8 Y2 Teacher Protocol

INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR SIG EXITER TEACHERS AND COUNSELORS

TARGETED RESPONDENT: These interview questions are intended for teachers and counselors at AmeriCorps schools that exited SIG status. 

CONTENT:  This document contains draft interview questions to be asked of teachers and counselors at AmeriCorps schools that exited SIG status. 

NOTES: Starred questions indicate those that are the same as those in the non-SIG exiter teacher protocol.

SCHOOL & TURNAROUND PLAN CONTEXT

1. Please describe how long you’ve been at this school, your role, and how long you’ve been working in education.*

2. Is there any additional information or context that you think is important for understanding your school and community?*

3. Last year (2014-15), how aware were you of your school’s turnaround plan? How did your school leadership team provide you with information on the turnaround plan and school progress towards turnaround goals?

4. What major changes took place at your school over the course of your turnaround status, which started in [YEAR]? How did these changes affect your school’s ability to meet turnaround goals, if at all?

5. Why do you think your school was able to exit SIG status? What happened in your district and/or school that enabled your school to meet its turnaround goals (e.g. longer school day/year, academic supports and/or interventions, non-academic supports and/or interventions, partnerships, new leadership, new staff, professional development, curricular changes)?

   • [If partnerships mentioned] Which partners worked with your school during the turnaround period? Do you think they helped your school exit SIG status? If so, how and why?

6. Can you describe any specific strategies your district leadership used to help your school meet its goals and exit SIG status? Strategies used by school leadership? And strategies used by teachers and other school staff?

   • Which strategies were the most effective and why?

   • Which strategies did not help very much and why?

PROGRAM DESIGN/ACTIVITIES [assuming school still has AmeriCorps members in 2015-16]

7. [If school still has members] What are the key activities that School Turnaround AmeriCorps members are engaging in at your school this year?*

   • Have these activities changed over the course of the School Turnaround AmeriCorps program? If so, how and why?*

   • To what extent are members still helpful, even though your school has exited SIG status?

8. In addition to your School Turnaround AmeriCorps members, are there other school partners, volunteers, or external support staff with whom you work or are familiar with who support your school’s turnaround efforts? If so, who are they and what do they do?*

STAFF-MEMBER RELATIONSHIP

9. [If school still has members] What is the relationship like between School Turnaround AmeriCorps members and school staff this year? How well do you think staff understand the role of the AmeriCorps members? How has this relationship and understanding changed over time?*

10. What challenges have you experienced in implementing School Turnaround AmeriCorps members’ interventions in your classroom or in student counseling/tutoring programs? How were they resolved?*

PERCEIVED EFFECTIVENESS

11. To what extent do you think School Turnaround AmeriCorps members influenced your school’s ability to exit SIG status?

    • [If members perceived to contribute to exit] What was most helpful and why? What was the value added of members during your school’s turnaround period?

Probe: Did they affect relationships between students and staff? Involve families? Improve the school climate? Support the academic needs of specific groups of students? Support students’ behavioral and/or socio-emotional health needs? Provide before school, after school, or extended learning time programming?

• [If members not perceived to contribute to exit] Why weren’t they helpful? What could they have done, if anything, to be more helpful?

12. What type of additional supports from AmeriCorps members or other external partners would benefit your school, if any?



13. [If no longer have members this year] To what extent do you miss the members’ contributions this year? To what extent has your school been able to continue the activities they were involved in?



14. What lessons have you learned from observing and working with the program (and members) that might be helpful to other sites/schools?*

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