by Melissa Mui, Fall 2013 Intern
What would you do if you were able to see into your child’s classroom? Many school districts around the country are conducting surveys of teachers, students and their parents to gather more insight on day-to-day happenings behind school doors. The state of Illinois began conducting one such survey, the first statewide education survey, in early 2013. The survey was taken by over one million teachers, students and parents, and researchers and educators hope to reach even more people in the follow-up surveys planned for every two years in the future. The purpose of the survey is to uncover any oversights and highlight concerns regarding the public school system as a whole. Not only will the data from these surveys help prevent negative influences in schools, it will also help to enhance the education of students from kindergarten through twelfth grade.
The Illinois 5Essential Survey (5E) is backed by over 20 years of research from the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR). The survey is meant to analyze the need for school reform and to make data accessible to parents of students so they may better understand the environment that their children are learning in. 5E is conducted o nline and made accessible to all through a website that houses the survey and sorts the data. It is not mandatory for anyone to take 5E, although the percent of participants in each school determines whether or not the school will receive a detailed report of the collected data.
The Federal Race to the Top project currently funds the survey. The state of Illinois hopes to offer it every two years, to track progress and keep data current. The many questions on the survey are meant to provoke thoughtful and honest answers from participants. “How safe do you feel in the hallways and bathrooms of school?” This question is one of many asked of students to assess their perceived safety in day-to-day activities. There are also statements meant to provoke thoughtful responses from teachers: “The principal at this school is an effective manager who makes the school run smoothly.” This statement and others allow participants to respond based on how they agree/disagree with the sentence. Teachers’ concern for how the school is run can be expressed, which could both change policy and alert parents to issues that might not otherwise have been exposed to the public eye.
One major concern comes to mind when so many people and opinions are involved in changing the structure of education. The data is based on the word of millions of different people. This leaves room for human error, bias and conflicting opinions. 5E would be even more helpful to education reform if it were partnered with follow-up inspections to verify any findings. This would allow researchers to gather unbiased information to ensure that the changes to education are made appropriately.
Illinois is pioneering how education reform is conducted in the United States. Versions of 5E have been conducted in schools in several other states including Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Indiana. While there are still variables to consider, 5E provides invaluable information and insight into public classrooms in the United States today.
Did You Know?
The name 5Essential refers to the five qualities that schools need to be successful as described by the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research (CCSR):
• Effective Leaders
• Collaborative Teachers
• Involved Families
• Supportive Environment
• Ambitious Instruction
These five components all revolve around support: of learning and of students and teachers. The hope is that by understanding what each part looks like and how it should be implemented, schools will be able to identify a “strategic vision” for success. In fact, CCSR claims that schools boasting strong models of at least three of these qualities are “10 times more likely to improve student learning.” The creation and implementation of the educational surveys were inspired by the findings described in Organizing School for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago written by past and current CCSR members. (DYK by Emeli Warren)
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