Duval County School teachers reported improved school culture in the 2015-2016 school year, according to the 2016 Instructional Culture Index survey.
Superintendent Nikolai Vitti presented data from research Tuesday at the first-ever School Culture Symposium. Educators from throughout the county participated in a panel discussion on how to improve the culture.
Vitti said 90 percent of educators in the district participated in the survey about workplace culture and employee morale.
“We’re not relying on who has the loudest voice, but instead relying on something that was research-based, nationally referenced and recognized, so that we could quantify accurately how people felt about their work experience,” he said.
The categories the survey considers are: compensation, professional support, support for students, career pathways, and leadership opportunities and management and operations. In order for a school to receive the “Great District” award, they must score in the top tier of a four-tier system for each category.
According to the survey, Duval schools performed in the top quarter of participating schools in the areas of compensation, professional support and support for students.
The schools fell short in the area of career pathways and leadership opportunities, receiving a tier two status for performing in the top half of its peers. The area needing most improvement was school management and operations.
Vitti is optimistic about the positive changes that will come from the survey. He said this is the fourth year Duval County Schools has participated in the survey and the information obtained each year from the research allows continued improvements to be made within the schools.
Contact Amy Hadden at newsteam@wjct.org or on Twitter at @AmyNHadden.
