Last spring, just over 50% of sixth formers completed the Senior Survey, a mix of multiple choice, rating scale, and open response questions designed to give seniors a chance to reflect on their experiences at Choate. The survey takes about ten minutes to complete and includes questions about experience, impact, and future suggestions for Choate. Mr. Corey Wrinn, the Director of Institutional Research, created the survey last year, and he plans to send the same survey to this year’s senior class in early April. Said Mr. Wrinn, “The Senior Survey gives students an opportunity to share their experiences, how they have changed over time, and what worked or didn’t work for them over their time at Choate.”
In addition to the Senior Survey, Mr. Wrinn created a survey for incoming students that the current freshman and sophomore classes took, as well as any new juniors or post-graduates. Around 80% of students from the class of 2021 and 2020 completed this survey, which was administered two weeks before they arrived at Choate. Mr. Wrinn said, “The timing is purposeful so that we can get a sense of where students are before they move on campus, meet their roommate, or start classes. It’s a way for us to understand what they are concerned about, excited about, and what they want to get out of Choate.”
The goal is to be able to collate these two surveys so that seniors will see the results of their freshman surveys and be able to reflect back on their time at Choate. Mr. Wrinn said, “It will be a great opportunity for us to see a before and after. We want to see what students do here that they feel has been impactful and if that could help us in the future. This is a way to figure out what works, what doesn’t, and what we need to tweak.” Mr. Wrinn also hopes to send a survey out to alumni to be able to examine Choate’s long term effect on graduates.
The set of surveys was originally Mr. Wrinn’s idea, but a variety of people were involved in the creation. Ms. Kathleen Wallace, Associate Head of School, was an important contributor, as well as an advisory group made up of faculty, staff, and administrators who continue to meet with Mr. Wrinn once a month. Mr. Wrinn said, “More than just a sounding board, it’s a nice way to hear about everything that is happening on campus since I can only be in so many places at once.”
In addition to Mr. Wrinn, the advisory group, and a number of administrators, two data science classes helped come up with questions for the Senior Survey. These classes provided feedback on aspects of Choate that they wanted the survey to address. Mr. Wrinn said, “The Senior Survey is an opportunity for students to share their feelings confidentially knowing we’re going to be seeing what they say and acting on the results.”
Though there are results from the Senior Survey administered last year, Mr. Wrinn is waiting for more results before doing a large-scale analysis. He said, “Since we only have one year of data, I shared it with the senior officers, and we have reviewed some of the big points, but we’re going to wait a little longer before we look for trends. If you have just one year’s snapshot, it’s hard to know if a result solely relates to this group of students, or if it’s something that applies to everyone.”
Before these surveys, Choate often relied on college matriculation and career placement to measure the success of Choate, so they were unable to comprehensively measure a students’ experience. Mr. Wrinn concluded, “I think these surveys are a good way for us as an institution to really put some meaning behind our statements. Every school says that they are distinctive and different and important, but hopefully we’ll be able to point out some of the ways we’re special based off of these surveys.”
