What is TELL Colorado?
Who will take the survey?
Who is conducting the survey?
Who is administering the survey?
How long is the survey?
How is my anonymity protected?
How do I get an access code to take the survey?
What if I lose my code or have problems taking the survey?
How will the EDUCATOR responses be reported?
How will the PRINCIPAL responses be reported?
How will the results be used?
How much does this survey cost?
Where else has this been administered?
How have the results been used elsewhere?
Still have questions?
What is TELL Colorado?
The Teaching, Empowerment, Leading and Learning (TELL) Colorado is an online, anonymous survey of all public school educators in Colorado of their perception of their school environment. The survey will be available for educators to complete between April 13 and May 11, 2009.
The survey, called for in House Bill 08-1384, authorizes the Colorado Department of Education to conduct a biennial survey of teaching and learning conditions. TELL Colorado is a unique opportunity to gather information about school conditions from those whose views matter most—practicing educators. The purpose of the survey is to support sound educational policies and practices based on the views of teachers, principals and other certificated educators in our public schools. The results of this survey will provide local school and district educators and state policymakers with information on what is working well, and what could be working better, in our schools.
Back to top
Who will take the survey?
All school-based licensed educators currently working in a Colorado public school should take the survey. Educators without a license but who are in positions that are traditionally licensed by the state should also take the survey.
All principals, assistant principals, building level administrators (such as deans), and charter school teachers (regardless of licensure status) should take the survey as well as full or part-time licensed teachers including: instructional coaches, mentor teachers, department heads, vocational teachers, literacy specialists, endorsed school librarians, itinerant teachers, long-term substitutes and other specialists such as special education teachers, speech therapists and audiologists, school psychologists, school psychiatrists, social workers, school nurses, OTs, and PTs.
There are two parts to the survey: Educator Questions and Principal only Questions.
Educator Questions: will be answered by all educators. Respondents will be asked for their perceptions on a variety of issues related to student achievement and teacher retention, including the adequacy of facilities and resources, time, empowerment, school leadership, community support, professional development, mentoring and induction services, and student learning. A limited number of questions specifically related to new teacher and principal support and mentoring will be addressed to our newer colleagues.
Principal Questions: A limited number of questions will be answered by principals only. Data will only be reported at the state level in order to protect the anonymity of principals. These questions are designed to gauge principal perception of district supports to create positive school conditions.
Back to top
Who is conducting the survey?
TELL Colorado is being conducted by the Colorado Department of Education in partnership with a coalition of education organizations, all of whom believe that it is critically important to listen to educators' views when shaping school improvement strategies.
The coalition partners are:
- Colorado Association of School Boards
- Colorado Association of School Executives
- Colorado Department of Education
- Colorado Education Association
- Colorado League of Charter Schools
- Governor Bill Ritter
Additionally, several other organizations have contributed to and endorsed the initiative.
Back to top
Who is administering the survey?
Through a competitive process, CDE has selected the New Teacher Center to conduct the statewide survey of all school-based licensed educators in spring 2009. The New Teacher Center (NTC) is a national organization dedicated to supporting the development of a high-quality teaching force. NTC has conducted similar surveys in other states and provides induction and professional development for teachers and principals across the country. In 2008, NTC conducted surveys in seven states and one large school district, hearing directly from more than 215,000 educators and providing data to more than 6,000 schools. In 2009, NTC is working with Maryland and Vermont in addition to Colorado.
Back to top
How long is the survey?
The survey should take about 20 minutes. Participants will be asked to share their perceptions on a scale of one to five on a series of questions. Participants may preview the survey online prior to taking it at www.tellcolorado.org.
It is important to know that the survey can NOT be saved for completion at a future time once it has been started. Participants should not begin the survey unless they have about 20 minutes to devote to completing it. The survey can be taken anytime from anywhere there is an internet connection.
Back to top
How is my anonymity protected?
The New Teacher Center has developed a system for guaranteeing the confidentiality of the respondents while ensuring each educator only takes the survey once.
Educators will receive a randomized and unique six-digit security code to enter at the start of the survey. The security code makes it possible for each participant to submit the survey only once. The participant's name is not matched to the security code. An educator may trade his or her code with another educator in the same school building, since the codes are only used to identify the school, not the individual. The survey may be taken on a computer at school, home, or any other location that has Internet access.
The database is managed by NTC and cannot be accessed by school administrators or any coalition members. There is NO way to track a code to an individual, even at NTC. The database does not include any names of individuals.
Confidentiality has never been breached in any of the other participating states or districts. Further, all school and district reports will NOT include any demographic information such as years of experience, role, etc. so there will be no way anyone can know whether you have taken the survey or what your responses were.
TELL Colorado is NOT connected to the teacher and principal identifier pilot program currently being considered by the Colorado General Assembly. All codes are unique and created exclusively for use in this survey. After codes are entered to take the survey, and the survey is submitted, they serve no purpose and will be discarded.
Back to top
How do I get an access code to take the survey?
Shortly before April 13, each participant will receive a letter from Governor Bill Ritter and Commissioner Dwight Jones inviting them to use the personal security code at the top of the letter to take the survey between April 13 and May 11, 2009. Code letters will be distributed at the school level by the Colorado Education Association Representative in the school in conjunction with the principal.
Envelopes of the code letters will be sent and addressed to the Association Representative. For charter schools, these envelopes will go to and then be disseminated to your school by the Colorado League of Charter Schools.
Back to top
What if I lose my code or have problems taking the survey?
Starting April 13th, The TELL Colorado Help Desk is available by phone for the duration of the survey. The help desk will be able to provide a new access code to those who lose their letters and to answer any questions about the initiative.
Back to top
How will the EDUCATOR responses be reported?
- Statewide results from the teacher responses will be aggregated and reported to the public by the end of May 2009.
- Educator responses at the school and district level will be reported to the public upon completion of all analyses of the results approximately 7 months later. These results will be a compilation of educator responses to all questions and presented as bar charts for the school, district and state. School-level data is available only if at least 50 percent of educators respond.
- During this seven-month period, however, all school professional staff will have access to their school's data through a password-protected process. This is meant to ensure that educators have time to have data-driven discussions about school improvement planning and that a better understanding of the relationship between teaching conditions, teacher retention and student learning can be analyzed prior to making the information public.
- In addition, during this six-month period, district administrators will have access to their district and school responses through a password-protected process.
Back to top
How will the PRINCIPAL responses be reported?
- Statewide results from the principal only responses will be aggregated and reported to the public by the end of May 2009.
- To protect the confidentiality of respondents, no school or district level responses will be available.
Back to top
How will the results be used?
The results of this survey are NOT a part of the state or federal accountability system. They are not a part of accreditation or making Adequate Yearly Progress. Further, the results of the survey are about schools, not individuals and are not intended to be used as an evaluation tool in any way.
At the school and district levels, TELL Colorado data can be used to promote discussions about instruction, planning time, professional development, school improvement and related policy issues.
At the state level, the data will be useful to CDE, policymakers, stakeholders, the Governor and legislators who authorized this survey and are committed to listening to the voices of educators as they develop and implement education reform policies.
CDE and the coalition partners have signed a statement of purpose that clearly articulates both the purpose of the survey and how the data should (and should not) be used at www.tellcolorado.org.
Back to top
How much does this survey cost?
Budgets are tight in Colorado and several programs have been cut to make ends meet. This survey is being conducted, results reported, findings analyzed, and assistance provided for $100,000 in state funding. Resources were appropriated by the legislature last spring and the New Teacher Center began working last fall on the initiative. CDE and the TELL Colorado partners look at this survey as an appropriate investment despite the economy.
- The survey will provide schools, districts and the state with information on many policies and programs that do not take significant resources to address. For example, many questions focus on decision making within schools and the presence of trusting, supportive environments. Our hope is that schools, even without additional funds, could begin to discuss and address some issues identified in the survey.
- Findings from other states have demonstrated a significant link between teaching conditions and retaining teachers. With research showing that it costs approximately $11,000 for every teacher lost (replacement, investments in professional development, etc.), we view this survey as an investment that will pay dividends by helping to identify areas that will improve teacher retention.
Back to top
Where else has this been administered?
Similar surveys have been administered by the New Teacher Center in nine states and one large district: North Carolina, Kansas, Maine, Alabama, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Fairfax County Public Schools. In addition to Colorado, Maryland and Vermont are conducting teaching conditions surveys in 2009.
Back to top
How have the results been used elsewhere?
The results are being used in various ways in the different states and districts, perhaps most extensively in North Carolina. North Carolina was the first state to launch a survey in 2002 under the leadership of Gov. Mike Easley. The NC survey focused on teacher working conditions. All of the surveys to date have focused on working conditions, recruitment and retention because teacher working conditions are student learning conditions, because teacher recruitment and retention is so critical to school improvement.
Schools and districts have acted on the information locally in different ways depending on the results. For example, the results have been used in support of a bond initiative and for the development of better school improvement teams. At the state level:
- Survey results central to education reform efforts - In North Carolina, the survey has been administered every two years starting in 2002. The results are analyzed and recommendations based on them are made by the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Advisory Board.
- Positive working conditions promoted - The state has rewritten principal standards to incorporate teacher recruitment, retention and administration. Additionally, all new principals are required to take professional development funded by the state on creating positive working conditions.
- Investments made in support of good educational practices - Funding was allocated to create a blueprint for School Improvement Teams in integrating survey results into school improvement planning, and conducting a state conference to share best practices. The Teacher Academy receives $2 million annually to provide professional development in high poverty school. Turnaround plans are being analyzed in low-performing high schools to ensure survey data is incorporated in reform strategies.
Back to top
Still have questions?
Contact the TELL Colorado helpdesk while the survey is open, and check the main website often www.TELLColorado.org.
Back to top
