There are two documents below for review. The first provides the results from our telephone survey, which is quantitative. Quantitative means the results are statistically viable. For this survey, the Margin of Error is 5.6%, with a confidence level of 95%
The second document provides the results from our online survey and focus groups. These items are qualitative, meaning they are not statistically reliable but are done to afford as many people the opportunity as possible and to provide the research team the "voice of the people."
TELEPHONE SURVEY
BELOIT USD 273
In June 2024, Beloit Schools USD 273 engaged ExcellenceK12 to conduct a brief telephone survey with 300 randomly selected, head-of-household, registered voters living within the boundaries of the district.
Calls were placed to landlines and cell phone numbers, and the completed interviews were divided into four geographic segments, with the number of completed interviews for each area based on the general population pattern, according to district leadership. The data collected has a Margin of Error of plus or minus 5.6%. (The Margin of Error within the demographic and subgroups is higher because of the smaller number of respondents.)
ONLINE SURVEY & FOCUS GROUPS
BELOIT USD 273
At the same time as a statistically reliable telephone survey was being conducted with residents of the Beloit Schools USD 273, a similar online survey was made available to district patrons (via the district's website).
A total of 224 patrons chose to participate. However, not all who participated answered all the questions, which is a situation that is typical with online surveys.
The results of the online survey can be viewed below, in a form that allows for direct comparison, where possible, to the telephone survey. Because those who participate are self-selected, rather than randomly drawn, all online data should be considered supplemental information.
Additionally, because of rounding, all questions with percentages may add to more or less than 100%
Note: Only the online response (not telephone) for the three open-ended questions is included in this report.
In addition to the telephone and online surveys, Beloit Schools engaged Excellence K12 to conduct five focus groups with district patrons. The original focus group list was:
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Teachers and staff
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Gen Z
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Senior citizens
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Farmers
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Parishioners of St. John's
These groups convened on the evenings of June 12 and 13 at the district office. ExcellenceK12 President Rick Nobles moderated all the groups.
Due to scheduling issues and difficulties finding interested participants, we eliminated the Farmers group. For teachers and staff, we had 11 participants. For Gen Z, only two people showed up, although six people had confirmed the day before. Twelve "senior citizens" participated, however, many of them were only in their 50s. For the St. John's group, we had 11 participants.