From the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has commissioned a survey to find out more about what school districts need and they need to get as many responses as possible from Kentucky school board members, superintendents, and administrators.
We have worked to identify a short list of participants in this research, which aims to build the field’s understanding of how districts access and use outside technical assistance partners for some of their most important reform initiatives.
We know that many districts rely on outside partners to support key initiatives such as the implementation of Common Core as well as developing effective teachers. We believe, however, that there is not enough transparency in the field to understand in which specific areas districts need the most help, and to identify those partners that are most effective in working with districts.
The Parthenon Group, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is conducting this research in Kentucky, as well as in a handful of other states in the country. We are not just asking for your help – we also want to make sure that the responses of your peers can be valuable in building your own knowledge. Therefore, all districts that participate in the research will receive a summary report for your state specifically that describes the opinion of your peer district leaders on:
· Which specific activities within Common Core and teacher effectiveness reforms are most commonly a top priority for districts?
· What type of work are districts tending to do in-house, vs. where are they typically seeking assistance?
· For each initiative, which organizations are seen as most effective in the eyes of other districts?
You were selected to receive this survey because we see you as one of a small number of individuals in Kentucky who is likely to have deep knowledge about working with technical assistance providers. We are counting on responses from individuals with your perspective to help shape this research. Because we have targeted very few individuals, each response is absolutely critical to the success of this project.
If you believe others in your district are also well positioned to answer this survey, please do forward this email. We welcome more than one response from each district.
The survey can be accessed at this link and will take approximately 20 minutes to complete: http://survey.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_9EKissl539oEXwF
Thank you in advance for your input.