Public surveys are a vast source of information for public school systems. They are an efficient way to collect data on the problems facing the school district and the needs of students and families. In 2016, the Arlington Partnership for Children, Youth and Families (APCYF) partnered with Arlington Public Schools (APS) to create a universal information gatherer called the “Your Voice Matters” Survey.

This voluntary survey is given to random APS students, staff and parents and is designed to “provide the Arlington community with a snapshot of school climate, staff engagement, and family well-being” according to the APCYF’s website.

It is also important to note that the results of the survey are recorded using a method called percent favorability. The example that the APCYF gives to help people better understand this concept is the question: how excited are you about going to your classes? The favorable answer choices would be extremely excited, or quite excited, while the unfavorable choices would be somewhat excited, slightly excited and not at all excited.

This survey has been conducted annually since 2016, and the most recent was administered in the spring of 2018. The results of that survey are now available to the public, and they provide some interesting insight in areas like bullying, safety and the quality of instruction in APS.

Despite the recent focus on cyber-bullying in Arlington and across the nation, APS students report that in-person bullying is still more prevalent. The report showed 35 percent of students in 7th-12th grade say they have been bullied by another student in person, while only 21 percent report being cyber-bullied.

However, despite the lower percentage of cyber-bullying, one of the main issues that this modern form of bullying presents is the fact that it is easier for victims to hide the bullying from their families and friends. Out of the 4,821 family members who took the survey, only six percent reported that their APS student had been bullied online. Unlike conventional bullying, there are no physical signs that the bullying is going on because it happens over the internet, and many parents of victims are unaware of what their child is going through.

Another surprising statistic, given the amount of lessons about bullying that are incorporated into the curriculum here in Arlington, is the amount of teachers who do not feel confident in their ability to help a bullied student. According to the APCYF, only 56 percent of Arlington County non-instructional staff feel comfortable in a situation involving a bully and a victim, while an even lower 50 percent of instructional staff feel confident.

Despite some of the concerns about bullying, every category of people- from office staff to middle school students- responded favorably when asked how safe they feel in school and the community, with 7th through 12th graders reporting on average 67 percent favorability.

Quality of education is a major focus in Arlington County, and the school system strives to provide the appropriate classes and opportunities to challenge every student. They do this with varying levels of success. The line between just the right amount of work and too much is a tough one to walk; however, teachers generally feel that they succeed in this area, with 63 percent responding favorably to the topic of individualized learning.

Unfortunately, the majority of the students and families were not as positive as the teachers. Only 38 percent of students report that they are often challenged by their classes, and only 34 percent of families notice their student being challenged.

These numbers may seem very low and discouraging, however, it is important to factor in the potential bias that families and students may have. Teachers are trained to know how hard to push a student, and just because the student or the parents of that student think they should be challenged more, doesn’t mean that they should actually get more challenging, individualized work.

Perhaps the most alarming statistic is found in the “voice” section of the survey. On APCYF’s website, they describe voice as “[The] staff[’s] perceptions of their opportunities to feel valued, supported and heard.” This topic comes in as the least favorable topic among central office staff, non-instructional staff and teachers. Many Arlington County staff also report having little to no influence on important decisions that affect them at work with only 40 percent of teachers saying that their opinion is valued.

The numbers are already very low, and they are also averages that are being driven up by the male staff. When asked “How much do leaders in your school value your opinion?” 49 percent of male teachers responded favorably, while only 39 percent of the female staff felt the same way.

The county needs to focus on voice and individualized learning, but none of these numbers are very far from where they need to be. Overall, the results of the 2018 Your Voice Matters survey were positive for Arlington County. They showed that the majority of students always feel safe in school and that cyber-bullying is much less common than we thought.

It is impossible for APS to achieve 100 percent favorability in all categories. There are always going to be people who feel like something should be done a different way, or who disagree with a certain policy that the system has put in place. However, surveys like this one give the people charge the ability to see what the most pressing issues are, so that they can work to solve them.