Teacher survey
The Focus on Learning teacher survey is part of the Tell Them From Me suite of surveys on student engagement and wellbeing. The teacher survey provides school principals and school leaders with insights into school and classroom effectiveness from the perspective of teachers.
About the teacher survey
Where possible, all eligible schools are encouraged to undertake the teacher survey from 2021. All teachers across all year levels in the school should participate in the survey.
The teacher survey is anonymous.
Benefits of the teacher survey
How does it work?
The teacher survey takes around 15 minutes and is conducted entirely online during a specific survey window, commencing each year in Terms 3. Teachers will have the option of completing the survey on their school or home computers at any time that is convenient within the survey window. The survey can also be completed on personal devices, including tablets and smartphones. The survey is anonymous and data suppression rules are applied to the school reporting tools where there are fewer than five responses. School leaders typically receive their school's data within three business days of closing the survey.
Teachers, principals and school coordinators can log into the survey here: https://nsw.tellthemfromme.com/
What does it ask?
The teacher survey asks questions related to the following drivers of student outcomes:
- leadership
- teaching strategies
- setting challenging and visible learning goals for students
- teacher collaboration
- classroom technology
- planned learning opportunities
- the learning culture in classrooms
- school inclusiveness
- quality feedback for students
- the use of data to inform practice
- parent/carer involvement
- helping students overcome obstacles to learning
Ensuring teacher anonymity
To protect teacher anonymity, schools will be provided with anonymous and randomly generated usernames and passwords prior to the start of the survey period. These usernames and passwords will then be distributed to teachers. Survey responses will not be linked to Department of Education staff identification numbers. Data suppression rules are applied to the school reporting tools where there are fewer than five responses.
Who will be able to see my school's data?
Schools will be able to see their own aggregated data. They will not see individual teacher responses.
Researchers will have access to teacher level data for system-wide analysis. The researchers are interested in trends only, not individual teacher responses. Researchers will not be able to see responses to any open-ended custom questions that schools may choose to add to the survey. No teacher will be identified in any publication. No school will be identified unless they have given their express permission.
As with other departmental data, your Director, Educational Leadership and selected policy staff from state office may view your school’s report.
Schools are encouraged to use the data as part of their ongoing community and stakeholder discussion.