S 2 + Student Success Utilizing Student Surveys Equals Student Success

1. S2 + Student Success Utilizing Student Surveys Equals Student Success Iris Garner, Education Consultant, Testing Policy and Operation Fay Gore , Social Studies Consultant Curriculum and School Reform Services Brian Swiger, Educational Consultant NCSU/TOPS

2. Presentation Overview • History • Survey Purpose • Survey Design • Question Dimensions • Teaching Strategies • Future • Demonstration

3. History • Been in existence for more than a decade • Joint effort between Curriculum, Test Development, and Testing, Policy, and Operations • Greenbook used to distribute results • Recently revised survey questions to include more up-to-date information

4. What is the student survey? • The North Carolina Student Survey (NCSS) is a high-quality, structured, personal interview survey of North Carolina’s students conducted by NC testing program.

5. NCSS Purpose • To generate systematic data on the North Carolina student body • To provide date to education that would assist them make informed discussions about instruction.

6. NCSS Design • Each NCSS has a series of questions on a special topic and a set of background, behavioral, and attitudinal items that are asked in successive surveys.

7. NCSS Dimensions • The questions on the NCSS include the following dimensions: • Extracurricular Participation • Instructional Participation • Educational Practices • Learning Styles • Demographic Information • Technology Usage

8. Question Dimensions • Learning Styles: questions provide educators with blueprints of students’ learning behaviors. This dimension will allow teachers to develop lessons that are fashioned to meet the cognitive demands of the students. • Demographical Information: questions provide educators with students’ demographic trends such as education. This dimension allows educators to better understand the student population and their family units.

9. Question Dimensions • Extracurricular Participation: questions provideinformation to educators on students’ personal interests and goals. This dimension will allow teachers to craft instructional strategies that capture and maintain students’ attention. • Instructional Participation: questions provide educators with a bank of typical instructional strategies customarily implemented. This dimension will allow teachers to develop multi-dimensional instructional activities that cater to diverse learning styles.

10. Question Dimensions • Technology Usage: questions provide educators with knowledge that certifies the students’ degree of technology awareness and availability. This dimension will allow teachers to promote and improve a key component of 21st century skills. Additionally, this dimension will inform the Information Technology staff on technical requirements and technology-based needs.

11. Teacher Efficacy • Curriculum Development & Alignment • Aligned & Balanced Assessment Practices • Aligned Instructional Strategies • Professional Development

12. Curriculum Development My school and/or district has a written curriculum for U.S. History and Civics & Economics. • Yes • No • I don’t know

13. Curriculum Development My school/district’s curriculum is aligned to the NC Standard Course of Study. • Yes • No • I don’t know

14. Curriculum Development My school/district’s curriculum is vertically aligned. • Yes • No • I don’t know

15. Assessment Practices My school/district has a balanced assessment system that includes both formative/summative assessments. • Yes • No • I don’t know

16. Assessment Practices My school/district assessments are aligned to the written curriculum. • Yes • No • I don’t know

17. Effective Teaching Strategies • Makes work meaningful to students – authenticity • Engages students’ intellect • Incorporates use 21st Century skills • Reflects content-specific methods of instruction

18. Effective Teaching Strategies Integrating Technology – computers, web 2.0 Reading – various texts: primary resources, news magazines and journals, daily/weekly newspapers, fiction, drama, poetry Independent research, portfolios, collaborative group projects, educational field trips/travel, community service activities, social studies organizations

19. Instructional Strategies My school/district uses instructional strategies that involve current trends in effective instruction for Social Studies. • Always • Sometimes • Hardly ever • I don’t know

20. Professional Development • Discipline-specific • Knowledge • Understanding • Pedagogical • Teaching in general • Content-specific • Sustainability • Follow-up • On-going evaluation

21. Roles and Responsibilities Test coordinators contribute to student success by: • Facilitating test administrations • Training personnel for test administration • Creating an awareness of related resources • All of the above

22. Roles and Responsibilities Who is the key player in fostering student success? • Testing Policy and Operations • Test Development • Curriculum and Instruction • All of the above

23. Future • New Web Page Web Page Components: • General purpose • Types of questions asked • Overview of the findings • Standards course of study • Teaching strategies

24. Demonstration • Interactive PDF now online • Springboard for ideas • Feedback encouraged

25. Surprise !

26. Thank You • We appreciate your attendance and continued support of the North Carolina Testing Program.