SurveyMonkey Powered Online Survey

Purpose: To examine the trends in placement of multiple birth children in public and private schools; to ascertain if parents had problems or issues in obtaining their wishes with regard to their multiples' placement in school; to obtain what tools or documents assisted parents with problem resolution; and to see what differences there are around the world.

Respondents needed: Parents of multiple birth children who are 3 years of age or older AND whose children have attended school for at least one year.

Instructions: Please answer the questions to the best of your ability. Terminology and school systems are vastly different all over the world so it is impossible to make this survey fit in every aspect. There is a section at the end of the survey where you can write in comments about your particular situation if some of the questions don't match up with your experience with the schooling of your multiples in your country.

Some of the questions are single answer. Those where more than one answer can be given will be marked as such. There are some questions that give "Other" as a possible response. You can elaborate on this at the end of the survey, question #24. If you have more than one set of multiples, please complete a survey for each set. On question 1 mark both "G - Two sets of multiples" and the multiple type that that particular survey applies to for each survey.

Abbreviations:

MZ - Monozygotic ("Identical") DZ - Dizygotic ("Fraternal")

HOM - Higher-order multiples (triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets, etc)

MBO - Multiple birth organization

Thank you for your valuable input! The results of this survey will be presented at the Nov. 2019 ISTS Congress in Hong Kong.

Question Title

* 1. What type of multiples do you have? Check all that apply.

MZ girls

MZ boys

DZ girls

DZ boys

DZ boy/girl

HOM

Two sets of multiples

Unknown

Question Title

* 2. What country do you live in (the country where your children went to
school)?

Germany

Finland

Canada

Spain

Other

Brazil

Italy

United States

Switzerland

Japan

Norway

New Zealand

France

Australia

Netherlands

Belgium

Czech Republic

South Africa

Denmark

Sweden

United Kingdom

Question Title

* 3. Are you a member of a multiple birth support organization or a multiple
birth support charity?

Yes

Which one(s)?

Question Title

* 4. What is the current age of your multiples?

3-5 years

6-8 years

9-11 years

12-14 years

15-18 years

19 years and older

Question Title

* 5. What type of school(s) are/were your multiples enrolled in (more than one
answer allowed)?

Public or state run school

Private, fee or tuition type school

Parochial, church or faith-based

Other

Question Title

* 6. Does (or did) your multiples' school have a "set policy" about placement
of multiples in the classroom: If so, what is the policy? Check all that
apply.

Yes, written policy

Yes, unwritten policy

No policy

Multiples are always separated

Multiples are always in the same classroom

No fixed position - up to the individual families to decide if together or apart

Not sure

Not applicable

Question Title

* 7. For each age, write down the letter that best describes your multiples'
school placement at that age.
A - Together by choice B - Placed together by school
C - Separated by choice D - Separated by school
E - Attended different schools by choice F - Made to attend different
schools G - Not applicable

Age 3

Age 4

Age 5

Age 6

Age 7

Age 8

Age 9

Age 10

Age 11

Age 12

Age 13

Age 14

>14 years

Question Title

* 8. Did you ever request that your multiples be placed in the same classroom?

Yes

Some years I did and some years I didn't

Question Title

* 9. What are the reasons that made you want to keep your multiples in the
same classroom? Choose all that apply.

Thought it would be easier to keep track of school assignments

Thought it would be easier communicating with one teacher

The teacher in that particular classroom is better than the other teachers for that grade

My multiples wouldn't be happy if they were apart

Other

Not applicable

Question Title

* 10. Did you ever request that your multiples be separated at school?

Yes

Some years I did and some years I didn't

Question Title

* 11. What are the reasons that made you want to keep your multiples in
classrooms? Choose all that apply.

One needed specialized instruction

One multiples was too dominant over the other - I wanted the co-multiple to make friends on their own

I thought it would help their individuality

My multiples fight all the time or generally just don't get along

Multiples were too competitive

Other

Not applicable

Question Title

* 12. Did your school ever initiate the conversation and ask YOU where you
thought your multiples should be placed in school?

Yes

Some years they did and some years they didn't

Question Title

* 13. To whom did you make your request known about your choice for
placement of your multiples in school? Choose all that apply.

Teacher

School principal or head teacher

School superintendent or local education authority

School board

Archdiocese or head of faith-based school

Head of year group

Administrative staff

Other

Not applicable

Question Title

* 14. Who offered input regarding the classroom placement of your multiples?
Choose all that apply.

Mother

Father

1 or more of the multiples

Classroom teacher

Other teachers

School principal, head teacher or local school authority

Other school administrator

Therapist

Other

Not applicable

Question Title

* 15. If your requests for classroom placement were denied (either for same or
different classrooms), what reasons were you given? Choose all that apply.

"Your multiples need to develop their own individuality."

"Research shows that multiples should be in separate classrooms."

To avoid behavior issues that might arise (competitiveness or dominance of one multiple)

For the ease of the teacher

"It's our school policy."

"Research shows that multiples should be in the same classroom."

Choice of teachers at multiples' grade level wasn't optimum (Only one GOOD teacher)

Other

Not applicable

Question Title

* 16. Did you have difficulty achieving the placement your requested?

Not difficult (One contact with the school)

Slightly difficult (Two separate contacts with the school)

Moderately difficult (Three separate contacts with the school)

Difficult (>Three separate contacts with the school)

Very difficult (Almost constant contact and/or had to escalate to a higher administrative level)

Impossible (Even with multiple contacts didn't receive the desired results)

Other

Not applicable

Question Title

* 17. What were some reasons that the placement that you requested was
difficult to achieve? Choose all that apply.

Resistance from teachers

Resistance from school administration

Choice of teachers at their grade level wasn't optimum

Resistance from the multiples

Curriculum issues

"It's school policy."

Other

Not applicable

Question Title

* 18. What resources or references did you use to try to achieve the placement
you desired? Choose all that apply.

Booklet from MBO

Book from MBO

Book from the store on an on-line purchase

Book from MBO's library

Letter from an educator

Information from the Internet

Information from other parents

MBO magazine

MBO Facebook group

Other

I didn't use any outside resources

Not applicable

Question Title

* 19. Does your state, province, or country currently have any laws protecting a
parent's right to decide on their multiples' classroom placement?

Yes

Not sure

No, but there is a resolution or another type of decree

Question Title

* 20. Are you aware that there are publications, presentations and books
available to assist you with classroom placement of your multiples?

Yes

Question Title

* 21. If you belong to a local or national MBO, did you receive any information
regarding school placement of multiples from them?

Yes

Not applicable

Question Title

* 1. What type of multiples do you have? Check all that apply.

Question Title

* 2. What country do you live in (the country where your children went to school)?

Question Title

* 3. Are you a member of a multiple birth support organization or a multiple birth support charity?

Question Title

* 4. What is the current age of your multiples?

Question Title

* 5. What type of school(s) are/were your multiples enrolled in (more than one answer allowed)?

Question Title

* 6. Does (or did) your multiples' school have a "set policy" about placement of multiples in the classroom: If so, what is the policy? Check all that apply.

Question Title

Question Title

* 8. Did you ever request that your multiples be placed in the same classroom?

Question Title

* 9. What are the reasons that made you want to keep your multiples in the same classroom? Choose all that apply.

Question Title

* 10. Did you ever request that your multiples be separated at school?

Question Title

* 11. What are the reasons that made you want to keep your multiples in classrooms? Choose all that apply.

Question Title

* 12. Did your school ever initiate the conversation and ask YOU where you thought your multiples should be placed in school?

Question Title

* 13. To whom did you make your request known about your choice for placement of your multiples in school? Choose all that apply.

Question Title

* 14. Who offered input regarding the classroom placement of your multiples? Choose all that apply.

Question Title

* 15. If your requests for classroom placement were denied (either for same or different classrooms), what reasons were you given? Choose all that apply.

Question Title

* 16. Did you have difficulty achieving the placement your requested?

Question Title

* 17. What were some reasons that the placement that you requested wasdifficult to achieve? Choose all that apply.

Question Title

* 18. What resources or references did you use to try to achieve the placementyou desired? Choose all that apply.

Question Title

* 19. Does your state, province, or country currently have any laws protecting aparent's right to decide on their multiples' classroom placement?

Question Title

* 20. Are you aware that there are publications, presentations and books available to assist you with classroom placement of your multiples?

Question Title

* 21. If you belong to a local or national MBO, did you receive any informationregarding school placement of multiples from them?

Question Title

* 22. If you care to share other placement issues or how you went about getting theplacement you wanted for your multiples, please do so here.

Question Title

* 23. Are there any other school issues that you faced with your multiples? If so, describe those issues here.

Question Title

* 24. Please use this space for any comments you have may have regarding this survey.

* 2. What country do you live in (the country where your children went to
school)?

* 3. Are you a member of a multiple birth support organization or a multiple
birth support charity?

* 5. What type of school(s) are/were your multiples enrolled in (more than one
answer allowed)?

* 6. Does (or did) your multiples' school have a "set policy" about placement
of multiples in the classroom: If so, what is the policy? Check all that
apply.

* 9. What are the reasons that made you want to keep your multiples in the
same classroom? Choose all that apply.

* 11. What are the reasons that made you want to keep your multiples in
classrooms? Choose all that apply.

* 12. Did your school ever initiate the conversation and ask YOU where you
thought your multiples should be placed in school?

* 13. To whom did you make your request known about your choice for
placement of your multiples in school? Choose all that apply.

* 14. Who offered input regarding the classroom placement of your multiples?
Choose all that apply.

* 15. If your requests for classroom placement were denied (either for same or
different classrooms), what reasons were you given? Choose all that apply.

* 17. What were some reasons that the placement that you requested was
difficult to achieve? Choose all that apply.

* 18. What resources or references did you use to try to achieve the placement
you desired? Choose all that apply.

* 19. Does your state, province, or country currently have any laws protecting a
parent's right to decide on their multiples' classroom placement?

* 20. Are you aware that there are publications, presentations and books
available to assist you with classroom placement of your multiples?

* 21. If you belong to a local or national MBO, did you receive any information
regarding school placement of multiples from them?

* 22. If you care to share other placement issues or how you went about getting the
placement you wanted for your multiples, please do so here.

* 23. Are there any other school issues that you faced with your multiples? If so,
describe those issues here.

* 24. Please use this space for any comments you have may have regarding this
survey.