TELL MASS SURVEY 2012
TELL Mass survey results now public
Do you want to know what teachers and administrators think about working conditions, class sizes, community support, student discipline, the quality of professional development, the atmosphere of trust and a whole host of other issues involving your school? Do you wonder how your school’s results compare to results in other schools in your district or in neighboring communities?
This information is now available to all schools in which at least half of the instructional staff filled out the online Teaching, Empowering, Learning and Leading Massachusetts – TELL Mass – survey last spring. Detailed reports with anonymous survey results went live in early July and are available for anyone to view at www.tellmass.org. Click on “View 2012 Survey Results” for district and school results.
The MTA is urging members to study the results carefully and encourage dialogue with school and district administrators about them. Positive findings should be honored and replicated, while problems should be identified and addressed.
“Teachers tell us they want their voices to shape practices in their schools. The TELL Mass survey is one way to express that voice and give teachers and administrators a tool to use in driving improvements in their schools,” said MTA President Paul Toner.
The MTA and the NEA, along with the governor and other supporters of public education, sponsored a similar survey four years ago. The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education took over the survey this past year under the federal Race to the Top grant, contracting with the New Teacher Center to administer it. In both cases, more than 40,000 teachers and administrators participated, or a little more than half of those currently employed.
The MTA received reports indicating that in some schools, participation was stymied because principals did not distribute the codes needed to log on to the secure survey site. Both the MTA and the DESE established help desks to aid members in participating.
“If your school didn’t reach the 50 percent mark, you need to figure out why,” said Toner. “If the reason was that the principal did not encourage and facilitate participation, that could be a sign of a serious problem. If you believe that is the case, we recommend you work with your MTA field representative to explore other ways that teachers and other staff can voice their views on important educator working conditions and student learning conditions.”
The DESE administered the survey from March 12 to April 6, 2012.
Renamed “Teaching, Empowering, Learning and Leading Massachusetts” (TELL Mass), the survey provided an opportunity for teachers and administrators to “tell” about the teaching, learning, and leadership conditions in their schools. Most importantly, the school survey results can be the impetus for educators – teachers and administrators – to engage in collaborative problem-solving efforts to improve those conditions in their schools.
Official TELL Mass website: http://tellmass.org. Includes:
- The survey questions.
- Answers to frequently asked questions.
- A promotional poster that has been sent to all schools.
- The memorandum of understanding about the use of the data that all organizations supporting TELL Mass have agreed to.
MTA on TELL Mass:
Procedures for Taking the Survey
MTA on TELL Mass: Ensuring Confidentiality and Anonymity
MTA on TELL Mass: Ensuring a High Response Rate
MTA on TELL Mass:
Survey History
MTA Advisory to Locals, 3/7/12
Massachusetts Teaching, Learning and Leading Survey: Creating School Conditions Where Teachers Stay and Students Thrive
The Final Report on the Statewide Results for the 2008 Teaching, Learning and Leading Survey
TeLLing Your Story:
Labor-Management Collaboration: Using TeLLS Data to Address Achievement Gaps and School Improvement
After the 2008 MassTeLLS results were tabulated, district and association/union leaders were invited to participate in a collaborative labor-management professional development program using this handbook as a guide. This handbook is the result of team trainings, evaluations from team members, and professional conversations among the TeLLS facilitators.
2008 Mass TeLLS Results for individual schools and districts are available at www.masstells.org/.