- Impact Kentucky gathers input on teaching and learning conditions from Kentucky public educators.
- Upcoming survey should be accessible for disabled users.
By Jim Gaines
jim.gaines@education.ky.gov
Kentucky education officials will collect feedback this fall on the 2019-2020 Impact Kentucky survey, members of the Kentucky Department of Education’s Principal Advisory Council (PrAC) heard at their quarterly meeting June 22.
The survey will be given again in the 2021-2022 school year and every two years thereafter. It allows certified educators who work at least half-time in Kentucky public schools to give input on teaching and learning conditions. It also allows families to see the culture and climate experienced by their children’s teachers.
A similar poll, the TELL Kentucky Working Conditions Survey, was given four times and then redesigned as Impact Kentucky by a statewide committee of education professionals and stakeholders.
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is seeking participants’ reactions to the previous survey questions and comments about conducting the upcoming survey, said Veda Stewart from the KDE Office of Educator Licensure and Effectiveness.
A three-question feedback survey on 2019-2020 Impact Kentucky participation is available now as a Google Document.
The next 77-question full survey will be given from mid-November 2021 through December 2021, with results released in January, Stewart said. The anonymous survey should take about 15 minutes, she said, and will be distributed through a coordinator at each school.
Some PrAC members expressed concern about how the disruption caused by COVID-19 affected teachers’ experiences in the past year, and how the upcoming questions can capture that experience.
Peggy Sinclair-Morris, principal at the Kentucky School for the Blind, said some of her teaching staff have visual impairments and asked if the Impact Kentucky survey will be accessible for them.
The survey is offered in partnership with national research firm Panorama Education, and accessibility has been added to the expectations in Panorama’s contract, said Erin Ashcraft from the KDE Office of Educator Licensure and Effectiveness.
Equity Project
Members of the Commissioner’s Student Advisory Council Anastasia Panaretos of South Oldham High School (Oldham County) and Anderson County High School graduate Anna Williams showed and discussed a video their group made on defining and implementing equity in education.
The KDE focus on equity has not changed, Commissioner of Education Jason E. Glass said.
“We think this is really important and necessary work for us as public educators,” he said.
When the Kentucky Department of Education talks about equity, Glass said, it means realizing that students come to class with very different experiences and educators must take that into account when deciding how to support those students. The push for equity requires diversifying the body of educators to mirror the student population they serve, and finding curriculum that reflects diversity, he said.
Resources for Principals
The KDE Office of Educational Technology (OET) has compiled resources for leadership planning, flexible digital learning and blended learning at www.coachingplus.pro, said Ben Maynard from OET.
A cohort opportunity on digital leading and learning for administrators is being planned again this year following the success of last year’s project. More information will be coming in the next two months on how administrators can get involved, Maynard said. Its possible focus is how to use data from blended learning strategies to coach teachers in designing rigorous and relevant learning experiences for students.
A live event on blended learning is in the planning stages for Nov. 19, he said. It will provide strands for digital learning coaches, administrators and new chief information officers. The event is in partnership with the Kentucky Society for Technology in Education and will feature popular national experts, as well as members of OET and the Principal Partnership Project. It’s currently slated to be held at the Galt House in Louisville, Maynard said.
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