Frequently Asked Questions
TELL Texas Survey 2014
February 2014
What is
“TELL Texas” ?
TELL Texas is an anonymous
statewide survey of all school-based
teachers, administrators, counselors,
and other professional employees to
assess teaching conditions at the
school and district level.
The state’s education leaders want to
ensure that every educator has the
supportive environment necessary to
help students achieve at the highest
levels!
Copyright © 2014 New Teacher Center. All Rights Reserved.
What is the purpose of the 2014 TELL Texas
Survey?
The 2014 TELL Texas Survey is a statewide opportunity for all school-based
teachers, administrator, counselors, and other professional employees to
provide input on teaching conditions such as:
•
Time during the day for collaborative instructional planning
•
School and teacher leadership
•
Facilities and resources
•
Professional development
•
And other supports needed for educators to do their jobs well.
The main intent is to provide additional data for school and district improvement.
The survey is required by House Bill 2012 (83rd Legislative Session).
Copyright © 2014 New Teacher Center. All Rights Reserved.
Can you tell me about the basics of the survey?

TELL Texas is an anonymous, online survey of all school-based teachers,
administrators, counselors, and other professional employees in the state

The survey will be live from April 7-May 31, 2014.

***Access codes will arrive by USPS the week of March 31 addressed to
the principals.***

Educators can access the survey via any Internet location, using an
individual, anonymous access code.

Anyone can view the response rate at any school during the survey
window to make sure every school reaches the minimum response rate
needed for data (50%).

Results will be available on line for schools reaching the 50% minimum
response rate and minimum of 5 educators about 5 weeks after the survey
closes.
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How can I take the survey?
Once you receive your anonymous access code, visit www.telltexas.org
 24 hours/day
 Use any Internet location
 View the survey questions
 Read about the research
 Take the survey!
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How long does it take to complete the survey?
TELL Texas takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. You must
complete it in one session and be sure to click “submit” when you
are finished.
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How will educators receive their anonymous access
codes?
The principal in each school will receive a packet of
letters the week of March 31st.There will be a bright
sticker on the envelope for each school. Packages
are delivered via USPS.
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How will educators receive their anonymous access
codes?
In each packet, there will be a Letter of
Instruction. The principal in each school
is asked to:




Set up a faculty meeting to take
place between April 7th and May
1st.
Share key talking points about the
TELL Texas Survey.
Disseminate the letters randomly.
Educators can switch their letters
once received with other licensed
educators based in their same
school.
Meet personally with anyone not in
attendance to explain the process.
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Your individual,
anonymous
access code!
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What if I misplaced or never received my
anonymous access code ?
1.
2. Help Desk phone: 1-800-310-2964 (7:30 AM-4:30 PM Mon. – Fri.
during the survey window)
3. Help Desk email: helpdesk@telltexas.org
Copyright © 2014 New Teacher Center. All Rights Reserved.
What happens if a school did not
receive access codes?
If your entire school did not receive access codes- the administrator
should contact the Help Desk
1. Website: www.telltexas.org
2. Phone: 1-800-310-2964 available 7:30 AM-4:30 PM local time,
Monday through Friday during the survey window.
3. Email: helpdesk@telltexas.org
Copyright © 2014 New Teacher Center. All Rights Reserved.
What should we do if the website has the
incorrect number of people for my school?
All requests for headcount changes must be
submitted via website by the school principal.*
1. Visit www.telltexas.org and click on the “Need
Help?” button then the click the ‘headcount’ link.
2. Include the name of the school and district as well
as the corrected headcount.
It may take as long as 48 hours for
the change to be reflected on the website.
* Or designee
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The Help
Desk!
How will I know my responses were submitted
successfully?
When your responses arrive safely in our database you
will receive a "Thanks! Your survey is completed”
Copyright © 2014 New Teacher Center. All Rights Reserved.
Who can participate in the survey?
 All school-based

teachers,

principals,

counselors, and

other professional school-based employees in the state
 Itinerant teachers should complete a survey for their home-based school but
may also complete a survey for any other school in which they work
 Licensed school-based part-time teachers can participate
Copyright © 2014 New Teacher Center. All Rights Reserved.
Do administrators and teachers receive separate
codes?
No. They will use the same website (www.telltexas.org) to access the survey
using one of the anonymous access codes on the letter. At the very beginning of
the survey the participant will be asked to select his/her school position.
When the principal selects
“Principal” he/she will then
receive many of the same
questions as teachers, but
will receive an additional
bank of questions that has
been specifically designed
for administrators.
Copyright © 2014 New Teacher Center. All Rights Reserved.
What are access codes and are they really
random?
• They are randomly generated codes, that provide
confidentiality for the educators, created by the New
Teacher Center, and associated to school buildings so that
schools can use the results from their own respondents.
• Codes are NOT linked to any individual.
• It is impossible to trace to an individual before, during, or
after the survey is completed.
• It does not matter which educator uses a particular code
within a school building.
• Each code can only be used once.
Copyright © 2014 New Teacher Center. All Rights Reserved.
Can you ensure that this is anonymous?
We are confident the survey is anonymous because:

The survey is about the school environment - not about
any one person or individual.

There are NO questions asked that refer to an individual
educator or administrator; rather, questions refer to
“leadership” at the school.

There are no questions on the survey that specifically ask
about subject areas or grade levels.

When the letters with the unique, anonymous access
codes are distributed in the school, educators are
encouraged to switch letters, thereby demonstrating the
codes are anonymous.
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Can you ensure that this is anonymous? (cont.)

When the school reports are released (for all schools with a minimum of 5
educators and 50% responding) there is nothing to indicate any type of
teacher or any one administrator in a school or district.

There are two demographic questions on the survey (years of experience
and position) used for routing. The answers to these questions are only
reported at the state level, and not at the district or school level.

There is no way that any connection between a teacher or principal at a
certain school and a certain response can be made.
Copyright © 2014 New Teacher Center. All Rights Reserved.
What if I’m the only new teacher? How will my
response really be anonymous?
There is a minimum sample size of at least 5 educators and 50%
responding for any school level report; So, unless there are at least 5
teachers within their first three years of teaching, no data will appear on the
school report for the “New Teacher Section,” if the school reached the 50%
response rate.
Additionally, individuals can feel even more secure about their anonymity
being protected because:
• It is not possible to view data by role, years of experience, or any
other demographic information at the school or district level.
• Demographic data will only be reported at the state level.
Copyright © 2014 New Teacher Center. All Rights Reserved.
When will the results be ready and how can they
be viewed?
All data will be available on the www.telltexas.org website approximately 5
weeks after the close of the survey window;
• Results show answers to every question by school* and district
• Results can be downloaded in Excel format
There will be Guides posted on www.telltexas.org for districts and schools
on how to use the data for improvement planning.
*Results for schools reaching the minimum, 50% threshold for response and
having a minimum of 5 educators.
Copyright © 2014 New Teacher Center. All Rights Reserved.
Who is administering this survey?
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has contracted with the New
Teacher Center (NTC) to administer the state’s survey. NTC is a
national organization dedicated to supporting the development of
a high-quality teaching force. NTC has conducted similar surveys
in other states and provides induction and professional
development for teachers and principals across the country.
Since 2008, the NTC has collected more than one million surveys
in 20 states, providing critical information to the faculty in more
than 26,000 schools about issues such as planning time, facilities
and resources, professional development, school and teacher
leadership, and other aspects of the school environment that can
influence teacher effectiveness.
Learn more at:
http://www.newteachercenter.org/tlcsurvey/index.php
Copyright © 2014 New Teacher Center. All Rights Reserved.
Why are teaching conditions important?
Research has shown that the quality of teaching conditions
can encourage or constrain good teaching and have a
powerful influence on student achievement.
Understanding and improving teaching conditions can
result in:
• Increased student success
• Improved teacher efficacy and motivation
• Enhanced teacher retention
• Recruitment strategies targeted to bring educators to
hard-to-staff schools
The work is research driven and is now part of national
education reform initiatives.
Copyright © 2014 New Teacher Center. All Rights Reserved.
Why is it important to complete the TELL Texas
Survey?
•
A growing body of research shows the importance of positive teaching
conditions to student learning and teacher retention.
(http://www.newteachercenter.org/tlcsurvey/index.php#tlc)
•
Education leaders want to hear from every teacher and administrator in order to
make the best decisions about facilities and resources, professional
development, time for collaboration, and ways for improving instruction. TELL
Texas will provide that data and much more.
•
YOUR voice will help inform the decisions that are made not only at your
school, but also in your district.
Copyright © 2014 New Teacher Center. All Rights Reserved.
Thank you,
Texas Educators!
Copyright © 2014 New Teacher Center. All Rights Reserved.