Students participate in teacher evaluation survey
Recently across FCPS, TPGES (Teacher Professional Growth and Effectiveness System) produced a student voice survey to better understand how students, feel about their teacher’s performance in the classroom. The student voice survey gives FCPS students a chance to help improve their learning experience.
TPGES’ main goal is to develop teachers’ abilities and, in turn, benefit kids’ learning experience. They also aim to give student’s greater learning opportunities.
The student voice survey gives questions specific to student engagement and effectiveness of teachers. It also asks about how students learn best and how teachers can grow to better their student’s opportunity to learn.
“The student voice survey is like the survey at the bottom of a Walmart receipt,” TPGES Specialist Lori Bowen said. “We use the information from the survey to improve what we are doing and give valuable results to teachers to improve students’ ability to learn.”
The voice surveys are new this year to Kentucky public schools. Research shows that students are better judges than professionals of expressing if teachers are effective or not, and can determine that within ten minutes of being in a classroom.
“You can tell when teachers care about their students’ learning and will go the extra mile to see their kids succeed,” Freshman Kayla Riddell said. “Most teachers are teachers because they want to benefit others and see kids flourish in learning, and also in life.”
“We have teachers who are fantastic,” Bowen said. “Teachers are growing based on the data in the voice surveys to be as effective as possible for the ultimate audience which is kids.”
Many students have already taken the survey, and believe it is a good idea that will benefit both teachers and kids.
“Everybody learns in different ways,” sophomore Haley Wright said. “The student voice survey is a good way of giving teachers feedback on how to get kids more involved in lessons, and to encourage relationships between kids and their teachers.”
With the information the teachers get back from the survey, they can adjust their planning accordingly to meet the needs of every student.
“Some teachers have already gotten back their results and they think its great information to have,” Bowen said. “They can make immediate changes to their classroom based on the results to improve the learning experience.”
The survey provides developmentally appropriate questions based on a student’s grade. For example, the questions for 3rd-5th graders are different than those of middle or high school survey questions. Full lists of the questions on the student voice survey are available online.
“School is an important part of preparing kids for life.” Bowen said. “For TPGES, our customer is kids; and administration is here for furthering kids.”
Fayette County has a saying, “It’s about kids” and the TPGES student voice survey was made really to help benefit kids’ learning and to help teachers grow to have all kids learn efficiently every day.
“It truly is ‘About the kids’, Bowen said. “We want growth and change in teaching and learning, in the long run if we focus on the fact that it’s about student learning it will help us work through the growth process.”