Dear White Plains Teacher:
The following survey is part of the district's effort to assess beliefs and practices related to 21st Century teaching and learning across the district. This survey is being conducted by Sun Associates, an independent educational evaluation firm that the district has contracted with to collect and analyze data resulting from surveys, school observations, focus groups of teachers/students/parents, and teacher/administrator interviews throughout all White Plains schools. We realize that there are many different points of view and opinions related to how the district should support 21st Century learning and this survey is one way in which we will be gathering information on those varied opinions and experiences.
We will analyze this survey's data in aggregate to determine an overall picture of curriculum and instruction as related to technology use in White Plains. We will not track the responses from individual respondents, and therefore all of your responses will be anonymous.
Thank you in advance for your time!
Please select the role group that most closely matches your current position: Select a Role/Position Classroom Teacher ESOL Teacher Teaching Assistant Instructional Technology Specialist Library Media Specialist Literacy Specialist Reading Teacher Special Education Teacher Specialist (Art, Music, PE, etc.) Other (describe in Additional Comments)
If you are a classroom teacher, please answer the following questions based on what happens in your classroom. If you are a specialist with building-level responsibilities (e.g., art, guidance, social worker, ) please respond based on your opinion for your building or setting.
What grade level or subject do you teach? Select a Grade Level or Subject Elementary High School Business High School ELA High School ESOL High School Foreign Language High School History/Social Studies High School Math High School Music/Art High School Reading High School Science High School SpEd Middle School ELA MIddle School Business Middle School ESOL MIddle School Foreign Lang Middle School Math MIddle School Reading Middle School Science Middle School SpEd Middle School Social Studies Other (describe in Additional Comments) (This information is optional, but including it will help with data analysis. Again, all responses are anonymous and no disaggregated data will be reported by the evaluators.)
Please select your school Please Select Your School Pre-K Church Street Elementary George Washington Elementary Mamaroneck Avenue Elementary Post Road Elementary Ridgeway Elementary WPMS- Eastview Campus WPMS- Highlands Campus White Plains High School Community/Alternative Newcomer New York Hospital
Please respond to the following questions to help the evaluators develop an understanding of your overall approach to student learning and classroom instruction. The questions in this section do not necessarily pertain to technology use or skills, but rather to your beliefs about student learning in general.
Please provide as much detail as possible in your responses. The boxes will automatically expand and your text will automatically wrap in the boxes.
1. I believe that 21st Century learning skills are.... (please provide some examples of these skills in the space below)
2. Please provide an example from your classroom of an activity that engages students in critical thinking and problem solving.
3. Please describe a curriculum-based collaborative project your students have worked on this year.
4. How does your teaching address the development of information literacy skills? Please provide an example.
5. We are interested in knowing what technology skills you think your students have. Please apply your best guess as to what most of your students can do. Further, we would like to know your opinion as to when each skill should be taught.
Student Technology Skill
Most of my students have this skill
This skill should ideally be taught in...
Elementary School
Middle School
High School
Can use a word processor to create a text document or type a paper/essay
Can use a presentation manager (e.g. PowerPoint) to create and display a presentation
Can use a spreadsheet (e.g., Excel) to organize numerical information
Can demonstrate basic proficiency in typing (e.g., can type with all 10 fingers)
Can use the WWW for research with a minimal amount of teacher/parent guidance
Can differentiate between fictitious/erroneous/unreliable sources of information versus reliable information.
Can use specialized databases (e.g., World Book online)
Can design and publish a webpage
Can create multimedia resources (digital videos, podcasts, etc.)
Can participate in and use online communication (accessing teacher blogs, online courses, etc.)
Can use a graphing calculator
If you have any comments about your students' computer skills or about when/how they should ideally develop such skills, please enter your comments below:
6. How often would you say that you assign work that requires the use of technology?
Often
Sometimes
Rarely
Never
7. How often do you have access to an interactive whiteboard that you can use with your students?
8. How often do you have access to computers that you can use with your students?
9. Which of the following do you feel are supported by the use of an interactive whiteboard and/or computers in your classroom? Feel free to offer examples, comments, etc in the column to the right. The box will expand as you type.
Learning Skill
Check if Supported by Interactive WhiteBoard Use
Example(s)
Check if Supported by Student Computer Use
Student understanding
Student collaboration
Critical thinking
Problem solving
Creativity and innovation
Media literacy
Other (please note here)
10. Considering all of the various ways that technology can support teaching and learning, what barriers (if any) exist to your being able to use technology more effectively with your students?
We understand that there are many varied opinions and ideas related to the ninth grade 21st Century Computer Essentials course in White Plains. Please respond to the following questions about this course. Please use the text fields to provide us with as much information (including concerns, questions or ideas) as you can.
If you don't know about this course or do not have an opinion, please skip to Question 13.
11. Please comment on how effectively the 21st Century Computer Essentials course prepares students for using technology in their high school work.
12. Please comment on the positioning of this course as a stand alone course for ninth graders.
13. How do you feel the teaching of technology skills could be improved to better meet the needs of White Plains students?
14. Please estimate the number of hours of technology professional development you have attended this school year:
15. These sessions were/were not useful because:
16. What format of professional development would encourage you to participate more in technology professional development opportunities?
Use this section to add clarification to any question, or to add any thoughts you might have on any aspect (positive or negative) of how instructional technology impacts your teaching and your students' learning. Once again, please be assured that your comments are confidential.
When you are finished with this survey, click on this button to the survey for processing. Please click only once.
When your survey is accepted by the system, you will be taken to a confirmation page. This may take a moment, so please be patient.
If you want to delete all of your answers and start again, click here
Survey Form Updated 4/7/10