The survey is optional and anonymous, so students can answer honestly without fear of getting themselves or someone else in trouble.
Some parents worry that students are not honest with their answers, or that they don’t take the survey seriously. While there may be some dishonest answers, the sample size is large enough to trust that, overall, the data and trends are reliable. In 2016, more than 230,000 students from all across Washington took the survey, including more than 14,600 in Snohomish County.
There also are several questions and metrics in place in the surveys to help identify and remove any that are not truthful.