School Experience Survey Arriving

LAUSD’s School Experience Survey arrived at my house yesterday.  It could be in your child’s backpack, or it might be mailed home (secondary schools).  The survey is an attempt to gauge parent satisfaction of many aspects of the school–from safety to meeting with teachers to the school having programs for parents.  The questions are all fill-in-the-bubble type questions, so no long-winded responses are necessary.

It might be nice if they qualified some of the questions.  In schools without a parent center (or with a parent center room, but no funding to staff it), how does a parent respond?  Negatively and hurt the school’s performance or assume they’re doing what they can with what they do have and respond positively?

Bottom line, is LAUSD is holding schools accountable.  Here’s the chance to speak out on the school.  Not the district, and not education in general.  Say what’s right.  Say what needs improvement.  And every school can use improvement in a few areas.

Students from third to fifth in elementary will be asked to fill out their own surveys, as will middle and high school students.  The idea is to give a complete picture of the school, albeit in a one-page format.  Last year, the winning elementary and secondary schools received three computers and a printer for their parent centers.  In my district, that took 79% of elementary parents.  Impressive.