Asking your students their opinions can provide invaluable information. This information can help you determine how your student's perceive various logistic and organizational features of your room. I received the following information and Satisfaction Survey from the book Discipline in the Secondary Classroom by Randall Sprick, Ph.D.
Why
- To help you identify those aspects of your classroom program that are working well and those that may need modification
- To help you identify whether there are aspects of your classroom program that you need to communicate more clearly to students and their families
When
- Last 2 weeks of school
- Midyear (optional)
How
- Check with your administrator to make sure that there are no policies or procedures that giving a survey of this type would violate.
- Make copies of the 2 page reproducible form. (The survey can and should be modified to reflect your classroom program and any areas of concern that you may have.)
- Determine if you will have students complete this independently in class or if you will try to involve students' parents. Recognize that attempting to involve the parents reduces the probability that you will get survey back from all students. If you plan to try to get these from parents, determine how you will let families know that the survey is coming and the logistics of how families will receive and return the survey. For example, you could send the surveys home with students and have them returned by students. Or, if your school can budget for postage, you could send the surveys by mail with preaddressed, postage-paid return envelopes enclosed.
- If you are giving the survey in class, remind students that the surveys are anonymous, but you hope they will give honest and productive answers to help you become a more effective teacher. Let them know that you have a box by the door in which they can place the completed survey so you will never see who made particular responses.
- When all surveys have been returned, analyze the results. Keep in mind that although the information is subjective opinion, it can help you identify aspects of your classroom that may require further review. For ex., if 50% of the families respond that students didn't have enough homework, you should carefully consider whether the amount of homework you assign is sufficient.
Giving a survey of this type can be unnerving for you. As you examine the results, remind yourself that you cannot take critical information personally. Rather, you are looking for patterns of information that will help you fine-tune your classroom program.
