Survey: Thrill of learning absent in schools

By Emily Richmond

Monday, Sept. 20, 2004 | 10:54 a.m.

When it comes to fostering enthusiasm for learning, the Clark County School District barely passes, a new survey of students, parents and staff shows.

The district sent its annual "customer satisfaction" survey to all 268,500 students and their parents and teachers. They heard from 22,951 parents, 104,913 students and 2,856 teachers, administrators and support employees such as food service workers, custodians and office personnel. All three groups were asked to rate how strongly they agreed or disagreed with a particular statement about the district's operations.

When asked if schools were helping their children become enthusiastic about learning, 78.9 percent of parents agreed. But just 60.9 percent of teachers agreed that their students were enthusiastic. And the lowest mark of the entire survey came from the students themselves -- just 35.5 percent agreed that their schoolmates were enthusiastic about learning.

When those responses are combined the district's average was just 61 percent.

Mary Ella Holloway, president of the Clark County Education Association, said students should have been asked to describe their own level of enthusiasm for learning rather than assess the overall campus environment.

"Children can't judge how other children are reacting -- they know about themselves," said Holloway, who spent 30 years teaching at-risk students, including two decades at Bridger Middle School. "Sixth graders don't go running up and down the halls saying, 'Hooray, I get to learn something today.' "

Karlene McCormick-Lee, assistant superintendent of research and accountability for the district, said her office is indeed considering rewording how students are asked to rate academic enthusiasm. But this year's responses are still valid, she said.

Patterns in the overall responses for each group were clear, McCormick-Lee said.

"Parents believed that the resources and quality of the teachers were critical to what a child needs in order to learn and the staff responses said basically the same things," McCormick-Lee said. "What students felt was most important to their learning was enthusiasm and whether or not they were enjoying what they were doing."

In some areas -- such as curriculum and school safety -- all three groups surveyed were largely in agreement that the district was doing a good job.

McCormick-Lee, who will present the survey results at Thursday's meeting of the Clark County School Board, said district staff was "thrilled" by the high approval rating for general instruction. At least 85 percent of each group agreed students were learning the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics. And about 90 percent of parent, student and staff respondents agreed students were learning other subjects, such as science and the arts, as well.

In other areas -- such as the school environment -- the lowest ratings came from students. Of those who answered the survey, just 56.7 percent of students agreed their schools were clean, compared with 93.3 percent of parents and 83.7 percent of staff. And 71.6 percent of students agreed their schools were safe, compared with 88.2 percent of parents and 91.9 percent of staff.

It makes sense that students are the harsher critics, said D.J. Stutz, president of the Nevada PTA. Most parents only see the outside of their child's school when they drop them off in the morning and venture on campus for the occasional open house or conference, Stutz said.

"We all need to pay more attention to the student's experience," Stutz said. "A lot of times they're the missing element at the discussion table. Whether it's about enthusiasm or cleanliness or anything else at the schools, the students do have a valid viewpoint and need to be considered part of the team."

Broken down by grade level, the most parent responses -- 54.7 percent -- came from people with children in elementary school. Parents of middle schoolers were next at 20.9 percent followed by parents of high school students at 16.1 percent. The remaining responses came from parents who did not identify their child's grade level (8.1 percent) and parents of alternative school students (0.2 percent).

Elementary schools used "the Backpack Express" to deliver surveys home to parents. Parents of secondary school students were sent their copies in the mail, which might account somewhat for the lower return rate, McCormick-Lee. However, elementary school parents are traditionally the most active in school-related activities with participation dropping off steadily at the middle school and high school levels.

As part of the "A+ Plan in Action" plan and the School Board's directives, the survey results will be used by Superintendent Carlos Garcia to monitor performance and achievement district-wide and make recommendations for improvements.