ONLINE Survey for Educators (and Phone Survey Script for Educators)

Date: 10/13//2006

Contract No.: ED-06-CO-0017

Establishing a Baseline for REL Southwest Performance and Identifying Customer Needs: Survey v.1.1.1 and 1.1.2

<ONLINE SURVEY FOR EDUCATORS>

<Introduction script for online survey>

Thank you for taking the time to fill out this survey. This survey has been developed by Edvance Research, Inc.. Information collected through this survey will be used to assist the United States Department of Education in learning more about your education research needs.

We greatly value the opinion of educators, parents and business/community leaders such as yourself and are interested in obtaining your feedback. It should not take you more than 15 minutes to complete this survey.

Responses to this data collection will be used only for statistical purposes. The reports prepared for this study will summarize findings across the sample and will not associate responses with a specific district or individual. We will not provide information that identifies you or your district to anyone outside the study team, except as required by law.

Please click on “Next” to begin the survey.

Q1. Are you currently employed in Pre-K/Kindergarten, Elementary, Secondary or Higher Education in your state? (Select only one)

1. Yes, I am a professional educator employed in Pre-K, elementary, secondary or higher education.

2. No, I am not a professional educator, but I do have a child (or children) currently obtaining Pre-K, elementary, secondary, or higher education. <SKIP TO “SURVEY FOR PARENTS”>

3. No, I am a business/community leader and not a professional educator. <SKIP TO “SURVEY FOR BUSINESS LEADERS”>

4. Don’t know <Terminate and SKIP TO CLOSING STATEMENT>

Q2. At which level(s) of education are you primarily involved? (Select all that apply)

1. Elementary/Secondary Education

   1. Pre-K/Kindergarten

   2. Elementary

   3. Middle/Junior

   4. High

2. Higher Education

   1. Two Year College

   2. Four Year College

   3. Graduate School

3. Other/Don’t know <Terminate and SKIP TO CLOSING STATEMENT >

Q3. Please specify your primary professional title: (Select only one)

1. Chief State School Officer

2. Superintendent

3. Special Education Director/Assistant Superintendent

4. Curriculum Director/Assistant Superintendent

5. Testing/Assessment Director/Assistant Superintendent

6. ELL/Bilingual Director/Assistant Superintendent

7. Principal/Assistant Principal

8. Teacher <Survey sample will be stratified to select teachers from all grades, subjects. Stratification will also include “emergency teachers”>

9. Librarian

10. College Department Chair

11. Graduate Dean/Assistant Dean

12. College Admissions Director

13. College Student Affairs Director/Officer

14. Other (Specify title)

15. Don’t know <Terminate and SKIP TO CLOSING STATEMENT>

Q3b. How long have you been serving in your present role?

1. Year(s) ___________ (Round up to the closest year)

Q4. Do you fulfill any other professional role(s) in your educational institution/school district?

1. No

2. Yes (Please select any other professional titles/roles that you fulfill in your school/district. Select all that apply)

1. Superintendent

2. Special Education Director/Assistant Superintendent

3. Curriculum Director/Assistant Superintendent

4. Testing/Assessment Director/Assistant Superintendent

5. ELL/Bilingual Director/Assistant Superintendent

6. Principal/Assistant Principal

7. Teacher (Specify grade and subject area of focus from pull down list)

8. Librarian

9. College Department Chair

10. Graduate Dean/Assistant Dean

11. College Admissions Director

12. College Student Affairs Director/Officer

13. Other (Specify title(s))

Q4b. How long have you been serving in your other professional role(s)? <This question will be asked for all titles selected in Q4>

1. Year(s) ___________ (Round up to the closest year)

Q5. Select your primary state of employment. <Participants who do not select at least one of the 5 REL SOUTHWEST states will be terminated from the survey process>

1. Arkansas

2. Louisiana

3. New Mexico

4. Oklahoma

5. Texas

6. Other <Terminate and SKIP TO CLOSING STATEMENT>

Q6. Specify your gender:

1. Male

2. Female

Q7. Specify your race/ethnicity: (Select all that apply)

1. American Indian or Alaska Native

2. Asian

3. Black or African American

4. Hispanic or Latino

5. Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

6. White

Q8. How would you best describe your educational institution/school district? (Select only one)

1. Rural

2. Suburban

3. Urban

4. Don’t know

Q9. Prior to this survey, how aware were you of the Regional Educational Laboratories, also referred to as the REL Network?

1. Very aware

2. Somewhat aware

3. Neither aware nor unaware

4. Somewhat unaware

5. Very unaware

Q10. How aware are you of SEDL (also referred to as the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory)?

1. Very aware

2. Somewhat aware

3. Neither aware nor unaware

4. Somewhat unaware

5. Very unaware

Q11. How aware are you of REL Southwest or SWREL (also referred to as the Southwestern Regional Educational Laboratory)?

1. Very aware <Specify how you became aware of REL Southwest or SWREL>

2. Somewhat aware <Specify how you became aware of REL Southwest or SWREL>

3. Neither aware nor unaware

4. Somewhat unaware

5. Very unaware

Q12. Do you use/refer to educational research?

1. Yes <SKIP TO Q14>

2. No

Q13. Specify your reasons for not using/referring to educational research: (Select all that apply)

1. I have trouble finding research.

2. Research available is not relevant to my job.

3. I doubt the quality of research that is available.

4. Research available is difficult to understand.

5. Available research is relevant, but I don’t know how to apply to my job.

6. Other (Specify)

<SKIP TO Q21>

Q14. What type of educational research do you use currently (or have used in the past)? (Select all that apply)

1. Programs (e.g., Reading Recovery, Accelerated Schools, etc.)

2. Products (e.g., A particular math textbook or a reading curriculum)

3. Practices (e.g., Phonics, Whole Language, etc.)

4. Policies (e.g., No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Response to Intervention (RTI))

5. Testing/Assessment

6. Social issues affecting education (e.g., Teenage pregnancy, child obesity, etc.)

7. Other (Specify)

Q15. Why do you use/refer to educational research? (Select all that apply)

1. Better perform my job functions

2. Stay informed of education issues

3. Make decisions

4. Ensure that educational products/curriculum that are implemented (or are being implemented) in my institution are research based

5. Other (Specify)

Q16. Complete the following by selecting one of the choices below. “When I come across any educational research, I generally …

1. assume it to be of the highest quality.”

2. do not make any assumptions until I have reviewed it.”

Q17. Generally, after reviewing a research report on education, how comfortable do you feel in deciding on its quality?

1. Very comfortable

2. Somewhat comfortable

3. Neither comfortable nor uncomfortable

4. Somewhat uncomfortable

5. Very uncomfortable

Q18. Overall, how satisfied are you with the quality of education research that is currently available on topics that are important to you?

1. Very satisfied

2. Somewhat satisfied

3. Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied

4. Somewhat dissatisfied (specify desired improvements)

5. Very dissatisfied (specify desired improvements)

6. Don’t know

Q19. Overall, how satisfied are you with the relevancy/applicability of education research in helping you to better perform your job functions?

1. Very satisfied

2. Somewhat satisfied

3. Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied

4. Somewhat dissatisfied (specify desired improvements)

5. Very dissatisfied (specify desired improvements)

6. Don’t know

Q20. How do you become aware of educational research? (Select all that apply.)

1. Internet

2. Training/professional development

3. Direct mail notifications

4. Email notifications

5. Professional organization(s)

6. District resource(s)

7. School/district administrator(s)

8. Library

9. Colleague (Specify professional title(s) of colleague(s) used most)

10. Academic publications/journals

11. Newspapers

12. Conferences

13. Education publisher(s)

14. US Department of Education website/Institute of Education Sciences (IES) website

15. National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) publications

16. State Department of Education website

17. Regional Educational Laboratory website/publications

18. What Works Clearinghouse (WWC)

19. Local education agency (LEA)

20. Comprehensive Assistance Centers

21. Other (Specify)

Q21. How important are the following education issues/research topics to you, as they relate to improved academic performance? After selecting “importance ratings” for each item, please assign a rank of “1” to the one item that you find to be the most important.

Assign a rank of "1" to only one item which is most important for you	Education Issues / Research Topics	Very imp.	Somewhat imp.	Neither imp. nor unimp.	Somewhat unimp.	Very unimp.
	Assessment and Standards (e.g., diagnostic, formative, state and NAEP standards)
	Early Childhood/Early Intervention & Prevention
	Education Infrastructure (e.g., leadership, cost-studies, teacher retention, organization development, & service coordination)
	Education Research (e.g., evaluating effectiveness of programs)
	English Language Learners (ELL), English as a Second Language (ESL), Bilingual Education
	Equity & Diversity (e.g., urban, rural, & special populations)
	Family & Community (e.g., parent involvement, substance abuse prevention in schools, obesity, after school programs, mentoring, worker training, & volunteer leadership)
	K-12 School & District Reform
	Legal Issues for Teachers/Administrators (e.g., liability, teacher rights, harassment)
	Mathematics
	Policy & Legislation (e.g., NCLB, IDEA)
	Post-Secondary (e.g., P-16, college readiness, & teacher preparation)
	Professional Development
	Reading & Writing
	Response to Intervention (RTI)
	Safety (e.g., bullying, school violence)
	Science
	Special Education & Disabilities
	Teacher Incentive Pay
	Technology in Learning (e.g., use in professional development, instruction, & infrastructure)

Q22. Please specify any other education issues/research topics that relate to improved academic performance and are important for you: ____________________

Q23. Does your educational institution (school, college, university) provide you with internet access at your job?

1. Yes

2. No

Q24. You are almost at the end of this survey. If there are any other comments that you would like us to receive (regarding the education research needs of your region), please enter them in the space provided below. ______________________________________

Q25A. Would you like to receive educational research/research notifications through email?

1. Yes (“Please enter your professional email”)

2. No

Q26. Please provide your employer school/district contact information (optional). (Note: Please provide your professional information.)

• Name:

• Name of employer institution (school/college/university) or district:

• State:

• Zip:

• Phone:

Q27. The Southwestern Regional Educational Laboratory (REL Southwest) is actively recruiting participants for education research studies. Would you be interested in learning more about participating in a future REL Southwest research study?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Don’t know

<Closing Statement>

Thank you for your time. Your responses will aid in the development and implementation of research that will be used to make evidence-based decisions and to positively impact student performance in your state.

<Only those respondents being offered a $10 gift card will be shown following statement>

Please enter the email address where you would like us to send your $10 gift card for completing the survey. The email address you provide will be used only to send your gift card__________

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is XXXX. The time required to complete this form is estimated to average 15 minutes per respondent, including the time to review instructions and complete the survey. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate or suggestions for improving this form, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC 20202-4651. If you have any comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this form, write directly to: Edvance Research, Inc., Market Research Director, 9901 IH-10 West, Suite 700, San Antonio, TX, 78230.

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