St. Charles CUSD 303
201 South 7th Street
St. Charles, IL 60174
Listen Learn Return is the community engagement program for District 303. Return meetings are intended to share information about District initiatives based on feedback provided by our families, staff and community members.
LLR launched in fall 2022 as a community engagement initiative for new Superintendent Dr. Paul Gordon to engage with families, staff, and community members in order to learn their perspectives on the District’s challenges, opportunities for growth and points of pride. LLR started with a series of in-person sessions to gather feedback, followed by online surveys.
LLC has become an ongoing engagement process that aligns with the District’s strategic priority of Effective Collaboration. LLR topics will address current District initiatives or community sentiment while reflecting on previous feedback. Sessions will be a mix of community and staff-only topics and include in-person and online engagement opportunities.
Sign up for Listen Learn Return notifications.
February 29, 2024 | Topic: Academics
Attendees learned more about academic initiatives in District 303, including information on curriculum changes, how we are leveraging Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to support each student, and improving the overall learning school experience for each student.
Return Session | February 29
Stay tuned for additional meeting dates and topics
Meeting Structure
Sessions are hosted by Superintendent Dr. Paul Gordon and Chief Communications Officer Scott Harvey, and may feature District administrators and staff based on the topic. Meetings may be held in-person and/or virtually, and may be recorded for viewing at a later time.
When possible, the District will give participants the opportunity to share feedback in person and/or electronically.
We aim to create an environment during our sessions in which all participants feel welcome to express their opinions about the District and engage with fellow guests in a respectful manner. We asked our guests to observe the following practices during these sessions:
Return Sessions
Listen and Learn Sessions (Electronic Surveys)
Listen and Learn Sessions (In-Person)
Report to Board
The District 303 Board received an update on Listen Learn Return at its December 12 meeting. This presentation highlighted the in-person and ThoughtExchange process, and outlined the next steps that are forthcoming.
Feedback was categorized into 13 total themes. The District's initial focus will be to develop action steps from the top four themes. They are Administration, Staff, Student Services and Operations.
Themes
All thoughts from the in-person and ThoughtExchange surveys were categorized based on District 303 departments or a collection of District services, totaling 13 themes comprising multiple keywords. View the Board Report for a breakdown of theme keywords.
Themes:
Administration | Assessments | Business Services | Community | Curriculum | Diversity Equity Inclusion | Instruction | Operations | Student Programs | Staff | Student Services | SEL | Other
Feedback
Data is comprised of all the thoughts received from both in-person sessions and online/ThoughtExchange surveys, and can be viewed by survey groups/demographics.
In-Person Data
ThoughtExchange Data
The District's initial focus will be to develop action steps from the top four themes. They are, along with their associated keywords:
District 303 is committed to reviewing ways in which we can address both prominent and infrequent feedback themes. To develop clear and practical action steps that meet the needs of all learners and teachers. The District asks for patience and continued engagement as we develop action steps that are in the best interest of each student, staff member, parent/guardian and District 303 community member.
Thank you to those who attended our in-person Listen Learn Return sessions. Our electronic survey aims to grow feedback among District residents, parents, staff and students. It is also important that the electronic survey closely aligned with our in-person methods, which encouraged honest feedback in a safe setting. That is why we’ll be using a platform called ThoughtExchange to gather your feedback electronically.
What is ThoughtExchange?
ThoughtExchange is an anonymous survey tool that offers two-way engagement on important topics. It works in three steps:
The process is confidential, so identities will not be known or associated with the thoughts of others or their ratings. Watch how the process works in the video link below and learn more in our ThoughtExchange FAQ section.
Why are we using ThoughtExchange?
The ThoughtExchange platform closely aligns with the method used during our in-person Listen Learn Return sessions, which provided a safe setting that encouraged honest feedback in order to hear the perspectives of others. It also helps us broaden our reach so that more people have the opportunity to share feedback. These electronic surveys, or exchanges, will continue our same questions about the District’s challenges, opportunities for growth and points of pride.
How can I access the current survey/view past survey results?
Each survey, or exchange, will be open for one week before. The links will be shared the morning of the exchange start date on this website, in parent and student emails and on the District’s social media channels. Below you can access either the link to the current survey or results of the completed survey:
The completed survey links show summary data, including topics addressed, all thoughts and your own activity, if you participated. A comprehensive report will be shared later, and along with the data compiled from our in-person sessions, be used to develop action steps that will be shared during our return sessions in 2023.
Why is my thought not displaying?
Prior to sharing a thought, participants are informed that the exchange will be moderated and some thoughts may be removed if deemed rude, hurtful or identifying.
In some cases, thoughts that include personal concerns may not display because they are identifying. We want to remind people that individuals can inform the District of personal concerns using the following processes:
Additionally, thoughts that don’t answer the question may be removed. For example, thoughts in the “proud” survey that actually are challenges or concerns. While the feedback is important to share, it is not the appropriate location. If you were unable to share thoughts in the appropriate survey, please utilize the contact methods above so that we can properly address your concern.
Why are false or misleading thoughts allowed to be displayed?
We recognize participants may find some thoughts to be false or misleading. We want to give everyone in District 303 a chance to share their feedback and learn the perspectives of others, as we did during the in-person listening sessions. Rather than remove possibly false thoughts from public view, participants can learn what those perspectives are, and through our ratings system determine if that thought resonates with them or not. Furthermore, from the exchange data the District can identify the scope of thoughts that may be false or misleading, which will help guide future action steps that provide clarity on the topics.
Can I skip rating a thought if I don’t know about the topic?
We understand that some thoughts may not be relevant to a participant. If you would like to skip a thought, you can do so by selecting the three dots menu at the top right corner of the thought.
Why can’t I choose which thoughts to rate?
When you get to the rating stage of the exchange, one by one the ThoughtExchange algorithm will provide you with a thought to rate, rather than have you choose yourself. This is done to ensure each thought has an equal chance of being rated. In fact, you’ll notice when reviewing all thoughts that each tend to average around the same number of ratings. If participants could choose which thoughts to rate, it may bias the ratings in favor of the thoughts that have already been rated highly. We want to make sure that newer thoughts are also available for people to rate.
Keep in mind, you can rate as many thoughts as you want, so you can go back to the ratings stage and perhaps a thought you do want to rate will be made available. You can also share a new thought on this topic. Topics that are shared more than once have a stronger chance of standing out to exchange leaders.
Still have questions?
Check out the ThoughtExchange FAQs for more information. If you’d like to contact the District directly about Listen Learn Return, you can email justask@d303.org or submit a question or comment anonymously through this form.
For feedback on Listen Learn Return or questions on past or upcoming meetings, email JustAsk@d303.org.
Want to receive updates on Listen Learn Return? Enter your email:
