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GRANTEE SURVEY QUESTIONS

Survey Instructions

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), with its contractor [TBD], is conducting a study of the 

School Turnaround AmeriCorps program, a partnership between CNCS and the Department of Education. The purpose of 

the study is to learn about how AmeriCorps programs are being implemented and how they are helping schools 

improve. 

You have been selected to complete a survey as part of the study. Your perspective is very important, so please answer 

honestly. Your participation in this study is completely voluntary. Refusing to participate will not involve any penalty or 

affect your [AmeriCorps status] [employment] in any way. It also will have no effect on your relationship with your 

school. It should take you approximately 30 minutes to complete the survey. We understand that your organization may 

run multiple AmeriCorps programs. Answer the questions based only on your experience [with your School Turnaround 

AmeriCorps program] [at your school] this year.

All responses are anonymous and your responses will be kept confidential to the extent provided by law. Under no 

circumstances will anyone from your [AmeriCorps program] [school] have access to any information that can be 

attributable to you. The information you provide in the survey will be summarized with the information from other 

respondents and included in a report that will be shared with your School Turnaround AmeriCorps program and with 

CNCS.

Please contact XXXXX, at XXX-XXX-XXXX or XXXXX, if you have any questions regarding this research. 
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1. Did your organization’s relationship with the school(s) exist before you established a partnership agreement for the 

School Turnaround AmeriCorps program? 

____ Yes

____ No

a. If yes, how long have you been collaborating with the school(s)?

____ Less than 6 months

____6 months to less than one year

____ One year

____ Two years

____ Three or more years

2. To the best of your knowledge, did School Turnaround AmeriCorps members provide direct services to individual 

students or to the whole classroom or school? (Check all that apply.)

__ AmeriCorps programming was targeted to individual students

__ AmeriCorps programming supported the whole classroom

__ AmeriCorps programming supported all students in the school

3. Do you know which students were served by School Turnaround AmeriCorps members? 

Yes: _____ No: _____ Sometimes but not always: _____ 

4. For the purpose of the School Turnaround AmeriCorps program, how does your organization define program completion 

for a particular student?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Please review the list below to confirm the schools where your organization assigned School Turnaround AmeriCorps 

members. Fill in the number of members, who served at each school, and the targeted number of students served and 

completing the program.

Which schools were

served by the AmeriCorps 

members engaged by 

your organization?

Number of AmeriCorps 

members

Target number of students to 

be directly served by 

AmeriCorps

Target number of students to 

complete an AmeriCorps 

program

6. Please fill in the following information on the characteristics of School Turnaround AmeriCorps programs at each school 

served by your organization.

Which schools were 

served by the AmeriCorps 

members engaged by your 

organization?

Number of 

AmeriCorps 

members 

Average number 

of hours 

AmeriCorps 

members spend 

per week in this 

school

Number of 

weeks 

AmeriCorps 

members spent 

in this school

Number of 

students directly 

served by 

AmeriCorps 

members in this 

school

Number of 

students 

completing2an 

AmeriCorps 

program
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TOTAL ALL 

SCHOOLS

AVERAGE ALL 

SCHOOLS

AVERAGE ALL 

SCHOOLS

TOTAL ALL 

SCHOOLS

TOTAL ALL 

SCHOOLS

7. On average, how often do the School Turnaround AmeriCorps members meet with school staff to discuss data on the 

progress of all students? 

____ Once a week

____Twice a month

____ Once a month

____ Once every six months

____ Once a year

____ Very different from school to school (please explain): _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. To the best of your knowledge, what mechanisms did the school use to identify students for activities led by School 

Turnaround AmeriCorps members? (Check all that apply.)

___ Teacher recommendation

___ Counselor recommendation

___ Parent request

___ Student request

___ Standardized test scores

___ Performance in class and on homework

___ Other: ______________________________

9. To the best of your knowledge, what are the reasons that students were identified to participate in School Turnaround 

AmeriCorps programming? (Check all that apply.)

__ Improve academic achievement (standardized test scores and/or grades)

__ Improve academic engagement (attendance, interest in school)

__ Assist students at risk of dropping out

__ Improve self-esteem or socio-emotional health

__ Improve behavior

__ Sustain performance

__ Other: _______________________________

10. What do you consider to be the most important school turnaround outcomes for students over the next two years? 

(Check all that apply.)

___ Enhanced academic achievement

___Improved grades

___Improved completion of assignments

___Increased motivation

___Increased self-esteem

___ Improved attendance

___Improved socio-emotional health

___Improved behavior

___Other. If other, please specify __________________

11. Please fill in the following table about school turnaround outcomes for students.
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Was there improvement in this area in 

one or more of the schools served by 

your grantee this year?

If you marked “Yes,” what were the 

outcomes with the greatest degree of 

improvement, across schools? 

Rank, with 1=Greatest improvement. Do 

not rank outcomes where you marked 

“No.”

Enhanced academic achievement, as 

measured by interim progress or unit 

assessments

___Yes ___No

Improved grades ___Yes ___No

Improved completion of assignments ___Yes ___No

Increased motivation ___Yes ___No

Increased self-esteem ___Yes ___No

Improved attendance ___Yes ___No

Improved socio-emotional health ___Yes ___No

Improved behavior ___Yes ___No

Other: __________________________ ___Yes ___No

12. Please indicate your level of agreement/disagreement about your organization’s collaboration with your school

partner(s) for each element listed below:

Strongly 

Disagree Disagree Agree

Strongly 

Agree

Very 

different 

school to 

school

Not 

Applicable

a. It is easy for me to get in touch with someone 

from the school

b. There is frequent communication between my 

organization and the school (e.g., visits to each 

other’s offices, meetings, written information 

and telephone communications)

c. The school follows-up, if needed, when I make 

contact

d. The school is committed to making our 

collaboration a success

e. The school has the ability to accomplish the 

goals it sets

f. The school puts forth effort to maintain its 

relationship with my organization

g. My organization perceives our relationship 

with the school as a priority

13. For the items in #12 where you marked “Very different school to school,” please explain below:

#___ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

#___ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

#___ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

#___ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

#___ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

#___ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

#___ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

14. For this school year, please indicate how satisfied you are with each of the elements listed below:

Very 

Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Satisfied

Very 

Satisfied

Very 

different 

Not 

Applicable
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school to 

school

a. Communication between school and grantee 

b. Communication and collaboration between 

teachers and AmeriCorps members

c. Communication and collaboration between school 

leadership and AmeriCorps members

d. Implementation of the roles and responsibilities 

outlined in the school partnership agreements

e. Placement of members in meaningful service 

activities

f. Referral of students to receive services offered by 

AmeriCorps members

g. Matching of members to students in need of 

academic strengthening and social/emotional 

supports

h. Alignment of activities with school turnaround 

plans

i. Sharing of outcome data by the school/district

15. For the items in #14 where you marked “Very different school to school,” please explain below:

#___ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

#___ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

#___ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

#___ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

#___ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

#___ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

#___ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

16. How important are the following characteristics to successfully implementing your School Turnaround AmeriCorps

program? 

Not at All 

Important

Somewhat 

Important Important Very Important

Not 

Applicable

a. Orientation and training of AmeriCorps members before 

they serve at the school

b. Comprehensive trainings of AmeriCorps members and 

program support staff during their year(s) of service

c. Multi-layered supervisory structure to ensure fidelity of 

program implementation

d. Defined framework (e.g., RTI) to guide objective 

instructional choices and allow for the assessment of 

program effectiveness

e. Limited set of highly scripted interventions that have been 

shown to be effective (i.e. research based) in achieving 

desired student-level outcomes

f. Recruitment and selection process that is effective in 

identifying members with characteristics that correspond 

with the programs objectives