Overview

Graduate surveys provide school districts with valuable information that is not available through other sources. Schools and school districts have recognized that tracking the success of their graduates helps to improve the performance of the school. Graduate surveys measure how recent graduates value and use their education and indicate areas where they feel unprepared. When graduate surveys are conducted every year, districts can evaluate progress annually and compare how the same graduates’ opinions of their education change over the years. This information, when obtained in a timely manner, can help school districts implement better planning procedures and more efficiently allocate resources. When used as a benchmark, surveys can offer objective evaluations on how effective programs have been in accomplishing their goals.

Perspectives Consulting Group, Inc. will design graduate surveys to meet the specific information needs of the district. Graduate surveys are typically printed surveys that are mailed to the graduates’ home address along with a business reply envelope addressed to Perspectives Consulting Group, Inc. Once the information is obtained, Perspectives Consulting Group, Inc. analyzes the information and provides direction for planning purposes.

Graduate Surveys

In the past, school districts have used graduate surveys for:

• Understanding how graduates value their education after graduation
• Evaluating high school programs and services
• Identifying potential areas of improvement for future graduates
• Benchmarking graduate perceptions over several years

The graduate survey process begins by meeting with the school district staff and officials to identify the issues of concern. Each survey is developed to address those issues of concern and meet generally accepted survey practices. On average, graduate surveys are two to four pages in length. Once the survey is approved it is then mailed to the graduates’ home address. Analysis of the data and preparation of the report is completed within a few weeks of receiving the completed surveys. The staff of Perspectives Consulting Group, Inc. will present the survey results as desired by the school district – publicly and/or with school district staff and officials individually. Most school surveys require between ten to twelve weeks to complete depending on the amount of time required to develop the surveys. The cost depends on the number of graduates to be surveyed and the length of the surveys.

Graduate Survey Topics

Graduate surveys have been used for:

• Measure how graduates feel their education achieved the ends statements desired by the board; social responsibility, healthy citizens, citizens in the global society, and knowledgeable citizens.
• Evaluate how the classes and curriculum prepared students for college and how it impacted their success at college
• Measure how graduates feel about the classes they took and the value of those classes to the student
• Find out what the graduate has done since graduation; schooling, job, etc.
• Gather information regarding graduates’ evaluation of the value of the guidance process and the role of counselors in their educational process