By Sammy Bredar
Students within the Hamilton Southeastern Schools district have been offered the Panorama Education Survey twice per year since 2019. The survey helps identify emotional and social areas to address to better help students. Finding ways to improve in those areas can help academic engagement and success, according to district officials.
Brooke Lawson, mental health and school counseling coordinator for HSE Schools emphasized the importance and benefits of the Panorama Survey.
“In HSE Schools, we believe that students are much more than a test score. We also understand the connection between strong social and emotional competencies and positive school climates and academic growth,” Lawson said. “Schools use this data to help make sure students feel safe at school, have positive teacher relationships and have strong social and emotional competencies.”
Lawson said the surveys help the school district make self-improvements.
“We already use and plan to continue to use the Panorama survey data when planning school improvement each year,” Lawson said. “Schools analyze this data and put (schoolwide) strategies in place to better support students,” Lawson said.
Brad Ferris, academic achievement and analytics officer for HSE Schools, agreed with Lawson that the data helps the district better address students’ needs.”
“These data points give us valuable information about what we need to change as we help students develop the academic skills necessary to succeed and to build school environments where they feel safe, welcome and productive,” Ferris said.
Ferris said the surveys have already made a positive impact for the district in regard to how it assists students.
“We have seen increases in how students perceive their ability to regulate their emotions, which can lead to better academic performance as well as increases in teacher-student relationships which indicate a more cooperative and caring learning environment,” Ferris said.
Although HSE Schools emphasizes the importance of the Panorama Survey, district officials also understand that some parents might not be comfortable with their child taking the survey. Parents who do not want their child to take the Panorama Survey can opt out of it through the HSE Schools’ website with no impact on the student. The survey is voluntary.
“If parents are apprehensive about the questions asked by the Panorama survey or its purpose, we encourage them to visit our website where we’ve dedicated an entire page to answering questions about surveys,” Ferris said.
For more, visit hseschools.org/happenings/surveys to learn more about the Panorama Survey as HSE schools.
