CMS teachers being polled -- again

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is polling teachers on school climate in hopes that the data will help principals create a better workplace.

The survey was created by TNTP (The New Teacher Project),  a nonprofit that focuses on training and supporting excellent teachers.  Earlier this school year,  Superintendent Heath Morrison brought TNTP's president in to talk to principals about the group's report on "The Irreplaceables,"  which highlighted how districts fail to do enough to reward great teachers while making it too easy for bad ones to stay.

Barnes

CMS Accountability Chief Frank Barnes says the TNTP survey will be given this spring,  next fall and in spring of 2014. "Its focus is the instructional culture of a school, which can impact student performance and teacher retention,"  he writes.  "Our intent is to use this survey ... as a tool for continuous improvement.  The results of this survey will be shared with each school principal this spring in a formal,  yet readable,  report.  The reports are structured to give school leaders actionable feedback that can be tracked over time."

At the start of the school year,  CMS polled all employees on morale,  as part of a yearlong,  $140,250 polling and communication contract with K12 Insight.  Although the new survey is titled Insight,  it's not part of that contract  (I've asked about the cost, but haven't gotten an answer yet).

Teachers are also taking the annual CMS survey,  which is used in principal evaluations  (the TNTP survey will not be).  They also take the state Teacher Working Conditions Survey every two years,  but this is an off year.
 
Barnes acknowledges that the level of surveying is  "more than normal and more than there will be next school year."  The big question is whether it will make life better for teachers. Reaction I've heard has been mixed,  with some teachers skeptical and others thrilled that the new leadership team is listening.