Thanks, parents, for all the effort and time you have invested into your children’s academic and biblical education this semester. No matter which grade level, every student is blessed to have loving parents actively involved in his or her training. It is not easy, but the benefits are incredible, as evidenced by the lives of students who have risen through the ranks and have gone on to college and life.

• At the end of last spring, we began a process of sending simple surveys for each course. Now, this week and next week, we will be emailing links to course surveys for the fall semester.
   
• The surveys are designed to be very simple and very quick to complete. Please engage them right away, as waiting will probably mean forgetting them, during the busy holiday season.
   
• Below are details that better explain the purpose, methods, anonymity, and resulting uses of the surveys.
   

What’s the point?

• The goal of the individual course survey is to measure (over time) parent perceptions of key areas for each course.
• Results from this semester will be helpful for next year, since planning for August is already underway. 
• “I filled surveys out last time.” Yes, this is an ongoing, continuous improvement process. To measure needs and improvements over time, we need information each semester.
• “I don’t have any problems in XYZ course, so I have nothing to say.” The survey is an opportunity to communicate perceived value, not to complain. A survey is more valuable with high response.

How does it work?

• The survey is intentionally very short, with only six questions, having multiple choice boxes to check off. There is space for parents to add comments, which are very welcome, but not required.
• The questions are designed to gather perceptions of value and benefit for the major areas associated with UMS course learning. This includes curriculum, communication, instructor leadership, approaches, etc.
• Surveys will be sent out in an alternating pattern of grade levels to try to avoid a parent of multiples from getting dozens on any one day.
• The survey is a duplicate of the previous one. Consistency of questions is important for comparison over time.
• Dr. Gail Stowe, our accreditation consultant, will again assemble and organize the survey results. As an outside professional, she will be looking at the information with helpful objectivity. Having no direct involvement in the day to day program allows her to freely identify and comment on needs in various courses. Dr. Stowe’s report will be delivered to LPA’s board.

Anonymity of responses

• The surveys are set up to record anonymous results, meaning no one can tell who submitted each response.
• Please realize that this anonymity can be compromised by the person submitting the responses. This happens if a parent mentions his or her child’s name or specific circumstances that make it obvious through process of elimination who is making the comment.
• To keep survey contributors private, DO use general language and DO NOT include names, specific circumstances, etc. (Sally learns best when… when we went out of town to Dallas… my son has poor eyesight, red hair, and a scar on his nose…)

What will surveys be used for?

• The information allows grade level supervisors to better focus on improvements for each course AND its place in the alignment of the subject courses from one grade level to the next.
• The survey results will be used in the academy’s accreditation evaluation in October 2018, but the main focus is upon improvement of the actual and perceived benefits of LPA’s academic program.