TELL Colorado Survey: What's Next?

Over 35 percent of Colorado licensed educators -- teachers, specialists, and principals -- took the TELL Colorado Survey from April 13 through May 15. Out of 64,231 educators (including charter school teachers), 23,107 people took the survey for a statewide response rate of 36 percent.

Schools and districts with a 50 percent or higher response rate will get reports on the survey data for their school and district. Survey results will arrive in the next few weeks. Before then, the New Teacher Center staff will run final checks of the responses and determine how to present the summary data as part of school, district, and state reports. Results for the schools and districts with the 50% or higher response rate will be posted on the TELL Colorado web site with password protection. Passwords will be distributed through the same system the survey access code letters were distributed.

Customized tools, such as facilitator and data use guides, will also be posted on the web site. Beginning in June and throughout the summer, teachers and principals will be able to view the data and develop plans for discussing results with all members of the school staff. Guidance will be provided for this step by the TELL Coalition partners: CEA, CASE, CASB, League of Charter Schools, and CDE.

The coalition will use summer conferences and other opportunities to publicize the survey data and work with constituents on how to use the survey results, including offering training to school staffs.

The New Teacher Center will create an interim report by September 2009 that analyzes disaggregated data and incorporates other non-survey data such as CSAP scores.

Watch for more information here about the post-survey phase of TELL Colorado.

The survey is a biennial survey that is funded by the Legislature. That means that the 2010 Legislature will be asked to fund the survey in 2011. Coalition partners will gear up for lobbying efforts next fall. CEA will ask Association members to work with their superintendents and school boards to get funding for the next survey in two years.



TELL Colorado Background Posted Prior to the May 15 Survey Closing

We all want to ensure that Colorado educators have the supportive environment needed to help their students achieve at the highest levels. Right now CEA and our partner education organizations are taking an important step together to make sure educators have these working environments.

We are doing this through The TELL Colorado Initiative, the cornerstone of which is a perceptual survey that will give every educator a confidential means to say whether they have the positive teaching and learning conditions that research shows are important to student achievement and teacher retention. "TELL" stands for Teaching, Empowering, Leading, and Learning.

Completing the Survey
The TELL Colorado Survey is online until midnight May 15 (the survey time is extended past the original closing date), and responses are anonymous and confidential. Educators will receive a personal security code* which enables them to go online and provide their perceptions on the critical issues of time, empowerment, leadership, facilities and resources, community engagement, professional development, and mentoring/induction programs. The confidential survey can be completed in under 30 minutes and from any computer with Internet access.

More about TELL
The TELL Colorado survey was initiated by the Colorado Department of Education in response to HB 08-1384 and in partnership with Governor Bill Ritter, CEA, the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE), and the Colorado League of Charter Schools. Many other organizations helped develop and are endorsing the survey.

The TELL Colorado Survey will capture anonymously the perceptions of all currently employed, school-based licensed educators about their teaching and learning conditions. By documenting and analyzing how educators view critical teaching and learning conditions, the survey can give each Colorado school its own data that can be a valuable part of the improvement planning process in schools, in districts, and in our state.

The initial data will be available by the end of May 2009 for schools and districts to use in identifying strengths and recognizing areas in need of improvement. TELL Colorado Survey partners believe the results will help place educators' experiences and perceptions at the center of school, district, and state efforts to improve Colorado education.

*Survey letters signed by Gov. Bill Ritter and Commissioner of Education Dwight Jones, each with an imprinted, secure access code, are being distributed by CEA Association Representatives, School Principals, and Douglas County Federation of Teachers Building Representatives. If you have not received your access code, talk to your CEA Association Rep or your principal. Or call or email the TELL Colorado Help Desk: toll-free 866-634-7689 from 11am-6pm or email helpdesk@tellcolorado.org

Learn more at TELL Colorado