Teaching · For Teachers

Every question should know why it is there.

List what the survey must find out, then tag each draft item with its objective. The checker shows the gaps, the items to cut and the wording to look at again.

Check a surveyWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the For Teachers toolkit, $79 for 72 items.

The alignment check

One check per survey draft. The example is made up.

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What you get

Teaching · For Teachers$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
Coverage of every objective, items tied to no objective, and items with wording to check.
Who it is for
Teacher-researchers, school leaders, district evaluators and graduate students writing surveys.
Format
Browser form. One saved check per survey draft; printed with the summary or as a blank form; CSV; export and import a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the For Teachers toolkit ($79) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The For Teachers space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
every question tied to a reason
Drawn for this page. A survey gets shorter, and response rates higher, when every item has to name its objective.

How to use it

  1. Write each objective in one sentence, with a code.
  2. Paste in each draft item and tag its objective.
  3. Fill gaps and cut items that serve nothing.
  4. Rewrite items the wording check flags.
  5. Pilot with a few respondents before sending.

Check a survey

How the checks work

Why three items

A single question measures a broad idea poorly. Three or more items on the same objective let you check internal consistency and average out the quirks of any one wording.

The wording checks

An item with “and” or “or” may ask two things, so a single answer cannot say which part it is about. Leading items signal the expected answer. These are prompts; read each flagged item yourself.

What this is not

A validity study. Alignment is the first step; piloting and analysis come after.

Sources

  1. Dillman, D. A., Smyth, J. D., & Christian, L. M. (2014). Internet, Phone, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Surveys: The Tailored Design Method (4th ed.). Wiley.
  2. Gehlbach, H., & Brinkworth, M. E. (2011). Measure twice, cut down error: A process for enhancing the validity of survey scales. Review of General Psychology, 15(4), 380–387.
  3. Institute of Education Sciences, Regional Educational Laboratory Program (2016). Survey Methods for Educators (parts 1 to 3).
  4. DeVellis, R. F., & Thorpe, C. T. (2021). Scale Development: Theory and Applications (5th ed.). Sage.

The example survey is made up. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.