Educational Achievement by Zip Code

Educational attainment is a key driver of opportunity and social mobility. Higher levels of education are associated with lower poverty rates and increased access to social and economic resources (APA, 2007).

Using data from the Census Bureau we identified the most educated ZIP codes in each state. The analysis includes high school and post secondary education data.

High School Graduation or Higher

While educational attainment is widely considered a key determinant of health, analyses of place-based statistics suggest that other social determinants such as housing and employment, food security, access to health care, neighborhood and built environment characteristics, and violence also impact on-time high school graduation rates. Relationships varied by sex, race/ethnicity and cSES.

Many have wondered whether the recent steep increases in high school graduation rates are an accountability-fueled mirage, sparked by No Child Left Behind’s focus on test scores and subsequent pressure to raise graduation rates. In Tennessee, for example, a wide swath of ZIP codes still lag far behind the state average.

Bachelors Degree or Higher

A bachelor’s degree takes four years to complete. It also tends to lead to higher earnings, even in the early stages of a career.

A college degree can be a ticket to wealth, especially in high-demand fields such as technology, education, and health. The average weekly income of Americans with a college degree is 67% higher than that of those with just a high school diploma.

Some degrees can take less time, such as an MBA, which can be completed in just one year. Others can take longer, such as a doctorate. However, the fastest route to wealth might be a two-year associate degree.

Associate Degree or Higher

An associate degree is a two-year post-secondary degree offered by community colleges and vocational schools. It is often viewed as lower level than a bachelor’s degree, but it still counts as higher education.

It gives you the credentials to show you have some educational background beyond high school and can often help you get better paying jobs. You can also use an associate degree as a stepping stone toward a bachelor’s degree.

A bachelor’s degree may be more expensive, but it opens the door to many higher-paying careers. People with a college degree have lower unemployment rates and are usually paid more than those with just a high school diploma.

No Schooling or Dropouts

Many people who drop out of school do so for a variety of reasons including getting married, having children and having to work or care for a family member. Household income impacts these decisions as well, with low-income students more likely to leave school and rely on welfare and public assistance.

This exhibit shows the number of people in each zip code with no schooling at all or who never completed high school. It also includes the percentage with a GED certificate or equivalent. Those who have an associate degree are asked on the ACS survey to specify whether they earned it as a vocational or academic degree.

Public High School or Private High School

There are many options available for parents in the United States. For example, New York City has a great selection of public and private high schools. Private schools tend to have higher academic standards. In fact, according to research from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), students at private high schools perform better on standardized tests.

Also, they are more likely to offer a wide range of programs. These include sports, theater and debate clubs. Moreover, they are less likely to cut these programs due to budget constraints. In addition, students at private schools are usually safer. They are also less likely to see gang graffiti or be called hate-related names at school.

Public Post Secondary Education or Private Post Secondary Education

Post secondary education is any school that offers higher educational learning opportunities beyond high school. These schools include four-year universities, community colleges and trade schools.

Research shows that education after high school has many benefits, including upward mobility for students and their families. However, it is important to note that race, ethnicity and income are often predictors of access and success in post secondary education.

The majority of counties have partnerships with local higher education institutions that provide resources and opportunities to students. These partnerships can include sharing of data, internships and offering of county land for student use. This collaboration has the potential to expand career pathways in these counties.

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Education Survey Questions Examples

Like any organization, education establishments need to demonstrate their value to stakeholders if they want to continue to receive funding and grow. Surveys help with this process by collecting data and providing feedback that can be used to drive improvement.

Developing the right set of education survey questions is crucial for gathering meaningful data. Here are some tips to keep in mind while preparing your survey.

1. Student Satisfaction

A good student satisfaction survey asks relevant, to-the-point questions that are easy for students to answer. This allows you to collect accurate feedback that helps improve the learning process.

For instance, a question like, “What subjects are you struggling with in this class?” can help teachers find out what subject is causing more trouble for their students. This information can then be used to better support those students.

Another question to consider is asking how satisfied students are with their course instructors. This can help to identify any issues with the teaching model that might be affecting student satisfaction.

Lastly, it’s important to ask how safe students feel on campus. This can help schools reduce bullying, harassment, and other debilitating incidents that impact student satisfaction. This will allow for a safer, more welcoming environment that will benefit all students. This will lead to higher student satisfaction rates across the board.

2. Teacher Performance

Teachers’ classroom practices are critical to student learning and achievement. Teacher performance is assessed using data sources including student achievement, survey results, classroom observations (including teacher-selectable artifacts and/or walks), and self-evaluations completed by teachers. The teacher-student evaluation process is informed by research on the impact of multiple factors, including student perceptions of teachers, classroom environments and teaching methods.

Survey questions about teacher performance are essential to assessing and improving teaching in schools. For example, asking students how they rate their teachers’ ability to create positive relationships and safe spaces in the classroom can reveal insights that help educators improve teaching techniques. Other important questions include how well teachers maintain a conducive learning environment, provide guidance and mentorship beyond the classroom, and whether they understand their students’ needs and interests. This can help teachers make more productive use of their time and resources.

3. Academic Performance

Students often have opinions about the quality of education they receive. These opinions can relate to the curriculum, classroom policies, and the teacher-student relationship. By using the right type of student survey questions, educators can collect valuable feedback that may otherwise be difficult to obtain.

For example, asking how satisfied a student is with the variety of courses available in their program can reveal whether the curriculum meets the needs of the students. Similarly, asking how much time students spend doing homework can give a sense of the stress it puts on them and their families.

In addition, asking about extra-curricular activities can help teachers connect with their class on a different level. Including open-ended questions like “What would you improve about this course next year?” can provide helpful suggestions for ongoing improvement. Students are also more likely to respond to surveys if they feel like their opinions matter. Offering incentives like bonus points can increase participation levels significantly.

4. Student Engagement

Student engagement involves more than just showing up for class or doing the work required to complete a project. True student engagement occurs when students become psychologically invested in the learning process, are eager to do their work, and take pride in achieving mastery of the material.

Student surveys can help schools track these critical drivers. Educators can use survey results to identify areas where student engagement is low and implement strategies to improve it.

Student survey questions can include open-ended and closed-ended questions, as well as Likert scale items. Multiple-choice questions are the most common question type, as they capture quantitative data that is easy to analyze. Open-ended questions, on the other hand, allow respondents to share their opinions/concerns in a few words and can be very useful for understanding what’s important to students. These questions can be used to explore topics such as favorite/least favorite subjects, preferred learning methods, and more. You can also add a question asking students to indicate how interested they are in a certain topic, which is a great way to gauge interest in your classes.

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Education Survey Options

Gathering feedback is a critical part of running any educational institution. Insights gleaned from regularly conducted surveys can provide an overview of all aspects of the learning environment and help identify support systems.

Make your surveys easy to complete with user-friendly templates that are considerate of respondents’ time. Use our drag-and-drop builder to customize your survey questions and create automated charts to maximize data organization.

Student Surveys

Students are the most aware of what goes on inside the academy, and hence can bring to light many issues that are not obvious to the faculty. Student surveys, if carefully crafted with specific questions, can lead to edification changes. Ideally, the survey items should be tethered to established education theory about teaching practices. This helps minimize errors that may skew the ratings for or against an individual teacher (Amrein-Beardsley & Haladyna, 2012).

For example, asking “How accessible is your instructor in terms of getting help with difficult concepts?” can identify students who have difficulty understanding course material and make it easier to reach out to these students for further explanations and guidance.

It is also helpful to include open-ended writing prompts in student surveys, which can reveal important details such as how students learn best and what they are most concerned about in class. These types of questionnaires often result in the most valuable feedback, but they can be more time consuming to develop and administer than Likert-type questions.

School Leavers Surveys

A school leavers survey is a longitudinal study that follows a sample of students who leave full time education after completing Year 12. This is an important way to understand what is happening with young people in their post-school years and provide information on trends.

Whether you are a university trying to secure funding or a school looking to attract new students, having access to meaningful data is essential for any educational establishment. Survey data that is collected and analyzed responsibly can provide invaluable insight to help you make the best decisions for your institution.

It can also be used to demonstrate your value and importance as an education provider. So if you are thinking of conducting an education survey, be sure to consider your objectives and audience groups carefully. The more targeted your questions are, the more meaningful and useful your results will be. For example, questions for parents are likely to have a different impact than those for students.

Course Evaluation Surveys

Course evaluation surveys are a form of direct student feedback that gathers data on the effectiveness of a particular course. The goal of these surveys is to identify what works and what doesn’t in a particular course, so that the institution can make changes accordingly. This type of survey usually includes questions on a variety of topics, such as how clearly the course material is explained, whether students understood their assignments, and more.

A crucial aspect of course evaluations is that they are typically kept anonymous. This encourages students to provide honest answers without worrying about consequences. Furthermore, it is essential that the questions are clear and precise so that the results can be interpreted accurately. It’s also a good idea to include open-ended questions, which allow students to explain their responses in more detail. This is the best way to ensure that your course evaluations are effective and meaningful.

Administrator Surveys

Often overlooked, administrators need to understand their institution from the perspective of the students, teachers and parents that support them. Education surveys allow for this understanding, while facilitating regular feedback that can help to improve the learning experience across all stakeholders.

Parent online surveys can be administered in the fall (opens October 1st) or spring (opens February 1st). Survey links are sent to school administrators who distribute them via email, multiple direct mailings, the student Learning Management System, automated texting systems or on the school website. Link security measures, like a log-in or password requirement, can be put in place to ensure that only parents/guardians access the survey.

We recommend administration for teacher and staff surveys take place early in the year to avoid scheduling conflicts with high stakes testing or poor attendance days. It is also important to train teachers on how to track student refusals and not return parental consent forms and to be aware of the need to administer the survey only to those students who have consented.

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Learning Survey Questionnaire

A learning survey questionnaire is a set of questions used to measure students’ satisfaction with course or training content. These questionnaires can be used to gather feedback at the end of a course or as a continuous activity throughout the term.

How eager are you to participate in class activities and discussions?

Course Evaluation Questionnaires

Course evaluation questionnaires help institutions understand the quality of their courses. They also provide feedback on instructors and the course material. These surveys can be administered online or in person. They may ask open or closed questions. Closed questions generally provide quantitative data, while open questions offer qualitative information.

Educators should ensure that the survey process is confidential so that students can answer honestly. They should also clearly communicate to them that their responses will remain anonymous. This helps increase participation rates and provides unbiased data.

To get accurate results, it is important to have a clear objective when creating a course evaluation questionnaire. This will help you determine which data points to collect and which questions to ask. It is also important to keep in mind that the design of your questionnaire can have a significant impact on the response rate. For example, a lengthy questionnaire may deter participants from responding. Therefore, it is best to limit the number of questions to a manageable number.

Teacher Evaluation Questionnaires

Teacher evaluation questionnaires can be a useful tool for administrators to gauge student engagement in classroom instruction. Although students aren’t always fair evaluators—a hyper fourth-grader or sullen sophomore won’t necessarily be particularly perceptive or helpful—with the right scaffolding, most can be a lot more helpful than many teachers assume.

A good system should allow for anonymous surveys and make clear how the results will be used. This is important to engender trust among teachers. A culture of openness and continuous improvement will only deepen when teachers believe that the district actually takes their feedback seriously.

A good survey will include questions on a variety of topics, from the workload and pace to the teaching style and the way in which the class is structured. It should also include open-ended questions to leave room for unstructured responses. A few of these questions, like “What do you wish you could learn more about in my class?” or “How would you improve this course?” can provide some of the most valuable insight for pedagogical changes.

Training Evaluation Questionnaires

Training evaluation questionnaires must be purpose driven and reflect the goals of the training course. While you can get pre-authored survey questions, it’s best to write your own questions if you want to ensure they align with your specific training objectives.

One of the key areas that training evaluation questionnaires look at is whether participants were able to learn something new. This question can help identify if the training was effective in achieving its goals and highlight the areas that need improvement.

It’s also a good idea to include open-ended questions that give respondents the opportunity to share their opinions on different aspects of the training. For example, asking about the training instructor’s delivery can provide valuable insights that multiple-choice questions cannot. Alternatively, leaving space for written responses can encourage participants to express their views in a way that multiple-choice answers do not allow.

Student Evaluation Questionnaires

Student evaluation questionnaires provide instructors with useful data about their teaching. In addition to identifying problems with course materials or activities, these evaluations can also serve as an effective tool for assessing changes to the instructor’s teaching style.

Students respond better to questions that are shorter and more focused than broad, open-ended questions. Creating specific questions for each aspect of the course (materials, activities, guest speakers) can help you collect more meaningful feedback.

Preference questions allow students to rank various options and determine which features of the course are most or least preferred by students. You can then use the data collected by these types of questions to evaluate how much preference students are giving to certain aspects of your course.

Using the data from these evaluations to make changes in your teaching is an important part of the process of becoming a more effective teacher. It is recommended that you meet with a faculty adviser after reviewing your evaluations to receive input on how to best interpret the results and discuss strategies for making changes in your courses.

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