Almost any time there is a major decision to be made in a school district, someone wants to “do a survey” to gather opinions on the topic. As new K-12 initiatives are rolled out, program implementers typically undertake surveys to gather both formative and summative evaluative data. Program funders often require the kinds of evidence that can only be gathered through constituent surveys. These situations indicate a need for good survey research in K-12.
At the same time, survey tools make it simple for the novice to field an online survey. The tools offer sample questions and often generic survey development advice. They make it easy to do a bad survey. Compounding this problem, the existing reference materials for the novice K-12 survey researcher are either dated or not specific enough to K-12 considerations.
The objective of this book is to provide a concise guide to key considerations in K-12 survey research and to guide the practitioner who may have little prior background in survey research. Upon reading this book, the practitioner should be able to design and field high-quality online surveys, then accurately analyze survey responses to bear on the K-12 topic at hand.
We encourage a broad range of contributions, both from advanced K-12 researchers/practitioners and higher education researchers with experience in K-12 survey research. We especially encourage contributions that include real-world examples and practical strategies to help the novice K-12 survey researcher be successful.
List of topic areas
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Use of survey data in K-12 program evaluation
- Use of survey data in K-12 strategic planning
- When not to use a survey
- Writing effective survey questions
- Finding your respondents and enhancing response rates
- Finite population considerations
- Special population considerations
- Introduction to sampling
- Working with education agencies – school districts and above
- Cognitive interviewing and pilot studies
- Processing survey data
- Practical survey data management
Submission information
Potential contributors are invited to submit proposals of not more than 500 words for chapters of 3,000-5,000 words (not including tables/figures and references). Proposals should be sent via email to Tatia Prieto. Chapters will be due January 2027. All submitted chapters will be reviewed by at least two peer-reviewers on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.
About the Book
This book (not yet under contract) is intended to be published by Emerald Publishing, as the 2nd volume in the Survey Methods in Educational Research series. The 1st volume, Basic Elements of Survey Research in Education: Addressing the Programs Your Advisor Never Told You About, was published in 2021.
About the Editor
Tatia Prieto, Ed.D., MBA, PMP, is the founder and president of Prismatic Services, Inc., an education-focused consulting company that has engaged in substantial K-12 survey research. She is also an active member of the AERA Survey Research in Education SIG. Please contact her with any questions.
Call for submission: 28 September, 2026
For more details refer here
