Survey Completed

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board has now completed a survey of its students which began on April 18th and ended May 31st after an extension was requested beyond the original May 20th end date.

The Ottawa Carleton District School Board would like to thank all our students and their parents/guardians for helping with our 2011 Student Survey.

The student survey was voluntary and every student was invited to participate.  The survey questionnaire was completed by either the students themselves (for students in grades 7-12) or by students’ parents (for students in junior kindergarten to grade 6). The survey asked questions about:

 your child (place of birth, age, gender, exceptionalities)
 your child’s family (ethnic background, religion, education)
 learning environment (experience at school, sense of belonging)
 safety (at school and in community, experience with bullying)
 learning supports (parental engagement, homework, community programs)

Purpose

The purpose of the survey is to collect data that will help us better understand our student population. School districts are responsible for promoting student achievement and student well-being. Research tells us that student achievement is influenced by many factors, including experiences relating to ethnic and cultural background, gender, socio-economics, parental education and engagement, and safety and sense of belonging. The survey will help us to understand how these factors affect our students. We will use this information to make decisions about instructional practice, programs, and services that are available to students.

History

The student survey, originally planned for the fall of 2010 was delayed by the school district while the district worked with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) on an investigation into privacy issues associated with the survey.

The IPC conducted an investigation into the survey to assess whether the Board’s implementation of the survey was in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The IPC has finished their investigation and concluded that the student survey is in compliance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

The report from the Commission does not make any recommendations for change. It concludes that the planned collection, use and disclosure of survey information are in accordance with the Act and that the Board has implemented reasonable measures to prevent unauthorized access to information collected from the survey.

Parents received a detailed letter about the survey during the week of March 7, 2010.  A copy of the letter is available on this website and can be translated using the Google translate button at the top of the page.

Parents who did not want their child(ren) in grades junior kindergarten to grade 6 to participate in the survey could choose not to complete the survey when it was sent home.  Parents of students in grades 7-12 who did not want their child(ren) to complete the survey at school were asked to complete and return the form attached to the parent letter.

Contact Information

If you have questions about the survey, please do not hesitate to contact your school principal. You may also contact our Student Survey Information Line at 613-596-8258 or via email at inclusivetimes@ocdsb.ca.