University of Nebraska Kearney

Specialist (Superintendent/District Level) Graduate Program Assessment Report 2005: Surveys

Submitted Fall, 2005

(Objective 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10)

Assessment

To provide insights into the levels of preparedness graduates experience when becoming administrators and the strengths and weaknesses of the EDAD program in contributing to their readiness, parallel surveys were sent to employers and alumni.   Every three years parallel surveys are sent to a random sampling of UNK EDAD Program graduates who are currently practicing school administrators in Nebraska and to their Board Presidents. Results of the survey were compiled and examined to determine if there were implications for changes in EDAD programs.  Information was shared with both inter-and external audience, and for making recommendations and, if needed, program changes.

On April 1, 2005 the University of Nebraska at Kearny’s Educational Administration Department (UNK EDAD) sent out its triennial graduate survey. Completed questionnaires were received from 58 of 95 Master degree graduates for a return rate of 61%. Completed surveys were returned from 27 of 76  Specialist degree graduates for a return rate of 36%.

Two additional components were added to the 2005 survey.  Superintendents who supervised recent graduates of the UNK EDAD Masters program were asked to rate those administrators using the same areas as the self-rating questionnaire sent to the principals. Board Presidents who were on boards of education that employed recent graduates of UNK EDAD Specialist program were asked to rate those superintendents using the same areas as the self-rating questionnaire sent to the superintendents. Completed questionnaires were received from 27 of 76  superintendents for a return rate of 36%. Completed surveys were returned from 20 of 76 board presidents for a return rate of 26%.

Master Degree Survey

In Table 1 are the comparative response for the UNK EDAD master degree graduates in the 1998, 2002, and 2005 surveys. In 2005 the mean average was 4.08 (1 = very poor to 5 = very good), identical to the mean average for respondents in 2002.  The responses of the principals in each of the three surveys rated “Effectiveness in maintaining positive relationships with staff, students and patrons” as the strongest component. Three areas were not rated above 4.00 by the respondents on all three surveys. Those areas were:

• Knowledge and application of instructional and administrative technology
• Effectiveness in managing and accounting for building level budget and funds
• Currency regarding educational research on student learning and best practices in curriculum and teaching

TABLE 1:  Master Degree Survey
Response Scale: Very poor = 1, poor = 2, fair = 3, good = 4, very good = 5

Principal – Superintendent Survey

In Table 2 are the comparative responses of recent graduates from the UNK EDAD Masters program and the superintendents who supervise them. The superintendents rated the principals higher than the principals rated themselves in 10 of the 12 areas. The two areas were the superintendents rated the principals lower than the principals rated themselves were:

• Ability to schedule and organize daily classroom and extra-duty events
• Skill in oral and written communication

The top rating for both the principals and superintendents was “Effectiveness in maintaining positive relationships with staff, students and patrons”.

All of the mean averages of the superintendents’ responses were above 4.00 (good)

TABLE 2:  Principal – Superintendent Survey
esponse Scale: Very poor = 1, poor = 2, fair = 3, good = 4, very good = 5

Superintendent Survey

Table 3 shows the comparative response for the UNK EDAD Specialist degree graduates in the 1998, 2002, and 2005 surveys. In 2005 the mean average was 4.07 (1 = very poor to 5 = very good), down from the mean average of 4.09 for respondents in 2002. The respondents from all three surveys consistently rated 9 of the 14 areas 4.00 or better.

TABLE 3:  Superintendent Survey
Response Scale: very poor = 1, poor = 2, fair = 3, good = 4, very good = 5

Superintendent & Board President Survey

The comparative responses of recent graduates from the UNK EDAD Specialist program and the board president of the boards that employ them are in Table 4. The board presidents rated the superintendents higher than the superintendents rated themselves in 11 of the 14 areas. The three areas where the board presidents rated the superintendents lower than the superintendents rated themselves were:

• Ability to schedule and organize the overall operation of the school district
• Effectiveness in maintaining positive relationships with staff, students, and patrons
• Sensitivity to gender and diversity issues involving staff, students and patrons

All of the mean averages of the board president’s responses were above 4.00 (good)

Table 4:  Superintendent & Board President Survey
Response Scale: very poor = 1, poor = 2, fair = 3, good = 4, very good = 5

Caution
Due to sample size, N< 30, statistical differences may be insignificant.