The Research Project
Project Tomorrow’s Speak Up surveys are available for K-12 students, families, teachers, and administrators. Our surveys go beyond merely gathering information about your activities. They are designed to help district leaders gain deep insights into the actions, aspirations, and attitudes of their stakeholders.
For the 2024-25 school year, Speak Up provides three distinct opportunities to provide the data necessary for better decisions and improved learning.
Speak Up Snapshots
Based on input from the Speak Up community, each of these surveys focuses on one key challenge that districts are facing. The surveys will provide districts with local, firsthand information from their stakeholders—the students, teachers, parents, and administrators in the district. Districts receive their local data within 30 days of completing the snapshot survey to enable meaningful change during the school year.
Classic Speak Up
Our legacy survey asks K-12 students, families, educators, and administrators about learning across various themes related to the role of technology in education. Project Tomorrow provides participating districts with their survey results at no cost. Aggregated national data from Speak Up informs a range of federal and state policies and discussions on education trends.
National Speak Up
We are offering two audience-specific surveys:
K-12 Cybersecurity Awareness and Preparation (fall-spring)
focused on understanding how K-12 school districts are responding to cybersecurity risks and threats.
K-12 School-to-Home Engagement (spring)
designed for communications leaders working at the school district level.
Want to learn more about Project Tomorrow’s Speak Up Project?
What is the Speak Up Research Project?
A project of Project Tomorrow, the Speak Up Research Project is the largest collection of authentic stakeholder voices on key educational issues in the digital age. Since 2003, over 6.3 million K-12 stakeholders have participated in Speak Up surveys, sharing their insights on technology use in schools and other innovative learning models.
How does it work?
Speak Up offers a suite of online surveys that schools and districts can use to gather local data and better understand their students, families, teachers, and administrators. Participation is free, and schools and districts also receive national comparative data. All collected data is confidential, and individual participants cannot be identified.
Why are the benefits of participating?
Over 30,000 schools have leveraged their Speak Up data to plan current and future programs, understand stakeholder needs, and inform policy discussions at the local, state, and national levels. Learn more by reading case studies from districts that have used Speak Up data to drive meaningful change and explore advice from Speak Up Heroes.
What is the impact?
The Speak Up Research Project reports annually on nationally aggregated findings to inform federal and state education policies. Policymakers regularly use Speak Up research to develop new initiatives, funding, and programs that enhance K-12 education.
How are Speak Up surveys developed?
The Speak Up surveys are developed over the course of a year, focusing on topics of interest to school and district leadership. We collaborate with thought leaders, policy researchers, state education agency professionals, nonprofit and association leaders, practicing teachers, parents, and students. This comprehensive approach ensures the ongoing relevance of Speak Up data.
What are the origins of the Speak Up Research Project?
Speak Up was launched in 2003 as a result of a national AmeriCorps program managed by NetDay (now Project Tomorrow) in five highly challenged communities. The program addressed the “digital disconnect” between students’ desires to use technology for learning and how technology was being utilized in classrooms. The first Speak Up data collection was funded by a small grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support the development of the 2004 National Education Technology Plan.
Are you a Project Tomorrow District?
Project Tomorrow Districts strengthen their programs and strategies by ensuring reliable and actionable data collection. Join Speak Up today, and together, let’s create an education system that meets the needs of all learners.
Each year, the Speak Up Research Project asks K-12 students, parents and educators about the role of technology for learning in and out of school.
Project Tomorrow salutes the following innovative companies and organizations for their support of Speak Up 2024-25.
