RIDE to Launch 2023 Statewide SurveyWorks Initiative

Published on Tuesday, January 17, 2023

School culture and climate survey for students, families, and educators available January 17 - March 31

PROVIDENCE, RI - The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) will launch the 2023 administration of SurveyWorks on Tuesday, January 17. SurveyWorks is a statewide school culture and climate survey that collects critical feedback from students, families, and educators. In 2022, RIDE saw a substantial jump in participation, with a total of 125,876 responses. This is 10,000 more responses than in 2021.

SurveyWorks touches upon a range of important topics, including school safety, the quality of professional learning for teachers, respect between students and teachers, and how inclusive and welcoming school environments are for parents and families.

"The importance of SurveyWorks to our Rhode Island school communities and RIDE cannot be overstated. This annual survey gives us unique insight into the experiences of students, families, and educators, and remains critical to forming responsive policy and meeting targeted academic, social, and emotional goals in the wake of the pandemic,” said Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green. “Thank you to the administrators who went above and beyond to drive engagement and ensure our student, educator, and family voices are heard. We look forward to your innovative thinking to effectively administer SurveyWorks this year and providing a comprehensive window into the state of Rhode Island education."

In 2022, scores for many topics returned to pre-pandemic numbers, meaning that although the data are slightly lower than in 2021, they are often comparable to or higher than 2020 responses. For example, school - teacher-student relationships had a 76% favorable score; this is down from 79% in 2021, but consistent with the Spring 2020 score (and in the top quintile when compared to a national dataset). 61% of students in grades 6-12 responded favorably about school safety; this is down from 69% in 2021, but up from 54% in 2020. Read other highlights from the 2022 results.

SurveyWorks data is embedded into the state’s Report Card platform as a key measure of school performance that families can view to better understand the strengths and challenges of their school. At the district level, the results can help inform programmatic decisions that support robust student, family, and educator engagement.

SurveyWorks is accessible on computers, laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. Responses are completely anonymous and confidential with surveys available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. The survey window is open from January 17-March 31, 2023.

To learn more, view last year’s results, or access resources to help promote the survey, visit SurveyWorks.ride.ri.gov. Families are encouraged to contact their school(s) with any questions and for more information. School communities are encouraged to join the conversation using the hashtag #SurveyWorks.