What is “TELL Indiana” ?

Copyright © 2011 New Teacher Center. All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2013 New Teacher Center. All Rights Reserved.

What is “TELL Indiana” ?The TELL Indiana (Teaching, Empowering, Leading, and Learning) survey is a unique opportunity for all educators in schools participating in the Indiana Teacher Incentive Fund initiative to provide valuable input on key education issues such as school and teacher leadership, professional development, and more.

This endeavor is funded by the Teacher Incentive Fund as part of the principal evaluation requirements of the grant.


How is the 2014 TELL Indiana Survey connected to the Teacher Incentive

Fund?

In 2010, Indiana was awarded a federal Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grant to implement teacher and principal performance-based compensation system in 44 Indiana schools. The Indiana TELL survey is provided by the TIF grant and is used to meet the grant requirements.

The TIF grant also funds the TAP System in all participating schools.


Wasn’t there a TELL Indiana Survey in 2013?

Yes!


What has happened as a result of the 2012 and 2013 TELL Indiana Surveys?• Data was used to determine 30 percent of principal

and assistant principal performance awards.• Tools were developed and posted at the

www.tellindiana.org website for school and teacher leaders to utilize for school improvement planning.

• Presentations, webinars and brief training were provided to school leaders at the 2012 Indiana TAP Summer Institute and webinars in the summer of 2013 to facilitate data use.

• TIF-participating schools across the state analyzed the survey results to make school improvement decisions.

http://www.tellindiana.org/


TOOLS for School Improvement


Can you tell me about the basics of the survey?

TELL Indiana is an anonymous, online survey of every licensed school-based educator in the participating schools.

The survey will be live from April 14 - May 16, 2014. Educators can access the survey via any Internet

location, using an individual, anonymous access code. Anyone can view the response rate at any school

during the survey window to make sure every school reaches the minimum response rate needed for data (50%).

Results will be available for schools reaching the 50% minimum response rate and minimum of 5 educators.


How can I take the survey?

Once you receive your anonymous access code, visit www.tellIndiana.org

24 hours/day

Use any Internet location

View the survey questions

Read about the research

Take the survey!

http://www.tellmass.org/


The principal in each school will receive a packet of letters the week of April 7th. There will be a Letter of Instruction included. The principal is asked to:

Set up a faculty meeting to distribute the survey access codes and share information about the TELL Indiana Survey.

Disseminate the letters randomly. Teachers can switch their letters once received with other licensed educators based in their same school.

Meet personally with anyone not in attendance to explain the process.

How will teachers and administrators receive their anonymous access codes?


There will be a bright fluorescent sticker on the envelope for each school.


Instruction Letter


Educator Letter

Your individual, anonymous

access code!


There will be a toll-free Help Desk 1-800-310-2964 available 7:30 AM-4:30 PM in your time zone Monday through Friday during the survey window. Help Desk can also be accessed at any time through Email ([email protected]) or by accessing the website (www.tellIndiana.org). Anyone (principals or teachers) not receiving codes should contact the Help Desk at 1-800-310-2964 during the survey window.

Who can I call if I need help, lose my access code or didn’t receive an access

code?

?????

The Help Desk!

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.telltennessee.org/


What should we do if the website has the incorrect number of people for my

school??????

The Help Desk!

All requests for headcount changes must be submitted via webform by the administrator.Complete the headcount change form located on the help page.

It may take as long as 48 hours for the change to be reflected on the website.


At www.tellIndiana.org you can click on any school and view a response rate tracker in real time.

How do we know when a school reaches the minimum 50% response rate needed for school-level data?

http://www.tellinnovation.org/


All licensed school-based educators (teachers, administrators, media coordinators, counselors, etc.) in the state.

Itinerant teachers should complete a survey for their home-based school but may also complete a survey for any other school in which they work.

Licensed school-based part-time teachers can participate.

Who can participate in the survey?


No. They will use the same website (www.tellIndiana.org) to access the survey using one of the anonymous access codes on the letter. At the very beginning of the survey the participant will be asked to select his/her school position.

Do administrators take the same survey as teachers?

When the principal selects “Administrator” he/she will then receive many of the same questions as teachers, but will receive an additional bank of questions that have been specifically designed for administrators.

http://www.tellkentucky.org/


Do administrators receive separate codes?

No. There are no distinct access codes for administrators or teachers.

All anonymous access codes will be in the packet of letters sent to the principal.


How are the administrator results reported?

To ensure anonymity of all respondents, all responses for administrators are reported as an aggregate.


No. Only school-based licensed educators.

Are central office licensed personnel included?


Can you ensure that this is anonymous? The survey is about the school environment - not about any one

person or individual.

There are NO questions asked that refer to an individual educator or administrator rather, questions refer to “leadership” at the school.

There are no questions on the survey that specifically ask about subject areas or grade levels.

When the letters with the unique, anonymous access codes are distributed, educators are encouraged to switch letters, thereby demonstrating the codes are anonymous.


Can you ensure that this is anonymous? (cont.)

When the school reports are released (for all schools that reach at least a 50% response rate and with a minimum 5 teachers) there is nothing to indicate any type of teacher or any one administrator in a school or district.

While there are some demographic questions on the survey, the answers to these questions are only reported as an aggregate, and not at the district or school level.

There is no way that any connection can be made that a teacher or principal at a certain school gave a certain response.


TELL Indiana takes approximately 20-30 minutes to complete.

You must complete it in one session and be sure to click “submit” when you are finished and wait to receive a notice you have successfully submitted the survey.

How long does it take to complete the survey?


How will I know my responses were submitted successfully?


When will the results be ready? How can they be viewed?

As in 2013, all data will be available on the www.tellIndiana.org in the summer once analyses to support principal evaluation are conducted.

Results show answers to every question by school* and district. Results can be downloaded in Excel format and comparisons to 2013 will be available.

*Only for schools reaching the minimum threshold for response.


What are access codes and are they really random?

• They are randomized codes that provide confidentiality for the educators, created by the New Teacher Center and associated to school buildings so that schools can use the results from their own teachers.

• They are not linked to an individual. • It is impossible to trace to an individual before, during, or

after the survey is completed.• It does not matter which educator uses a particular code

within a school building. • Each code can only be used once.


How will the results be used?

Gathering the data from those who work with children everyday in our schools- the teachers- helps to capture valuable information, which research as shown is important in improving student achievement and teacher retention efforts.

The results should be used, along with other data artifacts, in school improvement plans.

Results are also used to determine principal and assistant principal performance awards (count toward 30% of the principal and TAP performance award.)


Performance Award Calculation for Principals and Assistant Principals1. Single weighted average from survey factor

average is created• 25% School Leadership• 15% each Teacher Leadership, Professional

Development, Instructional Practices/Supports• 10% each Managing Student Conduct and

Community Engagement/Support• 5% each Time and Facilities/Resources

The weighted average could range between 1.00 and 4.00


Performance Award Calculation for Principals and Assistant Principals2. Standard deviation from the mean of the weighted

average from 35 selected comparison schools where the survey was identically administered

• Schools matched on level, urbanicity, poverty, size• Schools drawn from almost 7,500 schools across

multiple states and districts • Data on urbanicity and poverty from federal NCES data

The deviation could range between -4.00 and 4.00, but it will be capped if the deviation was greater or less than -.50 or .50) for a total ranging from -.50 to .50


Performance Award Calculation for Principals and Assistant Principals3. The 2013 weighted composite measure will be subtracted from the 2014 measure to attain an amount of growth. While the difference could range between -3.00 and 3.00, it will be capped at +.50 to -.50

4. The three scores will be added to create a single “score” that could range from 0.00 to 5.00. 2013 survey results comprise 80% of the score, growth in conditions 10% and comparisons to like schools 10%


As in 2012 and 2013, the Indiana Department of Education has contracted with the New Teacher Center (NTC) to administer the state’s survey.

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.

Learn more at: http://www.newteachercenter.org/tlcsurvey/index.php

Who is administering this survey?

http://www.newteachercenter.org/tlcsurvey/index.php



Documents

What is “TELL Indiana” ?