2026 CNM Survey Report FAQ

Jump to frequently asked questions :

1. What is the CNM Survey? 

A: The purpose of the CNM Student Survey is to track longitudinal student outcomes across all Barr CNM partner schools/programs and to provide needed information back to educators to improve teaching, learning, and postsecondary advising and planning.

The CNM Survey has several anticipated benefits: 

1. Deepen the understanding of how school change happens and make the case for new high school models to the broader field, 

2. Support continuous improvement for Barr’s grantee partners, and 

3. Shape Barr’s strategy and planning for how to best support and invest in grantee partners. 

EA is supporting the Barr Foundation’s goal for improving data collection to better understand outcomes for all students, including and especially for students who are often underserved by American education systems. We applaud Barr for focusing on and requiring that partners use an equity lens in conducting this work, as this can be overlooked when collecting and analyzing large amounts of data for decision-making purposes. 

2. What is this report based on? 

A: This report is based on the results of CNM Survey administered to your school or program.

The CNM Student Success Skills Survey, which was administered to Barr CNM grantees between January and March 2026, was administered in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Cape Verdean Creole, and developed in collaboration with SRI International.

A copy of the survey instrument (i.e all of the questions and possible responses) is available here.  

3. What is a survey item/construct/domain?  

A: Items are questions, which comprise constructs, which comprise domains.

Survey items refer to the individual questions posed to students within the survey. The survey items are often presented in the form of a Likert matrix, like the example below:

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Each item can then be grouped into a construct, which aims to measure a theme. In the CNM survey, there are 12 unique constructs, including:

1. Academic Rigor

2. Classroom Engagement Comfort Level

3. Collaboration

4. Goal Setting

5. Growth Mindset

6. Postsecondary Guidance

7. Postsecondary Plan Self Efficacy

8. Professional Communication

9. Purpose

10. Self Efficacy

11. Sense of Belonging

12. Student-Teacher Relationships

These constructs can then be grouped into broader categories, known as domains. The four domains in the CNM survey are Student Success Skills, School Climate, Instruction, and Advising & Postsecondary Planning. 

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4. What types of items are in the survey? 

A: Items fall into one or more of a few categories: “part of a construct,” “not part of a Construct”, and “skip logic.”

1. Most items are part of a construct. These results are reported under sections “Results by Construct” and “Appendix: Results by Item.”  

2. Some items do not fit into a construct (e.g., “What do you plan to do immediately after completing high school?” These items are reported in the section “Appendix: Results by Item.” 

3. Some items used skip logic, which is a survey technique where a student must have a certain response in order to see the next item. Specifically, all students were asked to evaluate the statement “I have created a written postsecondary plan that describes what I will do after I graduate from high school,” but only those who answered yes would be asked, “I believe that I can achieve this plan.” Results of these items are reported in the section “Appendix: Results by Item.”  

5. What response scale was used in each survey item? 

A: Several different 1-5 Likert scales are used to quantify responses that fall into one of the 12 constructs.

Several different response scales were used in this survey. A majority of the items use the 5-point Likert scale (i.e., a rating scale with 5 response options). To see what response options were used for an item, hover over the School or CNM Average Rating number, and a tool tip will appear (example below).  

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6. How are participation rates calculated? 

A: EA calculates the survey participation rate by dividing the number of students who responded to the survey by the total number of students enrolled in your school or program, typically from publicly available enrollment data.

At the beginning of the survey, students were given the option to select “I agree to fill out this survey” or “I do not want to fill out this survey.” Generally, the percentage of students who chose to opt out was low. Participation rates were calculated by taking the number of students in the survey sample (those who agreed) and dividing by the estimated number of students enrolled. Enrollment numbers were typically sourced from publicly available data for schools and provided by the Barr Foundation for programs. 2024-25 enrollment and demographic counts were used for schools in MA, CT, RI, and NH, while 2023-24 enrollment and demographic counts were used for schools in ME and VT.  

7. Why are there N/A’s under “estimated percent of enrollment”? 

A: EA suppressed any data with student counts lower than five (N<5).

Race and gender will not always match publicly available data, due to different selection categories between the survey and census data. Below are the options presented to students for race and gender in the survey: 

• Which of the following describes your race? (Select all that apply).

  • Asian or Asian American 

  • Black or African American 

• Hispanic, Latinx, or Spanish origin 

  • Indigenous American or Alaska Native  

  • Middle Eastern or North African 

  • Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander  

  • White  

  • A race, ethnicity, or origin not listed (please specify)  

  • Prefer not to say 

• Which gender identity best describes you? (Select all that apply).   

  • Female / woman  

  • Male / man  

  • Genderqueer or gender non-conforming  

  • A gender identity not listed (please specify)  

  • Prefer not to say 

8. Why don’t I recognize this Domain or Construct from previous years?

A: Barr continues making efforts to improve its surveys. Therefore, new items and/or domain/construct names may appear in the latest survey.

In 2026, the following changes were made to the survey.

1. Three new constructs were added to the CNM survey:

   1. Academic Rigor

   2. Purpose

   3. Student-Teacher Relationships

2. In addition, the following changes were made to the domain names of the CNM Survey:

9. Further questions? 

A: If you have any questions regarding report content or structure, please email barrsurveyadmin@edanalytics.org.