MHS administers Illinois 5Essentials Survey to improve student learning

Students, teachers and parents weigh in on school climate and learning conditions

Staff
Posted 10/30/18

MENDOTA –Mendota High School will join the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) in the seventh statewide survey of school climate and learning conditions.

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MHS administers Illinois 5Essentials Survey to improve student learning

Students, teachers and parents weigh in on school climate and learning conditions

Posted

MENDOTA –Mendota High School will join the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) in the seventh statewide survey of school climate and learning conditions. The survey provides a unique opportunity for students, teachers and parents to have a voice in improving their schools. From Nov. 15 through Jan. 18, students and teachers will be asked to take a 25 -minute research-based survey to help identify strengths and weaknesses in their school’s learning environment.  The parent survey supplement will be administered from Oct. 23 through Jan. 18. These surveys will serve as an opportunity for schools to reflect on progress since the last statewide implementation.

The Illinois 5Essentials Survey provides a comprehensive picture of a school’s organizational culture in an individualized report measuring five “essentials” critical for school success:

Effective Leaders

Collaborative Teachers

Involved Families

Supportive Environment

Ambitious Instruction

Twenty years of research at the University of Chicago 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.

Generated from a rigorous analysis of student and teacher survey responses, 5Essentials Reports demonstrate that what students and teachers say about their schools can serve as important indicators for school success. In the inaugural 2012-13 statewide Illinois 5Essentials Survey, 87 percent of all schools in the state met the 50-percent participation threshold to receive a 5Essentials Report, with participation from more than 70 percent of all teachers and eligible 6th through 12th graders across Illinois.

All district schools, including alternative schools that fall under the district’s domain, are required to participate in a school learning conditions survey every year. Starting with the current school year, the survey will be required annually. The survey was deemed an important component to balanced accountability under the state’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan by stakeholders, which resulted in state legislative changes requiring the survey annually.

Mendota High School will participate in the statewide 2018-19 5Essentials Survey to learn how the school is doing on the 5Essentials for school success.

Principals and superintendents will receive their 5Essentials Reports in March 2019. Survey results will also be reported publicly on the 5Essentials reporting site next spring and on the State School Report Card website next 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.