By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT – A climate survey that will go out later this month to students, staff and parents will include a couple of open-ended questions designed to elicit thoughts about what the district does well and could do better.

The Board of Education, with six members present, voted unanimously to approve the state-mandated questionnaire. Parents can opt their children out if they choose.

Students will be asked questions on things like how much they feel like they belong at their school, if there is a positive or negative energy, and how often students get into physical fights. All require fill-in-the-bubble-type responses.

Pros & Cons

Students will also be asked to say in their own words what two things the school could do to improve and what two things the school does well. They are asked to be as specific as possible.

The many questions posed to teachers ask such things as how enthusiastic students are to be at school on most days, how effective they feel in their job and how effective their school leaders are.

Open-ended questions ask about the most positive aspects of working at their school and what they would change about working at the school if they could.

The survey families are asked to complete things like how often they meet with teachers at the school, if their kids enjoy going to school and how likely is it that someone from their child’s school will bully him or her online.

They can also list one or two steps their school could take to improve the social climate for students.

Company Questions

Offered every other year, the district this year will use Panorama, a firm used in 32 other districts in the state to administer the online questionnaire. Questions are said to be research-based and the district had a hand in deciding which to use.

When the board asked last week about adding free-response questions to find out the perceived level of competition or pressure in Westport schools, Anthony Buono, assistant superintendent for teaching & learning, said questions on risk-taking and culture were considered, but instead the administration ultimately recommended sticking with research-based questions developed by Panorama.

“They are crafted in a way to elicit fair, open response,” said Michael Rizzo, assistant superintendent of pupil personnel services.

Board Vice Chair Liz Heyer sought assurance that the board was presented with all the questions on the survey, questioning several, including one that asked parents how involved they are in school fundraising.

Some Questions Questioned

She said that while the intention may be to determine a level of engagement, it could be off-putting to some parents.

Another question asks teachers “How easily do you think you could make a particularly overweight student feel like a part of the class?”

Heyer called it a particularly specific question.

Rizzo said that since it is the district’s first time using the firm, they decided to go with firm-written questions. Once the results are in, future surveys can be modified, he said.

The plan is to offer the survey between May 30 and June 10 to students in grades 3-12, all parents and all staff. Students can take the survey on paper instead of online if they choose.

The answers will not be used in any identifying manner, according to school officials.

Survey results are expected the week of June 24 and will be presented to the board in the fall.

Linda Conner Lambeck is a freelance writer who specializes in education issues and contributes regularly to the Westport Journal. For more information click here.