Dear District 156 Parent/Guardian,
On behalf of the Illinois State Board of Education, McHenry Community High School District 156 will administer the ninth annual Illinois 5Essentials Survey. This survey is designed to generate a detailed picture of the inner workings of your child’s school, and it will help guide the school improvement process. The 5Essentials Survey offers students, parents, and teachers the opportunity to have a voice in improving our schools.
As a parent, this opportunity will allow you to share your thoughts on the important elements of school effectiveness. Your identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child.
Developed through a partnership with UChicago Impact at the University of Chicago, the survey gathers data related to five indicators that can predict important student outcomes, including improved attendance and larger test score gains. These five indicators that affect and predict school success are:
Effective Leaders
Collaborative Teachers
Involved Families
Supportive Environments
Ambitious Instruction
Prior research in more than 400 schools has shown that schools that were strong on at least three of the above indicators were 10 times more likely to improve student learning gains in math and reading than those schools that were weak on three or more Essentials.
The Illinois 5Essentials Survey is available now through April 2, 2021. Teachers, students, and parents will be asked to take a 20-30 minute research-based survey to help identify strengths and weaknesses in their school’s learning environment. Our goal is to exceed our staff and student percentages from last year, and reach the 20 percent threshold required for parents to be included in the school report. Additional information about your home school or school district reports can be found by accessing the Illinois Interactive School Report Card.
To take the survey, please visit https://survey.5-essentials.or... and select the appropriate survey to begin the process. Again, the survey is completely confidential.
For more information about the Illinois 5Essentials Survey, or to view previous years’ reports, please visit https://survey.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.
Thank you in advance for taking the time and participating in the survey. Your voice is important to our school community and school improvement process.
Sincerely,
Ryan McTague, Ph.D.
District 156 Superintendent of Schools