The official site of the Torch, the student-run newspaper at Glenbrook North High School.

Torch

The official site of the Torch, the student-run newspaper at Glenbrook North High School.

Torch

The official site of the Torch, the student-run newspaper at Glenbrook North High School.

Torch

5Essentials survey results released

Photo Illustration by Julia Kahn
Photo Illustration by Julia Kahn

Screen Shot 2014-02-05 at 4.17.11 PMWhen asked if she was in a class that was both interesting and challenging, senior Gail Mar spoke of her psychology class.

She said it is interesting but not as challenging as she thinks AP Psychology would be, which she could not take because of scheduling.

Students were asked this question, plus many others, when the Illinois State Board of Education distributed the 5Essentials Survey to schools statewide, becoming the first state to administer it to all of its 860 school districts.

The survey, developed over the course of 20 years by the University of Chicago, has been used in eight states to obtain results for generating improvements and assessing a school’s learning condition. It measures the five essential elements the Illinois State Board of Education considers crucial to a school environment: effective leaders, collaborative teachers, involved families, supportive environments and ambitious instruction. At Glenbrook North, 85.1 percent of last year’s students and 72.7 percent of last year’s teachers were surveyed in February and March of 2013.

At GBN, 64.3 percent of students agreed with the survey’s statement: “The topics we are studying are interesting and challenging.” When asked if they felt challenged, 50.1 percent selected the option “Most of the time” and 21.9 percent selected “All of the time.”

Kris Frandson, associate principal for curriculum and instruction, said she is pleased with these results because they show a balance between being challenged, interested and minimally stressed.

“When you’re having close to 72 percent [of students] feeling challenged, that’s good. I think that’s positive,” said Frandson. “If we had 90 percent of o

ur students say they feel challenged all the time, I would start to worry a bit.”

Mar also said finding a comfortable, yet challenging, academic balance is important.

“If you’re not challenged in your course, then there’s no point in you taking the course, otherwise you’re not really learning anything,” said Mar. “I don’t think you’re gaining anything from the course itself.”

Aside from being challenged, most students said math learned in class was not applied to situations outside school, with 21 percent of students replying it was never done.

Math teacher Rhoda McInerney said that math applications can become clearer in future math classes.

“The [classes] that I teach may not be utilized for some particular

students outside the walls of GBN,” said McInerney. “For other students, it’s a stepping stone for higher levels of math study they’re going to complete.”

Another aspect the 5Essentials Survey examined was how often students peer edit papers in English classes, with 39.9 percent of students saying they did monthly. Frandson said to keep in mind GBN’s block scheduling and that the amount of peer editing depends on the course level and instructor.

“Some classes are more inclined to [peer edit,] whereas in some other departments we’re still working on some additional skill development so the students will experience it,” Frandson said of the findings.

Junior Yasmine Ramachandra said she does not mind the lack of peer editing in her English class.

“I know [peer editing] gives another eye on the paper, however my English teacher likes quoting [writer] Flannery O’Connor [who] said, ‘[It’s] the blind leading the blind,’” Ramachandra said.

Frandson said she is “big on working with peers,” saying, “I like to have teachers watch one another, learn from one another’s instruction.”

Because Illinois is beginning to use the survey, Frandson said, “It’s too soon to tell how best to use [its] information to inform [us of] our work.” She added she wants students to find something that interests them during high school.

“[Learning] is more about the interest, striking that nerve, than something that really engages people intrinsically versus making them jump through hoops,” said Frandson. “I think that’s the thing that we try to talk about when we talk about good quality instruction and learning.”