Welcome to the Teaching, School, and Principal Leadership Practices (TSP) Survey Tool. Before you register, we recommend that you:

• Browse the information provided on this website to learn more about the tool and what it can do.
• Introduce the tool to your staff.

Introducing the tool to the school’s staff

The tool is designed to yield a rich set of information for your school. It involves teachers and the principal completing a brief survey.

The higher teachers’ participation rate, the more reliable your school report will be. We therefore recommend that you introduce the survey tool at a staff meeting, and encourage everyone to take part, since all should benefit. It’s helpful to emphasise the value you place on having this collective picture, and that you intend it to have a practical use in the ongoing development of the school.

We suggest highlighting to staff the importance of honest responses. Reassure them that their responses are anonymous and only grouped data is reported.

We also suggest that you consider ways to maximise teacher participation in advance. It’s helpful to plan the survey as a school-wide activity some time ahead, choosing a brief period (2-3 weeks) that will not be too busy for staff. You could set aside a given time or use existing staff meeting time for teachers to complete it, individually. Teachers and the principal can complete the survey in one sitting, or stop and complete it later, accessing it again with their password.

The principal registers the school annually to use the tool

The principal registers the school using the link on the left-hand side of the home page of this website.

The principal will need to provide the school’s MOE number and school name along with their email address. TSP surveys are now accessible on our NZCER Assist platform and the principal registering the school can indicate if they have an Assist account. If your school is not signed up for NZCER Assist our team will create your school and any required user accounts.

Please note that access to historic reporting is available until the end of Term 2, 2023. You will still be able to view reports from previous years (2016-2022) by logging in using the email and password used for that particular year.

Every school needs a survey administrator

To ensure the privacy of TSP data and reports in Assist, we have created different roles for various TSP users.

• Any Assist user assigned to the TSP survey tool product can create survey instances. This role is designed to provide administrative support for the principal.
• Only Assist users with the TSP survey product owner role can view the reports. We strongly suggest this role is held only by the principal, as a user with this role can see reporting for both principal and teacher surveys.
• Users that have the teacher role will not be able to view any TSP reports on the Assist site. They will be able to view their own survey responses if they download a copy of them at the end of completing their survey.

Managing the survey process

Managing the survey process is not onerous, but some extra tasks are required. The Assist user administering the TSP surveys will:

• Email all teachers with their school survey link, indicating a completion date.
• Monitor the number of responses (noting that they cannot see the individual responses).
• Send out a reminder email if needed before the set completion date.
• Access the tool’s dashboard to download the school reports showing the overall school results (i.e. the combined data from the teachers’ responses) on completion date (only the TSP product owner has access to reporting).

How do Teachers register?

When a teacher survey is created an onboarding link is generated. This link needs to be shared with teaching staff.

• If teachers already have an Assist account they click on the link, sign into Assist, and are then connected to the survey.
• If a teacher does not yet have an Assist account, they will need to create one (via the signup link on the Assist homepage). Once an account has been created the user will be automatically connected to the survey.

Participation is voluntary.

Once teachers are signed into their Assist account, they will be able to access their survey via their Dashboard and then clicking on the My Assignments tab. They can complete their survey in one sitting, or stop and complete it later by logging back into Assist and going to their “My Assignments” screen. They can download a copy of their responses at the end.

How do Teachers register?

Once the survey period is complete and you think you have sufficient responses, you can access your school’s reports immediately. Please note that 5 or more teacher responses are needed before reporting is enabled for the teacher survey. See Using the Reports for further information.

Any questions?

Please contact us on tspsurveys@nzcer.org.nz if you have any questions about registration, the survey process, or the reports.

We will respond by email or arrange a time to talk to you by phone.