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Boise School District sees modest gains in safety and other engagement measures; district to return building results to principals
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Summary
Deputy Superintendent Smith presented results of the district’s annual engagement survey showing modest increases in student-reported safety and several other areas; the district reported 9,653 student responses and plans to send building-level results to principals for follow-up.
Deputy Superintendent Smith presented the Boise School District’s annual engagement survey on April 13, reporting modest improvements in several measures and describing how the district will return building-level results to principals for local action.
Smith said the survey, required by state law, is administered to students, staff and parents and is being used to identify blind spots between groups. "The engagement survey is a requirement. It's required by state law in accordance with, administrative rule. All schools serving grades 3 through 12 must administer an annual satisfaction engagement survey to parents, students, and teachers," Smith told the board.
The district reported 9,653 student responses this year, up from 9,436; staff responses totaled 1,023 (down from 1,119) and parent/guardian responses were 1,696 (down from 1,822). On the student question "I feel safe at school," students reporting "strongly agree" or "agree" rose from 73.9% to 76.9%, an increase student presenter Ben Cooper described as "a 3% increase," noting higher overall participation this year.
Smith walked trustees through additional item-level changes: staff reporting they have resources and support rose from 76% to 77.9%, and staff access to professional development rose from 72.5% to 74.8%. Some measures edged down: student responses to whether teachers make learning engaging fell from 60.3% to 58.4%, and staff perceptions of student motivation dropped from 64.1% to 62.8%.
Smith said the district intends to provide each principal with building-specific results so leadership teams can identify focus areas and create improvement plans. "We divide it up, and we send each school their specific results," Smith said, describing plans for principals and area directors to review trends and discuss interventions.
Trustees pressed for clarity on neutral responses and participation rates. Student representatives said they had discussed removing or reworking a neutral response option to reduce noncommittal answers and boost the usefulness of results. Smith said communications summarizing the results are being prepared and will include the full presentation for those who want to dig deeper.
Next steps: building leaders will receive results, area directors will meet with principals to identify troubling trends, and the communications team will publish summary materials for the community. Smith and trustees said the results will inform the district’s strategic planning and school-level interventions.
