McFarland student survey: high marks for teachers and belonging, gaps remain on bullying and sharing learning

Aaron Tarnitzer, district administrator, presented results of a student survey the district commissioned through a third-party vendor and told the McFarland School Board that 89% of eligible students (grades 4–12) participated. "We had a nice number of students respond — about 89% participation rate," Tarnitzer said.

The survey, conducted in February and used by the district for two years, compiled responses across grades 4–12 and produced high scores on classroom relationships and climate. Tarnitzer highlighted that 94% of respondents said their teachers treat them with respect and that 96% said they have friends to sit with at lunch. He said several compiled indices were above 4 on a 5-point scale and that many measures showed small year-over-year gains.

Nut graf: The results portray a district where students report strong relationships with staff and peers — a central goal of district improvement work — but also show specific areas for follow-up: students' willingness to report bullying, the share who feel comfortable answering in class, and how often students discuss school learning outside class.

Board members pressed for details and next steps. Tarnitzer said the district disaggregates the full dataset by building and grade and that buildings will fold the findings into school improvement plans. He noted some items that the district intends to target: the 6.1 average (on a 0–10 scale) to the question "Most days I like my school"; only 60% agreeing they talk to people outside school about what they are learning; and that about 1 in 5 students said they would be uncomfortable talking to someone if they were bullied.

Board members asked about grade-level participation and incentives. Tarnitzer said participation was lower for 12th grade because seniors are sometimes off campus for youth apprenticeships; he confirmed the district had not provided incentives to increase senior response rates. "We haven't done anything like that to incentivize it," he said when asked about special efforts for seniors. The board discussed modest outreach and incentive ideas — for example, partnering with local businesses for small gift cards — to boost future senior participation.

Tarnitzer and board members also discussed question wording and interpretation. Some board members observed that the survey item asking whether students would "talk to someone" if bullied might conflate informal conversations and formal reporting; Tarnitzer said the district could examine that phrasing and how it maps to reporting protocols.

The district plans to present disaggregated results (by building, grade and demographic group) to buildings and return to the board with targeted action plans. Tarnitzer said the student survey will be one input for the district's key performance indicators and school improvement work.

Ending: The board framed the survey as both encouraging and instructive — a validation of several district practices but a clear prompt for focused work on student safety, meaningful homework, and outreach to older students to improve response rates and support.