Calling All Members of the Community!

Participate in Speak Up 2013 and share your ideas about how to leverage technology in schools to promote better learning!

Join the conversation about the use of technology for learning through Speak Up, a National Research Project. Since 2003, over 3 million K-12 education stakeholders have participated in the annual online surveys.  Data findings are shared each year with federal, state and local policymakers to inform education programs, policies and funding.

For the first time, Project Tomorrow, the national organization that facilitates the annual Speak Up surveys, will also provide a special online survey for community members. Local employers, after school providers, school board members and homeowners without children in the local schools can now provide their views on the role of technology in preparing students for the jobs and careers of the 21st century. This new set of data will provide valuable insights for schools and districts as well as state and federal policymakers on the importance of digital tools and resources for college and career readiness. Additionally, both parents and community members will also be asked about their awareness of the new Common Core State Standards, and the sources, both digital and non-digital, of their information about the new standards. Now's your chance to get involved! Be a part of the conversation and share your ideas about how to leverage technology in schools to promote better learning.

Next steps to take to get involved with Speak Up this year:   

1.) Take the survey today at www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013.  Share your thoughts and views on the importance of education within your community and specifically, the role of technology in preparing today’s youth with the skills they need to be successful in the future. All community members will access the survey through a school in their local community. You can look up a school via zip or state and school name.

2.) Promote the surveys to your friends and family. Start spreading the word about Speak Up to your network of friends and family. Have a friend that is an educator? A parent? A current K-12 student?  Member of the community interest in schools? Send them the link to the survey. We have a variety of promotional materials on our website to help spread the word, www.tomorrow.org/speakup/promo.html

3.) Get your local schools and district involved. Every participating school and district receives free online access to their own participant data in February 2014.  Speak Up provides your schools and districts with state and national data for benchmarking that can be used to for grant writing, ed tech plans, budgets, professional development and community engagement. Please share this sample intro email/flyer: http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/promo_introduction_letter.html with your local school & district administrators. For additional promotional material to spread awareness, please visit our partner promotional material page at: http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/speak_up_PartnerTools.html

About Speak Up 2013

·        Online surveys open now through December 20th, 2013.

• Surveys are available this year for: K-12 students, teachers, librarians, principals, district administrators, technology leaders, parents, business partners and community members.  The parent survey is also available in Spanish!
• Every K-12 school and district is eligible to participate in Speak Up. Survey access is available to participating schools and districts free of charge.  All information is 100% confidential and there is no limit to the number of surveys you can submit.  
• Every participating school and district receives free online access to their own participant data in February 2014 including the national and state data for comparison.  Why do your own survey?  Speak Up provides schools and districts with national data for benchmarking!
• Project Tomorrow annually shares the nationally aggregated data with Congress, the US Department of Education, research organizations and many state governments.
• Survey question topics include:  learning and teaching with technology, 21st century skills, games, STEM career exploration, online and blended learning, flipped classrooms, mobile devices, digital and online textbooks, writing with technology, professional development for educators, school-to-home communications, bandwidth capacity, digital citizenship, and preparing for the 2014/2015 online assessments. 
• Lend your voice to national advocacy efforts and help improve educational opportunities for ALL kids!

Speak Up is an initiative of Project Tomorrow, the nation's leading education nonprofit organization focused on empowering students to have a greater voice in their education. To learn more about Speak Up, please visit www.tomorrow.org/speakup or contact Jenny Hostert at jhostert@tomorrow.org, 949-609-4660 x17.