Gathering Information

An important aspect of understanding your context is gathering information from the families and communities you serve. Surveys are one way to collect this information. Soliciting feedback during scheduled meetings (parent/teacher conferences, parent/teacher association meetings, school board meetings) throughout the year is another way to collect data. Below are equity-focused guiding questions to help you gather information and understand your community, examples of questions to include in pulse check surveys and tips on increasing community participation in feedback.

Guiding Questions to Help Gathering/Understanding Your Community

Will your data gathering plan (surveys, data review, etc.) identify specific areas where you may unintentionally limit equity and inclusion?
1. Example: safety, accessibility, affordability, cultural specificity, family responsibilities, access to decision-making, racial profiling, etc.
What current statistics would help you understand systemic barriers and inequities?
Who should be included in different types of feedback opportunities?
Who should have access to specific data on the school and feedback collected via surveys?
How will you report back the findings and next steps to the people who were involved in feedback?

Surveying Your Community

Surveys should occur throughout the year to ensure progress and/or new insights are captured (beginning of year, midyear, end of year and pulse checks based on current needs). The following questions are categorized by the intended audience of the survey question. Click on the link to view sample questions and for tips to increase participation.

Unified Improvement Planning (UIP) Connection

Surveying community members can itself be an important source of data to identify root causes and part of UIP work. Community surveys can also help schools and districts better understand the academic and demographic datasets collected across the state and what Major Improvement Strategies to implement.