A Message from the Superintendent

February 22, 2024

Dear Parents,

I know your time is valuable and wanted to send a personal message asking for you to consider participating in the Illinois 5Essentials Survey, now open through March 29. This is the eleventh year the Illinois State Board of Education will implement this statewide survey, based on over 20 years of research at the University of Chicago. Please review the following information and complete the survey in order to help us gather input to help best serve our students and guide our future work. Additionally, a version of the survey will be administered to students in grades 4-8. More information on the Student Survey process is below as well.

PARENT SURVEY:

You are invited to complete the Illinois 5Essentials Parent Survey. On behalf of the Illinois State Board of Education, the Illinois 5Essentials Survey is administered online by UChicago Impact at the University of Chicago. The survey gathers data related to five indicators that can inform school improvement efforts. The five indicators that affect and predict school success are:

Effective Leaders
Collaborative Teachers
Involved Families
Supportive Environments
Ambitious Instruction

Your participation in this survey is voluntary, but important to our schools and the District. We do not receive results from the survey unless at least 20 percent of parents/guardians respond. The more responses parents/guardians provide, the more we will know how to focus our efforts. Please help us to improve by completing the survey.

Go to: the 5Essentials Survey website to take the survey
Select “Parent Survey.”
You may enter your email address if you would like to receive confirmation of your submission, but it is not required.
Then enter “COOK” into the county field and type in your student’s school.

You will then be asked a series of questions to provide input regarding your family’s experience at your student’s school. Please remember to click “submit” once you are done so your responses can be counted.

Please know that your identity and responses will be kept confidential and will not be connected with your child. If you have multiple children who attend our schools, you may complete one survey for each child. However, only one parent per household may submit a survey for a given child. The parent survey closes on March 29, so please submit your responses soon.

STUDENT SURVEY:

A student version of the Illinois 5Essentials Survey will ask students in grades 4 -12 about their experiences in school, giving school leaders critical student input to help develop school improvement plans. The survey will be conducted in The Winnetka Public Schools from March 4-22, 2024. Student participants (in grades 4-8 only) will be required to log-in using their state student ID and birth date in order to complete the survey. Students’ identities will be completely confidential. Teachers or administrators will never see individual responses to survey questions and will only receive aggregated information, such as the total percentage of students who agree homework assignments help them learn the course material.

Please be aware that under the Protection of Pupil Rights Act 20 U.S.C. Section 1232(c) (1) (A), you have the right to review a copy of the questions asked of your student(s). Survey questions can be found on the Illinois 5Essentials Support Center (https://impactsurveyshelp.force.com/s/article/illinois-5essentials-survey-questions).

For more information about the Illinois 5Essentials Survey, or to view previous years’ reports, please visit https://www.5-essentials.org/illinois. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact 5Essentials Client Services at 1-866-440-1874 or impact-surveys@uchicago.edu.

If you have any additional questions about the survey, or would prefer your child not participate, please contact your building principal.

Thank you in advance for your time and input.

Sincerely,

Dr. Kelly Tess

Superintendent of Schools