For the first time ever in the Freeman school district, a classified-staff member鈥攂us driver Hal Patton鈥攊s slated to kick off the district鈥檚 professional development session by sharing his story as an employee, parent, and grandparent in the Rockford, Wash., school community. Last year, at the Gorham school district in Gorham, Maine, every classroom received new sets of literature that better reflect the diverse student body. And the Calhoun City schools in Calhoun, Ga., recently created a new position: teacher-leader developer.
On the surface, none of these anecdotes appears connected. But they all share one important factor: Each happened as a result of a staff survey.
In all three cases, school or district administrators not only made the time to solicit employees鈥� feedback but then took steps to follow up and act on that input. They may not have been monumental changes to policy or practice, but they nonetheless sent this critical message to staff: Your voices count.
Giving staff a voice matters
There鈥檚 strong evidence to demonstrate that when employees鈥攖eachers in particular鈥攆eel like their input matters, they鈥檙e more likely to stay in their jobs. And holding onto teachers and other essential staff is a critical priority as schools in many communities continue to experience shortages and high rates of turnover.
In a 2019 on the influence of teacher empowerment as an effective strategy for retaining teachers, Pennsylvania State University doctoral student Jing Liu wrote: 鈥淲hen teachers considered themselves as effective in instruction and empowered in instructional-related issues, they had greater intention to stay in their schools.鈥�
, a researcher who has studied the teaching profession for decades, made a similar assertion in a recent interview: 鈥淥ne of the main factors is the issue of voice, and having a say, and being able to have input into the key decisions in the building that affect a teacher鈥檚 job 鈥� it鈥檚 very highly correlated with the decision whether to stay or leave.鈥�
Ingersoll went a step further, making the connection between teacher empowerment, improved retention, and positive influence on student achievement. In a wide-reaching spanning four years, 16 states, and more than 25,000 schools, Ingersoll and his associates found that in schools where teachers possessed higher levels of instructional leadership and decisionmaking authority, students demonstrated higher proficiency on state assessments in both math and English/language arts.
Estes Elementary in Kentucky鈥檚 Owensboro Independent school district participated in Ingersoll鈥檚 analysis, and its principal, Shari Flagg, reflected on the benefits of teachers鈥� voices. 鈥淓stes Elementary鈥檚 teachers are involved in a variety of school decisions, from developing our current schoolwide behavior-management program, to analyzing our results and interviewing new hires,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his involvement of our teachers is one of the reasons why our school鈥攁t 95 percent free and reduced lunch鈥攊s such a high-performing school.鈥�
Surveys are not a new tool for gauging employee satisfaction and getting valuable feedback. But their use during the pandemic rose significantly, due largely to greater access to digital technology and employers鈥� increased interest in checking in on employee morale. Along with that uptick came concerns about survey fatigue, as acknowledged by many industry experts, including market researchers at .
Estes Elementary's teachers are involved in a variety of school decisions, from developing our current schoolwide behavior- management program, to analyzing our results, and interviewing new hires.
Even with worries about employees ignoring surveys, asking staff for their honest feedback and opinions through surveys has high potential for making a positive impact when used judiciously. Education Week sought out human-resources experts and district leaders who consider employee surveys an indispensable part of a retention tool kit. They shared some strategies for getting the most out of them.
Lean on personalized and interactive surveys
Heather J. Perry, the superintendent for the Gorham school district, is a firm believer in the power of employee surveys, using them routinely to gain useful insight. But she steers away from surveys created outside the school system or community.
鈥淥utside surveys pretty much fall on deaf ears鈥攑eople are surveyed out,鈥� she said.
The district has, however, used a third-party provider鈥檚 digital survey product that allows employees to anonymously respond to a general question through the company鈥檚 software system and then rate their co-workers鈥� responses.
鈥淚t produces some great results that help our principals gauge [work culture] climate. A lot of our [diversity equity inclusion] work has been driven almost entirely on the basis of these surveys,鈥� said Perry. One concrete example was the move to diversify classroom literature鈥攁 recommendation that came from the staff.
When seeking feedback on a specific topic, the Gorham district relies on internally developed and highly targeted surveys that require employees to answer only a few questions, mostly via email. Perry said the district aims for, and typically gets, about 50 percent participation. The high rate of participation, she said, is directly related to what employees see happen after surveys are done.
鈥淲e are very transparent about how we use the data, and they see us using it,鈥� Perry said. 鈥淲e also listen to their voices.鈥�
Kelly Coash Johnson, the executive director for the American Association of School Personnel Administrators, supports the use of personalized surveys to get meaningful information from employees.
鈥淲e鈥檙e encouraging each and every individual school district to run that type of survey,鈥� she said. 鈥淔ind out what teachers truly want.鈥�
Coash Johnson said it鈥檚 better to tailor and prioritize survey questions that will yield results that are specific to the needs of a district鈥檚 employees.
鈥淚 think if you ran [employee-satisfaction] surveys in individual school districts, you would find they want more than just pay,鈥� she said. 鈥淢aybe it鈥檚 something as simple as one extra planning period or not to do lunch duty. Things that might be simple fixes.鈥�
Keep the process employee-centric
When employees believe the survey process is fair and meaningful, they鈥檙e more likely to respond accordingly. Conversely, if they look at it as simply one more task to complete in an already busy schedule, they鈥檙e less likely to respond to it thoughtfully鈥攊f at all. They are also less likely to take part in surveys when they haven鈥檛 seen evidence that employers will act on the results, according to a that analyzed more than 20 academic articles on the topic.
鈥淚f it鈥檚 an important survey, we provide time set aside during the [work] day鈥攁t a staff meeting, etcetera,鈥� Perry said. 鈥淣ot while they鈥檙e at home.鈥� In another effort to respect employees鈥� time, Perry said the district rarely administers internal surveys that contain more than two questions.
Randy Russell, the superintendent of the Freeman school system, says his district not only shares [anonymous] responses to an annual employee survey on the district website but also uses the feedback in long-range strategic plans.
It鈥檚 impossible to quantify the effects of this practice. But even simple, low-stakes decisions based on employee input鈥攍ike having classified employees share what it鈥檚 like to be part of the school community during a professional development day鈥攎ay have a lasting impact on staff morale and retention.
