Form 1 STAC Grantee Survey

GRANTEE SURVEY QUESTIONS

Survey Instructions

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), with its contractor [TBD], is conducting a study of the School Turnaround AmeriCorps program, a partnership between CNCS and the Department of Education. The purpose of the study is to learn about how AmeriCorps programs are being implemented and how they are helping schools improve.

You have been selected to complete a survey as part of the study. Your perspective is very important, so please answer honestly. Your participation in this study is completely voluntary. Refusing to participate will not involve any penalty or affect your [AmeriCorps status] [employment] in any way. It also will have no effect on your relationship with your school. It should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete the survey. We understand that your organization may run multiple AmeriCorps programs. Answer the questions based only on your experience [with your School Turnaround AmeriCorps program] [at your school] this year.

All responses are anonymous and your responses will be kept confidential to the extent provided by law. Under no circumstances will anyone from your [AmeriCorps program] [school] have access to any information that can be attributable to you. The information you provide in the survey will be summarized with the information from other respondents and included in a report that will be shared with your School Turnaround AmeriCorps program and with CNCS.

Please contact XXXXX, at XXX-XXX-XXXX or XXXXX, if you have any questions regarding this research.

1. Did your organization’s relationship with the school(s) exist before you established a partnership agreement for the School Turnaround AmeriCorps program?

____ Yes

____ No

1. If yes, how long have you been collaborating with the school(s)?

____ Less than 6 months

____6 months to less than one year

____ One year

____ Two years

____ Three or more years

2. To the best of your knowledge, did School Turnaround AmeriCorps members provide direct services to individual students or to the whole classroom or school? (Check all that apply.)

__ AmeriCorps programming was targeted to individual students

__ AmeriCorps programming supported the whole classroom

__ AmeriCorps programming supported all students in the school

3. Do you know which students were served by School Turnaround AmeriCorps members?

Yes: _____ No: _____ Sometimes but not always: _____

4. For the purpose of the School Turnaround AmeriCorps program, how does your organization define program completion for a particular student?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Please review the list below to confirm the schools where your organization assigned School Turnaround AmeriCorps members. Fill in the number of members, who served at each school, and the targeted number of students served and completing the program.

Which schools were served by the AmeriCorps members engaged by your organization?	Number of AmeriCorps members	Target number of students to be directly served by AmeriCorps	Target number of students to complete an AmeriCorps program

6. Please fill in the following information on the characteristics of School Turnaround AmeriCorps programs at each school served by your organization.

Which schools were served by the AmeriCorps members engaged by your organization?	Number of AmeriCorps members	Average number of hours AmeriCorps members spend per week in this school	Number of weeks AmeriCorps members spent in this school	Number of students directly served by AmeriCorps members in this school	Number of students completing2 an AmeriCorps program
	TOTAL ALL SCHOOLS	AVERAGE ALL SCHOOLS	AVERAGE ALL SCHOOLS	TOTAL ALL SCHOOLS	TOTAL ALL SCHOOLS

7. On average, how often do the School Turnaround AmeriCorps members meet with school staff to discuss data on the progress of all students?

____ Once a week

____Twice a month

____ Once a month

____ Once every six months

____ Once a year

____ Very different from school to school (please explain): _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. To the best of your knowledge, what mechanisms did the school use to identify students for activities led by School Turnaround AmeriCorps members? (Check all that apply.)

___ Teacher recommendation

___ Counselor recommendation

___ Parent request

___ Student request

___ Standardized test scores

___ Performance in class and on homework

___ Other: ______________________________

9. To the best of your knowledge, what are the reasons that students were identified to participate in School Turnaround AmeriCorps programming? (Check all that apply.)

__ Improve academic achievement (standardized test scores and/or grades)

__ Improve academic engagement (attendance, interest in school)

__ Assist students at risk of dropping out

__ Improve self-esteem or socio-emotional health

__ Improve behavior

__ Sustain performance

__ Other: _______________________________

10. What do you consider to be the most important school turnaround outcomes for students over the next two years? (Check all that apply.)

___ Enhanced academic achievement

___Improved grades

___Improved completion of assignments

___Increased motivation

___Increased self-esteem

___ Improved attendance

___Improved socio-emotional health

___Improved behavior

___Other. If other, please specify __________________

11. Please fill in the following table about school turnaround outcomes for students.

	Was there improvement in this area in one or more of the schools served by your grantee this year?	If you marked “Yes,” what were the outcomes with the greatest degree of improvement, across schools? Rank, with 1=Greatest improvement. Do not rank outcomes where you marked “No.”
Enhanced academic achievement, as measured by interim progress or unit assessments	___Yes ___No
Improved grades	___Yes ___No
Improved completion of assignments	___Yes ___No
Increased motivation	___Yes ___No
Increased self-esteem	___Yes ___No
Improved attendance	___Yes ___No
Improved socio-emotional health	___Yes ___No
Improved behavior	___Yes ___No
Other: __________________________	___Yes ___No

12. Please indicate your level of agreement/disagreement about your organization’s collaboration with your school partner(s) for each element listed below:

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree	Very different school to school	Not Applicable
It is easy for me to get in touch with someone from the school
There is frequent communication between my organization and the school (e.g., visits to each other’s offices, meetings, written information and telephone communications)
The school follows-up, if needed, when I make contact
The school is committed to making our collaboration a success
The school has the ability to accomplish the goals it sets
The school puts forth effort to maintain its relationship with my organization
My organization perceives our relationship with the school as a priority

13. For the items in #12 where you marked “Very different school to school,” please explain below:

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14. For this school year, please indicate how satisfied you are with each of the elements listed below:

	Very Dissatisfied	Dissatisfied	Satisfied	Very Satisfied	Very different school to school	Not Applicable
Communication between school and grantee
Communication and collaboration between teachers and AmeriCorps members
Communication and collaboration between school leadership and AmeriCorps members
Implementation of the roles and responsibilities outlined in the school partnership agreements
Placement of members in meaningful service activities
Referral of students to receive services offered by AmeriCorps members
Matching of members to students in need of academic strengthening and social/emotional supports
Alignment of activities with school turnaround plans
Sharing of outcome data by the school/district

15. For the items in #14 where you marked “Very different school to school,” please explain below:

#___ ­­­­­_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

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16. How important are the following characteristics to successfully implementing your School Turnaround AmeriCorps program?

	Not at All Important	Somewhat Important	Important	Very Important	Not Applicable
Orientation and training of AmeriCorps members before they serve at the school
Comprehensive trainings of AmeriCorps members and program support staff during their year(s) of service
Multi-layered supervisory structure to ensure fidelity of program implementation
Defined framework (e.g., RTI) to guide objective instructional choices and allow for the assessment of program effectiveness
Limited set of highly scripted interventions that have been shown to be effective (i.e. research based) in achieving desired student-level outcomes
Recruitment and selection process that is effective in identifying members with characteristics that correspond with the programs objectives

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