT be saved for completion at a future time once it has been started. Participants should not begin the survey unless they have about 20 minutes to devote to completing it. The survey can be taken anytime from anywhere there is an internet connection while the survey is open.
Back to top
How is my anonymity protected?
The New Teacher Center has developed a system for guaranteeing the confidentiality of the respondents.
Educators and ESPs will receive a randomized and unique six-digit security code to enter at the start of the survey. The security code makes it possible for each participant to submit the survey only once. The participant's name is not matched to the security code. An educator or ESP may trade his or her code with another educator or ESP in the same school building, since the codes are only used to identify the school, not the individual. However educators and ESPs should not swap codes across groups as those codes are designed to correspond directly to either the educator or ESP version of the survey. All ESP codes start with the letter “E” and all educator codes start with the letter “L”. The survey may be taken on a computer at school, home, or any other location that has Internet access.
The database is managed by NTC and cannot be accessed by school or district administrators. There is NO way to track a code to an individual, even at NTC. The database does not include any names of individuals.
Confidentiality has never been breached in any of the other participating states or districts. Further, all school and district reports will NOT include any demographic information such as years of experience, role, etc. so there will be no way anyone can know whether you have taken the survey or what your responses were.
Back to top
How do I get an access code to take the survey?
Shortly before March 30, each participant will receive a letter inviting them to use the personal security code (see top of letter) to take the survey between March 30 and April 27, 2009. Code letters will be distributed at the school level by the Vermont-NEA building representatives. If the school does not receive the access codes by April 6, please contact the help desk.
Back to top
What if I lose my code or have problems taking the survey?
The help desk will be able to provide a new access code to those who lose their letters and to answer any questions about the initiative.
Back to top
How will the EDUCATOR and ESP responses be reported?
- Statewide results from the educator and ESP responses will be each aggregated and reported to the public by the end of May 2009.
- These reports will be a compilation of responses to all questions and presented as bar charts for the school, district and state (if at least 50 percent of educators respond).
- All school staff will have access to their school's educator and ESP responses through a password-protected process. This is meant to ensure that schools have time to have data-driven discussions about school improvement planning and that a better understanding of the relationship between teaching conditions, teacher retention and student learning can be analyzed
- District administrators will have access to their district and school responses through a password-protected process.
Back to top
How will the PRINCIPAL responses be reported?
- Statewide results from the leader responses will be aggregated and reported to the public by the end of May 2009.
- To protect the confidentiality of respondents, no school or district level responses will be available.
Back to top
How will the results be used?
At the school and district levels, survey data can be used to promote discussions about instruction, planning time, professional development, school improvement and related policy issues.
At the state level, the data will be useful to the State Board, the Vermont Standards Board Department of Education, Governor, legislators and other policymakers who are committed to listening to the voices of educators as they develop and implement education reform policies.
The Vermont-NEA has posted a statement of purpose that clearly articulates both the purpose of the survey and how the data should (and should not) be used at www.vtteachingandlearning.net.
Back to top
Where else has this been administered?
Similar surveys have been administered by the New Teacher Center in seven states and one large district in North Carolina, Kansas, Maine, Alabama, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Fairfax County Public Schools. In addition to Vermont, Maryland and Colorado are conducting teaching conditions surveys in 2009.
Back to top
How have the results been used elsewhere?
The results are being used in various ways in the different states and districts, perhaps most extensively in North Carolina. North Carolina was the first state to launch a survey in 2002 under the leadership of Gov. Mike Easley. The NC survey focused on teacher working conditions. All of the surveys to date have focused on working conditions, recruitment and retention because teacher working conditions are student learning conditions, and because teacher recruitment and retention is so critical to school improvement.
Schools and districts have acted on the information locally in different ways depending on the results. For example, the results have been used in support of a bond initiative and for the development of better school improvement teams. At the state level:
- Survey results central to education reform efforts The survey has been administered every two years starting in 2002. The results are analyzed and recommendations based on them are made by the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Advisory Board.
- Positive working conditions promoted The state has rewritten principal standards to incorporate teacher recruitment, retention and administration. Additionally, all new principals are required to take professional development funded by the state on creating positive working conditions.
- Investments made in support of good educational practices Funding was allocated to create a blueprint for School Improvement Teams in integrating survey results into school improvement planning, and conducting a state conference to share best practices. The Teacher Academy receives $2 million annually to provide professional development in high poverty school. Turnaround plans are being analyzed in low-performing high schools to ensure survey data is incorporated in reform strategies.
Back to top
Still have questions?
Go to www.vtteachingandlearning.net or contact the helpdesk.
Back to top
