Wilmington Public Schools Strategic Plan Survey Results and Analysis March 2011

1. Wilmington Public Schools Strategic Plan Survey Results and Analysis March 2011

2. Overview Wilmington Public Schools is in the important process of updating their strategic plan. The strategic plan serves as a road map; it outlines the goals that the school district strives to achieve and the steps to reaching those goals. To be as inclusive as possible, the district has reached out to the community, staff, and students via the Strategic Plan Survey. This survey was conducted from February 1, 2011 to February 18, 2011 to gain an understanding of stakeholders’ opinions about items of importance that should be addressed in the plan. The survey was open to all community members via a public link on the district’s website. Staff were invited to participate via email with a unique link and students participated in school computer labs. The findings are described in this report.

3. Overview (Continued) • 242 community members, 263 staff members, and 948 students provided input as to the school district’s effectiveness in providing services and the importance of those services. Survey items covered the areas of student achievement, academic programs, school operations, and student support. Items identified as most critical for the strategic plan include: • Science/Engineering Technology • Facilities • Professional Development for Teachers • Technology • Support Services

4. Overview (Continued) • Respondents also identified several areas of strength: • English-Language Arts Proficiency • Social Studies • Curriculum and Programs that are Relevant • Student Health and Well-Being • Sports and Extracurricular Activities Additionally, respondents were asked to rate the progress the district has made in achieving the goals from the current strategic plan. Respondents indicated that progress has been made. Many of these goals are not designed to be completely met as they are intended as continuing guidelines for school processes and functions. Respondents’ ratings coincide with this intention.

5. Community Characteristics A total of 242 community members responded to the survey. The respondents were overwhelmingly parents with 94% (n=228) reporting one or more children attending Wilmington Public Schools. This finding indicates that approximately 10% of parents participated in the survey.* This response rate, although low, is typical of an initial district-wide survey of parents and community members. 9% (n=21) identified themselves as parents of children who attend non-district schools. 25% of respondents have a child that will be entering the district within the next year. * Response rate based on school population of 3,844 and 1.7 children per household.

6. Community Characteristics (Continued) Community members who responded to the survey indicated that they are involved in school and district functions. This result is not surprising considering that the majority of the respondents are parents. The table below displays the percentage of respondents who have attended one or more district events during the past year.

7. Staff Characteristics A total of 263 staff members responded to the survey, yielding a response rate of 53%. This response rate is considered moderate for an initial survey in which all staff members were invited to participate. The respondents predominately identified themselves as teachers/ professional staff (81%; n=212), with administrative staff and classified staff comprising smaller proportions. Staff represented all school levels and the Central Office.

8. Staff Participation by Site Staff at each of the District’s work locations were invited to respond to the survey. Invitations were sent via email based on a data file of employees by work location. The number of invitations sent to each work location and the number of responses received are displayed in the graph. Work location response rates ranged from 34% to 70% and providing an overall response rate of 53%.

9. Students Students from grades 6 through 12 representing Wilmington Middle School and High School were invited to complete the survey. A total of 948 students responded to the survey, yielding a response rate of 43%. This response rate is considered moderate for an initial survey in which all secondary students were invited to participate.

10. Familiarity with the Strategic Plan Respondents were asked about their familiarity with the district’s current Strategic Plan. A greater proportion of staff (80%) compared to community members (48%) said they were familiar with the current strategic plan. This lack of familiarity among community members indicates a need for further communication and outreach. (Item concerning the current Strategic Plan did not appear on the student survey.)

11. Current District Goals Summary Community members and staff were asked to rate the progress towards meeting 8 key goals of the existing strategic plan. For each of the goals, respondents indicated their views by selecting from the following options: Goal Met, A Lot of Progress, Some Progress, and No Progress. Over half of community members and staff believe that there is a need for additional progress for using instructional models that enable teachers to address individual needs. The largest difference in staff and community opinions was revealed in Goal 1C, indicating a need to provide more public information on how assessment data are used to inform instruction.

12. Current District Goals Summary (Continued) Respondents believe that there is a need for additional progress regarding most of the goals listed below. As shown below, fewer than half of the respondents indicated that the goal has been met or that a lot of progress has been made towards meeting most of the goals. Detailed breakdowns of responses for each goal and respondent group are provided on the following pages.

21. Analysis Strategy • The main portion of the survey consisted of a series of items describing school district services and functions. These items addressed student achievement, academic programs, school operations, and student support. The responses are reported by community members, district staff, and secondary level students. • For each item, the respondents made two ratings: • How effective is the District on this issue? • {Scale: Extremely Ineffective, Ineffective, Effective, Extremely Effective} • How important is this issue to you? • {Scale: Not Important, Relatively Unimportant, Moderately Important, Highly Important}

22. Analysis Strategy (Continued) Effectiveness scores are reported as the percent of respondents selecting Effective or Extremely Effective. Importance score are reported as the percent of respondents selecting Highly Important. Median effectiveness and importance scores were computed across all items, separately for community members, staff, and students. While community members and staff provided similar overall effectiveness and importance ratings, students provided much lower ratings for both measures. Gap analyses were conducted separately for community, staff, and student groups. Using the median scores for comparison, each item was identified as high or low in effectiveness and high or low in importance so that each item is classified according to one of four categories:

23. Analysis Strategy (Continued) Those items identified as low in effectiveness and high in importance (red) are identified as primary areas of concern for the strategic plan. Items identified as low in effectiveness and low in importance (yellow) are secondary areas of concern. As shown in the table below, parents/community members identified the most items for primary concern, with 10 areas, followed by staff members who identified 8 areas and students who identified 6 items.

24. Summary of Findings Student Achievement: Respondents believe that the school district does a good job of providing English Language Arts proficiency. However, community members and staff identified science and engineering technology as an area of primary concern. Academic Programs: Community members identified the use of technology in instruction and offering Honors courses as areas of primary concern while staff indicated these areas are of secondary concern. Students indicated that offering courses that are interesting is an area of primary concern. Students indicated that courses that are interesting is a primary concern. School Operations: All three groups identified the condition of school buildings as an area of primary concern. Community members and staff indicated that class size is an area of primary concern. Students indicated that school safety and transportation are items of primary concern. Community members and staff have conflicting views regarding teacher recruitment and professional development: community members feel these areas are done well by the district while staff believes that these areas are of primary concern. Student Support: This category had the greatest number of items for primary concern. All groups identified providing extra help for students having difficulty as an area of primary concern. Staff and community members also identified support services as areas of primary concern. The following pages display the items in each of the surveyed areas, along with the classifications from the gap analysis for each group.

25. Student Achievement

26. Academic Programs

27. School Operations

28. Student Support

29. Summary The survey revealed a number of findings that will support strategic plan development. We found that community and staff members believe that progress has been made towards meeting the goals of the current strategic plan. Many of these goals are designed to guide continued school progress. The results show the Wilmington Public School system is moving in a positive direction in addressing all of the goals in the strategic plan. A number of areas were found to be areas for continued focus, including science/engineering technology, facilities, teacher recruitment and retention, professional development, technology and support services. Equally important are a number of strengths that were identified. These include English-Language Arts proficiency, social studies, relevant curriculum and programs, sports & extracurricular activities and student health & well-being. As we move forward with the development of the new strategic plan, these results will provide the district with a focus that reflects the input from so many of our students, staff, parents and community members. We are grateful to all who took the time to fill out the survey.

30. Parent/Community Open-ended Responses Strengths/Values/Traditions: Community Involvement Safety Athletics Teaching Staff Music No fees Curriculum Improve in 3-5 years: High School building (and others) Science program Mathematics Less focus on MCAS More programs for "gifted and talented" More after school opportunities (including extra help) Support services

31. Staff Open-ended Responses Strengths/Values/Traditions: Strong sense of community Community Service Continued investment in technology Art/music programs Athletics Safety and atmosphere (commitment to anti-bullying program) Improve in 3-5 years: New high school Technology – need more Professional development Special Education (improve program effectiveness seems to be the theme) Reduce class size Facilities

32. Ideas from Students Improve tech (wifi) Improve lunch Improve science New high school More hands on course options Allow ipods at lunch and between classes Buses – want heat and door to door pick up Add clubs Cleaner bathrooms