Illinois Teaching, Leading & Learning survey is a confidential, online survey that will ask about teaching, leading and learning conditions within your building. TeLL Illinois!

The survey has now ended. Visit this site again for announcements.

All teachers, principals and licensed school-based educators have the opportunity to privately and anonymously provide input on issues that impact how students learn. The ILLINOIS Teaching. Leading and Learning online survey (TeLL-Illinois) is set up to hear from those who know best about what is happening in schools - educators themselves.

"This teaching and learning conditions survey is an excellent tool to gauge what educators think is really needed in our public schools. The data collected highlights the key areas that are essential in making real improvement in our schools. The Survey's focus on time, decision-making, facilities & resources, leadership, induction & mentoring and professional development ensures that our teachers are prepared to help students become globally competitive in the 21st century. "

Jo Anderson
Executive Director
Illinois Education Association

The Consortium for Educational Change (CEC) is conducting the web-based survey as a pilot in the spring of 2008, which takes less than 20 minutes to complete and will ask about overall working conditions, time, decision-making, professional development and facilities and resources. This data will be used to enhance school improvement planning, engage faculty in addressing conditions to improve teaching and learning, and increase opportunities to partner with the community as well as opportunities that lead to promising changes in district and state policies and programs.

"Teachers today know they have many more options.  Often, they’ve chosen teaching because it means more [to them] and they want to work with young people.  If conditions preclude their success in these classrooms, they’re much more likely to leave than their predecessors." 

Susan Moore Johnson
Professor of Education
Harvard University

Educators: You will receive a letter containing a personal security code from the Consortium for Educational Change. The letter includes a personal security code, assigned to each school building, so staff within the same school can exchange security code numbers, but they should not exchange letters containing these security code numbers between buildings. Take the online survey anytime between April 21 and May 16.

If you have questions, contact the Helpdesk at the toll-free phone number or by email it is activated.

A working conditions data report based upon this pilot survey will be available for the State of Illinois as a whole as well as for every participating school and district with a 40 percent response rate. The 40 percent response threshold helps ensure the results are representative of the population of educators in your school. The minimum response rate also protects the anonymity of respondents.

While business leaders have long recognized and responded to connections between employee working conditions and productivity, many schools still struggle to assess and address critical components of school climate. The insights of real educators from classrooms across Illinois will provide valuable information to enhance teaching and learning environments in all schools.

“We will never significantly improve student learning without providing teachers with the necessities of materials, technology, class size, professional development, collegiality and effective leadersip.”

Alida Graham
President
Decatur Education Associatio

Survey results will be shared with schools, districts and the state to help make data-driven decisions about school improvement that ensure all educators are given the support they need to be effective.

Plans call for local and regional meetings to discuss the survey results.

In order to conduct this pilot survey successfully, the partnering organizations will want 100% participation in as many schools in each of the participating school districts throughout the state of Illinois as possible during this year.

Partnering organizations in this project include: Consortium for Educational Change (CEC), New Teacher Center, Illinois Education Association-NEA.