Good Morning Hamlin Families,

It is time once again that we ask for your participation in the Illinois 5Essentials Survey.  This survey is designed to generate a detailed picture of the inner workings of your child’s school. As a parent, this opportunity will allow you to share your thoughts on the important elements of school effectiveness in a survey about your child’s school.

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 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 these “5Essential” indicators were 10 times more likely to improve student learning gains in math and reading than those that were weak on three or more Essentials. We guarantee that survey responses will never be connected to the identity of you or your child. School reports will only present aggregated information on how parents and students responded as a whole. 

Please visit https://survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois/ to take the parent survey.

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact 5Essentials Customer Support at 1-866-440-1874 or impact-surveys@uchicago.edu.

Additionally, we are writing to inform you about a student survey that will be administered at your child’s school called the Illinois 5 Essentials Survey. This is the tenth year the Illinois State Board of Education will implement this survey across the state. This survey is based on 20 years of research at the University of Chicago. It asks students about their experiences in school, giving school leaders critical student input to help develop school improvement plans.

Student participants will need 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).

If you do not want your son or daughter to participate, fill out the information on the form attached here and ask your child to return this sheet to his or her teacher.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Gallagher