More than 5,000 3rd-12th grade students responded to an annual survey administered by the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College. The survey measures perceptions of school climate, academic self-efficacy, student engagement, and more. Results of the student survey, along with those from staff and parents/guardians, will be presented to the SDoL school board on September 10th.
Among the survey highlights are improved views of school safety. While elementary student views remained unchanged, the percentage of middle school students who really or kind of agree that they feel safe at school increased from 58% to 70%. High school responses similarly improved from 61% to 70%, the first improvement since 2021.
Additional safety questions point to further improvement. The percentage of middle and high school students who agree that having a School Resource Officer in school made them feel safe reached the highest rate for middle (75%) and high school (73%) students since first asked in 2019.
The district experienced some declines in student engagement, particularly with elementary students. Engagement still remains high, however, and a new question gauging instructional technology use finds widespread use of engaging technology on every or most days.
One encouraging sign is the decreasing number of students who indicate they are treated unfairly at school because of their race, ethnicity, or cultural background. The percentage of middle school students who answered “Always” or “Most of the Time” decreased from 32% to 30%. High school agreement decreased from 21% to 16%. Both point to positive trends, however these numbers remain concerning and additional work is being done to address the findings.
The Office of Data Analytics updated the online survey dashboard, allowing users to view all student and family survey results for as many years as each question has been asked. Click below to access these dashboards through the district’s survey web page.