How can we help?
Answers to the questions we hear most — about joining the network, running a Strength-Indicator survey, taking one, and how student answers are kept private. Jump to your situation:
Joining the network.
The Strength-Indicator is a member benefit, but the whole network is open to any Minnesota school moving toward learner-centered practice.
What is MLCN?
The Minnesota Learner-Centered Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit connecting schools that put students at the center of learning. Members share practices, visit one another, and use a common tool — the Strength-Indicator — to see their strengths and growth areas. More about the network →
What is the Strength-Indicator?
A survey of four voices in a school — educators, students in grades 4–8, students in 9–12, and caregivers — across the seven principles of learner-centered practice. It produces a report you can read, discuss, and act on. See an overview →
How does a school join?
Start on the school membership page. Signing up creates your school's workspace and makes you its first administrator — you can invite colleagues after.
What does membership cost?
Membership is free for the 2026–27 pilot year. After that, dues are sliding-scale, set with each school by size and capacity — and no school is turned away over cost. The membership page has the details, or reach out and we'll talk it through.
For school administrators.
Once you're signed in, the full step-by-step walkthrough lives in your workspace and is linked from the top bar.
Where's the step-by-step guide?
Inside your admin workspace: open How to run a survey (you'll need to be signed in as a school admin). It covers the whole flow — audiences, roster, distribution, completion, and the report — and nothing on it is destructive to read.
How do respondents get the survey?
Three ways, and you can mix them: email invitations if you have addresses, a single public link for families, or printed code sheets that hand each student their own link. The Distribute page helps you pick.
Can teachers see who in their class has finished?
Yes. You can generate a live, read-only link per class and send it to that teacher — they see only their own students' progress (names of who hasn't finished), never answers, scores, or any other classroom. Revoke it any time.
How do we nudge people who haven't responded?
The Completion page lists who's outstanding and lets you send email reminders — individually or in bulk. For students without an email on file, the per-class links let a teacher chase the rest in person.
When do we get the report?
A live report builds as responses arrive; the finalized version publishes after the survey window closes. How to read a report →
For students & families.
You got a link from your school. Here's what it is and what happens to your answers.
What is this link I was given?
Your school is running the Strength-Indicator — a short survey about what's working and what could be better. It's not a test, and there are no right or wrong answers. It takes about 15 minutes.
Are my answers anonymous?
Yes. Your answers are never shown next to your name. Schools see summaries and group patterns — not individual responses — and the report suppresses any group too small to keep answers private.
What if a question doesn't make sense?
Choose the "I'm not sure what this is asking" option. That's not counted against anything — it just tells us to make the question clearer.
Can I stop and come back?
On most devices your progress is saved on that device, so you can pick up where you left off using the same link.
How answers are protected.
Student privacy is built into the tool, not bolted on. The full terms are in our District Data Privacy Agreement.
Reports show group summaries only. Individual responses are not visible to schools or to MLCN staff by name.
If a slice of the report is small enough that answers could be traced back to a person, it's hidden automatically.
MLCN's data practices are written to the National Data Privacy Agreement (NDPA) standard districts already use. See the Privacy Policy and Terms.
Survey data is used to produce your school's report and the network's aggregate view — nothing else.
Individual educators.
You don't have to run a school to be part of the network.
Can I join as an individual teacher?
Yes — a free educator account lets you explore resources and opt into the member directory to connect with peers across Minnesota. Teacher membership →
What's the member directory?
A people-first directory of educators in the network — searchable by role, grade, subject, and the principles they care about. You choose what to list and whether to show your email. Browse the directory → (members only).
I forgot my password.
Use the reset link on the login page and we'll email you a way back in.
We're a small team and we read every note.
If your question isn't here, get in touch — we'd genuinely like to help.