Frequently Asked Questions – OurSCHOOL Knowledge Base

Student Survey FAQs

Parent Survey FAQs

Teacher Survey FAQs

Student Survey

How do students access the survey?

Students connect to www.ourschool.net with a randomly generated login. Their login automatically directs them to the appropriate survey.

How do I obtain additional student login codes?

Not to worry! To have extra codes added, contact the Helpdesk (support@thelearningbar.com or 1-877-840-2424 ext. 1) with the following information:

1. The name of the survey that requires more login codes
2. The number of codes required
3. The reason for the codes. e.g. lost codes, more students than expected.

For more information, see Distributing Survey Accounts to Participants.

How can I access my school's old reports?

In the View Reports menu you can view reports from previous years by selecting the appropriate school year at the top of the screen.

See Comparing Results: Year Over Year for more information.

Note: If you do not have access to your school’s reports because you are new to the role or of coordinator have moved schools, please contact your District Coordinator.

When will my reports be available?

Under normal circumstances, we are able to generate and release your reports within two working days of receiving a close survey request. See Closing Surveys for more information. You will receive an email notification from support@thelearningbar.com when your reports are ready.

Can students do the survey on a mobile device?

We recommend that participants complete the survey on a device with at least a 7 inch / 17.78 cm screen. Users of devices with less than the recommended screen area may find that they need to repeatedly zoom in and out to read whole questions, click on navigation buttons, or accurately select a response. Although OurSCHOOL is accessible from any web‐enabled tablet or phone, the survey is not optimized for display on small‐screen devices.

Is parent consent required?

The requirement of consent from students and/or parents would depend on laws outlined in your jurisdiction. However, as the OurSCHOOL system deals exclusively within anonymous student data, it typically does not require express consent as defined in most privacy legislation.

Although parent consent may not be required, we strongly recommend that you inform parents and guardians about the OurSCHOOL Survey. See Student Survey - Letter to Parents for a basic template and Communication and Student Preparation for more general resources

What is the deadline for having my students complete the survey?

Deadlines are set by your district, sometimes based on provincial survey periods, and are usually communicated by your District Coordinator. We recommend that you contact them directly if you have any concerns. If you are unsure who this is, see Finding Your District Coordinator.

Unless otherwise stated by your District Coordinator, surveys will remain open until June 30th or until manually closed by the School Coordinator. For more information, see Closing Surveys.

Can you identify individual survey participants?

No, it is not possible to identify individual survey participants. Survey participants are never asked to provide personally identifiable information (i.e., name, email / mailing address, phone number, student ID, etc).

All anonymous survey responses are aggregated when reported to the school or district. In addition to not collecting personally identifiable information, individual anonymity is further protected by setting a minimum number of responses required in order to report a result for any population. The reporting procedures follow Statistics Canada’s standard of not reporting aggregate results which include less than 5 cases.

How long is the survey?

Survey length depends on how much content is included in the survey. This is determined by your District Coordinator, sometimes based on provincial requirements. We recommend that you contact them directly if you have any concerns. If you are unsure who this is, see Finding Your District Coordinator.

Can I reopen a closed survey?

It is usually possible to reopen a closed survey, however in some cases permission from the District Coordinator is required. We request that you contact them first if you would like to reopen a previously closed survey. If you are unsure who this is, see Finding Your District Coordinator.

Parent Survey

Who should participate?

Schools can use the OurSCHOOL Parent Survey with parents & guardians from Kindergarten to Grade 12 even if your school does not use the OurSCHOOL Student Survey. At The Learning Bar we advocate using information from your Parent Survey, and triangulating with your Student & Teacher Surveys, provides schools with the ability to strengthen relationships and collect important evidence needed in the school planning process.

Can I add questions to the Parent Survey?

Adding custom questions to your Parent Survey allows schools to collect the voice and experiences of school families on issues specific to your school.

Schools can add up to two optional Open-Ended Questions (OEQs) as well as up to two optional Multiple-Choice or Multiple Answer Questions (MCQs/MAQs). For details on how to configure your Parent Survey follow the instructions in this link.

Did you know? A guide to creating custom questions is available here, as well as some sample custom questions here.

What is the research behind the Parent Survey?

The OurSCHOOL Parent Survey is a comprehensive survey that is based on Joyce Epstein’s framework for fostering positive relations between the school and the community and captures parents’ perceptions of children’s experiences at home and school. The survey measures these topics as well as the extent to which parents feel the school supports learning and positive behavior and whether the school promotes a safe and inclusive environment.

These articles provide detailed descriptions of all 10 measures, as well as the method of calculating and reporting for each.

How do parents access the survey?

Parents can access the survey through a unique link that will be provided by the school. School Coordinators will be able to customize their schools URL when completing the survey setup.

How should I share the login link?

Sharing your Survey login URL is up to each school individually. However, using multiple mediums to notify parents and guardians of the survey can encourage a much higher response rate. Here are some examples that other OurSCHOOL members have used:

social media
emails
parent-teacher interviews
school website
Newsletters.

For more examples please read our Strategies for Increasing Parent Survey Participation article. Please note that sharing your unique Parent Survey URL to any publicly shared media does open up access to the public.

Teacher Survey

Who should participate?

Schools can use the OurSCHOOL Teacher Survey with school teaching staff from Kindergarten to Grade 12 even if your school does not use the OurSCHOOL Student Survey.

Is the survey for other staff?

Currently, the OurSCHOOL survey is developed for teachers only. There are plans to expand on this in the future. Feel free to connect with us for more information.

How do Teachers access the survey?

Teacher can access the survey through a unique link that will be provided by the school. School Coordinators will be able to customize their schools URL when completing the survey setup.

What is the research behind the Teacher Survey?

Guided by the two research paradigms, the OurSCHOOL Teacher Survey provides data on 12 measures that schools and educators can use to improve student outcomes.

These articles provide detailed descriptions of all 12 measures, as well as the method of calculating and reporting for each. A summary of the research literature that supports the importance of each measure is also included.

Can I add questions to the Teacher Survey?

Adding custom questions to your Teacher Survey allows schools to collect the voice and experiences of school families on issues specific to your school.

Schools can add up to two optional Open-Ended Questions (OEQs) as well as up to two optional Multiple-Choice or Multiple Answer Questions (MCQs/MAQs). For details on how to configure your Teacher Survey follow the instructions in this link.

Did you know? A guide to creating custom questions is available here, as well as some sample custom questions here.