Specific schoolsFull briefing
Three schools where 100% of teachers responded to the survey — and what they said
The longer form of the briefing for this story: the original thesis, the supporting findings the data team flagged, and the reporting directions a journalist could follow. For the short version and the data analysis, see the main story page.
Thesis
NYC School Survey response rates average around 70-80% for teachers. Three NYC schools had 100% teacher response in 2023-24 — unusually high. What did they say? And do schools with engaged-teacher responses post better outcomes?
Supporting findings
- Three schools with 100% teacher response (need to identify from our survey_responses table).
- Likely candidates: small schools where 100% is mechanically easier.
- High response rate signals strong principal communication + buy-in to the survey instrument.
- Do high-response-rate schools have higher trust scores? Or are they just more likely to record any view (positive or negative)?
- Selection bias goes both ways: principals can pressure responses up, and engaged-teachers respond regardless.
- Test: rank schools by teacher response rate; bin into quintiles; compare survey scores across quintiles.
- Compare with student response rates — student response is much more variable.
- What about citywide trends? Have response rates been falling since 2019?
- Cross-reference with teacher turnover — schools with low turnover may have higher response rates.
- Frame: 'A survey only matters if people take it. Here's where they do, here's where they don't, and what that says about how schools take feedback.'
Reporting directions
- Pull survey response rate distribution from survey_responses + survey_questions.
- Profile the highest-response schools — what's the principal doing differently?
- Interview a teacher at a 100%-response school: 'why does everyone here fill it out?'
- Compare with NYC DOE's survey-promotion materials over years.