Illinois Youth Survey

Chestnut's work on the IYS is concluded

2011-01-07T22:06:00.006-06:00

As of December 29th, 2010, Chestnut Health Systems concluded its work with the Illinois Youth Survey. We thank the many schools and community agencies for their collaboration throughout the past 17 years, as together we made the IYS an integral part of substance abuse prevention planning and evaluation in Illinois. We regret that we were not able to provide advanced notice to you of this change.

For IYS information, please visit the IYS web site at the University of Illinois' Center for Prevention Research and Development at http://iys.cprd.illinois.edu or call 217-333-3231.

This blog is now closed.

2010 IYS Follow-up Reports have been sent out

2010-11-24T16:00:00.002-06:00

Follow-up analysis reports have now been sent to all schools that participated in the 2010 Illinois Youth Survey, via email to the school contact person on file. Please contact the IYS office with any questions about these reports.

Prevention First Facilitated IYS Webinars FY2010

2010-10-06T11:15:00.008-05:00

Prevention First, along with IYS staff will host three webinars for prevention professionals this school year pertaining to the Illinois Youth Survey. The details are listed below. If you would like to participate in one or more of the webinars, please click on the webinar name, which will take you to the registration page through Prevention First.

IYS Webinar #1: IYS School Reports
Friday, November 19, 2010 10:00AM - 11:30AM
After reviewing final school survey participation for 2010, this Webinar will focus on requesting and using school reports for prevention planning or other purposes. Participants will become familiar with the format of initial reports for schools that participated by paper/pencil and schools that participated online, and the follow-up report that most participating schools will receive by November of 2010. We will also discuss other reports, such as district, county and state. Participation in prior Webinars in this series is not required. This training will benefit prevention specialists who work on report interpretation with schools, or who promote the use of the IYS in local schools.

IYS Webinar #2: Recruiting Schools for the 2012 IYS
Friday, February 18, 2011 10:00AM - 11:30AM
Participants will be given an opportunity to become familiar with the 2012 survey process, to comfortably talk about the survey with school personnel. This Webinar will provide an overview of recruitment efforts that will be utilized to encourage participation in the 2012 IYS throughout Illinois. How agencies can assist in both recruitment and administration processes will also be discussed. Information about the IYS available in a variety of formats will be reviewed. Participation in prior Webinars in this series is not required. This training will benefit prevention specialists who will be promoting IYS use in local schools or helping schools administer the IYS.

IYS Webinar #3: The Electronic Side of IYS
Friday, May 13, 2011 10:00AM - 11:30AM
This webinar covers the most important elements of IYS electronic communications and participation. Learning about the Illinois Youth Survey and participating in it grows easier each year due to improvements in electronic recruitment, the IYS website, electronic report dissemination, and the IYS online survey administration option. Paper materials are still available, but the more that school and prevention agency staff know about the electronic side of IYS, the more confident and efficient they can be about accessing detailed IYS information. Participation in prior Webinars in this series is not required. This training will benefit prevention specialists who help schools to access IYS information or to plan for IYS administration in 2012.

Congratulations to Alan Markwood, 2010 IADDA Prevention Leadership Award Recipient

2010-09-28T14:42:00.008-05:00

Alan Markwood, Prevention Projects Coordinator for Chestnut Health Systems, has been named the 2010 Prevention Leadership Award recipient by the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association (IADDA). The annual award was given by IADDA at its annual conference to recognize excellence in substance abuse prevention.

Throughout his years at Chestnut Health Systems, Alan has managed numerous prevention programs and projects, ranging from the InTouch network, various community and statewide groups, and currently including the Illinois Youth Survey. His perceptive insight and ability to grasp the often unseen and complex issues surrounding substance use has helped prevention providers and community groups across the state. In 2004, he developed the IYS follow-up analysis report, a tool which enables prevention professionals to better interpret and use the data gathered by the survey. This report helps prevention professionals identify and evaluate their school’s risk and protective factors, and match them to effective prevention strategies and programs, helping to lower rates of youth substance use.

The 2010 IYS follow-up reports for participating schools will become available in October. Please contact our office to request your school’s report.

Reminder to Online Schools & FAQ

2010-09-08T15:15:00.008-05:00

Data is now available online for all schools that participated online this year and in past administrations. Please be sure when you are navigating to the reporting section that you choose the correct survey for the survey year you would like to print. The survey forms for 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010 will now show up on your screen during step 2. To view data from the 2010 IYS at your school, scroll down to the bottom of the page and choose one of the 2010 surveys (6th grade, 8th grade, or high school).

Answers to frequent problems accessing results online:
Q. I am able to choose the "School Year Beginning In" but it does not move on from there when I click "Continue".
A. You are using a Mac or any browser besides IE(Safari, Firefox, etc.). Although students can complete the survey using a Mac and/or other web browsers, results can only be viewed on a PC using Internet Explorer.

Q. When I log in, the numbers say Original Balance 0, Surveys Used 0, Remaining Balance 0. Why isn't my data there?
A. Those numbers are only available when statewide surveying is being conducted. When surveying has been closed to the state, all numbers on the first page will show as 0. Your data is still there even when those numbers don't show up upon login. Continue to the reporting page to view your results.

Q. I can view and print my results by number or percentage but where can I produce charts with the information?
A. Charts cannot be created using the online system to view your results. If you are in need of charts, please contact the IYS office and we can create them for you. Be sure to include if you would simply like the standard initial report charts or some using other data.

Q. My school used more than one survey form (ex: 6th and 8th). When I try to create a custom report for one survey form it works fine but if I attempt to create one using the other survey form, an error comes up and the data is not there. What am I doing wrong?
A. Your computer tries to remember where you have been previously using cookies. After you access one survey form, the first time you attempt to access the other survey form, your computer remembers the first one and opens that. The way to see if this is happening to you is to click on the grade level question under the "Population" column. If you have the option to choose 6th grade, you are viewing the 6th grade form. If your options start at 7th grade and the box is highlighted in gray, you are viewing the 8th grade form. If your options start at 7th grade and the box is highlighted in purple, you are viewing the high school form. To force your computer to view the correct form, click on "Reporting" at the top of the screen and go back through steps 1 and 2.

Q. I've tried numerous times to access my results online and cannot figure it out. Is there any way someone can walk me through it?
A. Definately. Just contact Jessica Thomas at 309-451-7849 or by email to schedule a time that is best for you.

2010 IYS Follow-Up Reports

2010-08-26T12:05:00.003-05:00

Follow-up reports will be available for schools that request them starting likely in October. We will post an update to this blog when they are ready for distribution.

A follow-up report is offered to participating schools in the autumn following the spring survey. This report includes explanatory text to understand the meaning of numerical figures given in each section. The overall purpose of the follow-up report is to provide more focus and context than the initial report of results. The initial report’s strength is its breadth and detail. Schools can learn about the extent of a wide variety of behaviors and perceptions among students. Some of these results do not directly relate to substance abuse prevention. Among the many items that do, some are more central than others. The follow-up report focuses on a small number of items that are especially crucial for drug prevention. The report also provides some context as to whether the reported percentages may be considered "high" or "low." It also compares this year's results with regional and previous site (last time administered at the school) results.

You can find additional information explaining the follow-up report on our website: http://www.illinoisyouthsurvey.org/reports/School_Follow-Up_Report.pdf

2010 IYS State Report

2010-08-23T13:04:00.002-05:00

We expect to have a first draft of the 2010 State Report to the Illinois Dept. of Human Services sometime early next year, in January or February. However, further editing and release of the state report could take many weeks or months beyond that. We will keep you informed on our progress through this blog.

2010 Cook County Frequency Report Now Available

2010-08-23T11:13:00.004-05:00

In addition to the counties posted on Friday, August 20th, the Cook County frequency report is now available. Please contact the IYS office if you're interested in requesting a copy of your county's report.

2010 County-Level Frequency Reports Available

2010-08-20T15:12:00.010-05:00

County-Level results are now available for the 2010 Illinois Youth Survey for counties that had enough schools participating. Please contact the IYS office to request a copy of your county report. The listing below includes counties available.

Please note that each report may have as few as one grade level or as many as four included, depending on how many schools at each level (grades 6, 8, 10, and 12) participated. Cook County's report will be available shortly.

Available Counties

Adams
Alexander
Bureau
Calhoun
Champaign
Christian
Clark
Clinton
Coles
Cook**
Crawford
DuPage
Effingham
Ford
Franklin
Fulton
Grundy
Hancock
Henry
Iroquois
Jackson
Jefferson
Jo Daviess
Kane
Kankakee
Kendall
Knox
Lake
LaSalle
Lawrence
Lee
Livingson
Logan
Macon
Macoupin
Madison
Marion
Mason
Massac
McDonough
McHenry
McLean
Menard
Monroe
Montgomery
Morgan
Moultrie
Ogle
Peoria
Perry
Pulaski
Randolph
Richland
Rock Island
Saline
Sangamon
St Clair
Stephenson
Tazewell
Union
Vermilion
Warren
Whiteside
Will
Williamson
Winnebago
Woodford

"One Thousand Schools" Celebration Winners

2010-08-06T14:35:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to the four schools that were randomly chosen out of those registered by February 1st to receive a $50 incentive check for their participation. All schools that were chosen did complete the survey at their school during the 2010 IYS administration period. Although we encourage using the money in a way that expresses appreciation to the students and staff of the school for their participation, use will ultimately be up to each individual school. Please join us in our congratulations to these schools and to all those that registered and participated in 2010!

Apollo Elementary School, Des Plaines

Mt Carmel Middle School, Mount Carmel

Rich Central Campus HS, Olympia Fields

St Ladislaus, Chicago

Online Validity Numbers

2010-07-21T15:01:00.003-05:00

Some schools' results for the 2010 Illinois Youth Survey as displayed on the SmartTrack reporting system included an inflated number of invalid surveys. This was due to an error in how the SmartTrack system was programmed to interpret results from the "honesty" question on the survey. All schools that were affected have been notified. We apologize for the error.

SmartTrack will be correcting the error on their system, but if you would also like a corrected report e-mailed to you from our IYS office, please contact us.

New features to this blog

2010-06-30T15:37:00.003-05:00

We have redesigned our blog and have added new features to help keep you connected with the IYS. In the right hand column you will see a new search function, a share us function, a subscribe function, and a form to sign up for our mailing list. The search function will allow you to search the blog for any keywords you may be looking for (ex, providers, state report, etc.). You are able to share our posts through your facebook or twitter accounts by simply clicking on their icon and following the prompts. If you would like to receive updates directly to your inbox instead of visiting our blog, you can subscribe to our feed. Finally, if you would like to receive emails once or twice per month, you can register your email address with us directly. We plan on creating monthly email newsletters to be sent to our contact list. Please feel free to leave comments to any posting. You do not have to register with blogger to do so. Thanks and we look forward to your feedback!

SPF and Planning Grantee Community Reports

2010-06-24T10:33:00.003-05:00

We have received the raw data from SmartTrack containing all online school responses and are in the process of reconciling it with existing data from schools that participated by paper. Once that has been completed we will work to create and distribute community reports for each grantee to include all participating schools in their area. Thank you for your patience.

Remaining paper schools

2010-06-08T09:31:00.002-05:00

Any schools that had completed surveying before 5/14 but have not yet returned their materials can still have their results analyzed at no charge. In the school instructions envelope, you will find information on how to return the materials along with a pre-paid FedEx Ground label. If it has been misplaced, please contact Jessica Thomas via phone (309-451-7849) or email.

Reminder for online schools

2010-06-08T09:27:00.002-05:00

When attempting to access your school's results for the 2010 Illinois Youth Survey online, please remember you need to use a PC and Internet Explorer. If you attempt to use a different browser or a Mac to access the results, it will not allow you to get past the first step. Please contact Jessica Thomas at 309-451-7849 or SmartTrack directly at 866-714-8080 for assistance with the SmartTrack system to access your results.

Attention Online Schools

2010-05-17T14:54:00.004-05:00

Because surveying has been closed at this time, you will notice the numbers of available, used, and remaining surveys in your account have reverted to zeros. This does not mean your data is not there. Those numbers only appear during an active surveying window. Please follow the same steps as you have previously to view your results.

2010 Survey Window Closes Today

2010-05-14T12:07:00.002-05:00

Today, May 14th, marks the official end to the surveying window for the 2010 Illinois Youth Survey. If your school was unable to survey this year, we are sorry that the opportunity has passed for this administration. The next survey period will be in the spring of 2012 and we will begin contacting schools for registration starting in the spring of next year. Any schools that decide to survey past today will be charged $1 per student surveyed in order for us to process your materials.

Returning your materials
To return your completed or unused survey materials, please see the school instructions envelope inside your materials shipment. There should be one or more prepaid return labels inside. Please affix the label to each box and call for a FedEx Ground pickup to 888-777-6040. You will need some information from the label to arrange the pickup. If you already have a FedEx Ground pickup at your school, you can give the driver your box at that time. If you have misplaced your return label, please contact us with the number of boxes and their approximate weight so we can request that a label be emailed to you. All surveys should be returned by next Friday, May 21.

Returning completed paper materials

2010-04-12T09:38:00.003-05:00

For those schools using the paper version of the IYS this year, you should have prepaid labels included in your school instructions envelope. After all boxes have been sealed, please call 888-777-6040 to schedule your pickup. The number on the materials return sheet is for general FedEx pickup and requires an account number. This new 888 number is specifically for the PRP labels we are using. The representative will ask for some information on your label so please have it available when you call.

If you have misplaced your prepaid label or need more than were included in your shipment, please contact Jessica Thomas with the number of packages, their general weight and the email address they should be sent to. She will then request an email return label to be sent to you. The message will come directly from FedEx and can arrive within a couple of days of the request. If you have multiple packages, you will receive multiple emails.

Classroom Envelopes

2010-04-12T09:28:00.002-05:00

We have had a higher number of schools this year that have not filled out the fronts of their classroom envelopes than in years past. This has also tended to happen more frequently at larger schools rather than smaller ones. Please be aware that the failure to complete the classroom envelopes in full will delay the processing of your results. The IYS office has to have an idea of how many envelopes and completed surveys are being sent to our contractor for scanning so they can plan staff accordingly. This means that our staff has to go through every envelope that is not filled out and manually count the surveys included, adding days to the time it normally takes to process completed materials. We ask that schools take the time to fill out the front of every envelope before returning the materials. Each classroom teacher could complete it, and more accurately, in very little time instead of one person going through everything. We also use the numbers of absent and declining students to assess whether or not your sample is valid for your school. Thank you to all schools for their participation in the 2010 IYS.

Online Proctor Training Sessions

2010-02-09T12:45:00.003-06:00

We had a great turnout at the first round of online proctor training sessions before the survey period began! Thanks to all that attended! Due to popular demand, this week we are hosting another round of training sessions for those that were not able to attend the first round and those schools that registered to survey after the surveying window began. Anyone who would like to attend a session should notify Jessica Thomas by email with the date and time you would like.

Tuesday, February 9: 9am-930am

Tuesday, February 9: 1pm-130pm

Wednesday, February 10: 11am-1130am

Wednesday, February 10: 130pm-2pm

Thursday, February 11: 930am-10am

Thursday, February 11: 1pm-130pm

Surveying has begun!

2010-02-09T12:39:00.004-06:00

Our surveying window officially opened on Monday, February 1st and we already have schools returning their completed materials! For those schools that are currently surveying, please be sure to keep the return label that is found in your school instructions envelope. Once you have completed surveying, contact FedEx at 800-463-3339 to schedule a pickup if you do not already have one at your school. If you do not have a FedEx account, please be sure to mention to them that you have a PRP label and they will set up the pickup, usually for the next day.

Schools completing the survey online should notify Jessica Thomas at jcthomas@chestnut.org to receive your administrative ID and password used to access results.

If you have any questions regarding the survey process, please contact Jessica Thomas or Donna Prather.

2008 State Report AVAILABLE

2010-01-13T15:40:00.005-06:00

We are happy to announce that the 2008 State Report for the Illinois Youth Survey has been released for distribution and we are working on posting the report to our website at this time. It is expected to be posted by tomorrow, January 14, 2010. An order has been placed for CDs and will be available shortly. If you would like a copy of the 2008 State Report CD, please contact Jessica Thomas or Donna Prather at the IYS Office. They will also be available through the Clearinghouse at Prevention First. Thank you for your patience with this process.

2008 State Report

2009-12-29T12:07:00.002-06:00

First, we would like to apologize that the 2008 IYS State Report has not been available as quickly as during previous years. We are still waiting on approval to release the report from the Illinois Department of Human Services at this time. We do understand that it is becoming more difficult to recruit schools to participate in this year's administration without state results from the last statewide administration and have forwarded these concerns to our contact at DHS. At this point we cannot be certain when it will be made available but we hope it will be before the 2010 IYS survey window begins.

Winter Break- Online Schools

2009-12-29T12:03:00.004-06:00

While schools are out for winter break, we are setting up IDs and passwords for alls chools surveying online to be sent out during the last week of January via email.
This email will also include instructions on how to set up your computers for surveying. If you have not received this email by 1/29/10, please contact Jessica Thomas via email jcthomas@chestnut.org or by phone 309-451-7849.

Online training webinars will be conducted during the last 2 weeks of January for any schools wanting to walk through how to set up computers to administer the survey. Details will follow.

Winter Break- Packing Materials

2009-12-29T11:56:00.003-06:00

While schools are out for the winter break, we are feverously packing materials for all schools registered to take the survey via paper using the most updated information we have either from their original registration or their revised confirmation form. For schools with a survey date in February: We will begin shipping materials out to you via FedEx Ground starting on January 11th. This is to ensure all schools are back in session to receive their materials shipment. Schools surveying in March or April will receive their materials approximately 30 days prior to their intended survey date.

If you receive your package and need additional materials, contact Jessica Thomas via email jcthomas@chestnut.org or by phone 309-451-7849. Please be sure to pay extra attention to the "School Instructions" envelope in your package. It contains preprinted shipping labels to return your package to the IYS office via FedEx Ground.

"One Thousand Schools" Celebration

2009-12-15T08:45:00.003-06:00

Please join our “One Thousand Schools” celebration. In the next ten days we expect to register the 1,000th school to participate in the 2010 Illinois Youth Survey. While the main benefit to participation is that schools receive valuable survey results without any cost to the schools (courtesy of the Illinois Department of Human Services), we are adding a small additional incentive, in recognition of the growing appreciation we are encountering from schools. Four schools randomly selected from the list of all schools registered by December 31st will be notified in January that they have been chosen to receive a fifty dollar appreciation check, to be issued upon completion of their surveying. We encourage using the check in a way that expresses appreciation to the students and staff of the school for their participation, but use will ultimately be up to each individual school.

Register TODAY!!!

2010 IYS Online Informational Sessions

2009-10-30T16:36:00.001-05:00

We are offering several *Online*informational training webinars to help schools and prevention providers feel more comfortable with the online version of the IYS. Perhaps you’ve thought about using the IYS *Online* but were hesitant because you aren't too familiar with it. If so, please plan on attending one of the upcoming trainings, and see how your school can benefit by participating online rather than by paper.

The trainings will be conducted online and last approximately 1 hour. You will need a computer with internet access and a phone capable of calling long distance into our teleconferencing line. You can also listen to the conference through your computer's speakers and make any comments and/or ask questions via the on-screen public chat option if you’re not able to dial long distance.

The dates and times are as follows. Please contact us by email to jcthomas@chestnut.org to register your participation in one of these sessions. Be sure to include your name, school, and date/time you would like to attend. Further information will be sent once we receive your registration.

Thanks and we hope to see you next week!

Date Time
Mon, 11/2 9am-10am
Mon, 11/2 11am-1pm
Mon, 11/2 1pm-2pm

Tue, 11/3 9am-10am
Tue, 11/3 2pm-3pm

Wed, 11/4 9am-10am
Wed, 11/4 11am-12pm
Wed, 11/4 1pm-2pm

Mon, 11/9 9am-10am
Mon, 11/9 11am-12pm
Mon, 11/9 1pm-2pm

Tue, 11/10 10am-11am
Tue, 11/10 12pm-1pm

Wed, 11/11 9am-10am
Wed, 11/11 2pm-3pm

2010 IYS Confirmations

2009-10-30T16:06:00.004-05:00

We are in the process of sending confirmation emails to all schools that are registered for the 2010 survey. Each school will receive a PDF file attached to their email that lists the registration information for their individual school. Schools can make any revisions needed on the confirmation form, and then fax the revised form to the IYS Office at 309-451-7764. If no revisions are needed, the form does not need to be returned.

We are sending emails out to schools by county name, starting with Adams County. We hope to complete all confirmation emails by the end of next week (Nov. 6).

As always, please let us know if you have any questions!

Thank you to participants

2009-10-08T12:13:00.003-05:00

We would like to say thank you to all who participated in the online training session on "Accessing your IYS results online". Feedback from those in attendance says the information was valuable to them in learning how to access and print their results.

For those schools that participated online in the 2008 or 2009 IYS but did not attend one of the trainings, we are able to schedule one-on-one sessions at your convienance. Please contact Jessica Thomas to indicate your interest. Be sure to include your name, title, school, and 2-3 options for days/times you are available. We will get back to you as soon as we can to confirm your individual session.

"Accessing your IYS results online" Webinars

2009-09-29T11:08:00.002-05:00

To: Schools that Participated in the IYS Online in 2008 and/or 2009
From: Jessica Thomas, IYS Office
Re: How to Access and Customize Reports Using your IYS Data
Webinar Dates: October 5, 6 and 7

Hello! You're invited to attend the online training webinar "Accessing your IYS Results Online". The dates and times are shown below. We will be providing a step-by-step walkthrough of the reporting function on SmartTrack's website. You will be able to access your results and create customized school reports based on a variety of factors. If you would like to attend one of the scheduled trainings, please register with one of the widgets below or email us.

If you register through an email, please be sure to include your school name, your name and title, and any experience you may have with SmartTrack’s reporting function, as well as the date and time you would like to attend. You will need a computer with internet access and a phone to dial in to the teleconference. If you do not have your Administrator ID and password that you should have received from SmartTrack shortly after your students completed surveying, please let us know so we can obtain that information for you at the meeting.

We are inviting schools that participated in the 2008 and 2009 Illinois Youth Survey using the online version. Any staff at your school are welcome to participate in the webinar training. Some schools have guidance counselors, social workers and/or student assistance professionals participate, while others have staff that work with grant writing, reporting and/or evaluation participate (such as with Safe and Drug-Free Schools or No Child Left Behind.) Please let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to "seeing" you all at one of the training sessions. Thanks so much for your participation in the Illinois Youth Survey!

"Accessing Results Online for the IYS" Training Webinars

2009-09-25T11:57:00.012-05:00

October 5, 2009 11am - 12pm

October 5, 2009 2pm - 3pm

October 6, 2009 2pm - 3pm

October 7, 2009 11am - 12pm

October 7, 2009 2pm - 3pm

Promoting the IYS to Schools Training

2009-09-25T10:34:00.003-05:00

Thank you to all the providers that attended the "Promoting the IYS to Schools" training presented by Prevention First and Lighthouse Institute (a division of Chestnut Health Systems) yesterday. Lots of great questions were asked and participants learned a great deal about the IYS. If you have any questions that we did not cover in the training, please contact us or PFI.

Any providers that did not attend can still get a listing of eligible schools in their county/service area by contacting Jessica Thomas (jcthomas@chestnut.org) or Donna Prather (dprather@chestnut.org).

2008 IYS State Report Update

2009-09-01T17:50:00.003-05:00

We are still waiting for the State to release the 2008 IYS State report, and hope to be able to post it to our website sometime in September. Currently, we are in the process of posting the 2008 County results, and you should be able to view those on our website very soon.

In the meantime, please send us an email if you'd like to add your name to the request list for the state report upon release, and specify if you'd like a print copy or CD. Thanks for your patience!

2009 IYS - Online Schools Report Training - Thank You

2009-08-10T15:15:00.004-05:00

We would like to thank all of you who attended the training sessions on how to access your results from the 2009 IYS online. For those of you who were unable to attend, we will be conducting this training again once schools are back in session. If you have an idea of a day that would be best for you, please contact Jessica Thomas via email at jcthomas@chestnut.org or call 309-451-7849. Additional information on dates/times will be posted when it is available. Thanks again to those who participated and we hope to see the rest of you during the next group of sessions!

As a reminder, this training is offered to all schools who participated in the 2009 IYS using the online format only as well as any SPF Community Coordinators who are interested.

2009 IYS - Online Schools Report Training - Update

2009-07-30T13:04:00.006-05:00

The following dates/times have been cancelled due to a lack of registrations:

Tuesday, August 4, 11am

Tuesday, August 4, 1pm

Wednesday, August 5, 1pm

If you would like to attend one of the trainings but have not yet registered, please either email Jessica Thomas at jcthomas@chestnut.org or fill out the required information in the widgets below. (See the 7/21 post for more information) We will offer this training again to those who have not been able to attend in either September or October.

2009 IYS - Online Schools Report Training Sessions

2009-07-21T11:01:00.007-05:00

We are hosting online training sessions for schools who completed the 2009 IYS online. Training sessions will last approximately 1 hour and will cover how to access and use the reporting feature on SmartTrack's website. Please click on the widget below and enter your email address to register or contact Jessica Thomas via email at jcthomas@chestnut.org with your desired date and time to participate. If there is another date that would be better, please contact us at the IYS office and we will be happy to accomodate you. Thank you again for your participation in the 2009 Illinois Youth Survey!

Training Dates/Times:
Mon, August 3, 2009 11am - 12pm
Mon, August 3, 2009 1pm - 2pm
Tue, August 4, 2009 11am - 12pm CANCELLED
Tue, August 4, 2009 1pm - 2pm CANCELLED
Wed, August 5, 2009 11am - 12pm
Wed, August 5, 2009 1pm - 2pm CANCELLED

To register using the widgets below, follow these instructions:

Webinar Registration Widgets

2009-07-21T10:59:00.012-05:00

August 3, 2009 11am - 12pm

August 3, 2009 1pm - 2pm

August 4, 2009 11am - 12pm
CANCELLED

August 4, 2009 1pm - 2pm
CANCELLED

August 5, 2009 11am - 12pm

August 5, 2009 1pm - 2pm
CANCELLED

2008 IYS State Report Update

2009-07-15T17:27:00.006-05:00

We found out today that we will need to make significant revisions to the 2008 State report draft. Due to the additional editing time needed, we now expect that the report will be available for release sometime in August.

Please contact our office if you'd like to add your name to the mailing list for the state report upon release, and specify if you'd like a print copy or CD. Thanks for your patience!

How to make changes to your 2010 IYS registration information

2009-07-01T17:10:00.006-05:00

Several schools have contacted us, wondering what to do if they need to change their survey date or enrollment numbers.

Once school is back in session this fall, we'll send a confirmation email to all schools that have previously registered for the 2010 IYS. This email will contain all the information the school gave us when registering, and schools will have the opportunity to makes any changes needed at that time.

Schools are still welcome to register for the survey over the summer on our website (click on "Register for 2010").

Questions? Give us a call or send us an email!

Summertime

2009-06-25T13:50:00.003-05:00

Well, summer has begun and most schools are now out for the year. Throughout the summer you can still register your school for the 2010 IYS. We will be ordering our first round of materials shortly so the more schools that register early, the better.

Changes for the 2010 IYS have not yet been finalized but we will post them on our website (and here) when they are.

The 2008 State Report is still waiting to be approved but as soon as it is, we will both post it in its entirety on our website and a notice will be posted here on this blog.

2009 IYS Online Schools Results

2009-06-15T11:30:00.003-05:00

SmartTrack has uploaded all completed surveys back onto their website. Schools can again access their results at this time. We apologize for the delay in availability from our previous post. Please contact SmartTrack at 866-714-8080 or Jessica Thomas at the IYS Office 309-451-7849 with any questions or difficulty you may be having in accessing your results.

2009 IYS SPF Community Reports

2009-06-15T11:09:00.002-05:00

All community-level reports have been sent to their SPF Coordinator via email. If you have not yet received your report or if you would like a printed copy, please contact Jessica Thomas at 309-451-7849 or by email to jcthomas@chestnut.org.

If your community received a report without a grade level you thought participated (i.e., report without 12th grade included when 12th grade did participate), you have been contacted regarding this. We need a signed release form from the school whose data is missing before it can be released. As you know, if there is 1 school reporting at a specific grade level (in our example for 12th grade) releasing those results would equate to releasing individual school data. We do not release individual school results outside of the school without a signed release form from school administration.

Please contact us with any requests for additional reports you may need. Remember that we will not be producing a statewide report with 2009 IYS data.

2009 IYS - Data Collection Complete

2009-06-08T09:26:00.004-05:00

Thank you to all the SPF Community Schools who participated in the 2009 IYS! We have received all of the completed surveys at our office and should be receiving the remaining data back from scanning this week. If your school has not yet received your initial report by the end of the week (6/12/09), please contact Jessica Thomas by phone at 309-451-7849 or by email to jcthomas@chestnut.org.

When all data is received, Community Reports will be completed and will be sent to SPF Coordinators via email. If you would like a hard copy of your community report or any other specialized reports, please contact the IYS office with your request.

Thanks again for all your hard work on getting your schools surveyed during this off-year! As a reminder, all SPF Schools who participated in the IYS in 2009 are now registered to complete surveying in 2010 with the same information. If your contact person is changing, please contact the IYS office at your earliest convenience.

2010 IYS Registration for 2009 SPF Schools

2009-06-03T11:57:00.002-05:00

All schools within a SPF community who participated in the 2009 IYS have been registered this week to complete the 2010 IYS. The contact person from 2009 was sent an email stating the need to inform us of any contact changes for next year. All information will be confirmed in the fall so any changes in number of students, method of delivery, or survey date can be processed before materials are shipped.

SPF schools who did not participate in 2009 are now being recruited as part of the statewide email recruitment process. Their first email regarding 2010 registration was sent on Monday, 6/1/09.

2008 State Report

2009-05-27T16:11:00.004-05:00

Where is it?? When can we get a copy??

We're sure many of you are asking those questions or have been for some time so we would like to update you on the status of the 2008 IYS State Report.

Throughout the past 6-9 months, we have been working to complete the State Report with the hope it would be available this spring. It has been completed and sent to the State for review and approval. Once we hear that it has been approved for distribution, we will notify schools through our website and a posting will be placed on this blog.

Our hope is for it to be approved and available by mid-June but, unfortunately, we cannot control the date. We apologize for any inconveniences this may cause.

2009 Online Schools - Results Availability

2009-05-26T10:04:00.004-05:00

All online surveying is now closed so that we can access the results of all schools to complete community reports for SPF Project Coordinators. Because of this, schools will not have access to their results this week until 6/1/09. This is to be sure no new schools survey while the data is being pooled. Results will be available again next Monday. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

2009-05-22T16:30:00.002-05:00

Wishing all a Safe Memorial Day weekend

2009 SPF Community Reports

2009-05-21T12:01:00.006-05:00

Looking for your 2009 SPF Community Report? We are currently working on creating community reports similar to those in 2008.

Some information to note: We do not release information regarding a single school or school district without the written consent of a school administrator. For example ... if your community has only 1 high school participating in the 2009 IYS, in order for us to send a community report including the high school's grade-levels, we would first need a release from that school. If your community has schools from only 1 school district within a grade level, we would require a release either from each school involved or from the district as a whole.

We will inform coordinators who fall into one of these categories so they can obtain and send us the required releases, so we can send out their community report as soon as possible.

2009 Initial Reports - Schools

2009-05-21T11:41:00.008-05:00

Most schools have completed surveying and have received their results at this time. The designated contact person at each school received their school report via email attachment approximately 2-4 weeks after returning their completed surveys. If you have not received your school report or would like a printed copy, please email Jessica Thomas at jcthomas@chestnut.org.

In order to maintain school confidentiality, we do not release individual school results to anyone outside the school or its administration unless a written request is submitted. If you would like your schools' individual results to be shared with your community organizer, please fill out the "Release of School Results" form that was sent with your materials. We'll gladly send another copy to you at your request if it has been misplaced. Please be aware that only school administration is able to release their results outside the school.

Follow-up reports usually available in fall of the school year following the survey year will not be available for schools surveying in spring of 2009. These reports require statewide data to complete, which we don't have as this is an off-survey year for most of the state. Consequently, a state report will also not be available for 2009.

The next statewide survey will be given in the spring of 2010. Please be sure to register your school before the end of this school year to give us a more accurate number of how many surveys/pencils to order.

2009 IYS - Ends today

2009-05-15T15:25:00.005-05:00

Today marks the end of the extended survey window for all eligible SPF Community Schools to complete the 2009 IYS. If we have not yet received your materials, please be sure to have all materials packed and return service requested by next Friday, 5/22 at the latest. Upon receipt of your request, we will email your labels to the contact you provided. Then, all you have to do is print them, stick them on the package, and give the package to your driver.

If you do not have a regular pickup scheduled at your school, you can

Call for a pickup (800-PICK-UPS)
Hand the package to the driver when you receive a delivery, or
Bring the package to your nearest UPS location

If your school has not completed surveying at this time and has received materials, please respond contact the IYS office today. This includes schools who were to survey online but have not yet done so.

Thank you all for your interest and participation in both the 2009 IYS and your community's prevention efforts.

Changes for the 2010 IYS

2009-05-11T12:56:00.012-05:00

We are excited to say we have made many positive changes to the 2010 survey process from the 2008 administration. The biggest change is that we have moved to an electronic recruitment/registration/confirmation process from the paper-based process used for many years. This will increase our contact with schools while still controlling costs. There will be no paper mailings for recruitment or confirmation (unless specifically requested) because we have placed all of the information previously included on our website: http://www.illinoisyouthsurvey.org/register/.

Our new registration process now asks schools to choose their method of delivery (paper/pencil or online) as well as their intended survey date. In 2008 we didn't request this information until the confirmation process, however, we believe that schools are more likely to complete surveying if they are able to put the survey on their school calendar as early as possible to avoid any conflicts. For your convenience, please visit the links below for 2010 state testing dates.
ISAT: http://www.isbe.net/assessment/isat.htm
PSAE: http://www.isbe.net/assessment/psae.htm
IAA: http://www.isbe.state.il.us/assessment/iaa.htm
ICEPT: http://www.isbe.state.il.us/assessment/icept.htm
ACT: http://www.actstudent.org/regist/dates.html

For those schools completing the survey online, we are offering additional trainings this year to proctors (planning & initial computer set-up), administrators and other staff (report creation). These trainings will be conducted online at numerous dates throughout the year (more information to come).

We are changing our primary shipper from UPS to FedEx and we are no longer requesting "call tags" in which a driver brings the labels with them to pick up the package. We are now requesting a return service in which we create the label and email it to the school contact person, who prints and adheres the label to the package. Then, all you would have to do is either give the package to the driver on your regularly scheduled pick-up or you can even bring it to a drop location near you.

Of course, we are still working on more ideas to make the survey both easier to administer and results easier to understand and utilize. Please leave a comment with any other ideas or difficulties you may have. If we don't know, we can't fix it!

2010 IYS - Registration Period Has Begun

2009-05-11T11:59:00.009-05:00

We have moved to an electronic recruitment/registration/confirmation process from the paper-based process used for many years. This will increase our contact with schools while still controlling costs. There will be no paper mailings for recruitment or confirmation (unless specifically requested) because we have placed all of the information previously included on our website: http://www.illinoisyouthsurvey.org/register/.

Our new registration process now asks schools to choose their method of delivery (paper/pencil or online) as well as their intended survey date. We believe that schools are more likely to complete surveying if they are able to put the survey on their school calendar as early as possible to avoid any conflicts.

We have sent out 3 rounds of emails to most eligible schools in the state (there are quite a few private schools that we do not have email addresses for yet but are still working on it) and have received an excellent response rate. The first email went out at the beginning of March 2009 and as of today we already have 472 schools registered!

This year we are also working with local prevention providers and state agencies to assist schools in registering to participate in the 2010 Illinois Youth Survey. Our goal is to double the number of schools who participated in 2008 (884) and we are well on our way. Of course, our ultimate goal is to have more accurate, complete data from a majority of schools and communities in the state to facilitate the changes necessary to support a safe and drug-free environment. As the number of schools participating each year continues to grow, it becomes more important that we are notified of any changes in the contact person at each school.

The preferred method of communication for the 2010 IYS is via email so please keep the IYS office updated with any change of your email address. Also, we ask that you add the following email addresses to your safe list so that none of our messages will be marked as spam: dprather@chestnut.org and jcthomas@chestnut.org.

To register your school to participate in the 2010 IYS, visit our website and complete the registration survey http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB228JTJ98CKW.

2008 IYS - Follow-Up Reports Available

2009-05-11T11:57:00.006-05:00

For schools that participated in 2008, you should have received your initial report before the end of the 2007-2008 school year. Included in this report was a feedback form with a request for a follow-up report when it became available. At this point, we have only received requests for the follow-up report from a small number of schools. School contacts were emailed on May 5, 2009 if their school had a follow-up report available but had not yet requested it.

The follow-up report puts your individual school data in perspective. It compares your use rates for the gateway substances (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and inhalants) plus binge drinking over the past two weeks with the aggregated use rates of similar schools, and also provides this data from your last survey results, if applicable, for comparison. The second report section rates your school on several key risk and protective factors that are known to be powerful contributors to community-wide substance use rates, are highly correlated with community-level substance use scores in Illinois, and can be addressed with prevention strategies and/or programs already proven to be effective.

If you have not aready responded requesting your follow-up report be sent or would like another copy of your initial report, please email Jessica Thomas at jcthomas@chestnut.org with your name, title, school name and address where the report should be sent. We will attempt to send them before the end of the 2008-2009 school year.

To see if your school participated in 2008: http://www.illinoisyouthsurvey.org/register/2008_IYS_participation_list_9-3-08.xls

SPF Schools 2009 IYS

2009-05-11T11:32:00.007-05:00

This year we surveyed schools in select communities who received a grant for prevention planning (SPF Schools) along with some others who have not yet participated in the past or that needed yearly data for special circumstances. For more information on the SPF project, please see our website: http://www.illinoisyouthsurvey.org/SPF-SIG/ or contact your project coordinator.

The survey period has been extended to 5/15/09 for all eligible schools in a SPF community who have not yet participated. Please be sure to schedule and administer the survey to your students on or before 5/15 and request your completed materials to be returned before 5/22. This will allow us to receive the data back from scanning and send out reports before the end of the school year. At this point, we are still waiting to receive materials back from 24 schools and for 6 schools to complete surveying online. To see a listing of schools and their progress with the 2009 IYS, please visit our website. Schools are listed by community and updated weekly on Fridays.

This year we are sending reports to the school contact via email attachment as they are available. If you would like a print copy of your report, please contact Jessica Thomas at jcthomas@chestnut.org or 309-451-7849. To maintain confidentiality reports are only sent to the individual school unless a signed release from school administration is received. To release your individual school data to an outside agency, please fill out the Release of School Results form that came with your materials and fax to 309-451-7764.

All schools who have received their report are welcome to provide feedback on this year's administration: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/survey-intro.zgi?p=WEB228YGKUK7PN
If you have received your report but have not yet supplied feedback, please do so. We review the feedback as well as all suggestions for improvement.

Thank you to all SPF Community Coordinators for your work with the schools this year in successfully obtaining more complete data from more schools!

Welcome Message

2009-05-11T11:30:00.004-05:00

Hello and welcome to the new blog for the Illinois Youth Survey! We hope this information will be helpful to schools, providers, and parents to keep updated on what's going on with the survey at this time. We will attempt to update the blog at least once a week.

Illinois Youth Survey

Chestnut's work on the IYS is concluded

2010 IYS Follow-up Reports have been sent out

Prevention First Facilitated IYS Webinars FY2010

Congratulations to Alan Markwood, 2010 IADDA Prevention Leadership Award Recipient

Reminder to Online Schools & FAQ

2010 IYS Follow-Up Reports

2010 IYS State Report

2010 Cook County Frequency Report Now Available

2010 County-Level Frequency Reports Available

"One Thousand Schools" Celebration Winners

Online Validity Numbers

New features to this blog

SPF and Planning Grantee Community Reports

Remaining paper schools

Reminder for online schools

Attention Online Schools

2010 Survey Window Closes Today

Returning completed paper materials

Classroom Envelopes

Online Proctor Training Sessions

Surveying has begun!

2008 State Report AVAILABLE

2008 State Report

Winter Break- Online Schools

Winter Break- Packing Materials

"One Thousand Schools" Celebration

2010 IYS *Online* Informational Sessions

2010 IYS Confirmations

Thank you to participants

"Accessing your IYS results online" Webinars

"Accessing Results Online for the IYS" Training Webinars

Promoting the IYS to Schools Training

2008 IYS State Report Update

2009 IYS - Online Schools Report Training - Thank You

2009 IYS - Online Schools Report Training - Update

2009 IYS - Online Schools Report Training Sessions

Webinar Registration Widgets

2008 IYS State Report Update

How to make changes to your 2010 IYS registration information

Summertime

2009 IYS Online Schools Results

2009 IYS SPF Community Reports

2009 IYS - Data Collection Complete

2010 IYS Registration for 2009 SPF Schools

2008 State Report

2009 Online Schools - Results Availability

2009 SPF Community Reports

2009 Initial Reports - Schools

2009 IYS - Ends today

Changes for the 2010 IYS

2010 IYS - Registration Period Has Begun

2008 IYS - Follow-Up Reports Available

SPF Schools 2009 IYS

Welcome Message

2010 IYS Online Informational Sessions