Getting Feedback from Arcola Graduates
For several years, the Arcola School District has worked with a company called LifeTrack Services Inc. who conduct an exit survey with the graduating seniors. In addition to this survey, LifeTrack also conducts a follow-up survey one year after graduation and then five years after graduation. The key for the follow-up surveys is getting enough participants to make the data worthwhile. In other words, if the participation rate is too low, we are getting a very limited picture from our graduates. The school district leadership team uses these results as one piece of data as the team plans school improvement efforts.
The following sections provide information on survey results from the 2018 graduates and the 2017 graduates one year after being out of high school.
Senior Exit Survey – Class of 2018
There were a total of 33 students that took the exit survey last spring. Of those that took the survey: 30% indicated they planned to attend a four-year university; 67% indicated they planned to attend a 2-year college; 6% indicated they were joining the military; 15.15% indicated they would be working full-time and 12.12% indicated they would be working part-time. Obviously, students could choose multiple answers on this question. In other words, they may be planning on attending a 2-year college and also working part-time.
The following chart represents the graduates’ feelings about their experience in Arcola:
| Question | Yes |
| Were school personnel helpful in the selection of a path to follow after graduation | 90.9% |
| Did the staff encourage you to continue your education | 100.0% |
| Were there enough elective classes offered for you to explore different career opportunities | 78.8% |
| Do you think you will be able to easily find a job that can support you | 100.0% |
| Did the staff provide you with adequate support applying for colleges and finding scholarship opportunities | 97.0% |
| Did you have a positive learning experience at AHS | 97.0% |
Overall, these were very positive results. The district recently added an additional junior high-high school counselor to even further ensure students have one-on-one attention with planning for life after high school. And due to adding additional high school teaching staff, the school will be offering additional electives in the 18-19 school year.
In another set of questions, students were asked to respond with “Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average or Needs Improvement.” The following are chart shows the percentage of students that selected “Excellent,” “Good” and then “Excellent and Good” combined:
| Question | Excellent | Good | Combined |
| Arcola High School (AHS) provided a safe learning environment | 78.8% | 15.2% | 94.0% |
| AHS maintained a drug free environment | 69.7% | 12.1% | 81.8% |
| AHS provided a strong foundation on the use of technology | 72.7% | 24.2% | 96.9% |
| Teachers generally held high standards and demanded quality work | 60.6% | 39.4% | 100.0% |
| Students/parents were regularly notified concerning academic progress | 69.7% | 24.2% | 93.9% |
| I was challenged to experience academic growth annually | 51.5% | 36.7% | 88.2% |
| How would you rate AHS as a learning environment | 48.5% | 42.4% | 90.9% |
Again, these results seem to be very positive.
Postgraduate Survey - Class of 2017
Of the 53 graduates from the class of 2017, 42 of them had taken the senior exit survey in the spring of 2017. LifeTrack attempted to contact all 53 graduates in late spring of 2018 and ended up with 35 completed surveys, which is a 66% return rate.
Of those that took the survey: 27.71% indicated they are attending a four-year university (this compares to 47.62% that indicated the previous year they would attend a 4-year college); 42.86% indicated they are attending a 2-year college (compared to 40.48%); 2.86% (compared to 7.14%) indicated they are in the military; 25.71% (compared to 11.9%) indicated they are working full-time and 37.14% (compared to 11.9%) indicated they would be working part-time. These results indicate that more students are working than originally thought they would be and less students ended up attending a four-year college than had planned.
The questions on this survey are mostly different than on the senior exit survey. The following chart represents questions that were asked in the form of yes or no answers:
| Question | Yes |
| Do you feel you received a quality education at Arcola High School | 100.0% |
| Did teachers generally hold high standards and demand quality work | 94.3% |
| Were you properly prepared with thinking skills such as creativity, decision making and problem solving | 91.4% |
| Were academic standards high enough | 80.0% |
| Was your participation in extra-curricular activities an important part of school experience | 82.9% |
The remainder of the survey asked former graduates to rate how well they felt they were prepared in various subjects. They were asked to rate each area with “Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average, and Needs Improvement.”
| Question | Excellent | Good | Average |
| Preparation in Math | 40.0% | 28.6% | 22.9% |
| Preparation in English | 42.9% | 31.4% | 14.3% |
| Preparation in Science | 37.1% | 25.8% | 28.9% |
| Preparation in History | 54.3% | 22.9% | 12.3% |
| Preparation in Technology | 31.4% | 34.3% | 17.1% |
| Preparation for the Workforce | 31.4% | 28.8% | 25.7% |
| Preparation for continue your education | 34.3% | 25.7% | 34.3% |
Use and Limitations
The data provides insight into some overall feelings that graduates have about both the school culture and academic program at school. It is important to look at these results from year to year to measure trends and overall opinions from students.
On the other hand, the data is limited in a few ways. First, there are no comparison numbers. When you read that 100% of your seniors feel they received a quality education, that is a great but how does it compare to how students feel in other places? Second, the information you receive cannot be broken down by different subgroups. For example, it would be great to know how students in college feel about preparation in English as compared to students that are in the workforce. Finally, the questions are open pretty broad. For example, it would be more helpful to know if students felt prepared in various areas of English such as writing or analyzing a piece of informational text rather than just preparation in English. With such broad questions, it makes it tough to break down the data to use to make specific program improvements. That is why the survey results are used by the district leadership team as just one of many pieces of data.