Effective leadership is at an all-time low at DGN, according to teachers’ responses on the 2023 5Essentials Survey. The principal measure, one of five essentials to a successful school, scored just 20 points on a 100-point scale, despite scoring 40 points two years earlier in 2021. This decline brings into question the caliber to which DGN’s leadership is performing and the possible concerns that prompted teachers to evaluate DGN in this way.

The 5Essentials Survey, developed in 1991 by the University of Chicago, is an Illinois school culture and climate survey administered to students, teachers, and parents statewide. A school’s performance is divided into five key framework components, or essentials, of a well-functioning school. These five essentials evaluate instruction, environment, teachers, families, and leaders. However, some school administrators question the reliability of the survey.

“I have some positives about the 5Essentials, but I also have some concerns,” Principal Dr. Courtney DeMent said. “While I think some of the information is reliable, the way the survey is designed, the questions don’t always accurately portray a high school setting.”

The 5Essentials Survey is derived from 20 years of research on improving schools. According to 5Essentials, their survey is a “leading indicator of school performance now and predictive of the future.” Although, some school leaders are hesitant to trust the 5Essentials.

“I don’t feel 100 percent confident about the accuracy of this data,” Dr. DeMent said. “We’ve had a lot of change over the past three years, and I feel very confident that that’s what you’re seeing. We are still recovering from COVID. We implemented a brand new schedule that upended everything. We’ve had a change in leadership, school environment, and grading policy, things that are super personal for teachers. When those things change, it makes us feel very uncomfortable. We know from listening to our staff that all those things really came to a head last year and people were unhappy, and I get that. But, that’s not going to be reflected in the 5Essentials.”

While the 5Essentials Survey does not reflect teachers’ perspectives on experiences unique to DGN, it does offer feedback on broader aspects of a school’s climate and structure. The category evaluating a school’s leadership, “Effective Leaders,” is defined by 5Essentials as “principals and teachers working together to implement a shared vision.” Dropping 20 points since 2021, this was the only essential deemed “weak” by the 5Essentials standards.

“I think that the 20-point drop is from a lot of different things,” Dr. DeMent said. “Changing our schedule created a lot of anxiety and angst with people. I’m certain that those feelings went into their answers. When we have big changes, people are naturally going to place their frustration onto the leaders.”

One major concern about the 5Essentials Survey is its grading system and how it compares schools’ results to determine scores. Executive Director of the Illinois Principals Association, Dr. Jason Leahy, presents issues that may arise when grading schools this way.

“Doing a rating that compares the opinions of one group about their organization to another group about their organization isn’t the right thing to do,” Dr. Leahy said. “We’re talking about a statistical analysis of opinion. I think it’s extremely problematic, and I think a lot of school leaders across the state feel the same way.”

Furthermore, because the survey is designed for and given to schools statewide, Dr. DeMent questions the applicability of the survey to DGN.

“When you think about the differences in our state, much less our county and area, this one survey is a one-size-fits-all,” Dr. DeMent said. “I would rather know the specifics of people’s concerns from my own staff members and what they think rather than getting it from this very general survey that doesn’t have a whole lot to do with me personally or my district.”

The survey’s lack of individualization, while it does offer a standardized grading system, is one aspect of the survey that causes apprehension in school leaders across the state. Dr. Leahy suggests ways this could be addressed.

“I think allowing for more context and for language to be regionalized is important. It allows for you to have a more accurate picture of what’s actually going on in your school and your community,” Dr. Leahy said.

Each of the five essentials has specific measures within it that identify the strengths and weaknesses of that essential. The three lowest-scoring measures in the entire survey were “Teacher Influence,” “Teacher-Principal Trust,” and “Instructional Leadership,” scoring 13, 16, and 19 respectively. All of these belong to “Effective Leaders.”

“Teacher Influence,” the lowest-scoring measure, is defined by 5Essentials as teachers having “influence in a broad range of decisions regarding school policies and practices.” This measure has also declined 20 points from 2021.

However, Dr. DeMent notes the various ways in which teachers can voice their opinions, including the Downers Grove High School Education Association (DGEA), a teacher union of over 400 members that discusses issues within District 99.

DGEA President Josh Bodenheimer meets with Dr. DeMent once a month to voice teachers’ opinions and concerns. Although this system has been effective in creating change such as the new phone policy, Bodenheimer recognizes some limitations of the DGEA.

“One of the challenges we’re facing is how to get more teachers involved so all the burden doesn’t just fall on me to represent the concerns of over 200 teachers in this building,” Bodenheimer said. “One of the things that Dr. DeMent and I met this summer about is creating an ongoing school improvement team.”

This improvement team is the Trojan Leadership Council, a new teacher council composed of staff from all departments of the building that meets once a month to discuss and solve various issues around the school. Bodenheimer expresses hope that this council will enhance teacher advocacy at DGN.

“People just don’t take the surveys. It’s really hard to get an accurate picture of things when people don’t take the surveys,” Dr. DeMent said.

Despite 73 percent of teachers taking the 5Essentials survey in 2023, Bodenheimer also addresses concerns about teachers not taking the survey.

“If we want teachers to take it, we need to show that they’re being heard and that there’s been some response to their feedback,” Bodenheimer said.

While school leaders do review the 5Essentials results, Dr. DeMent details it is not a primary factor of measuring school climate. Additionally, Bodenheimer reveals that the survey results are not communicated with teachers.

“At the end of the day, I think people want to be heard, they want to be valued, and they want to be seen,” Bodenheimer said.