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> Tip 4: Getting help
PARTNERSHIPS
An outside partnership not only provides needed support, but also exerts pressure that can help overcome school or district inertia. Some schools enlist the help of a local college or university professor, while others use parent volunteers with expertise in statistics, polling, or marketing. The most common sources of help are school support consortia, regional laboratories, or university-based centers or institutes like the Center for Research on the Context of Teaching at Stanford University or the Center for the Study of Testing, Evaluation, and Education Policy at Boston College.
In a paper presented at the 1997 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Fierros, Gulek, and Wheelock observed:
Without technical assistance or pressure from funding sources, the districts may see the survey as an interesting experiment, but one that requires more resources than they have. For example, the data management and research departments in districts are thinly staffed and already burdened by reporting requirements and state-level accountability data. Likewise, both district-level and school-level reflection requires time for educators to meet together to discuss survey results, and incentives to use extra time for reflection purposes do not exist. (Fierros, Gulek & Wheelock 1997, p. 16 – see Resources).
Phi Delta Kappa's PACE manual (see below for more information) lists not-for-profit survey research organizations willing to work with schools. Check with local district central offices, colleges, universities, laboratories, centers, or other school support-organizations to see what help is available in developing and scoring surveys, checking surveys for reliability and validity, and interpreting data.
MANUALS
Several print and electronic guides are suggested in the Resources section. Here are three especially useful ones (see Resources for more information):
- Fink, A., and Kosecoff, J. How to Conduct Surveys: A Step-by-Step Guide. 1998. Available from Sage Publications, Inc., 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320
- Thomas, S. J. Designing Surveys that Work. Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, CA, 1999
- Phi Delta Kappa produces PACE: Polling Attitudes of Community on Education, a manual for conducting local public opinion telephone surveys on education. The manual features:
- an index of more than 1000 pretested questions for use in local surveys
- guidelines for constructing questionnaires and analyzing data, including easy-to-understand information on sampling error
- a handbook for conducting telephone interviews
- comprehensive strategies for training interviewers
- a list of suppliers that can generate a representative sample for you
- a list of not-for-profit survey research organizations willing to work with school systems
The manual is available from Phi Delta Kappa International, Center for Professional Development and Services, P.O. Box 789, Bloomington, IN 47402-0789. Phone 800-766-1156. FAX: 812-339-0018. The cost is $60.
SCHOOL CLIMATE QUESTIONNAIRES
The Developmental Studies Center (2000 Embarcadero, Suite 305, Oakland, CA 94606-5300) has developed and makes available survey questionnaires to evaluate students' "sense of community" in schools.
Jerome Freiberg in "Measuring School Climate: Let Me Count the Ways" (Educational Leadership, September 1998) includes several sample instruments to measure climate, including a questionnaire on polling students about their concerns and a checklist for identifying sources of cafeteria noise – human and machine.
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