Optimizing the student learning environment is the foundation of successful schools. This means that schools and school districts have to identify the diverse needs of students and families. Not everyone arrives at school from the same starting point.
Equity in learning is fundamental, and it continues to be one of the hardest things for schools and school districts to achieve. It requires school leaders to ask this simple question: “Do all students have the same shot at success?”
And the answer is, inevitably, no. Administrative data is a good start to understanding your student demographics, but it can miss the nuances needed for a deeper dive into understanding your school and school district’s needs.
How can schools better identify student needs to bridge equity gaps and improve learning?
The Student Perception Survey:
Student Perception Surveys gather anonymous perceptions of students’ experiences, understanding how they feel and live in their school, how they experience their learning, and how they experience their school environment.
This data, then, can become the blueprint for how to achieve equity in learning.
How does the survey reveal hidden barriers?
It provides your school and district with disaggregated data:
This means that, though the tendency of “a good learning environment” may be present, your school leaders can identify groups that may be struggling. The US Department of Education requires these demographic groups to analyze student performance data:
Gender • Race and ethnicity • Students with disabilities • Students from low-income families • Students learning English • Students in foster care • Unhoused students • Students from military families • Students from migrant families
It can identify resource gaps:
Resource gaps are the tangible and intangible assets that are missing, most often in lower-income schools and neighborhoods. Examples include a lack of access to technological or bibliographic resources. The need for tutoring services, qualified educators, school counselors, trauma counselors, nurses, social workers, and more.
It can pinpoint structural gaps:
Structural gaps are systemic problems that seem to be ingrained in the school and/or district DNA. Are there disparities in disciplinary practices? Do all of your students have access to early childhood education? Curricula that fail to be inclusive, not recognizing the cultural, ethnic, racial, socio-economic, and gender diversity of the student body.
It helps identify social and emotional barriers:
Anonymous surveys give students a voice, revealing their perceptions of their relationships with peers and teachers. Do they feel supported, included, and respected? Why or why not?
It can help uncover ineffective teaching methods:
Are lessons too difficult? Are teachers using differentiation in instruction to meet the needs of all students? This provides schools with the information they need to make adjustments and improve learning.
The National Equity Project explains that, “Educational equity means that each child receives what they need to develop to their full academic and social potential.” How do you get there? Start with a Student Perception Survey and implement meaningful actions to improve learning outcomes.
