Share Results

What stakeholders would benefit from engaging with survey results? (Includes 360-degree communication cycle)

Sharing Insight results, and your reflections on those results, demonstrates a desire for transparency and a willingness to engage with feedback, and builds a culture for change throughout the school community. Furthermore, it can be a key step in the 360 Degree Communication Cycle, which is an intentional approach to communication that builds trust with stakeholders, gathers their feedback, and uses that feedback to drive ongoing improvement efforts. For more tools and resources on implementing the 360 Degree Communication Cycle, see this resource.

We recommend engaging multiple school community members after every Insight administration and as you use Insight results in decision-making. Consider your local context as you determine the best strategy to engage the following groups:

School or Central Teams Leadership

School leadership staff may include assistant principals, deans, department chairs, teacher leaders, or other school community members dedicated to supporting teachers and building a strong instructional culture. At the Central Teams level this may include department heads, principal managers, or other cabinet level staff. Leaders may decide to reflect on the results independently, and then lead their respective leadership team through a joint reflection process, or they may decide to engage their leadership team immediately once results are available. The goal of engaging the full leadership team is to ensure everyone is aligned on and invested in improvement priorities, as well as any new or revised school-wide or district/network-wide systems that are put in place in response to the results.

Teachers, Support Staff, Central Teams Staff

We recommend sharing Insight results with survey participants to show appreciation for the feedback they gave and to encourage them to continue providing honest feedback. At the school level our research consistently shows a strong relationship between teachers who say their principals engaged them in improvement efforts and teachers who plan to continue teaching at their school for at least two years.

Students and Families

It is important that students and families know that the school/district/network is reviewing their feedback to inform future actions. Selecting a few headlines to highlight after reports are available is also a great strategy to elicit additional feedback and conversations related to your prioritized domains. Knowing that leaders review and use this data can also provide motivation for students and families to continue to share feedback in future administrations of the survey.

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How should I approach sharing results with staff?

Generally, we recommend sharing the full printable report with staff and setting aside at least 45 minutes for an in-person discussion. School based staff would use the school based report containing teacher and support staff results. Central Teams staff would utilize the department level report from the Central Teams survey. During a staff debrief, we recommend:

1. Sharing leadership team reflections on areas for celebration and priority areas for improvement
2. Listening to staff reactions and interpretations of survey results, and probing further to understand staffs’ experiences
3. Brainstorming solutions to challenges

When sharing and discussing data with stakeholders, leaders must approach these conversations in an inclusive manner that honors all perspectives, recognizes the leader’s identities, and encourages all staff to continue to share their feedback. The leader should set the tone for a staff debrief, and take the following steps before, during and after the meeting.

Before

• Consider your identity (see this activity): Reflect on the identities you belong to and how that may influence how you interpret your data and the focus areas you choose. What perspectives may you not have considered? What blind spots might you have? What would you like to learn from colleagues who do not share your identities? How do these reflections change what data you want to highlight with staff and how you will talk about it? For instance, colleagues who do not share certain aspects of your identity, e.g. your gender, ethnicity, race, or age range, may hear and process feedback differently from the way you intend. Being sensitive to these differences can help leaders work towards more effective, inclusive leadership practices. Jot down your thoughts and keep those in mind as you review data and prepare to share.
• Thoughtfully craft your objectives for the conversation, key messages, and discussion questions: Determine the key data points you’ll share, questions you’ll ask your staff, and any potential next steps you’ll share. As you’re determining datapoints to share, avoid making blanket statements like ‘staff agree DEI is a priority at our school’; instead use more precise language (‘more than half’ or ‘80% of staff’) and emphasize the beliefs you want all staff to have about your school. For instance, in this example you may say something like “While I’m pleased that nearly three-quarters of staff agree that DEI is a priority at our school, and that’s more than who agreed on the last Insight survey, it’s important that all of our staff feel this way, so we’re committed to continuing to improve.” Avoid any statements that may devalue the opinions of staff who are not in the majority.
• Practice with a trusted colleague, manager, or mentor: Bring your identity reflections and Insight data to a trusted colleague, mentor, or manager who will push your thinking and offer an honest perspective. You may also want to rehearse how you’ll talk about the data to your staff and practice responding to questions and comments you anticipate.

During

• Give staff multiple ways to respond: Some staff may feel comfortable speaking up in a meeting while others prefer submitting written thoughts or sharing in smaller groups. Provide multiple ways for staff to share their thoughts and designate other leadership team members who can hold follow up conversations. Additionally, some staff may need processing time, so proactively provide ongoing opportunities to share input (e.g. send an optional follow up survey, have managers discuss this with their teams in check-ins, etc.)
• Listen for understanding: Feedback, Insight data included, often feels personal. However, as staff respond to the data you share, it’s important to listen openly and for understanding (instead of focusing on how you’re going to respond!). Express gratitude to your staff as they share, ask follow-up questions to ensure you’re capturing their thoughts accurately, and avoid rushing to explanations or immediate next steps. You should share your general plan for following up, but keep the conversation focused on your staff and their reactions. Once you’ve shared the data, staff should have most of the airtime.

After

• Follow up after the meeting with an email thanking staff for their candor and to share a summary of your key take-aways from the discussion. Additionally, let staff know how they can continue to share thoughts with you.
• As a leadership team, commit to 2-3 next steps the team will take in response to the feedback. Share those steps with staff, be specific about the changes they can expect and how their feedback informed those steps.
• Continue sharing! Provide regular updates and offer consistent opportunities for staff to engage in these initiatives and share their input.

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Send an email to insight@tntp.org.