Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Scholarships For Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Program

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Expiration Date:

Private School Principal Questionnaire

Spring 2013

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To better understand the differences between the public and private schools, this survey asks about policies, practices, and working conditions in your school. It is part of a multi-year study that will examine how public and private school conditions change over time and throughout the District.

Q1. How long have you been the principal at this school? ( Check one)

Less than 1 year ¹

1 to 2 years ²

3 to 4 years ³

4 to 5 years ⁴

More than 5 years ⁵

Part 1: Admissions and Available Programs

The questions in this section ask about possible requirements for admission and the programs your school may offer.

Q2. Which of the following criteria does your school routinely use in admitting students?
( Check all that apply)

Interview	01
Academic performance as measured by a test your school or your school system administers	02
Other indicators of academic performance	03
Disciplinary record	04
Extent of special needs	05
Essay	06
Religious affiliation	07
Neighborhood priorities	08
Sibling preferences	09
Children of faculty or board members	10
School does not have any admissions criteria	11
Other (please specify ______________________)	12

Q3a. What percent of the students in your school are of Latino or Hispanic origin?

____________ (percent)

Q3b. Please indicate the percentage of students in the school in each of the following racial/ethnic categories.

	Percent
American Indian or Alaska Native	_________
Asian	_________
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders	_________
Black or African American	_________
White	_________
Total	100%

Q3c. What proportion of students who begin the school-year, finish the year still enrolled at your

school?

______________ (percent)

Q3d. What percentage of students in your school are retained one or more grades between the time

they enter and leave the school?

______________ (percent)

Q4. Which of the following programs or facilities are available to students in your school?
( Check yes or no on each row)

	Yes	No
Special Instructional Programs
Programs with specific instructional approaches (e.g., Success for All, Reading Recovery)	1	2
A foreign language program	1	2
Advanced placement (AP) courses (high school only)	1	2
International Baccalaureate (IB) program (high school only)	1	2
Instructional programs for non-English speakers	1	2
Instructional programs for students with learning disabilities	1	2
Instructional programs for advanced learners or talented/gifted program	1	2
Music program	1	2
Arts program	1	2
Extra-Curricular Activities
After-school program	1	2
Before-school program	1	2
Athletics	1	2
Academic Clubs	1	2
Performing Arts	1	2
Supports for Struggling Learners
Individual tutors	1	2
School Facilities
Nurse	1	2
Lunches prepared at the school	1	2
Computer lab	1	2
Library/Media Center	1	2
Gym	1	2
Cafeteria	1	2
Other (please specify ___________________)	1	2

Q5. How would you rate your school on each of the following aspects?
( Check one box on each row)

	Excellent	Very Good	Adequate	Inadequate	Deficient	Does not apply to this school
School Facilities:
Condition of the building(s)	1	2	3	4	5	6
The amount of space available for activities	1	2	3	4	5	6
Quality of science labs available	1	2	3	4	5	6
Quality of computer facilities available	1	2	3	4	5	6
Quality and availability of textbooks and other instructional materials	1	2	3	4	5	6
Quality of your library	1	2	3	4	5	6
Access to computers and other educational technology (e.g., calculators)	1	2	3	4	5	6
Transportation for students to and from school	1	2	3	4	5	6
Accessibility for students with disabilities	1	2	3	4	5	6
Students and Parents:
Student attendance and punctuality	1	2	3	4	5	6
Student preparation in subject areas	1	2	3	4	5	6
Student motivation to learn	1	2	3	4	5	6
Student behavior and/or discipline	1	2	3	4	5	6
Parental support for student learning	1	2	3	4	5	6
Teachers and Instruction:
Teacher expectations for how well students will learn	1	2	3	4	5	6
Provisions for low-performing students	1	2	3	4	5	6
The amount of instructional time in the school day	1	2	3	4	5	6
Instructional skills and abilities of teachers	1	2	3	4	5	6
Subject area expertise of teachers	1	2	3	4	5	6
Teacher attendance and punctuality	1	2	3	4	5	6
Teaching staff turnover	1	2	3	4	5	6
Teacher compensation	1	2	3	4	5	6

Q6. How much emphasis do you place on the following goals and objectives for your teachers?
( Check one box on each row)

	No or minor emphasis	Moderate emphasis	Major emphasis
Assisting all students to achieve high standards	1	2	3
Using curricula aligned with high standards	1	2	3
Using instructional strategies (e.g., hands-on activities, cooperative learning) aligned with high standards	1	2	3
Participation in professional development activities	1	2	3

Part 2: Classroom Instruction and Classroom Testing

This section focuses on the ways classroom instruction is organized at your school and how often testing occurs.

Q7. Schools sometimes organize instruction differently for students with different abilities and interests. Which of the following does your school do for students?
( Check one)

¹ We offer differentiated courses in our core curriculum but students have open access to any course provided they have taken the required prerequisite(s).

² We offer differentiated courses and do differentiated grouping in our core curriculum.

³ We offer a variety of undifferentiated courses in our core curriculum, and students have open access to any course provided they have taken the required prerequisite(s).

Q8. For students who have difficulty learning at the same pace as their classmates, what proportion of these students are provided the following types of support?
( Check one box on each row)

	All	Some	Few	None	Not Offered
a. Rely on teachers to provide extra help during regular class times	1	2	3	4	5
b. Counsel students to enroll in other schools	1	2	3	4	5
c. Use peers as instructors	1	2	3	4	5
d. Provide individualized attention from an adult other than the main classroom teacher	1	2	3	4	5
e. Computer-based instruction	1	2	3	4	5
f. Use differentiated instruction techniques	1	2	3	4	5
g. Other (please specify _______________________)	1	2	3	4	5

Q9. For each grade listed below, please answer the following questions.

	If your school has a THIRD grade, please answer (a) and (b):	If your school has an EIGHTH grade, please answer (a) and (b):	If your school has a TENTH grade, please answer (a) and (b):
How long is the typical full week of school?	      hours and       minutes	      hours and       minutes	      hours and       minutes
During a typical full week of school, approximately how many minutes do most students spend on these activities at this school?
English, reading, or language arts	      minutes per week	      minutes per week	      minutes per week
Arithmetic or math	      minutes per week	      minutes per week	      minutes per week
Social studies or history	      minutes per week	      minutes per week	      minutes per week
Science	      minutes per week	      minutes per week	      minutes per week

Q10. On average, how often do teachers in your school test the English, reading, or language arts skills of their students? ( Check one)

More than once a week	1
Weekly	2
Monthly	3
Quarterly	4
Annually	5

Q11. Over the past few years, has the frequency of testing English, reading, or language arts skills at your school ( Check one)

Increased	1
Decreased	2
Stayed the same	3

Q12. On average, how often do teachers in your school test the Arithmetic or math skills of their

students? ( Check one)

More than once a week	1
Weekly	2
Monthly	3
Quarterly	4
Annually	5

Q13. Over the past few years, has the frequency of testing Arithmetic or math skills at your school?
( Check one)

Increased	1
Decreased	2
Stayed the same	3

Q14. What is your policy regarding exceptions to attendance at religious activities?
( Check one)

All students required to participate in all religious activities	1
All students required to participate in some religious activities but can be excused from others	2
Some students are excused from all religious activities at the request of their parents	3
Participation in religious activities is voluntary for all students at all times	4
This school does not have religious activities	5

Part 3: Parental Involvement

This section asks about parental involvement in your school programs.

Q15. Does the school do the following for parents?

( Check one on each row)

	Yes	No
a. inform them of their student’s progress halfway through the grading period	1	2
b. notify them when their student is sent to the office for disruptive behavior	1	2
c. provide them with weekly or daily notes about their child’s progress	1	2
d. provide them with a newsletter about what’s going on in their child’s school or school system	1	2
e. invite them to attend leadership workshops	1	2

Q16. What proportion of parents participate in the following activities in your school?

( Check one on each row)

	All	Some	Few	None	Not Offered
a. Parents speak to classes about their jobs	1	2	3	4	5
b. Parents participate in instruction	1	2	3	4	5
c. Parents attend parent/teacher conferences	1	2	3	4	5
d. Parents accompany students on class trips	1	2	3	4	5
e. Parents help out with sports activities	1	2	3	4	5
f. Parents attend open-houses or back-to-school nights	1	2	3	4	5
g. Parents serve on advisory boards	1	2	3	4	5

Part 4: Safety Measures

This section asks about whether your school utilizes certain kinds of safety measures.

Q17. Does your school currently have the following? ( Check yes or no on each row)

	Yes	No
A requirement that visitors sign in or check in	1	2
A process for screening students using metal detectors	1	2
A requirement that all or most of the students stay on school grounds during lunch	1	2
Drug sweeps	1	2
Daily presence of police or security persons	1	2
Video surveillance	1	2

Q18. During this school year (2012-13), how many students were:

Suspended: ____________ (number)

Expelled: ____________ (number)

Forced Transferred ____________ (number)

Part 5: DC Opportunity Scholarship Program

This section asks about your knowledge of and experience with the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, administered by the Trust

Q19. How did you hear about the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program, the federally-funded scholarship program for students from low-income DC families administered by DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation (Trust)? ( Check all that apply)

I read or heard about the program in the media but do not know the details	01
I received informational materials in the mail	02
I talked to other private school principals about the program	03
I talked to the Trust on the phone about the program	04
I attended one informational meeting about the program	05
I attended several meetings about the program	06
I discussed the program with the staff of organizations to which the school belongs (e.g., Center City Consortium, Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, Council for American Private Education)	07
I have not heard of the program	08
I have been involved with the program since its inception	09
Other (please specify _______________________________)	10

Q20. Has your school participated in the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program)? Please check “Yes” if your school agreed to participate even if your school did not enroll any scholarship students.

( Check one)

No, never participated ¹

Yes, participated in previous years but not
this past school year (2012-13) ² (Go to Question 22)

Yes, participated for the first time this year ³ (Go to Question 23)

Yes, participated this year and last year, but not all

years since the program’s inception (2004-05

school year) ⁴ (Go to Question 23)

Yes, participated every school year since the
program’s inception (2004-05 school year) ⁵ (Go to Question 23)

Q21. Why didn’t your school ever participate in the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program?
( Check all that apply)

Our school already had a waiting list and had no room or need for the new students from the DC Opportunity Scholarship program	01
School officials had concerns about discipline and school safety if DC Opportunity Scholarship students were admitted	02
School officials believed that DC Opportunity scholarship students were unlikely to select our school	03
School officials believed that DC Opportunity Scholarship students were unlikely to pass our admissions tests	04
DC Opportunity Scholarships were being awarded too late in the school’s admissions process	05
DC Opportunity Scholarship amount was not adequate to cover our school’s costs of educating the students	06
School officials had concerns regarding the effect of participation on our school’s independence, distinct character or identity	07
School officials had concerns regarding the effect of participation on our school’s admissions policies	08
School officials had concerns regarding the effect of participation on our school’s academic standards	09
School officials had concerns about regulations that might come with participation	10
School officials had concerns about the evaluation the U.S. Department of Education is conducting	11
School officials had concerns about the amount of paperwork and reports that are required of participating schools	12
School officials had concerns about potential future testing requirements	13
Uncertainty regarding whether the program would continue	14
Other (please specify_________________________________)	15

Q22. Why did your school stop participating in the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program?
( Check all that apply)

Our school already had a waiting list and had no room or need for the new students from the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program	01
School officials had concerns about discipline and school safety if DC Opportunity Scholarship students were admitted	02
School officials believed that DC Opportunity scholarship students were unlikely to select our school	03
School officials believed that DC Opportunity Scholarship students were unlikely to pass our admissions tests	04
DC Opportunity Scholarships were being awarded too late in the school’s admissions process	05
DC Opportunity Scholarship amount was not adequate to cover our school’s costs of educating the students	06
School officials had concerns regarding the effect of participation on our school’s independence, distinct character or identity	07
School officials had concerns regarding the effect of participation on our school’s admissions policies	08
School officials had concerns regarding the effect of participation on our school’s academic standards	09
School officials had concerns about regulations that might come with participation	10
School officials had concerns about the evaluation the U.S. Department of Education is conducting	11
School officials had concerns about the amount of paperwork and reports that are required of participating schools	12
School officials had concerns about potential future testing requirements	13
Uncertainty regarding whether the program would continue	14
Other (please specify_________________________________________)	15

Q23. In the past 5 years or since you became principal of this school, have you made any changes specifically to encourage DC Opportunity Scholarship students to enroll in your school or to assist those that do enroll? ( Check one)

Yes ¹

No ² (Go to END)

Q24. Which of the following changes did you make specifically to encourage DC Opportunity

Scholarship students to enroll in your school, remain enrolled in your school or to assist those that do enroll?
( Check all that apply)

Added parent orientation or meeting to describe school offerings and performance	01
Offered additional courses (e.g., introduced a course in computer technology or art)	02
Increased school safety provisions	03
Adjusted disciplinary rules	04
Altered class sizes	05
Added tutoring or other special services to help improve academic achievement	06
Participated in one or more school fairs	07
Promoted your school through the use of flyers, radio ads, newspapers ads, or other methods of advertising.	08
Made efforts to improve the physical appearance of your school	09
Reduced tuition or provided families with financial aid or tuition assistance	10

Q25. Have you done any of the following to encourage DC Opportunity Scholarship students to stay at

this school?

( Check all that apply)

1. Meet with parents to discuss how their child is doing ⁰¹

2. Meet with teachers to assess approaches for helping

the student succeed academically ⁰²

3. Meet with the student to discuss issues that may be

hindering their progress ⁰³

4. Identify additional financial aid to meet family needs ⁰⁴

END: Thank you for completing this survey.