Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Capacity Building Activities

REL Program Design Research Project

Customer Satisfaction Survey

Text in [italics] provides instructions for programming that the respondent will not see.

The Department of Education and the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Program are committed to continually improving the quality of services designed to build State Education Agency (SEA) capacity to use research evidence. Please take a few minutes to provide voluntary feedback about your overall experience receiving capacity building services from Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) [insert region name] since the summer of 2019 (i.e., the end of the 2018-19 school year). This survey includes questions about your SEA office’s or division’s needs for capacity building, whether the REL met those needs, how this capacity was applied, continued barriers to capacity building, overall satisfaction with REL services, and anticipated needs in the coming school year.

This survey is being conducted by an external organization, Abt Associates, to help the U.S. Department of Education improve capacity building supports offered by the REL program. It may appear similar to a REL Stakeholder Feedback Survey you might have completed in the past year, but the questions are different and focus more deeply on ways REL capacity building services have influenced your everyday work. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 1880-0542.

This survey will take approximately 10 minutes. Your responses are voluntary and will be aggregated to inform future REL supports and activities.

Needs within the SEA Office or Division

1. Since the summer of 2019, to what extent did your office or division within the SEA need help developing capacity to do the following:

	High Need	Moderate Need	Low Need	No Need
a. Improve data collection				
b. Enhance data reporting systems				
c. Access research (e.g., find or share research on evidence-based practices)				
d. Translate research (e.g., understand/interpret findings, communicate research findings)				
e. Apply research (e.g., support a policy change, support a change in practice, develop a toolkit)				
f. Conduct research (e.g., collect new data, analyze extant data)				
g. Build a culture of research use within the SEA				
h. Engage senior leadership in the use of research in decision making				

2. Since the summer of 2019, what was your office or division’s primary need related to the use of research evidence?

1. Improve data collection

2. Enhance data reporting systems

3. Access research (e.g., find or share research on evidence-based practices)

4. Translate research (e.g., understand/interpret findings, communicate research findings)

5. Apply research (e.g., support a policy change, support a change in practice, develop a toolkit)

6. Conduct research (e.g., collect new data, analyze extant data)

7. Build a culture of research use within the SEA

8. Engage senior leadership in the use of research in decision making

REL Responsiveness to Needs

3. Since the summer of 2019, to what extent has the REL met your needs for developing capacity?

			To What Extent Did the REL Meet These Needs?
Potential need around use of research evidence	N/A: This is not a need	N/A: REL did not address this need	To a Great Extent	To a Moderate Extent	To Some Extent	Not at All
a. Improve data collection						
b. Enhance data reporting systems						
c. Access research (e.g., find or share research on evidence-based practices)						
d. Translate research (e.g., understand/interpret findings, communicate research findings)						
e. Apply research (e.g., support a policy change, support a change in practice, develop a toolkit)						
f. Conduct research (e.g., collect new data, analyze extant data)						
g. Build a culture of research use within the SEA						
h. Engage senior leadership in the use of research in decision making						

4. Where REL assistance did not meet your needs to a great extent, how often was the timeliness of REL assistance a factor?

1. Always

2. Mostly

3. Sometimes

4. Never

5. Not applicable (assistance not requested for a specific deadline)

5. Since the summer of 2019, how easy was it for your office or division within the SEA to obtain assistance from the REL when you needed it?

1. Very easy

2. Moderately easy

3. Not at all easy

4. Not applicable (did not request REL assistance)

Outcome of REL Capacity Building Assistance

For the following questions, think about your work since the summer of 2019 (i.e., since the end of the 2018-19 school year).

6. How often has your office or division within the SEA used lessons learned from the REL assistance to translate research (e.g., understand/interpret findings, communicate research findings)?

1. Regularly

2. Occasionally

3. Rarely

4. Never

5. Don’t know

6. Not applicable (did not receive REL assistance to translate research)

7. How often has your office or division within the SEA used lessons learned from the REL assistance to apply research (e.g., support a policy change, support a change in practice, develop a toolkit)?

1. Regularly

2. Occasionally

3. Rarely

4. Never

5. Don’t know

6. Not applicable (did not receive REL assistance to apply research)

8. How often has your office or division within the SEA used lessons learned from the REL to conduct research (e.g., collect new data, analyze extant data)?

1. Regularly

2. Occasionally

3. Rarely

4. Never

5. Don’t know

6. Not applicable (did not receive REL assistance to conduct research)

9. In what ways did the REL influence how your office or division within the SEA used research? [check all that apply]

1. Contributed to discussions with educators

2. Contributed to discussions with policy makers

3. Contributed to discussions with supervisors or coworkers

4. Directly responsible for changing practice

5. Directly responsible for supporting current practice

6. Not at all

7. Other: [specify]

Barriers to SEA Capacity

10. Please indicate the extent to which the following barriers affected your SEA office’s or division’s work with the REL since the summer of 2019.

	High barrier	Moderate barrier	Low barrier	Not a barrier
Lack of understanding of our needs by REL staff				
Delays in receiving needed technical support				
Staff turnover at the SEA				
Staff turnover at the REL				
Lack of time for SEA staff to participate				
Difficulty in communication with the REL				
Lack of skills or expertise by the REL to meet the SEA’s needs				
Lack of alignment between REL priorities and the SEA’s needs				
Lack of resources to implement REL recommendations				
Lack of accessible, valid, and reliable data				
Inconsistent buy-in at the SEA regarding the value of research evidence				
State policymakers don’t value research evidence.				
Other (specify): ________________				

11. Since the summer of 2019, what was your office or division’s primary barrier that affected your SEA’s work with the REL to inform policy or practice [this question will be skipped if “no barrier” is indicated for questions 10a-10m above]:

1. Lack of understanding of our needs by REL staff

2. Delays in receiving needed technical support

3. Staff turnover at the SEA

4. Staff turnover at the REL

5. Lack of time for SEA staff to participate

6. Difficulty in communication with the REL

7. Lack of skills or expertise by the REL to meet the SEA’s needs

8. Lack of alignment between REL priorities and the SEA’s needs

9. Lack of resources to implement REL recommendations

10. Lack of accessible, valid, and reliable data

11. Senior leadership doesn’t value research evidence

12. Policymakers don’t value research evidence

13. Other (specify): ________________

Overall Satisfaction and Anticipated Needs

12. Thinking about all the REL assistance your office or division within the SEA has received since the summer of 2019, what are the most helpful skills you developed?

Please rank your top 3, with 1 being most helpful.

1. Finding evidence

2. Interpreting evidence

3. Conducting research

4. Analyzing data

5. Identifying evidence-based solutions to problems

6. Presenting data

7. Discussing evidence with staff

8. Discussing evidence with policymakers

9. Monitoring implementation of a policy

10. Monitoring implementation of a program

11. Other (specify)

13. In the coming school year, do you anticipate that your agency will need more, the same, or less assistance from the REL on the following topics compared to before the Covid-19 pandemic in the 2019-20 school year?

Topic	Need more assistance this school year	Need same assistance this school year	Need less assistance this school year	N/A (no assistance needed in either school year)
General instruction, including curricula, standards, and subject matter content				
Remote instruction/distance learning				
Online learning platforms				
Preparing, arranging, and maintaining school facilities to support social distancing				
Engaging students and families				
Social and emotional learning				
Supporting students with special needs, including English learners, students with disabilities, and homeless students				
Diagnostic testing				
Catch up strategies				
Personalized learning				
Teacher workforce (teacher retention)				
Teacher evaluation				

14. Overall, how satisfied were you with the assistance you have received from the REL since the summer of 2019?

1. Very satisfied

2. Moderately satisfied

3. Somewhat satisfied

4. Not at all satisfied

15. How can the REL be more responsive to the needs of staff within your office or division to use research evidence?

1. [open ended text box]

Thank you for your time completing this survey.

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