📣 Your Voice Matters @ APS Survey Results Now Available

Arlington Public Schools (APS) and the Arlington Partnership for Children, Youth and Families (APCYF) released the results for the 2024 Your Voice Matters @ APS survey (YVM), with an online dashboard of results available. The survey had more than 22,600 responses from staff, families and students in grades 4-12 who provided insight on topics that include school safety, climate, well-being, voice and engagement.

Survey findings inform work across the school division and the county. It provides APS with data to assess progress to date and new benchmarks for measuring progress. Key highlights by category are provided below. A detailed Insights Report from Panorama of the 2024 YVM survey results will become available and shared with the public later this summer.

Key Highlights 

Student Well-Being 

• 86% of Grade 4 – 5 students and 79% of Grade 6 – 12 students report favorably on the topic of Trusted Adult in School.

• 57% of Grade 4 – 5 students and 54% of Grade 6 – 12 students report favorably in the topic Social, Emotional, and Mental Health, a 2 percentage-point decline in Gr. 4-5 and a 4 percentage-point increase for secondary students since 2022.

• 66% of Grade 4 – 5 students and 67% of Grade 6 – 12 students report favorably on the topic of School Safety, a 7 percentage-point decline for secondary students and a 2 percent decline for grades 4-5 since 2022.

Student Success: High Expectations 

• Most APS students find teacher expectations appropriate, with 78% of elementary and 71% of secondary students.  In terms of academic rigor, 61% of elementary and 69% of secondary students feel appropriately challenged by what they learn in class.

• Nearly two-thirds of families responded favorably in this topic area with 64% indicating their student is challenged the right amount in class.

Partnerships 

• Family Engagement is still consistently strong with APS families reporting an 82% favorable rating, a consistent trend over the last 4 years. Moreover, 91% of families say their student’s school provided learning opportunities to support their academic achievement.

Engaged Workforce  

• Most APS staff, ranging from 82% to 90%, envisioned themselves working at APS in two years.

• Three out of four staff reported that relationships between staff and administrators and supervisors are respectful.

• Staff surveys revealed consistently low favorability ratings in two key areas: Employee Voice, which ranged from 28% to 33%, and Professional Learning, which scored between 27% and 40%.
• APS staff groups reported between 46% to 57% favorability for Compensation and Benefits, with the most notable increases in satisfaction with annual salary and step increases.
• In Workplace Climate, APS Staff reported 67% to 78% favorability of their colleagues, demonstrating a value in diversity.

Operational Safety 

• Regarding building safety, 62-67% of non-teaching staff and 55% of teachers reported feeling “quite” or “extremely” safe and secure in their school buildings.

• 60-64% of non-teaching staff and 53% of teachers felt their building was “quite” or “extremely” well-maintained.

• Staff favorable response rate to how clearly Division-wide policies and procedures related to student behavior are communicated to them ranged from 34% of school-based staff, a 3% increase since 2022, and 21% of teachers, a 10% decrease over the same period.

APS staff are working to address needs identified in the survey data and additional details will be shared through multiple mediums in the coming months. One example of work underway includes creating bullying and harassment prevention materials and updating reporting and investigation structures.

Survey updates from the 2022 YVM Survey

In Winter 2023-24, stakeholder groups collaborated with department leadership to review and refine the YVM Survey. Key changes for 2024 included the addition of cultural awareness and diversity questions across all surveys, with a new DEI category in the staff surveys. The surveys were also expanded to capture a more comprehensive understanding of the APS climate, and four distinct staff surveys were introduced to address role-specific questions.

The survey was conducted by the survey contractor Panorama Education. Learn more about the Your Voice Matters @ APS survey including tips on how to understand the data better.