In Summer of 2009, we launched our first survey of Principals across the country.  We've all heard the media and experts' opinions of what concerns our schools. Our Principals' Survey asked three quick questions to try to gauge what's really on the minds of the "feet on the street."

 The three questions we asked were:

1. What are some of the challenges you face in your school (check all that apply).  Also, a write-in box was provided for custom responses.
2. Of the challenges above, which is your BIGGEST concern?
3. If you could get help with any of the following, would it be beneficial to you?  Again, this was a "check all that apply" type of question.

The results we saw were very interesting and revealed a part of the picture that's not being portrayed in the news and in "experts" journals. See below for charts and data for each of the three questions.

Question #1: What are some of the challenges you face in your school?

Question #2: Of the challenges above, which is your BIGGEST concern?

Question #3: If you could get help with any of the following, would it be beneficial to you?

Conclusions:

From the data above, the conclusions are both interesting and exciting.

1. Yes, budget is a concern. That much is clear and it's no surprise given the economic situation.
2. Test scores and student achievement is still VERY high on principals' minds.
3. If principals could get help with a) improving teacher productivity and b) increasing students' academic achievement, this would be of great benefit to them.

The good news is that SocialSmarts can help do both these things.  SocialSmarts helps by providing a structure for teaching social skills that helps create a framework for how teachers can manage their classrooms more effectively at the same time students learn those vital skills that help them be more successful in class and beyond. Teachers can spend more time teaching, less time managing behavior and discipline. Students have increased time-on-task and spend more time learning.

The results -- increased teacher productivity and effectiveness, along with improved teacher satisfaction. At the same time, students' test scores improve because of the positive changes in the learning environment.

SocialSmarts can help you with these issues as well as several other Principals have indicated are important to them.