MSEA Surveys

The purpose of our Parent & Guardian survey was to elevate the voices of City of Mesa parents and guardians whose children receive special education services, and better understand their experiences as well as perceptions regarding their children’s education.

The questions were written by parents. City of Mesa Adaptive Recreation Program partnered with us and helped distribute our survey during the summer of 2022. 

We were pleased that respondent data showed fourteen disability classifications were represented in the survey results, with the majority (56%) of respondents having children on the autism spectrum.

Key takeaways include:

• 70% of parents/guardians reported a caring school staff was the top strength of their child’s school services.
• Parents/guardians stated the top areas for improvement in their child’s school services were sufficient staff support, professional development training for teachers, IA’s and administrators, and better accommodations to participate in general education settings.
• Parents/guardians reported a lack of inclusionary opportunities for their children.
• 71% of all parents/guardians reported MPS does not seek out input or feedback from families regarding special education services.

We hope the survey results evoke frank conversation between all stakeholders on the experiences and perceptions of parents/guardians regarding their children's education.  

In October 2022, we shared the data with Dr. Fourlis and Theresa Baca.

In January 2023, MSEA requested an opportunity to present our data to our Governing Board, unfortunately, our request was denied.

Similar to our parent survey, we wanted to elevate the voices of teachers and service providers and better understand if they have the support and resources needed to perform their work. We all know successful teachers lead to successful students.

Questions were written collaboratively by teachers, service providers, principals and parents.

This was a voluntary survey with no incentives offered. The response rate was 30%, and the majority of teachers who took our survey had over 21 years of experience.

Key takeaways include:

• 75% of all respondents stated their number one area of need to help them be more successful in their roles was adequate IA staffing.
• 72% of respondents reported their peers and fellow colleagues are the professionals at their school sites that best listen, encourage, respect and support them, followed by their principal at 50%. Respondents reported there is a strong sense of support and workplace resilience at their campus level.
• Special Education teachers & service providers want increased communication with Special Education Administration and an avenue to have their input heard and validated. There was overwhelming evidence of this in the response to our last question, which gave teachers and service providers the opportunity to share additional thoughts and concerns. Ninety-six responses were received, and teachers wrote volumes. 

Like our parent survey, we hope the survey results evoke frank conversations between all stakeholders regarding the needs of educators. 

In October 2022, we shared the data with Dr. Fourlis and Theresa Baca.

In January 2023, MSEA requested an opportunity to present our data to our Governing Board, unfortunately, our request was denied.