Parent Feedback, Staff Retention & Student Achievement Research Report
Can parent and staff feedback predict important school outcomes? This research report from Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF) and Possip explores the relationship between continuous stakeholder feedback and three critical measures of school success: staff retention, student enrollment, and student achievement. The study analyzes four years of survey data from more than 41,000 identified family respondents alongside staff feedback, enrollment records, and academic performance across multiple charter school networks to identify meaningful patterns that school leaders can use to improve outcomes.
The research found that staff sentiment is moderately correlated with staff retention, making regular employee feedback a valuable early indicator of potential turnover. It also identified a measurable staff “tipping point,” showing that employees whose average satisfaction score falls below 2.25 are significantly more likely to leave. Qualitative feedback further revealed that concerns about workload, support, curriculum, and compensation frequently appeared among staff who ultimately exited their schools.
For families, the study found that parent sentiment is a meaningful predictor of student re-enrollment, particularly when schools pay close attention to families who report being “Mostly” satisfied rather than simply “Yes.” The report introduces a family retention tipping point, demonstrating how declining sentiment can help schools identify at-risk families before enrollment decisions are made. The research also found an overall positive relationship between parent sentiment and student achievement while highlighting the importance of demographic and community context when interpreting results.
