TELL Kentucky

As we wrap up the 2013 Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning (TELL) Kentucky survey, I want to thank the coalition of partners who supported the survey. I also want to thank Governor Beshear for his support and vision for TELL Kentucky.

The 2013 TELL Kentucky survey was a huge success. We had more than 42,000 teachers and principals respond –more than 83 percent of school-based certified staff in the state. In addition, more than 90 percent of our schools reached the 50 percent response rate required to receive a feedback report.

Now the hard work begins. It is extremely important that school councils and principals, school boards and superintendents, review the results from the survey and make plans on what to celebrate and what to improve. We are honored that many of our partners in Kentucky have developed tools to help councils, principals, superintendents and school boards review the data and put the results to use for school improvement. For more information on available resources, please check out the web site www.tellkentucky.org.

Sometime this summer, the Kentucky Board of Education will also review the survey results and the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) will work with our partners to celebrate successes and plan statewide strategies to address needed improvements. KDE will also conduct research on which survey domains most strongly correlate to improving student achievement.

It is my hope that all of our partners will join together in using the results of the survey to push for additional resources and support for classroom teachers and principals. Our Kentucky educators have done tremendous work in the last few years. With the implementation of common core standards, assessments, accountability and professional learning, we have asked educators to do much more with a whole lot less. As we approach the General Assembly budget session in 2014, it will be a tremendous asset to say that according to more than 42,000 teachers in Kentucky, we need the following …

When I came to Kentucky in 2009, Phil Rogers who was then the Executive Director of the Education Professional Standards Board and Mary Ann Blankenship with the Kentucky Education Association approached me to garner my support for the TELL Kentucky survey. As a former superintendent in North Carolina, I used the working conditions survey that is the basis for TELL Kentucky, so I knew firsthand how important it is to determine teachers’ and principals’ views about their working conditions. Having worked with the survey for more than 10 years, I am very confident in the following statement – Ensuring great working conditions for educators ensures great learning conditions for students!

Again, thank you teachers, principals, superintendents and all of our partners for your support of the TELL Kentucky survey and the data it generates that is so critical for improving education in our state.