Media Alert
For immediate release
Contact: Theresa Komitas
Phone: (630) 608-5031
E-mail: tkomitas@SD308.org
School Environment Matters:
SD 308 Administers 5Essentials Survey
to Improve Student Learning
Oswego, Ill. (January 24, 2023) Oswego Community Unit School District 308 will join the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) in the eleventh 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 January 24 through March 31, 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 also be administered during the same survey window. These surveys will serve as an opportunity for schools to reflect on progress since the last statewide implementation.
“Whatever role an individual has in SD 308, it is important that they take the time to participate in this survey,” said Dr. John Sparlin, Superintendent of Schools. “This survey is an opportunity to have their voice heard to help positively improve the lives of thousands of children across our district every day.”
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 2012-2013 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. Starting in 2018-19, 4th and 5th grade students were also included in the 5Essentials survey administration.
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. 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.
Principals and superintendents will receive their 5Essentials Reports in May 2023. Survey results will also be reported publicly on the 5Essentials reporting site in Spring 2023 and on the State School Report Card website in Fall 2023. An optional parent survey supplement 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.
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: www.5-essentials.org/illinois.
If parents have any questions regarding their child taking the survey they are asked to touch base with the building principal.
