5Essentials Survey

Students, teachers and parents across Illinois have an opportunity to participate in the annual statewide 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 will be 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

Your participation in the parent portion of the survey will help us understand the conditions at your child’s school and guide improvement. Your identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child.  

The Illinois 5Essentials Survey will be conducted through March 29. To take the parent survey please visit https://survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois/ and select the appropriate survey to begin.

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 [email protected].

Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR)

Our students take federally required assessments every spring. These assessments help us understand how our students are growing academically, compared to their peers across the state.  The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) assesses students in grades 3-8 in both English language arts and math.

IAR is computer-based and students will use Chromebooks to complete the test. Students will answer questions in a variety of ways. On the Math test, students may answer multiple choice questions, write an equation, or type an answer. On the English Language Arts/Literacy test, students will read multiple articles or stories, and sometimes even watch a video, before responding. 

In addition, the Illinois Science Assessment (ISA) is slated to be administered to all fifth and eighth grade students this spring. 

Our students will take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness between March 4 and 22 and the testing window for Illinois Science Assessment is April 8-16. 

Here are some suggestions you  can do to help your student:

• Ensure your child arrives at school on time.
• Have your child eat a healthy breakfast at home or at school.
• Ensure your child gets a good night’s sleep.
• Gently encourage them to do their best. 

If you have questions, please feel free to contact your child’s principal.

5Essentials Survey

Students, teachers and parents across Illinois have an opportunity to participate in the annual statewide 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 will be 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

Your participation in the parent portion of the survey will help us understand the conditions at your child’s school and guide improvement. Your identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child.  

The Illinois 5Essentials Survey will be conducted through March 29. To take the parent survey please visit https://survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois/ and select the appropriate survey to begin.

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 [email protected].

Panorama SEL Surveys

Students are important partners as we work to improve our communication, academic program and overall experience for everyone. 

In order to learn more about student experiences at school, we will be asking for feedback from students in grades 3-8 via an online survey they will be completing at school. The survey shouldn’t take more than 20-30 minutes to complete.

We are asking that all students in grades 3-8 participate in the surveys, as their feedback will provide invaluable insights into their experiences and how we can improve and adapt our district to their needs.  The survey content will ask students to self-reflect on:

• Emotion Regulation –  How well students regulate their emotions
• Self Management – How well students manage their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in different situations.
• Social Awareness – How well students consider the perspectives of others and empathize with them.
• Supportive Relationships – How supported students feel through their relationships with friends, family, and adults at school.

If you have any questions about the survey administration, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s principal.

MAP GROWTH PROGRESS REPORTS

At the end of December, your students’ MAP Growth Progress Report was sent home via Parent Square for students in grades 2-8. The Student Progress Report is a summary of how your child is performing academically, as measured by the most recent MAP Growth test your child has taken. These tests and scores help teachers check student performance by measuring achievement and growth. Teachers use results to tailor classroom lessons and set goals for students.

MAP Growth tests are unique, and it adapts to your child’s responses to measure your child’s skill level. If your child answers a question correctly, the next question is more challenging. If they answer incorrectly, the next one is easier. These results will provide a more complete picture of what your child knows and is ready to learn—whether it is on, above, or below their grade level.

Since MAP Growth tests provide immediate and accurate information about your child’s learning, it’s easy for teachers to identify students with similar scores that are generally ready for instruction in similar skills and topics, and then plan instruction accordingly.

Your child’s MAP Growth results are represented as RIT scores. A RIT score is the overall score for a subject based on a Rasch Unit (RIT), and you’ll see it referenced in the Student Progress Report that has been sent. 

If you have questions, please contact your child’s principal. 

For more information about MAP Growth, visit NWEA.org/familytoolkit.

CONGRESSMAN SCHNEIDER’S BOOKWORMS CHALLENGE EXTENDED TO JAN. 15

Congressman Brad Schneider is sponsoring a reading incentive through Brad’s Bookworms Program for children in grades k-5. Children who participate in the program are asked to read and log 10 books with help from parents, grandparents, older siblings, or other family members, and track their progress toward this goal. Students who meet the 10 books goal will be invited with their families to a recognition ceremony with Congressman Schneider to celebrate their achievements in early 2024. Students are also invited to take part in a contest to design a bookmark, and copies of the winning bookmark will be distributed to all children who complete the 10 books goal.  

We would love for your child to participate,  complete the online registration here by January 15, 2024: Brad’s Bookworms | Congressman Brad Schneider (house.gov) or by filling out the form attached to this email and either emailing it me directly ([email protected]) or mailing it into our office (111 Barclay Blvd, Suite 200, Lincolnshire, IL 60069).

August 2022

SCHOOL SAFETY

Wear Your Badge
Welcome Back! Many of you will be entering our school buildings to set up your classrooms. Our buildings are busy with all of the improvements, cleaning and preparation that goes into making them ready for you and our students. We have many new faces at each site and to identify yourself as a CCSD21 employee, we ask that you wear your badge even when students are not around these next couple of weeks.

SECOND STEP

The digital version of Second Step is a SEL resource that will be available to all K-8 staff for the 2022-2023 school year.  There are staff that love this resource and those that don’t. Take time to check it out and learn how you might want to implement this resource in your classroom.  Log-in directions will follow in a couple of weeks.