District 128 reports 89% response rate on annual well-being survey; 86% of students say they have a trusted adult

Charlotte Imes, director of data and assessment for Community High School District 128, told the Program and Personnel Committee on Oct. 14 the district's annual student life skills and well-being survey was administered Aug. 21 (the ninth day of school) and achieved an 89% response rate across the district's two high schools.

Imes said the survey (administered by Panorama Education) is open (not anonymous) so learning-support teams can identify individual students who may need help. "This is an open survey. It is not anonymous," Imes said, adding that the district uses the data immediately to triage students who indicate needs and to route them to learning-support teams.

Key findings presented to the board: - Response rate: 89% combined across Vernon Hills and Libertyville high schools. - Trusted adult: 86% of students said they have at least one trusted adult at school; 14% said they do not. Imes told the board 43% of the students who reported "no" were ninth-graders, noting the survey was given on the ninth day of school and some new students may not yet have established a trusted adult. - Growth mindset: a drop in the percent-favorable metric for the growth-mindset topic appears to stem partly from Panorama's changed question wording this year; Imes said students and teachers interpreted the new wording differently than past versions, which complicates direct year-to-year comparison.

Imes described the district's follow-up protocol: individual-level results go to learning-support teams for immediate outreach; aggregate results are reviewed by building and district leadership, MTSS teams, health and well-being strategic teams, and principals also convene student focus groups to understand the results qualitatively.

Committee members asked about timing and survey fatigue. Board member Raul Deshmukh suggested surveying later in the fall to capture students after several weeks of school; Imes said the district balances early screening (used to identify students who need quick support) against student survey burden and is considering whether to add a second administration later in the year for some cohorts.

Ending: District staff said the trusted-adult finding will be used to target early outreach; the team will continue to analyze subgroups and follow students over time. Imes said more analysis on employability skills and the district's "daring attributes" will be presented later as the district links survey measures to longer-term strategic goals.