Houston ISD Family Sentiment Survey Results
Houston ISD recently conducted a winter family sentiment survey, which showed overwhelmingly positive responses from parents and guardians. The survey, which was conducted over a two-week period in December, gathered feedback from over 11,000 parents and guardians, gauging their perception of the school district.
Survey Methodology
The survey was sent to a stratified random sample of over 40,000 parents, with the district choosing not to send it to every parent in the district. According to Matthew Sawyer, HISD’s deputy chief of data and impact, "We don’t send it to everybody, because while it feels more inclusive to send the survey to everyone, what we know is that response rates among different groups are very different, and so best practices nationally indicate random sampling like this helps ensure that you end up with a representative sample at the end of the day."
Overall Favorability
The survey reported high favorability among parents, with over 90% of respondents having an overall positive sentiment towards their experience within the district. Additionally, 84% of respondents said they would recommend their schools to others. Parents were asked 12 questions covering six topics, including academic challenge and quality, safety and belonging, school progress and readiness, district perception communication, special education support, and communication.
Category Ratings
The survey showed high favorability when parents were asked about their child’s academic needs being met, school safety, and school communications. However, district preparedness earned the lowest performance rating, with only 67% of parents believing that HISD is improving or headed in the right direction. This topic also produced the largest discrepancy between schools that are part of the New Education System (NES) and those that are not. Seventy-seven percent of parents at NES campuses agreed that the district is improving and moving in the right direction, while 62% of parents at non-NES campuses agreed.
Racial Discrepancies
The survey also reported racial discrepancies in favorability, with Black families reporting the lowest level of favorability among the different racial groups when it came to their child feeling physically safe, welcome, and included at school. Additionally, district perception varied substantially between Hispanic families, which reported 76.8% favorability, and white families, which reported 37.9% favorability.
Response Rate and Improvement
The district reported that the survey response rate nearly doubled since the last survey taken in May of last year. According to Superintendent Mike Miles, "These results reflect the hard work of our educators, staff, and school leaders who are committed to student success every single day. Families are seeing real improvement in their schools and across HISD. We’re grateful for their confidence and will continue working to earn their trust."
Conclusion
The Houston ISD family sentiment survey results show a mixed bag of responses from parents and guardians. While the survey reported high favorability among parents, it also highlighted areas of concern, such as district preparedness and racial discrepancies. The district has acknowledged these concerns and has committed to continuing to work to earn the trust of families. As the district moves forward, it will be important to continue to gather feedback from parents and guardians to ensure that the needs of all students are being met.
