MassCUE encourages school districts to participate in the SpeakUP Surveys before January 13, 2017!

Speak Up, an online national research project facilitated by Project Tomorrow, annually polls students, educators and parents about key topics of importance to K-12 educators and policymakers such as:

• Student use of technology in and out of school to learn.
• Educator use of technology for instruction and their vision for 21^st century classrooms.
• Hot trends in emerging technologies (e.g. mobile devices, online, blended and flipped learning, gaming, digital and online textbooks)
• Enhancing student achievement in science, math, technology, and 21^st century skills.

Speak Up provides an easy way for students, parents and educators to participate in the dialogue about K-12 program and policy decisions at the local, state and national level. Since 2003, Project Tomorrow has collected the viewpoints of over 4 million students, educators and parents.  The Speak Up dataset represents the largest collection of authentic feedback from these key educational stakeholders.

As a participant in Speak Up, which will be held through January 13, 2017, your district will receive free, online access to the aggregated results with national comparisons. This valuable data can be used for your strategic planning, professional development and budgeting plans during the school year.

Additionally, the aggregated Speak Up results are shared with K-12 educators, government officials, university faculty, business leaders and staff from youth and educator-serving organizations.

Why should your district participate?

• Free survey results. Your district and participating schools will have free, online access to the survey and results with national benchmarks.
• Gain insight about what’s important to your stakeholders .  The data highlights the usage, attitudes, and aspirations of your stakeholders giving you the ability to identify their priorities.
• Use the data to inform your strategic planning and budgeting process. The data can be used to facilitate discussions and measure the success of your initiatives. District administrators report using the data to inform their district technology plans and budgets, assess professional development needs, plan school reform efforts, measure the effectiveness of technology plans or substantiate grant applications.
• Ensure that your students, parents and educators are included in the national dialogue on K-12 education. The Speak Up results are released at Congressional Briefings, through special reports, and presentations to staff at federal agencies and at key educational conferences. Your participation in Speak Up will ensure that your district, along with other innovative and forward-thinking districts, has a voice in the national dialogue.