Step 2: Using the Inclusive Practices Tools to collect data
Step 2: Key points about using the Inclusive Practices Tools to collect data
- Use the Inclusive Practices tools, school data, and stakeholder consultations to gather data about your school’s strengths and possible next steps
- Share and discuss the findings with the whole school community
- Consult widely about ideas for change.
- Administer your school surveys and view your reports from the Survey admin area.
Information for Step 2
Step 2 is about collecting data to assess needs. During Step 2, schools use the Inclusive Practices survey tools and other information to build a picture of students’, staffs’, and other stakeholders’ views about school practice.
What are the common reasons for using the Inclusive Practices Tools?
Once you have raised awareness about the need for a school review process and assembled a review team, the next step is to consult widely with the different members of your school community. Inform the whole school community about the process for the self-review. This data collection and consultation process will support you to analyse current needs and develop ideas about areas of practice which can be enhanced. The Inclusive Practices tools are designed to support schools to do this. Schools may use the Inclusive Practices Tools to:
- consult with staff, students, and community members to contribute to awareness raising about different stakeholders’ perspectives
- provide suggestions for ongoing improvement of school approaches
- provide data for a needs analysis that is used to develop an action plan
- provide baseline data for monitoring over time
- review progress in relation to school initiatives.
What are the different Inclusive Practices Tools?
The Inclusive Practices Tools include 4 data collection tools (3 surveys and one summary tool - the School Review Profile) that explore similar concepts, but are aimed at different members of the school community including staff, students and parents, whānau and caregivers. Together these surveys support schools to gather data for a needs assessment, as well as track change over time. These are the:
| Tool name | Intended users of tool | Main focus of tool |
|---|---|---|
| Student Survey |
For Year 4-13 students at contributing, primary, intermediate and secondary schools. |
Designed for older students who require extra learning support but can be completed by all students. Questions relate to the extent that students feel they are included and supported to learn at school. |
| School Review Profile (SRP)* | A review team of school leaders, teachers, learning support or special needs coordinator, and other stakeholders (e.g., BoT representatives, or senior students with special needs). | To provide a process and a tool that supports a review team to reflect on different dimensions of school practice to identify strengths, possible next steps and encourage dialogue between different people. |
| Staff Survey* | All staff. | Designed for teaching staff but can also be completed by all school staff and professionals (like RTLB or Resource teachers of Vision and the Deaf) who work at school with staff or students. |
| Community Survey | Parents, whānau and caregivers. | To provide for parent and whānau views about whether the extent to which the school includes their child and supports them to learn, and how school processes and practices could be improved. |
(*available online only)
Assessing needs and raising awareness
When starting a school review and needs analysis process, it is important to involve key stakeholders. One way of doing this is to include a range of people on your review team. The Guidelines for completing the Inclusive Practices School Review Profile give you some ideas about how to develop a representative school review team that will manage the review process.
The anonymous IPT surveys give staff, students, and parents, whānau and caregivers a safe forum to share their views about school life. Results from community or staff surveys can be surprising as they can show differences in perceptions between parents and caregivers, students, teachers and school leaders. Sharing and discussing these findings within a safe environment can raise awareness about different perspectives, develop a shared sense of ownership over school data, and act as a catalyst for change.
As well as identifying existing strengths at a school, IPT results can also be used to suggest the next steps that could be included in an action plan (see Using Inclusive Practices data reports to develop an action plan). Information can also be collected from the key stakeholders about their ideas for ways forward. Involving everybody in designing new approaches is one way of developing a shared sense of ownership over school activities.
When is the best time to use the tools?
The IPT tools can be used at any time. They are likely to be more effective if usage is timed to co-ordinate with your school’s planning and reporting cycle. If you plan to repeat the surveys in later years, it is important to survey students at the same time each year.
It is important to spend some time on Step 1 of the review cycle (planning and preparing for change). During this time you can raise awareness about the need for change and the purpose of the review process and establish a review team.
Consulting widely and collecting a range of data
More than one method of data collection is necessary to gain a picture of school life. As well as the using the Inclusive Practices Tools you may wish to collect other information. Some common forms of data you could collect to inform the school review process are discussed below.
Consulting in a range of ways with different stakeholders
To gain a picture of school life it is important to consult widely with key stakeholders. To supplement the data collected from the Staff, Student and Community Surveys you may wish to hold community meetings or discussion groups with small groups of students, parents, whānau and caregivers. You may want to hold staff professional learning sessions to discuss school data and staff perspectives.
Collecting data from more than one source
To support your use of the Inclusive Practices Tools you can also review other data and information sources to see what these tell you about the extent to which your school promotes inclusive practices. Some examples are:
- What does a summary of existing school review and reporting information and processes tell you?
What does your most recent ERO report tell you about the extent to which your school models inclusive practices? Does your school have goals relating to inclusive practices embedded in the planning and reporting cycle or in your strategic plan? Does your school report to the board of trustees about progress in relation to these goals and in addressing barriers to learning for groups of students? - What does a summary of key school documents tell you?
Does your school clearly promote inclusive practices: on the school website and in information for parents, whānau and caregivers; in the school charter, strategic plan, and policies; and through curriculum planning processes and plans? - What does a summary of IEP processes and documents tell you?
Which students have IEPs? Which needs do IEPs focus on? Do IEP reports show students are making progress across all areas? - What does your school attendance and retention data tell you about students who experience barriers to learning?
Patterns in attendance and retention data can be tracked over time (for both students and staff). - What does student achievement data tell you about students who experience barriers to learning?
Patterns in achievement rates for students who are identified as experiencing barriers to learning can be tracked over time. - What does your school data about behaviour incidents tell you about students who experience barriers to learning?
Behaviour incident data from Duty Teacher Incident records or Office Discipline Referrals can be used as baseline data that can be tracked over time for groups of students. Similarly referral, stand-down, suspension, expulsion, or exclusion data can also be tracked. To ensure that this data is in a form that can be compared over time, details such as the nature of each incident, who was involved, the location, and how it was resolved could be recorded.
Sharing school data
It is important to develop a sense of shared ownership over school data and the need for change. One way to do this is through sharing and exploring Inclusive Practices data with all staff, students, and the wider school community. To support staff, parents, whānau, and caregivers to understand the findings, data could be interpreted by the review team who could then report back to staff and the wider school community.
Inclusive Practices reports can be shared or summarised for parents and whānau during school meetings, fono, or hui, or in school newsletters. Data could be reported to students at assembly or other meetings. Parents, whānau, and students could be asked about their vision for the future and how the community could partner with the school to contribute to this vision. Involving everyone is the process can assist you to develop a shared vision for the future and related short and longer-term goals.
Surveying with the Inclusive Practices Tools
Once you have decided the purpose of your school review, and who will complete the Inclusive Practices Tools, you can log into the School Survey administration area, create the surveys and administer the Student, Community, and Staff Surveys and SRP (see Using the Inclusive Practices survey tools. You could also choose to use the hardcopy version of the Student, Staff, or Community Survey as required.
Surveys do not have to be archived before reports are available. They can be viewed once the minimum number of responses have been submitted.
Guidelines for interpreting your school data can be found in Interpreting the Inclusive Practices reports (info for Step 2).
What next? Using Inclusive Practices data reports to develop an action plan
Once you have interpreted your school data the next step is to develop an action plan for the areas of focus for the school.
See Step 3: Next step planning and Using Inclusive Practices data reports to develop an action plan: info for Step 3.