This presentation is intended to give district and SAU staff a better idea of what to expect
over the course of the spring administration of the 2017 Parent Involvement Survey in
Special Education.
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Starting in 2015, NHDOE moved to a census over two years approach, so each district only
gets surveyed once every two years. This year, we are surveying Block A.
This list includes all of the districts who will be included in the Parent Involvement Survey in
Special Education this year. Any district not on the list will be surveyed next year as part of
Survey Block B.
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As a reminder, the Parent Involvement Survey in Special Education is used to measure
Indicator 8 of the State Performance Plan.
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Gibson will email district contacts beginning February 9 to collect counts of the number of
students whose parents should be sent surveys. Then you will not hear from them again
until late March when they send you survey materials. The survey window will be from
3/27 – 5/19.
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You will receive an email from Gibson with a link for you to enter the number of surveys
your district needs. SAU staff who are responsible for reporting survey counts for multiple
districts will receive an email with multiple links: one for each district they are responsible
for along with a corresponding link for that district.
Provide counts for students with an IEP for whom you are the district of liability. This
includes children placed by school districts in out of district placements. It is important to
note that in cases where two parents have educational rights and do not live at the same
address, each parent should receive a survey. Educational Surrogate Parents must also be
sent a survey.
The same parent may receive multiple surveys because they have more than one child
receiving special education services. This is correct – we want parents to complete separate
surveys that reflect their different experiences with different children.
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Separately count how many preschool age surveys are needed and how many school aged
surveys are needed.
Please remember to be cognizant of the language of your parents. Surveys are available in
both English and Spanish. You will be asked to indicate how many surveys are needed in
the following categories:
Preschool English, Preschool Spanish, School age English, School age Spanish.
Additionally, Gibson will ask if there are any additional language needs among the parents
in your district. If parents in your district require surveys in additional languages, we will
work with you to make these available.
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Survey counts should include students who received special education services so far this
year. After you’ve provided your count, if a student moves out of the district, exits special
education, or is no longer eligible for special education, they still received special education
services during this school year. Their parents’ voices should be heard.
If a student moves into the district, is a new referral to special education, or is found
eligible for special education after your counts have been submitted, they have not had
time to experience the special education services in your district. In this case, they will be
included in future survey administrations.
For a listing of Frequently Asked Questions about the survey administration process, please
visit the Parent Involvement Survey page of the NH Connections website
www.nhconnections.org
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Please respond to the email requesting counts by February 17 th. These counts are used to
develop the survey packets that Gibson will ship to your districts in March.
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Once the counts have been collected, Gibson will put together the packages to be
distributed to SAUs. You will not hear from them again until the end of March when your
surveys are ready.
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SAUs and districts should begin receiving their survey packages the week of March 27 th.
Some districts will only receive one box of surveys, while others will receive multiple boxes.
If you are in an SAU or a larger district, be on the look out for multiple boxes.
If you are an SAU, materials will be bundled at the district level inside the box.
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Each district will receive a box (or boxes) with their surveys beginning the week of March
27th. Each box will contain instructions and bundles of survey envelopes clearly marked by
type: Preschool English, Preschool Spanish, School age English, School age Spanish. Each
envelope will contain a letter to parents and the Parent survey.
The box also contains an unsealed envelope with a parent letter and survey for your
information.
The box will also contain postcard reminders. These should be mailed to parents to help
remind them about the survey.
All sealed survey envelopes and postcard reminders are stamped. They just need students’
addresses.
Around the same time, you will also receive links to electronic promotional materials,
including flyers, social media announcements, emails to parents, school answering service
announcements, etc. All materials are provided in English and Spanish. If there are
additional materials that would be helpful for you or your district to get out the word,
please let us know!
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Please be sure to add address information and drop survey envelopes in the mail no later
than Friday, April 7.
Address and mail postcard reminders to parents one or two weeks after mailing out the
surveys. The postcard reminders have doubled response rates in the past, so please be sure
to send them out!
Parents can fill out the survey online if they prefer. The URL is printed on all of the
materials, including on the survey itself. They do not need a special code to complete the
online version.
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Make sure that all addresses are complete. Surveys are often returned as undeliverable
because they are missing street numbers, zip codes, etc.
Remind parents that this is an important opportunity to have their voices heard! Gibson
will send you an email with a link to an online portal where you will find short messages
that can be used for emails, newsletters and posted online. In addition, you will receive
several print flyers that can be posted or copied and sent to families. All of these materials
are available in English and in Spanish. You may also find these tools on the Parent
Involvement Survey page of the NH Connections website www.nhconnections.org
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In prior survey administrations, districts have shared a number of helpful tips about how
they increased their response rates and made the process as easy as possible.
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Please email us with any questions or concerns!
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