Survey Says!
February 17, 2009
Dr. Liana Watson was kind enough to provide us with the following statistical analysis from the communications/facilities survey presented this past fall. This information was given to the architects who organized the community meeting held on February 23, 2009. We are currently working on the questions for the next survey that will be presented in the fall of 2009 during parent teacher conferences. We appreciate you taking the time to complete these surveys. We will keep you apprised of how we use this information.
Click here to review the survey questions.
Statistical Analysis:
Sample. Of the 480 responses received, 469 were included in
statistical analysis. Eleven responses were eliminated from
statistical analysis because there was a discrepancy in determining
if the respondent was a resident of Gering Nebraska based on
answers to question one (respondent type) and question three
(Gering resident or not).
Limitations. First, the results of the study included data gathered
from only those respondents who voluntarily agreed to participate
and who responded to question one and three in a consistent manner.
Lack of response to the survey poses the potential for sample bias
and statistical errors because of the exclusion of potential data
from the individuals who chose not to participate. Second, the
survey solicited the perceptions of respondents about
communication, condition of facilities, and support for a potential
bond of and for Gering Public Schools. With self-reporting
mechanisms, the potential for false reporting must be acknowledged
and potential false reporting must be considered as a limitation
for the construct validity of the study. Third, since there were no
mechanisms in place to limit the number of times individuals could
respond to the survey the potential existed for multiple responses
and response bias due to multiple submissions.
Generalizability. Due to low sample sizes for all respondent groups
except non-teacher parents in school district student, the results
of the study cannot be generalized as representative of the opinion
of any respondent group with confidence, except non-teacher parent
of in district student. With a response rate of 410 for the
non-teacher parent in school district student respondent group,
this group does meet the minimum response rate of 300 at a 95%
confidence level at .05 significance level. Therefore, the results
of this survey should be used with caution and in no way supported
as representative of a statistically significant opinion of
non-parent residents or teacher constituents of Gering Public
Schools.
Significance. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was performed for all
measures comparing means of respondent or school groups. The level
of significance was noted only for those comparisons found to be
statistically significant at a minimum of p< .05.
Results:
Demographics: Eighty seven percent of the respondents indicated
they were non-teacher parents of in school district student(s), 5%
were non-parent teachers of option students, 3% were teacher
parents of in district student(s), 2% were non-parent community
members, 1% were teachers in school district without students, and
less than 1% were teacher parents of option students. 25% of the
respondents were from Geil, 15% from Lincoln, and 12% were from
Elementary, GJHS/Fresh Academy. Respondents from other school
groups ranged from 0-5%.
Communication: Overall satisfaction with communication from GPS was
favorable with a rating of 4.2 on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being
“worst” and 5 being “best”. Overall, the methods for communication
relied on most often were Information Sent Home with Student(s)
(4.4), and Parent/Teacher Conferences(4.2) on a rating scale of 1
to 5 with 1 being “least” and 5 being “most”.
For respondent groups, non-teacher parents in school district
relied on Information Sent Home with Student(s)(4.52), non-teach
parents of option students and teacher parents in school district
students rely on Parent/Teacher Conferences, and non-parent
community members rely on the Newspaper most often.
For schools, all elementary and pre-school respondents most often
rely on Information Sent Home with Students(s), GJHS, Freshman
Academy, and GHS schools most often rely on the Website/Infinate
Campus, and for respondents with multiple school levels, the
results were mixed between Website, Information Sent Home with
Students, and Parent/Teacher Conferences as method relied on most
often.
Condition of Facilities: Overall respondents rated the overall
condition of Geil Elementary as best with a rating of 4.21 and
Lincoln Elementary as worst with a rating of 2.47 on a scale of 1
to 5 with 1 being “least” and 5 being “best”. Overall respondents
rated all specific aspects of the Learning Environment on the
survey as favorable with highest rating for Cleanliness of Facility
with a rating of 4.38 and lowest rating for Adequate Classroom
Space with a rating of 3.69 on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being
“worst” and 5 being “best”.
Support for Bond: The analysis for support of a bond issue only
included respondents who indicated they are residents of Gering. It
must be noted that respondents were asked to assess and rate each
option independent of the other options; meaning, respondents were
asked to rate their opinion of each option, not rank options in
comparison with all options provided.
Overall respondents rated all options as favorable with highest
rating for Build New on Current Lincoln Elementary Site with a
rating of 3.62 and lowest rating for Renovate Lincoln Elementary
with a rating of 2.83 on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being “least” and
5 being “best”.
For respondent groups, the results were the same as overall rating
with the exception of Teacher parent in school district indicating
lowest rating for Build New on Other Site and Keep for
Administration.
For school groups, the results for highest rating for all groups,
with the exception of Cedar Canyon and Freshman Academy, were the
same as overall rating. Cedar Canyon and Freshman Academy
respondents indicated higher rating for Build on Other Site and
Keep for Administration. Results for lowest rating varied among the
groups with predominately Renovate Lincoln Elementary with highest
number of lowest ratings.
