ANALYZING+SCHOOL+CULTURE

//** SURVEY & EVALUATE **//
====Surveys can be divided into twp types. One is the questionnaire and the other is the interview types. The questionnaire is often a paper and pencil response system and the interview is completed by the interviewer according to responses given. Of course these could be web based. Paper surveys are often used in market surveys. Comment cards are another type of paper survey method. A great place to find templates is eSurvey.com. Many of the templates are set up to aggregate data instantly. There is no need to input data to be analyzed. The one area that concerns me about surveys is the ability of the surveyor to pose questions in such a way as to skew the true meaning. Simple to the point questions seem to be the most unbiased.====

http://www.esurveys.com/survey-templates/education/7/
As my team has written, surveys can be used as a tool to evaluate school culture. Surveys are administrated as a way to gather information that may otherwise not be shared or discovered through traditional means. The purpose of surveys vary according to the needs of the school. According to the Society for Safe & Caring Schools surveys are a way to provides a voice stakeholders and a way to allow schools to obtain feedback concerning the needs and strengths of the school. Carolyn Sanders

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==One Web 2.0 tool that can be effectively used to survey teachers, students, or parents is the web-based survey site. One such site is media type="custom" key="7348627". This tool is free for limited use or can be used without limits for $200 per year. Using the survey tool, curriculum leaders can learn more about the culture of their schools. K. Landa ==

===There are many websites devoted to the creation of surveys. These sites can help the curriculum leader to create the tools to analyze the culture of a school. The templates can be customized to the particular needs of the curriculum leader. Listed below are a few examples that can be used to create great surveys: ===  .media type="custom" key="7323391" media type="custom" key="7323427" media type="custom" key="7323471"

K. Landa


 * Another website dedicated to school culture, plus this also offers professional development sessions on analyzing school climates.**
 * http://www.schoolculture.net/teamsof.html**
 * -Christy Cole**

Signs of a positive school culture include:

 * == Staff stability and common goals permeate the school. ==
 * == Curricular and instructional components are well defined. ==
 * == Open and honest communication is encouraged, and staff members demonstrate humor and trust. ==
 * == Stakeholders are recognized in school-wide celebrations. ==
 * == Staff members are recognized as well; they are called to the center of the gym for recognition ==
 * == School leaders and district leaders provide tangible support. ==

== ﻿Education World offers a School Culture Triage Survey. This survey is a way to assess school culture. Then, once it is assessed, a plan can be developed to improve the school culture. Please go to the following link to view the School Culture Triage Survey: []. This survey is published with permission of the Center for Improving School Culture. ==

Mandy Ward
Using a survey can be an effective way to gather general information. Several easy survey formats are available, and user friendly for the administrator as well as the recipients. “Survey Monkey” is a popular tool already in place in my elementary school. We have found that a preliminary, general survey effectively gathers basic information form a larger group, which is followed by a more detailed-specific inquiry for those who are most interested in forming teams and groups. Often collaboration groups, PLCs have been formed from those interested in the topic.

Surveys have also been used to evaluate the outcome or results of many activities. As a quick form of communication that can be organized from varied sources and locations, a survey becomes an anonymous/safe response for those who may not want to voice their opinion personally or in front of a group. Curriculum leaders may use the surveys as a guide, to gather preliminary ideas, providing a general “feeling” of the opinions from the school community.

This is an interesting website for school surveys: Surveys for School Improvement:

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Helen Adams

A great tool that can be used to evaluate school culture is a 'culture audit'. "A 'culture audit' examine how diverse cultural perspectives are reflected in the values and behaviors manifested in the overall school culture" (http://cnx.org/content/m13691/latest). According to Bustamante, some suggestions for gathering data include, but are not limited to: (Retrieved from http://cnx.org/content/m13691/latest/ on October 27, 2010). - Christy Cole
 * Document Analysis of internal/external communications, written curriculum, policies, newsletters, websites, correspondence, brochures, etc.
 * Statistical analysis of demographic and achievement data (existing) to ID gaps and need areas.
 * Checklists.
 * Focus Groups and Interviews with various stakeholder groups (include students).
 * Structured Observations of meetings, gatherings, artifacts, décor, social events, to check out actual behavior.
 * Diagrams of informal leaders (teachers, students, staff members) group interactions.
 * Surveys combined with other methods to triangulate perceptional data.