Teacher Survey

As part of our evaluation of Poetry Out Loud, we'd like to learn more about how you used the project in your classroom and how students responded. Your feedback can make Poetry Out Loud a better program and ensure that it incorporates teachers' ideas and experiences. All the information you provide will remain confidential, and no names or personally identifying information will appear in our reports. Thanks for your help!

School Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip Code:

If you would be willing to talk with us further about Poetry Out Loud, please provide your contact information:

Name:

Phone:

Email:

Background

1. How many years have you taught?
1-5	6-10	11-20	More than 20

2. What subjects do you teach? (check all that apply)
English	Theatre and Drama	Speech
Other:

3. In a typical year, how often do you teach poetry in your classes?
Never	Once or twice	Occasionally	Regularly

4. In a typical year, how often do you teach poetry recitation in your classes?
Never	Once or twice	Occasionally	Regularly

5. Have you participated in Poetry Out Loud before?		Yes	No
	If yes, which year(s)? (check all that apply)	2005-2006	2006-2007

2007-08 Poetry Out Loud Participation

6. Please indicate a) the grade level(s) with which you used Poetry Out Loud, and b) the number of class sessions you devoted to Poetry Out Loud. Numerals please, no ranges or percentages. Approximations are fine.
a) Grade level	9	10	11	12
b) Number of class sessions spent on Poetry Out Loud activities/work

7. Approximately how many instructional hours did you spend on each of the following activities?
	1-5 Hours	6-10 Hours	11-15 Hours	16-20 Hours	More than 20 Hours
Planning/preparation
Reading and discussing poems in class
Having students practice recitation
Grading/evaluating student work
Holding recitation contest(s)
Coaching individual students
Other (please describe):

8. Did you: (check all that apply.)

require students to memorize and recite poems?

make memorizing and reciting poems an extra credit assignment?

let students volunteer to memorize and recite poems?

coach/work with students to prepare them for the class contest?

coach/work with students to prepare them for the school contest?

coach/work with students to prepare them for the state contest?

9. Students participate in Poetry Out Loud in several different ways. For a-d below, please provide numbers rather than ranges or percentages. If you don't have exact numbers, just give us your best estimate.

a. How many students in your class are/were actively involved in Poetry Out Loud classroom activities (e.g., memorizing poetry, reading poems from the anthology, participating in POL activities) (# of students)

b. How many students competed in a classroom Poetry Out Loud contest? (# of students)

c. How many students competed in your school's Poetry Out Loud contest? (# of students)

d. How many students attended your school's Poetry Out Loud contest? (# of students)

10. Did teaching artists visit your school as part of Poetry Out Loud?
Yes	No (if no, skip to # 13)

11. If so, how helpful were the school visits and participation of teaching artists?
Not at all helpful	A little helpful	Moderately helpful	Very helpful

12. What would make them more helpful?

14. Please check the box that best describes how much you agree with the following statements.
	strongly disagree	somewhat disagree	somewhat agree	strongly agree
My students enjoyed studying and memorizing the poems.
My students enjoyed participating in the contest.
My students put in a lot of time outside of class practicing poetry recitation.
The potential for winning the contest motivated my students to work hard.
I think my students will be more likely to read poetry for pleasure after participating in the program.
The school contest was well-attended and a significant event for our school.
The school contest attracted a wide range of students.
Students who won the classroom contests were eager to participate in the school contest.
Students chose not to participate in the school contest because of conflicts with jobs, sports, music, or other commitments.
I think the program is valuable for all students.

Poetry Out Loud Resources

15. In general, how grade-level appropriate were the Poetry Out Loud resources for high school students?
below grade level	at grade level	above grade level

16. To what extent did you use each resource with your classes?
	not at all	a little	some	a lot
The CD
Poems in the anthology
Website resource
Tools and approaches in the Teacher's Guide
Criteria and information in Judge's Guide

17. To what extent did your students use the website?
not at all	a little	some	a lot

18. Please share your thoughts on each resource by indicating your level of agreement with the following statements. If you did not use a particular feature or section, check "Not applicable."
	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree	Not applicable
Website
The Website was easy to navigate.
The student resources helped engage students in poetry and Poetry Out Loud.
Many students selected poems from the web-based anthology.
Students found the website helpful in preparing for the contest.
The video footage from last year's contest helped students understand recitation and prepare for the contest.
The video footage from last year's contest helped school judges evaluate students' recitations.
The advice for accommodating students with disabilities, posted on the website, was helpful.

CD
	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree	Not applicable
The recitations on the CD helped the students appreciate those poems.
The extra material about the poems and poets was helpful and interesting.
The instructional material on how to recite poetry was helpful and interesting.

Teacher's Guide
	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree	Not Applicable
The guide provided everything we needed to implement the program.
The guide should offer more ways to incorporate the program into the classroom.
The guide should be longer and more detailed.
The guide needs more things teachers can directly lift and copy.
The lesson plans in the Teacher's Guide gave me new ideas for teaching poetry.

Print Anthology
	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree	Not Applicable
My students found poems they could relate to.
The number of poems in the anthology was appropriate.
The web-based anthology was an important supplement to the hard-copy anthology.

Judge's Guide
	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree	Not applicable
The information in the guide is complete.
The guide clearly describes the evaluation criteria.
The guide helped in preparing for the contest.

19. How adaptable are the Poetry Out Loud resources for teachers teaching a range of students and curriculum?
not at all adaptable	somewhat adaptable	moderately adaptable	easily adaptable

20. Please share any comments or suggestions for improving the CD, website, Teachers Guide, or anthology, or Judge's Guide.

21. Did you or do you plan to use the Poetry Out Loud resources at other times during the year or for other units or lessons?
Yes	No
If so, please describe how you've used or plan to use the resources.

22. In the table below, please tell us:

a) how important each goal was, and b) how successful you think you were in achieving it.

If an item was not among your goals, check the first column and leave the rest of the line blank.

	Level of importance:				Level of success:
	Not a goal	An incidental goal	A somewhat important goal	A very important goal	A little success	Moderate success	Great success
Developing students' knowledge of classic poems.
Helping students understand a poem's structure.
Helping students understand a poem's meaning.
Developing students' ability to recite poetry.
Helping students enjoy and appreciate poetry.
Obtaining resources and materials for the school.
Enhancing the way you teach poetry.
Giving students a chance to recite or perform poetry from memory.
Giving students a chance to compete at recitation contests.

23. Please share any strategies or activities you developed or used that you thought really engaged students in Poetry Out Loud or brought new energy to learning about poetry.

24. Check the box that best describes your level of agreement with the following statements:
	strongly disagree	somewhat disagree	somewhat agree	strongly agree
If the program were offered again, I would participate.
I plan to incorporate poetry recitation next year, even if we don't participate in the program.
My participation in this program has changed the way I approach the teaching of poetry.
The program provides enough incentive to teachers for them to make it a serious part of their teaching.
I learned something from the program myself.
I read poetry in my spare time.

25. Pick one or two statements above that you strongly agree or disagree with, and explain why.

26. Please share any other comments you have about Poetry Out Loud, including suggestions for improving it or responses from students that surprised you.