Despite numerous efforts to increase engagement in the parent/guardian survey, our response rates have been consistently under 25%, including 15% for the 2021-22 School Year. By mailing paper copies to every household, we are removing or reducing several main barriers, including the need to enter their student's ID (it will be pre-printed), technology barriers inherent in the online version of the survey, and communication barriers if parents are not already aware of the survey through their schools or other means. This solution also alleviates burden on school staff, who in previous years have been asked to distribute, collect, and return paper surveys. 

The vendor will mail a paper copy of the survey, pre-printed with the student ID number, along with a cover letter, to all District households, as well as all households for charter schools that opt in. The survey will be formatted so that responses can be scanned automatically using a machine, rather than entered manually. Respondents can mail the surveys back at no cost to them using the included envelope and Business Reply Mail. The vendor will receive the surveys, scan the responses, and send us back a data file. Parents can still take the online version of the survey and will be encouraged to do so; this just gives them another option. 

Other large school districts, including Boston, mail paper copies of parent/guardian surveys in order to increase response rates. 

Selected data from the Parent/Guardian survey is used as a leading indicator for Guardrails 1 and 3. The more parents that respond to the survey, the more representative the data will be. More parents taking the survey also means more parents engaging with the data and hopefully connecting with schools about the results. The success of this contract will be measured by the response rate to the survey and the amount of time saved from school staff no longer distributing the surveys, and central office staff not having to manually enter the data.