Aliyya Swaby Photo
Juluru (at right): What about student bias against teachers?
New Haven high school students may soon get the chance to give their teachers a grade, as school leaders revamp the system’s “school climate” survey for next year.
Superintendent Garth Harries and district survey coordinator Carolyn Ross-Lee discussed the details of this potential change with members of the Citywide High School Student Cabinet this week. A committee has been working since last year to update the school climate survey, which allows parents, students, teachers and administrators to provide feedback on their experiences in their schools.
Teachers and administrators have clashed over the survey format, with principals arguing teacher feedback publicly singled out their performance and teachers calling for a way for them to hold their administrators accountable. Teachers started opting out of completing the survey last year.
The committee will try to resolve some of those issues, as well as incorporate what Ross-Lee called “upward feedback” — which for the first time will include feedback from students on teachers.
The survey was taken for the first time in spring 2010. Students grades 5 – 12 got the chance to take surveys on their schools, but not their teachers.
“We talked last year about the desire for students to give feedback to teachers,” Harries said to the student cabinet Tuesday. “You all know which teachers are most devoted.”
Students will get the chance to give teachers feedback so they can understand what they are doing well and what they need to work on to improve the learning experience, he said.
The district uses Panorama Education, an educational survey company started by then-Yale undergraduates, to develop its surveys.
Jacob Spell, Arroyo.
“What if a student dislikes a teacher based on the fact that they got a bad test score?” Engineering & Science University Magnet School (ESUMS) sophomore Saimanasa Juluru asked. “How do you utilize bias?”
She said it wouldn’t be fair for a teacher to potentially lose their jobs because of superficial reasons. ESUMS is a small school, where one bad rating could affect a teacher negatively, she said.
Harries asked students how many had a formative teacher who was easy on them. No one raised his or her hand. How many had a formative teacher who academically challenged them? Many raised their hands.
“I think you understand when you get a challenging grade, that’s a teacher that’s pushing you,” he said.
Harries said administrators who get feedback from teachers also worry about bias. He said the survey questions should be considered “feedback” and not “evaluations” — to help, not hurt, recipients.
Students are “more fair than you would give them credit for,” Ross-Lee said. She handed students examples of survey question sets revolving around nine different factors that could affect teaching and learning.
Panorama survey example of “classroom climate.”
The factor with the most votes, at 26, was “classroom climate,” which asked questions around “perceptions of the overall social and learning climate of the classroom.”
Students grades 3 – 12 would be expected to answer “How often does your teacher seem excited to be teaching your class?” on a five-point scale, from “almost never” to “almost always.”
They also voted Tuesday to give feedback on the effectiveness of teaching, classroom engagement and student-teacher relationships.
Are there any other questions you would like to see on the survey? Ross-Lee asked. Teachers will also get a chance to determine what factors they would like to see feedback around, she said.
New Haven Academy junior Ariana Arroyo asked if the survey can include “a couple of open-ended questions.” At New Haven Academy, students have the chance to give teachers “warm feedback” that is positive and “cool feedback” that is critical.
Wilbur Cross High School sophomore Liam O’Donnell asked if students will be able to give teachers feedback for each of their eight classes.
No, Ross-Lee said. “Eight surveys would be too much. We would randomize it across the school,” so that each teacher gets feedback from a random sample of students, she said.
But Juluru raised her hand to disagree. “Everyone who takes that class should be able to give that feedback,” she said. She recommended they split up the survey process into two days.
O’Donnell suggested holding students accountable for a mandatory three surveys, and allowing them to take surveys for any of the five other classes, if they want to.
“You guys want to have the ability to give feedback on all your teachers?” Ross-Lee asked, surprised at the response. Many students raised their hands to say yes. Ross-Lee promised to take that into consideration.
District officials are aiming to have school communities take the school climate survey next winter.