Teaching, Empowering, Leading & Learning Survey (TELL) AISD

Dr. David Lussier
“In order for AISD to better support teaching and learning on campuses, we must first understand those campus attributes that are supporting or impeding the delivery of high quality instruction. TELL AISD will provide us with timely data on working conditions in Austin and will allow us to benchmark our progress in this area within the district and across the state and country..”

-Dr. David Lussier, Executive Director of Educator Quality

Thank you, AISD educators! Over 8,200 participants, representing more than 85% of the district's educators completed the survey. Results for all schools are now available.

The Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning (TELL) AISD Survey is a confidential survey of all AISD campus staff, designed to capture their perception of their school environments. TELL AISD was administered in January and February, 2011.  The purpose of the survey is to support sound educational policies and practices based on the views of teachers, principals and other educators in our schools. The respondents were asked for their perceptions on a variety of issues related to student achievement and staff retention, including:

  • Time
  • Empowerment
  • Leadership
  • Facilities and resources
  • Student behavior management 
  • Community support and involvement
  • Professional development
  • Instructional practice and support
  • School achievement press
  • General school climate
  • New teacher support and mentoring/induction programs

Over 85% (more than 8,200) of AISD’s educators completed the voluntary survey, providing valuable data for school, district, and state policymakers-based on input from those which research has shown to be the most valuable in improving student achievement- practicing educators in our schools. School-level data results are now available for schools that reached the minimum response rate threshold of at least fifty percent. These results will be a tremendous asset as school leaders plan for improvement over the next two years.

This survey was initiated by the Executive Director of Educator Quality, Dr. David Lussier; Chief Human Capital Officer, Michael Houser; Chief Performance Officer William Caritj and Director of Program Evaluation, Dr. Holly Williams.

The Importance of Teaching & Learning Conditions from The New Teacher Center (NTC):

To do their jobs well, educators need supportive school environments where they are valued, trusted and can collaborate to improve instruction.

Research has shown that the quality of teaching conditions can encourage or constrain good teaching and impacts student achievement. While strong connections among teaching conditions and teacher recruitment, retention and student success have been documented, policymakers have not had the kind of data necessary to understand and address this important issue. Understanding and improving teaching conditions can result in:

  • Increased student success
  • Improved teacher efficacy and motivation
  • Enhanced teacher retention
  • Targeted recruitment strategies to bring educators to hard-to-staff schools

Survey results highlighted strong connections among student achievement, teacher retention and teaching conditions—particularly school leadership, teacher engagement and community involvement. When controlling for a multitude of student, teacher and school characteristics, analyses were consistent across states: educators reporting strong leadership; sufficient resources and support; and a manageable workload had higher student achievement.

For more information about TELL AISD, please view the FAQs and other links provided in the menu bar, or email any inquiries to survey@austinisd.org for additional information.