Appendix D-1 Justification for Student Survey Questions

Appendix D-1: Justification for Student Survey Questions

Note: The student survey is actually a one-on-one interview to be conducted by a trained adult interviewer. The questions will be asked as shown on the questionnaire, and the adult interviewer will be trained to interpret the response and code it into the most appropriate response category(ies).

Header items (Interviewer, date, gender, school, grade, section, race, and Hispanic origin)

These are essential classification items that will be coded by the interviewer. They are sufficient to permit analyses to be conducted by appropriate categories of students without revealing the specific identity of any particular respondent.

Item numbers 1-3 (Crossing—no parked cars; parked cars; reinitiation)

These items check the extent to which three fundamental principles of child pedestrian safety taught by the curriculum are known by students in the experimental (intervention) and comparison schools.

Item Number 4 (Show left hand)

This item assesses knowledge of left and right. The curriculum stresses the need to look left-right-left before crossing. Looking left first and last is important because traffic from the left is closest on a two-way roadway.

Item Number 5 (Where to cross safely)

Learning which places permit safe street crossings is an important part of the curriculum. This item assesses knowledge gain.

Item Number 6 (Need to watch for traffic when walking with adult)

The curriculum covers the need to watch for traffic even when walking with an adult. This item assesses whether students learned that advice.

Item Number 7 (Danger zones near school bus)

The curriculum teaches where the danger zones for pedestrians are around school buses. This item assesses whether the topic was learned by asking for a definition of the danger zone and having the interviewer judge whether the student’s response is correct.

Item Number 8 (Ability of drivers backing in parking lots to see pedestrians)

The curriculum teaches that parking lots are really just like roadways, and drivers backing in parking lots have difficulty seeing pedestrians. This item assesses whether this information was learned.

Item Number 9 (Has anyone at home helped)

One research question concerns whether students who received help at home learned better than those who did not. This item assesses whether help was provided and the nature of that help. A companion item in the parent/caregiver survey addresses the same topic from the perspective of the adult.

Item Number 10 (Were there walking safely classes?)

This question assesses whether the child recalls taking part in a school class concerned with walking safely near traffic and, if so, whether that class was fun and whether the child thinks he/she learned anything. This not only determines if the children acknowledge participation, but also addresses whether there might have been potentially confounding classroom activities in the comparison schools.