Student Surveys

Before implementing student surveys we recommend that you first consider why you want to gather student surveys at your school, involving all necessary voices/perspectives. This sense of purpose will help drive your decision- making process. 

Once you’ve evaluated your purpose, how you plan to use surveys, and what you hope you and your teachers will get out of it, then consider who will be gathering surveys. Will it be teachers of Lower School Students? Middle School Students? Upper School Students? What about Peers, Supervisors, and Athletics (coaches)?

Think about the various populations who should be gathering surveys. We recommend using a pilot group before implementing large scale surveys. Using a small volume the first time will allow time for reflection on your process and data. Also, you may want to consider turning off “Visibility” the first year.

In myFolio, you can enable or disable settings which allow the employee’s Supervisor and/or their Supervisor Chain to view the employee’s Survey Report Data. Schools who have successfully used Student Surveys have found that enabling only the employee to see the data in the first year is helpful.

Once you have an initial plan, contact your School Success person directly or email members@foliocollaborative.org for information related to cost, training and setup.

Description and Utility

Student feedback is crucial for improving teaching and learning. It helps identify strengths, weaknesses, and patterns in teaching practices, enabling teachers to refine their methods and achieve their goals. By providing a platform for students to voice their experiences and reflect on their learning, we empower them to take ownership of their education. As the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Measuring Effectiveness in Teaching (MET) Project emphasizes, students are the ultimate judges of teaching effectiveness and their insights are invaluable.

There are many components that go into creating an effective student survey process. We encourage you to read our Student Feedback Surveys: A Thoughtful & Purposeful Process document prior to setting up your student surveys in myFolio. 

This guide aims at providing schools an overview of the Student Survey Process in myFolio. We will dive deeper into these areas during your school training.

Survey Processing Steps: Access all pages via the Manage tab at the top of the screen.

Use the list below to jump to specific sections of the document. 

• Survey Set Up
  • Reporting Settings
  • Survey Visibility
  • Sending Preferences
  • Adding Adjectives
  • Survey Forms
    • Likert Questions
    • Narrative Comments
• Importing Required CSV Files
  • Data File Guidance
  • Course Template
  • Section Template
  • Student Template
  • Rosters Template
  • Teaching Assignment Template
• Sending Survey Set Up
  • Define Marking Periods
• View & Manage Survey Requests
• Student Access
  • Login & Password Set Up
  • Student Dashboard
  • Sample Survey Form
• Reviewing Survey Results
  • Visibility Count
  • Survey Reports & Filters
    • Cumulative Report
    • Cumulative Report by Section
    • Narrative Report
  • Supervisor Access to Survey Data

Survey Set Up

Survey Manager

Access the Survey Manager page via the “Manage” dropdown menu by selecting “Surveys”

• Surveys for Supervisors - This setting is for Supervisor Surveys, not student surveys.
• Surveys for Group Viewers - This setting is for Supervisor Surveys, not student surveys.
• Surveys from Peers - This setting is for Peer Surveys not student surveys.
• Surveys from Students - Do you want to allow Student Surveys?
• Section-Specific Survey Questions - Do you want to have the ability to add section-specific questions to Student Surveys?

Reporting

• Hide Narrative Comments for Previous Years - To start fresh each school year, you can hide the previous year’s Narrative Comments.   
• Hide Cumulative Surveys for Previous Years - You can hide the previous year’s Cumulative Surveys (Adjectives/non-Narrative Questions.)
• Hide (Student) Gender - You can decide whether or not to show the female/male Student gender filter in the Cumulative Report page.
• Survey Visibility Count - To preserve the anonymity of Students responding to surveys, you can set a threshold before which Survey responses are hidden.
• Group Comparison within Cumulative Report - Allows teachers to run their cumulative report with a comparison to the results of other teachers in a specified group.

Survey Visibility

• Supervisor Surveys Visibility - Do you want Supervisors to be able to see Survey results, or only the teachers themselves? 
• Supervisor Chain Surveys Visibility - Do you want the Supervisory Chain to be able to see Survey Results?

The myFolio admin does not have access to student survey data for individual teachers. 

Sending Survey Requests

• Student Notification Preferences - Toggle off and select the Manual option below if you want to have greater control over where and when Students complete Surveys. 
• Per Section Sending (Of Survey Requests) - When set to “On”, this allows Teachers or Folio Admins to send Survey Requests on a section-by-section basis.
• Survey Duration - How long do you want Survey Requests available after you have sent them?

When finished setting your preferences select the “SAVE SETTINGS” button. 

Surveys are comprised of three parts:

1. Adjectives
2. Likert (Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Always) questions
3. One Narrative question 

Adjectives

Adjectives are universal to your school. The set you select appears on every Survey form in Folio (Student, Supervisor, and Peer) and should reflect your school’s culture. You may create your own adjective/definition pairs or chose from the Global Adjective Bank.

You can add Adjectives to your survey in three ways:

• Select one from the Folio bank by selecting the “ADD FROM THE ADJECTIVE BANK” button.
• Create your own adjective by selecting the “ADD AN ADJECTIVE” button
• You can add an Adjective from the Folio bank and edit it after it has been added
  • Select the“ADD FROM THE ADJECTIVE BANK” button.
  • Check the Adjective(s) you wish to add to the survey
  • Select the “ADD SELECTED ADJECTIVES” button when finished
  • To edit you then select the “EDIT” button inside the one you wish to edit
  • Change the text you wish to modify
  • Select the “UPDATE ADJECTIVE” button

Note: The Adjectives you select to have on your survey will appear on all the survey forms you create. 

Survey Forms

You will need to create the Relationships before you can create a survey. For each Relationship you've created in the Relationship Manager, you'll need to make a Survey Form.

Once the form (Relationship)  is created, click on the form name to be directed to the individual form page where you can edit the form questions and Narrative Comments. 

Questions can be customized per survey form (Student, Supervisor, or Peer). You may have a different set of questions for your Lower School Survey Form than you do for your Middle/Upper School Survey Form. This is accomplished by creating a new Relationship.  For example Upper School Teacher, Upper School Student, Upper School Class which creates a new survey form called “Upper School Teacher.”.

You can add likert Questions to your survey in two ways:

• Select one from the Folio Bank by selecting the “ADD FROM THE QUESTION BANK” button.
• Create your own question by selecting the “ADD A QUESTION” button

To add Narrative Comments you first need to toggle the button to blue. You then can add the Prompt Title (Question) and Help Text (Instructions) for the Narrative Comment section. 

Note: You may only have one text box per survey. If you wish to have multiple narrative questions you will need to enter them all in the Prompt Title box separated by a hard return.

When finished updating your Questions and Narrative Comments click the “SAVE SURVEY TEMPLATE” 

Importing Required CSV Files

Data File Guidance

Data files are uploaded on the School Data Manager page which you can access via the Manage dropdown menu by selecting “School Data”. Make sure all of your teachers are in myFolio and have unique IDs. If not, you may need to import employee data.

• All data must be in a CSV file format.
• We recommend a separate file for all four uploads
  • Course Template
  • Section Template
  • Teaching Assignment Template
  • Student Template
• Each import page has a CSV template showing the fields that need to be populated for each import type—Course, Student, Teaching Assignment, etc. Click the “+IMPORT” button on the School Data Manager page to reach each individual import page. You will then be able to download the template for each import type.

Tips:

• Data can come from a Learning Management or HR System, or can be manually created.
• Recommend asking your data person to help with this part of the process. 

Course Template CSV file - Required for Surveys

• Course ID must be unique
• Course Name is a descriptive field

To Bulk add Courses, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Import under Course option
4. Select Choose File 
5. Locate the file you wish to upload (See Courses Template for a sample CSV file.)
6. Select the Course Type
7. Select Import
8. Follow instructions on screen to identify columns correctly
9. Select Verify when finished

To Manually add one or more Course, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Import
4. Enter Name, ID Number and Course Type
5. Select Create Course when finished

To Edit a Course, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Manage Courses
4. Find the Course you wish to Edit
5. Select Edit
6. Change the fields that need to be edited
7. Select Update Course

To Delete a Course, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Manage Courses
4. Find the Course you wish to Delete
5. Select Delete
6. Select Ok to the pop up confirmation question.

Section Template CSV file - Required for Surveys

• Section ID must be unique
• Course ID must match the Course ID in the Course CSV file
• Section Name is a descriptive field

To Bulk add Sections, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Import under Section option
4. Select Choose File 
5. Locate the file you wish to upload (See Sections Template for a sample CSV file.)
6. Select the Marking Period
7. Select Import
8. Follow instructions on screen to identify columns correctly
9. Select Verify when finished

To Manually add one or more Section, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Import
4. Select Course & Marking Period
5. Enter ID Number & Name
6. Select Create Section when finished

To Edit a Section, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Manage Sections
4. Find the Section you wish to Edit
5. Select Edit
6. Change the fields that need to be edited
7. Select Update Section

To Delete a Section, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Manage Sections
4. Find the Section you wish to Delete
5. Select Delete
6. Select Ok to the pop up confirmation question.

Student Template CSV file - Required for Surveys

Note: ONLY IMPORT STUDENT INFORMATION IF YOU ARE REQUESTING SURVEYS. Student imports should be done immediately before surveys are sent so that enrollment info is accurate.

• Required fields: 
  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Gender
  • Graduation Year
  • Email Address
  • Student ID

To Bulk add Students, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Import under Student option
4. Select Choose File 
5. Locate the file you wish to upload (See Students Template for a sample CSV file.)
6. Select Import
7. Follow instructions on screen to identify columns correctly
8. Select Verify when finished

To Manually add one or more Student, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Import under Student option
4. Complete required “*” fields
5. Select Create Student when finished

To Edit a Student, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Manage Students
4. Find the Student you wish to Edit
5. Select Edit
6. Change the fields that need to be edited
7. Select Update Student

To Delete a Student, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Manage Students
4. Find the Student you wish to Delete
5. Select Delete
6. Select Ok to the pop up confirmation question.

Rosters Template CSV file - Required for Surveys

Note: ONLY IMPORT ROSTER INFORMATION FOR THOSE CLASSES/COURSES FOR WHICH YOU ARE REQUESTING SURVEYS. Roster imports should be done immediately before surveys are sent so that enrollment info is accurate.

• Student ID must match the Student ID from the Student CSV file
• Section ID must match the Section ID from the Section CSV file

To Bulk add Students, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Import under Roster option
4. Select Choose File 
5. Select Marking Period
6. Locate the file you wish to upload (See Rosters Template for a sample CSV file.)
7. Select Import
8. Follow instructions on screen to identify columns correctly
9. Select Verify when finished

To Manually add one or more Roster, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Import under Roster option
4. Complete required “*” fields
5. Select Create Roster when finished

To Edit a Roster, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Manage Rosters
4. Find the Roster you wish to Edit
5. Select Edit
6. Change the fields that need to be edited
7. Select Update Roster

To Delete a Student, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Manage Rosters
4. Find the Roster you wish to Delete
5. Select Delete
6. Select Ok to the pop up confirmation question.

Teaching Assignment Template CSV file - Required for Surveys

Note: ONLY IMPORT TEACHING ASSIGNMENTS FOR THOSE CLASSES/COURSES FOR WHICH YOU ARE REQUESTING SURVEYS. Teaching assignment imports should be done immediately before surveys are sent so that assignment info is accurate.

• Employee ID must match the Employee ID from the Employee CSV file
  • Employee CSV file is what was used to import employees into myFolio
• Section ID must match the Section ID from the Section CSV file

To Bulk add Teaching Assignments, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Import under Teaching Assignment option
4. Select Choose File 
5. Select Marking Period
6. Locate the file you wish to upload (See Teaching Assignments Template for a sample CSV file.)
7. Select Import
8. Follow instructions on screen to identify columns correctly
9. Select Verify when finished

To Manually add one or more Teaching Assignment, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Import under Teaching Assignment option
4. Complete required “*” fields
5. Select Create Teaching Assignment when finished

To Edit a Teaching Assignment, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Manage Teaching Assignments
4. Find the Teaching Assignment you wish to Edit
5. Select Edit
6. Change the fields that need to be edited
7. Select Update Teaching Assignment

To Delete a Teaching Assignment, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Manage Teaching Assignment
4. Find the Teaching Assignment you wish to Delete
5. Select Delete
6. Select Ok to the pop up confirmation question.

Sending Surveys

Define Marking Periods

Marking Period Manager allows you to add your marking periods (terms, quarters, semester, trimesters, etc.) for each  school year. Marking periods determine when you request surveys during the year. Survey send dates are set on the Marking Period Manager page which you can access via the Manage dropdown menu by selecting “Marking Periods”. 

• Click “ADD MARKING PERIOD”  to add your term
• Type the appropriate Period Name (Fall, First Quarter, etc)
• Click the Calendar drop down arrows to set the start and end date for the marking period
• If you want surveys to be sent automatically, toggle on the button next to the question “Would you like surveys to be sent automatically?”. We recommend you send surveys manually so you have greater control over where and when Students complete Surveys.
• Select “CREATE MARKING PERIOD” when finished. 

Note that if you want multiple surveys (for different grade levels for example), you will need to create multiple marking periods as only one survey can run at a time. 

Surveys can be sent in 3 ways

1. To all Sections in a Marking Period from the Marking Period Manager page
2. By the Folio Admin to individual Sections from the View/Manage Current Sections page
   • Per-Section Sending must be set to “On” 
3. By the Teacher from the Teaching Assignments page. 
   • Per-Section Sending must be set to “On” from the Survey Manage page

View & Manage Survey Requests

Folio allows you to manage survey requests that you have sent. To do so, follow these steps: (Note: Surveys are not valid if one of the users related to the survey has been removed from the system, or if the section a student survey is for has been removed from the system. An asterisk (*) indicates what has been removed: student roster assignment, teacher assignment, or section.)

To Manage Survey Requests, follow these steps:

1. Manage Menu
2. Select School Data
3. Select Manage Survey Request (last option on page)
4. Find the Teaching Assignment you wish to Delete
5. Select Delete
6. Select Ok to the pop up confirmation question.

Student Access

Students access surveys through a link provided either in an email or given directly from the teacher. 

• Students login to Folio using the same Sign In page as the employees.
• Schools need to provide the students with their site’s Folio URL, the student’s login email, and a password. Upon login, they are presented with a Student Dashboard which lists all of their classes for the requested survey period.
• If a school uses Google Sign On the student will login using the "Sign in with google" button to utilize SSO. 
• Student Passwords - Passwords need to be 6 characters in length and can be numbers or letters. You could randomly generate a 5 letter word and add a number to the end. Some schools elect to use the student’s school web password. If that value is only 5 characters, they may add a character at the beginning or the end of the password to meet Folio’s Password Requirements.

Students respond to surveys using a slider next to each adjective and question. For the Narrative question there is a text box to complete feedback.

Student Dashboard 

Shows all surveys the student needs to complete.

Sample Survey Form

When the student clicks on the “Fill out Survey” button, they are taken to a screen where they can complete the survey:

Reviewing Survey Results

Reviewing Survey Results

Folio has a “Visibility Count” that needs to be met before survey results are displayed. For example, if the “Visibility Count" is set to 5, 5 responses to a given Survey (Teacher, Coach, etc.) need to be submitted before the results are displayed. This is set up under the Survey Visibility section of the Survey Manager.

Survey Reports & Filters: The following reports and filters are available for evaluating survey data:

Cumulative Report Data

• School Year
• Teacher Roles 
• Groups to which the teacher is a member

Narrative Report Data

• School Year
• Courses

Group-to-Group

• Available to myFolio Admin only
• Allows myFolio Admin to evaluate groups across entire Folio Site
  • School Year
  • Teacher Roles - Roles include terms such as Teacher, Coach, Advisor, Peer, Supervisor, LS Teacher, etc.  
  • Groups - Groups are those groups defined in the group builder.  Each employee can only compare data across groups of which they are a member.  

Cumulative Report

The Cumulative Report shows the Average Rating and one Standard Deviation for the selected employee. Standard Deviation is a measure of the amount of variation of the values of a variable about its mean. The dark rectangle on the Cumulative Report represents the average score based on the number of responses and the bar on either side represents one standard deviation of all responses. 

There are two ways a teacher can view their non-narrative student survey data:

1. From the Report Tab at the top of their screen
2. From the Cumulative Report Tab located in the Profile

Once the number of responses set in the Visibility Count is met Cumulative Report data will appear.

Cumulative Report by Section

The myFolio platform allows users to disaggregate the Student Survey results in the Cumulative Report by Section.

To do this:

1. Navigate to the Cumulative Report (click name, then Cumulative Report.)
2. Select a student survey result to view (not a Peer or Supervisor Survey.)
3. Click the Group by Section checkbox (this checkbox will only appear when a Student Survey is selected.)
4. Click the “Update” button to view the section specific results.

Narrative Survey Remarks

The Narrative Survey remarks are located in the Profile section of the teacher and show each individual student response.

Narrative responses do not display until 7 days after they have been submitted (as long as the “Visibility Count” has been met), to protect anonymity.

Supervisor Access to Survey Data

Supervisors (and their supervisory chain) can only access survey data if supervisor visibility has been enabled on the Survey Manager page. To access student survey data supervisors will navigate to the Roll Call page, find the employee, and click the student link under the survey column.

The figures next to the student link showcase the number of completed and total requested surveys.

The student link takes you to the Reports Page for a specific employee, so you may view Cumulative and Narrative Survey Report Data. 

Report links are available from this Feedback column as well.

Regardless of the visibility setting, the Folio Admin can always view School Level Survey Report Data.