Surveys help determine effectiveness of schools

ORONO – Maine schools can still take advantage of a University of Maine program that conducts comprehensive surveys of students and then analyzes the responses to help determine how well the schools are doing to prepare the youngsters for college and the future.

The survey and detailed analysis from the National Center for Student Aspirations at the university is available free to all Maine middle and high schools until June 2006.

More than 90 Maine schools already have completed the Students Speak II survey, which targets students in grades six through 12, since it became available earlier this year. The new survey is the result of two years of research and revision by NCSA staff and researchers at the university’s College of Education and Human Development.

In addition to evaluating the conditions supporting aspirations and students’ perceptions of themselves and their learning environment, the survey features an expanded demographics section, questions regarding students’ academic patterns and future plans, social influences, and other items designed to give schools valuable information to better understand and target student needs.

A major characteristic of the new survey is its ability to help schools measure the effectiveness of their efforts and programs to raise student aspirations.

“Aspirations remain a front burner issue for many school systems,” said Robert Cobb, dean of the College of Education and Human Development. “We believe this new instrument will provide important data about what kind of progress schools are making, as well as information for our own researchers in assessing statewide progress.”

Following survey analyses by the Center for Research and Evaluation at the University of Maine, participating schools receive individual reports providing a comprehensive profile of the student body, and aspirations and achievement-related data broken down by grade, gender and other variables. The research center will issue both preliminary and final statewide reports based on the data.

The free survey service is available to all Maine middle and high schools or other schools with configurations that include grades six through 12 by contacting the Center for Research and Evaluation at 581-2493.