West Virginia Vision for Improving Teaching and Learning (WV VITAL)

What is the WV VITAL survey?
West Virginia’s Vision to Inform Teaching and Learning (WV VITAL) initiative works from the research-based premise that important learning and teaching conditions are essential to improving student success and teacher retention.

Given that the dedicated professionals working in schools across the state are the individuals who best understand learning and teaching conditions, the initiative will survey all school-based licensed educators about these conditions. The West Virginia State Board of Education and state partners in VITAL believe this valuable data from educators will allow for schools, communities and policymakers to make better decisions which effectively address the unique concerns of teachers across the state. Along with customized school and district improvements, the data will also inform state level policy and influence education legislation.

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How is the survey administered?
The VITAL initiative includes a survey of all school-based, licensed educators in the state. Individual responses to the survey will remain confidential. Teachers will receive a personal security code which enables them to anonymously provide their opinions on the issues of time, empowerment, leadership, facilities/resources, professional development, and mentoring/induction programs.

The initial results will be shared with all schools and districts obtaining a response rate of 40 percent or higher. Results will be correlated with student achievement for each school and district and will be available to educators in May.

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When is the survey available?
The WV VITAL survey will be available online 24 hours a day, seven days a week between February 18 and March 24, 2008. You will receive a mailing inviting you to participate. A postcard will provide every educator in the state with a personal six-digit security code. You can complete the survey until the end of the day.

How long is the survey?
The survey should take about 20 minutes. You will be asked to rate your perceptions on a scale of one to five on a series of questions. Participants may preview the survey online prior to the official survey response window. It is important to know that the survey can NOT be saved and once you submit your survey, you will not be able to go back and use your code. Please begin the survey at a time when you have about 20 minutes to devote for completion.

Is the survey really anonymous?
YES! You will receive a six-digit security code by mail to enter at the start of the survey. No other personal identification or information is required. You may trade codes with any other person in your building for further security, since the codes are only used to identify your school, not an individual. You may use a computer at school, home, or any location you choose as long as it has internet access.

The codes used to take the survey are not previewed or shared with anyone other than the researchers at the New Teacher Center at the University of California at Santa Cruz (NTC). The database is managed by NTC and cannot be accessed by school administrators, DOE, WVFT or WVEA. There is NO way to track a code to individual responses, even at NTC. Further, any demographic information you share during the survey about yourself will not be reported or shared. It is being asked for research purposes only. Your anonymity is assured.

How do I get an access code to take the survey?
You will receive a mailing inviting you to participate. A postcard will provide every educator in the state with a personal six-digit security code.

Each school’s survey completion rate will be posted live online and can be monitored while the survey is open. A minimum of 40 percent of eligible respondents in each school and district must complete the survey in order to receive access their own results. Educators may receive additional reminders to participate and are encouraged to monitor their school response rate and encourage others to participate.

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What if I lose my code or have problems taking the survey?
WVEA and WVFT will operated a help desk while the survey was open.

Why should I take the survey?
Research demonstrates that teaching conditions—time, teacher empowerment, school leadership, professional development, and facilities and resources—are critical to increasing student achievement and retaining teachers. This survey will provide you, your school and your district with information about the status of learning conditions in your school. Your opinions matter. This survey will help put your experiences and perceptions at the center of school, district and state efforts to better recruit and retain quality teachers. This data is critical as research from other states who have conducted initiatives indicate:

School conditions matter for kids. The presence of critical teaching and learning conditions have been tied to improved student achievement. Teachers are more effective with children if they are well supported and have the knowledge, skill and time to work collaboratively.
School conditions matter for retaining teachers. Teachers leave schools if there are not supportive school leaders who create trusting, collaborative environments where educators can do their best work. Survey respondents who noted the presence of several teaching and learning conditions are significantly more likely to report that they want to continue working in their school.
Not everyone in the school may have the same perceptions. Gathering this data school by school can be eye opening for a faculty. In particular, research from other states shows a large divide between principals and teachers about whether certain conditions are present in a school. Your response to the survey will provide important information for your faculty to assess, celebrate and improve (if at least 40 percent of your faculty complete the survey).

This survey has been completed by more than 250,000 professional educators in eight states, including Arizona ( www.aztwc.org), North Carolina (www.northcarolinatwc.org), Kansas (www.kansastwc.org), Ohio (www.ohiotlc.org) and Nevada (www.nvtlc.org). Many other states are working with NTC to gather information and improve school conditions including Alabama, Maine, Massachusetts and Illinois. The survey is completely confidential and is an opportunity for you to let your voice be heard on the conditions you face every day as an educator.

What has been done with the results in other locations?
The survey, started in North Carolina by Governor Mike Easley in 2002, has lead to many state policy changes in North Carolina:

Working conditions have become a permanent part of the North Carolina education reform process, with funding for the survey every two years and the creation of the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Advisory Board. The survey has been conducted in 2002, 2004, 2006 and is slated for March 2008.
The state has increased the level of rigor expected of school principals in creating positive working conditions and has provided needed support for principals. The state has rewritten principal standards to incorporate teacher recruitment, retention and administration and all Masters of School Administration programs will be evaluated based on these standards. A new evaluation instrument is also being created which will, amongst other things, assess whether principals establish positive working conditions. Additionally, all new principals are required to take professional development funded by the state and offered through the Principals Executive Program on creating positive working conditions.
Investments have been made to support the use of data and spreading of best practice. Funding was allocated to create a blueprint for School Improvement Teams in integrating working conditions results into school improvement planning, and conducting the state’s Real DEAL (Dedicated Educators, Administrators and Learners) conference to share best practices in schools with positive working conditions and high student achievement. The Teacher Academy receives $2 million annually to provide professional development in a set of high poverty school districts involved in a financial equity case with the state. The professional development aims to improve teaching quality by focusing on related working conditions reform. Additional analyses have been conducted for high poverty districts and low performing high schools. Turnaround plans are being analyzed in low performing high schools to ensure working conditions data is incorporated and reform strategies address teacher concerns.

Schools in North Carolina have used the data to advocate for a successful bond initiative, improving school improvement teams, etc. (see www.ncteachingconditions.org) In Clark County, Nevada (Las Vegas), four teachers are on full-time release to assist schools in identifying and solving concerns raised by the survey (see www.nvtlc.org).

Who is conducting the survey?
Sponsorship and support for the survey is coming from the WV School Board of Education, WVEA, WVFT, WV Association of Elementary and Middle School Principals, WV Professional Educators, WV School Boards Association, WV Higher Education Policy Commission, WV Independent Colleges and Universities, 21st Century Advisory Board, and the Jobs Council.

The survey is being conducted by the New Teacher Center at the University of California at Santa Cruz with LEARN North Carolina. Lead researcher Eric Hirsch, a Maine native and Deering High School graduate, has extensive experience in conducting teaching and learning conditions surveys across the nation. The New Teacher Center is a university-based, national organization, dedicated to supporting the development of a high-quality teaching force. NTC not only conducts similar surveys, but also provides induction and professional development for teachers and principals across the country. NTC’s goal is to give educators and policymakers the information they need to make informed decisions about creating supportive school environments where all educators and students can be successful.

When will we get the results?
The initial data will be available in May 2008 for schools and districts to use in identifying strengths and areas in need of improvement. In order to receive data, a school or district must obtain a 40 percent response rate. The statewide and district data results will be publicly accessible online. School level results will be distributed to educators and broader dissemination will remain a local decision. Participants will be able to see the data for their school and district compared to statewide norms.

NTC will over-lay data provided by DOE on a variety of background factors (student, school and teacher characteristics) and analyze connections between teaching and learning conditions, student learning and teacher retention. The report will be ready in Fall 2008 (as student achievement and other data points will not be ready until summer 2008).

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How are we going to use our results?
At the school level, VITAL data can be used to promote discussions about instruction, planning time, professional development, and school improvement. Exemplar schools can be recognized and promoted as examples of best practice and problem areas can be identified and analyzed. Teachers, counselors, library media specialists, and educational support professionals should all be included in meaningful discussions about working conditions, student learning conditions, and ways to support improvement. While VITAL data do not provide all the answers for school improvement, they will help schools engage in meaningful and comprehensive school improvement conversations.

At the state level, analyses of VITAL data will be analyzed and shared with policymakers to ensure specific findings and trends influence policymaking and legislative efforts in West Virginia.

Still have questions?
Go to www.westvirginiavital.org.