The 2021-22 school year is fast approaching. Is your school or district seeking input from families, teachers, and staff with a return-to-school survey?
To plan for reopening, your district is likely reviewing department of education and CDC guidelines, consulting with the school board, and re-convening a reopening task force. Will students return to school buildings full time with social distancing measures in place? Will online learning or virtual academies continue in the fall?
Regardless of what the fall will look like, families and staff members are important collaborators in the decision-making process. Caregivers and educators need to know that their voices are being heard and acted on.
A staff and parent survey is a great way to elevate educator and caregiver voices during school reopening. The survey results can surface their reflections on the previous school year and what they need going into the 2021-22 year. The data can also shed light on family and staff preferences to inform your reopening plans.
Below, we've compiled 31 questions that your school district can ask families, teachers, and staff this summer.
31 Questions Your School District Needs to Ask Families and Staff for School Reopening
For Families, Parents, and Caregivers:
1. How would you like your child’s school to communicate with you?
2. Assuming appropriate safety measures are in place, what is your preference for how your child returns to school in the fall?
3. How can the district support you with returning to in-person learning or a form of distance learning this fall?
4. During distance learning in the spring, how clear was the communication from your child’s school regarding distance learning?
5. During distance learning in the spring, how challenging was your child’s schoolwork?
6. During distance learning in the spring, how engaged was your child with their schoolwork?
7. If a form of distance learning continues in the fall, what went well in the spring that you would like to see continued?
8. If a form of distance learning continues in the fall, what went poorly in the spring that you would like to see improved?
9. How confident are you that your child made sufficient academic progress this spring?
10. How much extra academic support will your child need upon returning to school in the fall?
11. How concerned are you about your child’s social-emotional well-being?
12. How concerned are you about your child’s peer relationships because of social distancing?
13. In the past month, how often has your child spoken with their teachers or other adults at their school?
For Teachers and Staff:
14. Assuming appropriate school safety measures are in place, what is your preference for returning to school in the fall?
15. If in-person learning resumes in the fall, how concerned are you about accessing personal protective equipment for classrooms?
16. If in-person learning resumes in the fall, how concerned are you about accessing cleaning materials for classrooms?
17. During distance learning this spring, how helpful were your school leaders in resolving challenges?
18. During distance learning in the spring, how valuable did you find the professional development resources that were offered?
19. During distance learning this spring, how often did you have access to the technology needed to complete your work?
20. During distance learning in the spring, typically how engaged were your students?
21. During distance learning in the spring, what was your most successful method for communicating with families?
22. If a form of distance learning continues in the fall, what specific systems and structures worked well in the spring that you would like to see continued?
23. If a form of distance learning continues in the fall, what specific systems and structures worked poorly in the spring that you would like to see improved?
24. If a form of distance learning continues in the fall, how confident are you that you can provide effective distance instruction?
25. How connected do you feel to your colleagues right now?
26. What professional development would you like as you prepare for in-person and/or distance learning in the fall (e.g., instructional strategies, technology support, trauma informed practices, family engagement, SEL strategies, etc.)?
27. During distance learning in the spring, how concerned were you about your students’ social-emotional well-being?
28. How many of your students do you think will need extra academic support upon returning to school in the fall?
29. What was your biggest barrier to effectively engaging with students during distance learning?
30. How concerned are you about your social-emotional well-being right now?
31. Do you have a colleague whom you can count on to help you, no matter what?
Gather Feedback from Families, Educators, and Students with Panorama
Schools and districts can use Panorama’s leading survey administration and analytics platform to quickly gather and take action on information from families, teachers, and staff. The questions are applicable to all types of K-12 school settings and grade levels, as well as to communities serving students from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds.
