Results of the ACPS 2020 survey show overwhelming support for ACPS’ vision of academic excellence and show that the ACPS community believes the school division provides a challenging yet supportive environment for students.
A total of 81 percent of respondents felt that ACPS offers academic excellence while 74 percent agreed that ACPS provides each student with opportunities to be challenged and supported.
Two thirds of respondents had a good or excellent perception of ACPS, agreed that ACPS makes good decisions that support education and student learning and agreed that ACPS is taking the necessary steps to ensure continuous improvement. Seven out of ten respondents agreed that ACPS has an exemplary staff that meets the needs of every student.
92 percent said they felt welcome to attend school activities and 82 percent said that they could easily obtain information about ACPs services and activities. A total of 75 percent said they were satisfied with ACPS services to engage families in their child’s education.
“We want to thank those who took the time to complete this survey. It is only by continually assessing our work outlined in the ACPS 2020 Strategic Plan that we can move forward and strive to serve our students, families and community better. Our focus is on being a high-performing school division where every student is able to succeed,” Superintendent Alvin L. Crawley said.
The survey, which asked about the six areas that make up the ACPS 2020 Strategic Plan (academic excellence, family and community engagement, high-quality staff, learning environment, health and wellness, and operations), was conducted in May this year and received almost 1,600 responses. The majority of responses were current ACPS parents, had lived in Alexandria for six or more years and accessed the survey in English. The results show that although ACPS is reaching some ACPS families, it is not yet adequately reaching those families who do not speak English as a first language, nor is it reaching the wider Alexandria community.
The survey, which was conducted by an independent survey firm, will be conducted each year to benchmark the implementation, public opinion and progress of the ACPS 2020 Strategic Plan. The survey will be the baseline against which targets will be established for the focus areas aligned with the plan.
Although 65 percent agreed that there is mutual respect and trust between ACPS and the community and 78 percent agreed that ACPS partners with the community, only 59 percent agreed that ACPS has a positive image. Additionally, 54 percent agreed that ACPS provides optimal learning environments within each school.
ACPS still has work to do communicating the budget needs and responsibilities, according to the survey, as demonstrated by a large number of respondents who said they did not know if ACPS is efficient, effective and transparent in its business operations.
Read the all the results of the survey (PDF).
