Speak Up 2017 Guide for Superintendents
Dear District Administrator,
Join educators from across the country using the Speak Up Research Project for Digital Learning to identify how your students, teachers, administrators and parents want to use technology for learning, communications and collaboration.
Speak Up, a national initiative of Project Tomorrow, is both a national research project and a free service to schools and districts everywhere. Since fall 2003, Speak Up has helped education leaders include the voices of students, faculty, parents and the community in annual and long-term planning.
Speak Up includes the option to survey: K-12 students, teachers, librarian media specialists, parents, school and district administrators, technology leaders, communications officers and/or community members.
The research topics include: learning and teaching with technology, mobile learning, classroom models, device preferences, internet access and speed, professional development, online learning, digital literacy, open education resources, social media, digital content and more.
There is no fee to participate, or limit on the number of respondents. All information is 100% confidential. The surveys take less than 20 minutes to complete. Each participating institution receives a free online report in February 2018, aggregating all local data with national data to use for comparative benchmarking and local advocacy. Project Tomorrow only shares your district data with your registered contact. All publicly shared data is national-level only.
Why should your district participate?
"Rather than spending time preparing a survey and compiling the data, we make use of the survey because it is already prepared, the data is compiled, assistance is available to help us interpret it, AND the data is compared and as a nation overall dissected for current trends in the data.” – Texas School District
· Free survey results – Your district and participating schools will have free, online access to the survey and results with national benchmarks.
· Gain insight about what’s important to your stakeholders – The data highlights the usage, attitudes and aspirations of your stakeholders regarding educational technology.
· Use the data to inform your strategic planning and budgeting process – The data can be used to facilitate discussions and measure the success of your initiatives. District administrators report using the data to inform their district technology plans and budgets, assess professional development needs, plan school reform efforts, measure the effectiveness of technology plans, advocate for funding and/or substantiate grant applications.
· Ensure that your students, parents and educators are included in the national dialogue on K-12 education – The Speak Up results are released at Congressional Briefings, through reports and infographics, and presentations to staff at federal agencies and at key educational conferences.
It’s easy to get started. Simply register someone in your office as your district's primary contact. Register today online or by contacting the Speak Up Team at .
The annual surveys will be open for input October 16, 2017 through January 19, 2018 giving you plenty of time to plan and promote the project.
It’s easy to encourage participation
We provide a suite of promotional materials, and update them throughout the survey period. In addition, here are a few ideas that Speak Up districts use to encourage participation:
· Assign a primary contact responsible for facilitating Speak Up in your district.
· Use social media networks to get the word out!
· Send an email to your school principals, technology coordinators, and/or media specialists encouraging them to promote Speak Up.
· Put a link to the survey on your district web page.
· Encourage your partners (school board members, PTA liaisons, community groups) to get the word out about the importance of participating in Speak Up.
· Publicize Speak Up on your school district's calendar.
· Designate a day between October and January as “Speak Up Day” and encourage as many people as possible to take the survey on that day.
· Encourage your principals to include Speak Up in their back-to-school activities.
· Offer prizes to the school with the highest participation.
· Participate during Speak Up America Week or Speak Up Appreciation Week and increase your district’s chances of winning prizes from Project Tomorrow and our partners.
Please let us know how if there is anything we can do to assist your efforts. You can contact us via email at or by calling our national office, 949-609-4660.
Check out the Speak Up website for additional information and updated Promotional Materials for Speak Up 2017. To learn more about Speak Up and Project Tomorrow, please visit tomorrow.org.