A quality teacher engagement survey addresses topics about school climate and culture, how supported staff feel by their administrators, and how well-equipped teachers feel to meet their students’ unique needs. They can also dive into teachers’ experiences at school and the relationships they have with students and families, other teachers, and administrators. Our online questionnaire, FocalEDU, has questions for your school leaders that allow them to gauge their educators’ perceptions of training and professional development opportunities, burnout, workload, autonomy, school safety, and access to resources and materials.
That’s a tall list, but an expert online survey will deliver.
A well-designed teacher engagement survey will:
- feel smooth and effortless to complete
- increase response rates
- highlight gaps across demographic and stakeholder groups, surfacing potential inequities
- gather meaningful, accurate, and actionable data
- gather both qualitative and quantitative data
A well-designed survey can lead your school and/or district to:
- improve stakeholder relationships, building trust
- increase transparency
- measure progress from year to year
- include students, teachers, staff, and families in decision-making
- address inequity
How often should you conduct a teacher engagement survey?
We recommend administering the teacher and staff survey once a year, which allows you to compare trends from year to year as your school and/or district have had time to implement changes from data collected in the last survey.
In general, the teacher and staff survey takes 10-15 minutes to complete, depending on your specific survey design needs and how in-depth individual respondent’s short answers and comments are.
What are good survey questions for teachers?
Helpful survey questions for teachers give leaders insight into teachers’ perceptions of:
- school climate (student-teacher relationships, learning environment, bullying, and school safety)
- their autonomy over pedagogy and content
- their relationships with administrators and their team
- team dynamics
- the central/district office
- the quality of their professional development
- how well they are supported
- how well equipped they are to meet the diverse needs of students
- workload and burnout
- working conditions
- intent to return, and much, much more
Here are examples of our research-based, validated survey questions for teachers:
- Students at my school are respectful to teachers, staff, and administrators.
- Bullying or harassment of any sort is taken seriously and dealt with appropriately at my school.
- Teachers are given the freedom and authority they need to make necessary decisions.
- My school has a clear set of priorities and objectives.
- Students can disagree with teachers without fear of getting in trouble.
- I have access to the training and resources I need in order to implement my school’s discipline policies.
Based on feedback, your principals, superintendents, and district can identify what your teachers and staff need to improve and what needs they feel are not being met. From the meaningful data that you collect, you can better support your teachers and staff, provide relevant and engaging professional development, and shift policies and practices that humanize educators.
Let’s get started.
