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Everyone Belongs: Student Survey

What is the Everyone Belongs in Thames Valley Student Survey?

This voluntary and confidential survey asks about student identities. Students and families completed the survey during the 2020-2021 and 2023-2024 school years

The survey includes questions related to:

  • Ethnic and Cultural Origins
  • Racial Identities
  • Indigenous Identities
  • Languages
  • Newcomers
  • Religious Beliefs and Spiritual Affiliations
  • Gender Identities
  • Sexual Orientations (students in Grade 7-12 only)
  • Disabilities

The following groups  are invited to participate in the student survey :

  1. Parents and caregivers of all TVDSB students in kindergarten to grade 6 (invited to answer survey questions about their child’s identity)
  2. All TVDSB students in grades 7 to 12 (invited to answer survey questions about their own identity)

Why do we collect identity data? 

Learning about the identities of TVDSB students is a key part of the work that we are doing to support equitable outcomes and experiences in Thames Valley!

This information is used by TVDSB to inform important decisions as we strive to ensure that programs, practices and policies reflect the identities of students in this school board. District and school-level teams will use these results to inform plans to support student achievement and well-being.

All public school boards in Ontario are required by the Ministry of Education to collect identity data. More information about this provincial initiative can be found in these resources:

View the Student Survey

Contact Information

Questions can be sent by email to: EveryoneBelongs@tvdsb.ca or by calling 519-452-2000 ext. 20496.

Frequently Asked Questions

We want to gain a better understanding of the backgrounds and identities of students in TVDSB so that we can support them. Specifically, the goals of the Everyone Belongs Survey are to understand and support the diversity of students and their families, eliminate barriers, align teaching, learning, and engagement opportunities with the living experiences of TVDSB students, and inform system policies, procedures, and practices. 

The data we collect from the survey will inform important decisions that will allow us to support more inclusive learning and environments for students. By understanding TVDSB students, we can offer teaching, learning, and engagement opportunities that align with their living experiences. When opportunities in school align with experiences and identities, students are in a better position to engage and achieve success. 

Specific areas of focus include ethnicities, racial identities, Indigenous identities, languages, newcomers, religions, gender identities, sexual orientations, and disabilities. Only older students (Grades 7-12)  are asked about their sexual orientation. Parents/caregivers  are not asked about the sexual orientation of their child in Kindergarten to Grade 6. The surveys is publicly available on this webpage for anyone who would like to review the survey questions.  

The survey is based primarily on questions that were provided in a template from the Ministry of Education. The survey was further developed by the research team in response to feedback from TVDSB students, families, community members and external organizations, staff, and representatives from employee associations and federations. Several resources were accessed in the planning and development of the survey, including the Data Standards for the Identification and Monitoring of Systemic Racism, the Ontario Human Rights Code, Ontario’s Education Equity Action Plan, Ontario’s 3-Year Anti-Racism Strategic Plan, the Canada Census, and student surveys conducted by other school boards in Ontario.

No.The survey is completely voluntary. Students and families of younger students are given the option to complete the survey. Parents/caregivers of students in grades 7-12 are asked to contact their child’s school if they do not want their child to participate.We are required to offer this survey and we encourage participation to ensure that the results most closely represent TVDSB students and staff. With a high completion rate, we will be able to use the information more effectively for program planning and important decision-making.  

Parents/caregivers of all TVDSB students in kindergarten to grade 6 are invited to complete the survey on behalf of their child. All grade 7 to 12 TVDSB students are invited to complete the survey themselves. All TVDSB employees from all roles and locations are also invited to complete the staff survey about their own identity. Click here for additional information about the staff survey. 

Students and family members were invited to complete the survey during the 2020-2021 and 2023-2024 school years. The survey will be offered again in upcoming school years. Students  are given time to complete the survey during their regular school day. Students also have the option to complete the survey from home or any other location that they choose.

Students in grades 7-12  receive a unique survey link in their GOTVDSB student email. For students in kindergarten to grade 6, parents/caregivers who are on file with TVDSB as the primary parent or guardian contact  receive the link. The survey is online and can be completed on any type of device (e.g., desktop computer, tablet, mobile phone). We encourage all participants to complete the survey online if possible, but other formats are available (see question below).

For those who are unable to complete the survey online, paper copies and an option to complete the survey over the phone is available. Please let your child’s teacher know if they require a paper copy. If you are a parent/caregiver of a student in kindergarten to grade 6 and you require a paper copy to complete your survey, please contact the research team at EveryoneBelongs@tvdsb.ca. 

The survey takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. All students in grades 7 to 12 will be given time to complete the survey during their regular school day. 

No. Participants can leave any question blank for any reason. If a participant chooses to skip a question, their answers will still be included for all other questions for which they provided responses. 

It is best to complete the online survey at one time. However, the full survey is available on the website to view and download prior to completing the survey, if you would like to consider the questions ahead of time. 

Yes. The survey  includes the option to read and complete the survey in several different languages using Google Translate. For most devices, you will see the language options in a drop-down box in the top right corner of the page. If you require a language that is not already listed, please contact us at EveryoneBelongs@tvdsb.ca to request translation.  

The information is collected under the legal authority of the Education Act in compliance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act [MFIPPA] and is consistent with the Ontario Human Rights Code. The information is collected for educational, research, and program and policy development purposes only. The information will be used, disclosed, and retained in accordance with MFIPPA. 

The student survey is confidential but not anonymous. This means students’ identities could be determined by staff from the research team, but not by any other individual inside or outside of TVDSB. The survey link that each student or parent/caregiver receives is unique. Survey data from completed surveys are stored on encrypted third party servers and kept confidential. Direct access to the data is restricted to the research team. When working with the data, members of the research team work with files that contain Ontario Education Numbers and not student names.Reports and communication materials do not include any data or information that could potentially identify an individual student or family. 

The overall results will be compiled into a summary report that will include frequency results for identity groups that are included on the survey. Any identity group with a small enough number of respondents that could make it possible to identify an individual or family will not be shared. Additional analyses will be done to look at differences in student outcomes between groups of students. These reports will be shared with TVDSB staff, families, and Trustees and will also be made publicly available on the TVDSB website. All results will be presented in such a way that no individual student, family, or school can be identified.

Any information that could identify an individual student or family will not be shared. Reports of the survey findings only include summary data with numbers that are large enough to ensure that an individual cannot be identified. Student information that is used to link data from the survey to other data that is available in TVDSB is securely stored and kept strictly confidential. Only the research team has access to this information and to the survey database.  

The student survey is identifiable, but only staff on the research team will have access to the individual student results. This means that teachers, Principals, other staff, and parents/caregivers will not be informed of how their child/student responded on the survey. 

This work is a central priority of the board with specific connections to both our Strategic Priorities and our Operational Plan. We are committed to ensuring that identities, living experiences, and abilities are integrated into teaching, learning, and working experiences, as outlined in our Operational Plan. These results inform us about the diversity in TVDSB and the need to support and affirm all identities. As a board, we plan to use what we have learned about identities to continue to build equity and focus our work on anti-racism and anti-oppression in Thames Valley. The information from this survey will help us to build and support a workforce that reflects, understands, and responds to our diverse population. 

All Ontario school boards are engaged in this work and most have already collected identity data from students. Several Ontario school boards have now collected this type of data multiple times (e.g., Toronto District School Board, Peel District School Board, Durham District School Board).

We welcome any thoughts and/or questions that you may have at any time. Please contact us by email at EveryoneBelongs@tvdsb.ca or by phone at 519-452-2000 extension 20496.