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With a working condition domain identified for consideration, honing in on a few critical issues within that area may help narrow your focus as you explore the potential ideas and reforms highlighted in the toolkit. When
attempting to determine what the domain results mean, and
interpreting how teachers responded to the questions that
most accurately explain the particular domain, you should
consider the following:
1) Are there any questions on which the school differs
significantly from the district or state average?
Looking for differences between your school and the
district or state average could help to identify a more
targeted issue to address to improve working conditions.
As is the case with the domain averages, look for
differences that are both significant and meaningful,
positive as well as negative, and at a 3.00 or below.
2) Are there any questions to which teacher responses are more positive or
negative than others in the domain?
Issues of concern may be identified by finding
countervailing trends in the survey responses.
Are there any questions with a surprisingly low or
high average? Are
there any questions that show general dissatisfaction while
others were positive? Are
any negative while all others are positive? Why might
teachers have responded to these questions differently than
the others? Are
there any issues within the school or community that could
be driving these responses?
Linking Perception
and Reality:
Identifying Issues that may be Influencing Question Results
Each domain contains questions about teacher
perceptions and also a few questions regarding actual
evidence of their working conditions.
Domain: Leadership
Survey Questions that Indicate
Reality - Not Perception*
| Which position best describes the person
who is most responsible for providing instructional
leadership for your work? |
Domain:
Professional Development
Survey Questions that Indicate Reality - Not Perception*
| In the past 2 years have you had 10
hours or more of training or professional development
in any of the following areas? (check all that apply) |
| a) Of the areas, have those opportunities provided you with successful
instructional strategies that you have also then been
able to incorporate into your instructional delivery
methods? |
| b) Of the areas, were these strategies useful for your
efforts to improve student achievement? |
| Do you teach students who have an Individualized Education Plan or 504 Plan? |
| Do you teach students who are Limited English Proficient? |
| In the past two years, have you enrolled
or participated in any of the following professional
development activities? |
Domain:
Facilities & Resources
Survey Questions that Indicate Reality - Not Perception*
| None, all questions in this domain are
perception questions |
Domain:
Empowerment
Survey Questions that Indicate Reality - Not Perception*
| Please indicate how large a role teachers have at your school in each of the following areas: |
| a) Selecting instructional materials and resources |
| b) Devising teaching techniques |
| c) Setting grading and student assessment practices |
| d) Determining the content of in-service professional development programs |
| e) The hiring of new teachers |
| f) Establishing and implementing policies and student discipline |
| g) Deciding how the school budget will be spent |
| h) School improvement planning |
Domain:
Time
Survey Questions that Indicate Reality - Not Perception*
| In an average week of teaching, how much non-instructional
time do you have available? (not including time spent outside of the normal school day) |
| a) Of these hours, how many are typically spent on supervisory duties? |
| In an average week of teaching, how many
hours do you spend on school related activities outside the regular school work day?
(before or after school, and/or on the weekend) |
| a) Of these hours, how many are typically spent on school-related activities involving
student interaction? (such as coaching, field trips,
tutoring, transporting students, club sponsorship,
etc.) |
| b) Of these hours, how many are typically spent on other school-related activities, such as
preparation, grading papers, parent conferences,
attending meetings, etc.? |
| It is necessary for me to work a second job |
| In a typical year, how many days beyond your current contract do you devote to school and professional responsibilities? |
*Not all questions listed above will appear on every survey.
When interpreting
how these reality questions relate to perception questions,
you should
should consider the following:
- Does
the perception of time match the realities expressed by
teachers related to the amount of time given for
instructional planning during the day and time spent
outside of the work day on additional duties? How does your school's data on class and school size correspond to the reponses about "reasonable class sizes" and "reasonable overall number of students"?
- Are
teachers relying on others to provide instructional
leadership? What
bearing might this have on the perceptions of leadership
(either positive or negative)?
Are there reasons, either positive or negative, why others are considered “most responsible”
for providing instructional leadership?
- What
are the decisions that teachers can make that have an
impact on the school?
What role do teachers really play?
Are they involved in and part of a process with
others? How
does teacher input receive consideration?
How is it considered relative to the input of
other key groups like parents, district personnel, etc.?
How are important decisions about teaching and
learning in the school ultimately made?
- What
is the quality of professional development being offered
to teachers? Do
teachers feel that professional development is helping
them change their practice and ultimately helping
students achieve?
What opportunities are being pursued by teachers? Are the priorities of teachers matched by
the actual professional development taken? Is the method of delivery exclusively through
workshops and courses? Was the method of delivery
through which teachers received most professional
development viewed as beneficial?
Next Step: Upon completing this part of the toolkit, you are ready
to move to Identifying Potential
Reforms.
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