Examining Teaching and Learning Environments among Kentucky Schools to Watch and Non-Schools to Watch Schools Using TELL Survey Data

Abstract

In 2017, the state of Kentucky distributed the Teaching, Empowerment, Leading, and Learning (TELL) survey to gain an understating of the learning environments in Kentucky schools. Many of the items on the TELL survey addressed key components of the School to Watch criteria and rubric. Researchers were interested in the teaching and learning conditions in Kentucky middle schools that contributed to successful school environments as defined by the Schools to Watch criteria, and to use results from the TELL survey to see what high scoring schools were doing well according to the teachers and principals that completed the survey. Researchers compared the 12 STW schools in Kentucky to other top scoring schools using TELL survey and STW report data. Findings suggest Kentucky STW schools are performing slightly above average compared to all other middle schools in all areas of the TELL survey. However, only two STW schools scored in the top 10 of the survey and the top scoring schools performed much better on the survey. Researchers discuss the implications of these results and suggest areas for future research.

Keywords

• schools to watch; tell survey; middle grades; learning environments