The Fayette County Board of Education is reviewing a draft survey aimed at Fayette County high school graduates in an effort to see if their academic needs were met and how high school prepared them for college and employment. The draft survey by Hanover Research was viewed last week by the school board.
Beyond determining demographic information from respondents, the survey asked a number of questions pertaining to a student’s high school experience, the school attended and the credits earned.
The survey asked if there was anything the student would change and the degree to which that change should be made.
Another section of the draft survey dealt with college experience. Questions were designed to track the student’s general attitude since graduating high school, an assessment of the transition to college, the major selected, whether the student felt prepared for course work compared to their college classmates and their experience living on campus.
Still another section dealt with both life after college and those students who did not attend college. Both groups were asked about current employment and if their high school helped prepare them for the responsibilities of the job. The survey asked the length of time on the job, the rate of pay and where they are currently living.
The school board will continue to review the draft survey and forward questions to Superintendent Jody Barrow.
The school board on Oct. 5 heard a presentation that would have the school system contracting with Hanover Research to determine how Fayette students fared in the post-secondary world and what Fayette might have provided to better equip them for college and a career.
The idea is not a new one given that Chairman Marion Key and former board member Bob Todd recommended several years ago that the school system do that very thing. The idea presented by Key and Todd at the time was squelched by their fellow board members, none of whom are serving on the board today.
The difference between then and now is that Todd and Key believed the school system had the ability to perform the task in-house.
On Oct. 5, Superintendent Jody Barrow said, “We’ve got some folks that can do it, but they would not have the time to do the in-depth research while doing their job. We can do it (with Hanover) without having (to dedicate) a full-time staff.”
The contract with Hanover comes with a cost of $45,000 per year.
According to Hanover, its services include data analysis, secondary research, benchmarking and primary research and survey design, administration and analysis.
