District 202 Seeks Input on School Climate Through 5Essentials Survey

District 202 will once again partner with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to give teachers, students, and parents statewide a unique role in improving their schools.

Between Jan. 12 and March 13 teachers, students and parents are asked and encouraged to take the “Illinois 5Essentials Survey” to help identify strengths and weaknesses in their school’s climate and learning conditions.

Starting Monday, January 12, 2015 District 202 parents and certified staff members can take the Illinois 5Essentials Survey by clicking on the link on the front page of the District 202 website (www.psd202.org) and all school web sites under “Announcements.”

Sixth- through twelfth-graders will take the survey during school. The 5Essentials Survey is a 20-minute research-based survey and responses will be completely confidential.

“The 5Essentials will continue to help us refine and improve our services to our students, families and community,” said Glenn Wood, District 202 Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction.

The Illinois 5Essentials Survey provides a comprehensive assessment of school organizational culture with actionable reports to help drive school improvement on five indicators or “essentials”:

· Effective Leaders

· Collaborative Teachers

· Involved Families

· Supportive Environment

· Ambitious Instruction

Illinois 5Essentials generates data that helps schools target resources and make decisions that help accelerate learning and test score gains. Illinois 5Essentials also demonstrates that teachers and students can play a crucial role in school reform: What they share about their schools reliably predicts whether those schools are likely to improve or stagnate.

Twenty years of University of Chicago research in more than 400 schools has shown that schools that were strong on at least three of the 5Essentials were 10 times more likely to make substantial gains in improving student reading and math than schools that were weak on three or more of the Essentials. Those differences remained true even after controlling for student and school characteristics, including poverty, race, gender, and neighborhood characteristics. Strength on components within the Essentials also correlated with increased teacher retention, student attendance, college enrollment, and high school graduation.

“The State Board is committed to helping schools build more complete pictures of their learning conditions, to better guide state and local efforts for school improvement,” said State Superintendent of Education Christopher A. Koch.

“The Illinois 5Essentials Survey provides an important chance for schools to check in with their communities and gather critical feedback to inform district improvement efforts.”

Principals and superintendents will receive their 5Essentials Reports in May 2015. Survey results will also be reported publically on the 2015 State School Report Card website and the full 5Essentials Reports will also be released in the fall.

An optional parent survey is again available to all schools as a supplement to the 5Essentials Survey for teachers and students—results from the parent survey supplement will be included only in the individual school 5Essential Reports. Since 2013-14, the Illinois 5Essentials Survey has been normed using the 2012-13 statewide results so that all schools can demonstrate progress over time.

On behalf of the Illinois State Board of Education, UChicago Impact is providing Illinois 5Essentials to schools statewide. Teachers, students, and parents may complete the Illinois 5Essentials Survey online. For more information, visit https://illinois.5-essentials.org.