District survey shows steady belonging overall; open-text responses highlight peer meanness, social isolation and identity concerns
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Summary
New Albany-Plain Local presented results from its 2025–26 student belonging survey: participation rose slightly from 2024 but declined among upper high-school grades; 218 students were shown an optional open-text prompt and 190 responded, with top themes of peer teasing, social isolation and identity-based exclusion.
Greg Taylor, director of assessment and accountability, presented the district's November 2025 belonging-survey results to the board. The survey covers grades 1–12 with simplified questions for early grades and an extended instrument for grades 4–12.
Taylor said participation rose modestly overall compared with 2024 but remained below the district's earlier peak. Primary grades (1–3) saw a notable increase while participation among juniors and seniors fell; survey administrators flagged survey fatigue among upper-grade students as a likely factor. Taylor noted the average survey takes about two minutes to complete.
On the open-text follow-up (shown to students who reported low belonging), 218 students were shown the optional prompt and the district received 190 text responses. Common themes mirrored prior years: "peer meanness" (teasing and rumor), "social isolation" (students without friends at recess or lunch) and identity-related concerns (LGBTQ+, race, socioeconomic status). Taylor said many open-text responses were actionable at the building level and would feed into local action plans.
Board members and staff discussed interventions. Administrators described building-level steps such as recess monitoring, buddy benches, house activities and targeted supports. Taylor and staff noted limitations of the open-text sample size when generalizing districtwide and said more targeted disaggregation would be possible if survey length and student burden allow.
"This survey helps us gather data for the non academic," Taylor said as he described the instrument's purpose of tracking student well-being and belonging. Staff said results are posted to the Qualtrics dashboard for building leaders and will be used to inform house activities and immediate building action plans.
Next steps include building-level reviews of the open-text comments, follow-up by principals and monitoring whether interventions (buddy benches, house programming, extra ELL supports) change indicators in subsequent administrations.