Cape Girardeau Public School Survey Comments

The results of the Cape Girardeau Public School survey reveal a variety of opinions about the overall achievements and activities of the district.

On Monday night, Hendrickson Business Advisors presented highlights of the survey findings to the Cape Girardeau School Board, but distributed to each member were the full findings of the results, which will be taken into consideration as the next steps of strategic planning move forward.

The findings included data from all the survey responses, including personal, anonymous comments from the participants responding to specific questions.

Specifically, with the exception of the final question, the comments provided all correlate to the participant's selection of "other" within a list of options.

The questions that elicited write-in responses, which make up only a small portion of the full survey, are as follows:

Which ONE of these factors is the most important job of Cape Girardeau Public Schools?

• Providing a quality education
• Preparing students to be productive members of the workforce
• Teaching life skills
• Ensuring kids graduate on time
• Providing a wide range of learning opportunities to meet each student's unique needs
• Developing students into future leaders; providing a safe learning environment
• Other (please specify)

When thinking of education, what are the top five skills students must learn so they are prepared for future success?

• Communication skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking, second language, etc.)
• Problem-solving skills
• Research skills (gathering and analyzing information)
• Personal money management skills
• Organization and time management skills
• Interpersonal skills (working with others)
• Confidence with the latest technology
• Technical training
• Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)
• Social sciences (study of history, cultures, economics, government)
• Fine and performing arts (music, theater, visual art)
• Other (please specify)

Which THREE factors present the biggest challenges for CGPS in educating students?

• Poverty
• Parent engagement
• Students arriving at school ready to learn
• Class sizes
• Teacher workload
• Access to special services (i.e. gifted program, tutoring, mental health services, etc.)
• School funding
• Attracting the best teachers
• Access to the latest technology
• Pressure for university placement and scholarships
• Balancing college preparation with career preparation
• Pressure to do well on standardized testing
• Maintaining a safe learning environment for all students
• Developing an inclusive environment for students of all backgrounds
• Early childhood program availability
• Other (please specify)

The final question that elicited the majority of the responses shown here was "How likely or unlikely would you be to recommend CGPS to others? (i.e. families, students, teachers, friends, etc.)" Participants were asked to give a rating from one (extremely unlikely) to seven (extremely likely). They were then told "Please explain why you gave CGPS this recommendation rating."

The responses in the attached document were unaltered and unedited, according to Hendrickson Business Advisors, so the language is directly from the participants.