FAQs

MI Student Voice is a suite of perception surveys for Students, Educators, and Parents/Guardians. 

The Student Perception Survey is a tool to help provide a holistic picture of student experience at school. Topics covered include students’ perceptions of their engagement, belonging and social-emotional learning. The survey is designed to capture feedback from students, uplifting student voice to help guide district and school improvement planning, including classroom instruction, support services and facilities improvements.

To compliment the Student survey, the Educator Perception Survey and Parent/Guardian Perception Survey provide additional perspectives in the school community. More globally, measuring these areas paints a broader picture of school quality beyond what is currently available through test scores. While academic outcomes are important, these indicators help to better represent the multi-faceted functions of public schools.

When the survey questions were first assembled in 2019, Kent ISD involved other research organizations to review the questions. To note, none of the initial questions were written locally by subcommittee members. Each question was derived from nationally recognized student perception and culture surveys. The committee prioritized and selected the types of questions to be included. In spring of 2021, the survey was pilot tested. BASIS Policy Research and American Institutes for Research (AIR) helped with the final process of assembling questions that were aligned to measure Engagement, SEL and Belonging and removed questions that had poor alignment with the three domains – a standard process in survey development. 

Since then, the questions have evolved and been redeveloped with statewide collaboration from subject matter experts. Questions face rigorous evaluation including internal and external validation studies and cognitive interviews. The MI Student Voice Technical Advisory Committee reviews how survey questions are working between survey administrations and makes recommendations on whether questions should continue to be part of the surveys.

The Student survey is designed for grades 5-12. Exemptions should only be for those with significant exceptionalities. The Educator and Parent/Guardian surveys are designed for all grades PreK-12. All questions are optional, and participants may skip any questions they do not wish to answer.

The Student, Educator, and Parent/Guardian surveys all take less than 15 minutes to complete on average.

The Student, Educator, and Parent/Guardian surveys are administered each spring between February and May. Administration is split between four different windows that districts can choose from to best fit the needs of their community.

After a district signs up for the survey, a technical advisor will reach out to confirm their customizations and details about their school(s). They will receive a link to an Administration Toolkit with customizable communication templates, survey questions, and more. In addition, they will receive a customized list of their questions to post to their website.

Two weeks prior to their chosen administration window, the district will receive their customized links to the survey(s) as well as QR codes. Participants use this link to access the district’s customized survey.

Each survey is administered online using Qualtrics CoreXM software through a designated online weblink. The surveys may be completed on a computer, tablet, or mobile device. The Student and Parent/Guardian surveys are available in the following languages: Arabic, Bengali, Dari, English, Farsi (Persian), Karen, Kinyarwanda, Mandarin, Pashto, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, and Tigrinya.

Throughout their three-week administration, the technical advisors will send participation rates every Friday afternoon/evening. They will personally reach out if they notice low participation or missing responses. 

After the window closes, districts will receive their results in 1 week. Results will be available via a personal login to the website. After all windows are completed in May, MI Student Voice will invite all participating districts to a final presentation to discuss consortium results.

Parents and legal guardians must be notified that their school is taking the survey. Participating districts are provided with a sample parental communication and opt-out form. This is known as passive consent. Parents and legal guardians who do not want their child to participate may opt out. Parents and legal guardians are not required to opt in for the survey. Survey questions and results must be posted to the district’s website for the public to access.

Yes. The MI Student Voice surveys do not identify individual students, educators, or parents/guardians. Demographic information is optional for each survey.

Once the administration window closes, districts will receive their reports in 1 week. For each survey they participate in, they will receive a Domain-level report (summary level) and a Question-level report (deep-dive) for their district and each building within their district. 

If they participate in the Student survey, they will also receive a 1-page summary report to post on their website. If they participate in all three surveys, they will receive Anchor reports for the district and each building within the district. These Anchor reports compare the responses of similar questions on the Student, Educator, and Parent/Guardian surveys. 

The Qualtrics XM software includes “ballot stuffing prevention,” bot detection and other fraud prevention to ensure that only students in your districts complete the survey. Additional information on fraud and survey protection measures within Qualtrics can be found here and here.

A participation rate of 30% or higher is recommended for the most reliable results. Technical advisors will contact districts throughout administration if their participation is lower than this threshold.

Districts utilize the data in a variety of ways. Results often lead districts to conduct focus groups and determine community priorities. Currently, several school districts integrate survey results with existing systems like MICIP to craft their data narratives, illustrating how the data contributes to school improvement.

Two administrators participated in a Mental Health Summit in Lansing, Michigan, in November 2024, demonstrating how they are addressing mental health by applying data from the MI Student Voice Perception Survey to inform and improve school quality and supports in their districts. See presentation for more information. Other districts have been sharing best practices at various workshops and breakout sessions at educational meetings and conferences.

As the survey administration extends to various districts, there is a continuous learning process from the experiences of others in utilizing survey results. It's crucial to emphasize that each district maintains ownership of its data; explicit consent is required before sharing it with any external entity. The data is also employed at a consortium level to disseminate statewide results. In addition, results are not intended to be used for any school, district, or staff accountability purposes.

Data is be stored locally on Kent ISD’s servers in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Kent ISD’s data privacy policy can be found here. Qualtrics is the survey platform adopted for administration and school districts will not have access to student responses unless requested. Qualtrics’ data privacy policy can be found here. Data will be retained for the length of the project. Each district owns their own data and therefore has the right to request that it be deleted at any time.

Different surveys are designed to achieve specific goals, and it is not uncommon for them to overlap or include similar questions, especially when measuring the same factors. The MI Student Voice Perception Survey is specifically developed to assess three factors: social and emotional learning, student engagement, and sense of belonging. These factors are measured using questions that are highly reliable and theoretically grounded, ensuring sound validity. Importantly, these three domains are strongly connected to academic performance. The survey has undergone peer review by experts from BASIS Policy Research and the American Institutes for Research, and endures rigorous validity testing yearly. Additionally, all MI Student Voice surveys are offered at no cost, with free reporting included.

Other surveys may focus on areas such as behavioral and emotional health, student health risk behaviors, or school climate. School districts often administer multiple surveys to meet diverse objectives. The data collected from these surveys helps districts implement evidence-based policies. The more triangulated and comprehensive the data, the clearer and more accurate the insights for the school district.

The MI Student Voice Perception Survey originated with funding from a grant provided by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund (MHEF). Following a successful pilot, significant year-over-year growth, and expansion to a suite of surveys, the Michigan State Legislature allocated dedicated line-item funding to support the MI Student Voice initiative in 2024. Kent ISD remains deeply committed to advancing this work as a shared standard for assessing student experiences statewide. To sustain and expand these efforts, Kent ISD will continue pursuing additional grant opportunities as well as further state funding.