Students’ perspectives on school can be a gold mine of information for teachers. And the proliferation of free and low-cost online survey tools—as well as emerging technologies—allow teachers to leverage students’ feedback to inform their teaching like never before.
That’s according to Damian Bebell, a research professor at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College who was scheduled to present on this topic during the ISTELive 25 + ASCD Annual Conference 25 in San Antonio June 29 to July 2.
One reason collecting students’ perspectives is so valuable is because they reveal inaccurate assumptions teachers may hold, Bebell said in a conversation with Education Week ahead of the conference. And while collecting students’ feedback isn’t a new idea, it’s underutilized in many classrooms and schools, he said, even as it’s become easier to do.
Tools like Google Forms and Survey Monkey allow educators to set their own research agenda, Bebell said. They don’t have to wait for researchers like him to decide to study a particular issue or topic to gain deeper insight into it. Teachers, as well as school and district administrators, can decide what’s important to their school communities and collect data.
“When we give teachers those tools and resources and get out of the way, teachers refine their thinking, they develop a deeper understanding of what they’re trying to accomplish and who they’re trying to serve,” he said.
Research has found that when students feel their schools are responsive to their input, it correlates with better grades, attendance, and overall engagement. Giving students the opportunity to share their ideas can also help them develop important social-emotional skills, such as self-advocacy.
Surveying students is one of several strategies for incorporating student voice into school life, such as creating a student council to advise administrators or collectively deciding on class rules at the beginning of the year.
Surveys are also important tools because they highlight feedback from all students, not just the most vocal ones. Too often, teachers’ assumptions are formed based on the students who are complaining or those who are really engaged, Bebell said. It can be easy to miss the perspectives of many other students.
What teachers should ask students
So, what, exactly, should teachers be asking students? The short answer is: just about anything. Although asking how they feel at the beginning of class, for feedback on a specific lesson, or on a new school policy are common queries, there aren’t hard and fast rules for dictating what questions teachers should be asking their students.
Bebell said it’s important for teachers to think creatively about what they’re trying to measure and be confident in their instincts.
“Teachers are often coming up with better questions than researchers do,” he said. “I mean, they’re in the middle of it and they’re trying to serve their immediate community.”
Surveys and other strategies to tap into student voice can give teachers insight into situations that can affect students’ learning but that teachers can’t normally observe. For example, teachers can survey their students on what it’s like doing their homework, Bebell said. How long does it take them to complete it? How many people are typically in the room when they are trying to do their homework? Is there an adult around who can help them?
If a teacher finds that most of the students are trying to do their homework in busy environments that are not conducive to focusing, that gives the teacher an actionable data point for addressing the problem.
Teachers don’t have to rely solely on text-based surveys to collect data on student voice, said Bebell. Another method, one that works particularly well for younger students, is asking them to draw what they think or feel. For example, asking students at the end of the semester to draw a picture of what science class has been like so far. It can be a very revealing exercise for teachers, he said.
“Is the teacher always at the front of the room?” Bebell said. “Are [students] drawing that one field trip that happened on one day out of the last hundred?”
That exercise can provide both teachers and students with a valuable reflective moment, he said.
Admittedly, said Bebell, pictures require more work to analyze in a formal way, even with students drawing on digital devices. The researcher is not aware of any free tools that can analyze images and extract the details teachers are looking to categorize and examine—say, all pictures that show a teacher standing at the front of a class or all pictures that show a student doing homework alone.
“There are some tools that are emerging that do that with AI, but I’m not recommending them quite yet,” he said.
But while fancier technology may be in the pipeline, educators shouldn’t underestimate the power of the humble survey, Bebell said.
“Most educators around the world have some access to pretty easy online survey tools with very few limits,” he said. “That is real low-hanging fruit.”
