Now through November 4, we are asking families to participate in our annual stakeholder input surveys to help us continue identifying strengths and opportunities for growth. These stakeholder input surveys are administered twice a year, occurring every fall and spring. Staff and students will also be asked to participate during this time.

The feedback collected through the surveys provides an opportunity for us to measure stakeholder perceptions of teaching and learning, organizational culture and climate, and student experiences in the classroom.

The family survey linked here will take about 20 minutes to complete and will be a valuable source of information for us as we work together to make our schools great places to learn and work. Privacy is safeguarded and all responses are confidential. The survey will remain open through 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 4 and is accessible by using a computer, tablet, or smartphone.

Thank you in advance for your participation. Creating and maintaining an organization that fosters inclusive education, care, professional learning, development and celebration of a diverse student population and workforce is a collective responsibility. Your feedback will help us improve learning environments, provide systems of support, and continue to graduate students who are happy, strong, and ready to take on the world.


Survey FAQs

How were the stakeholder surveys developed?

Surveys were developed under the leadership of Dr. Hunter Gehlbach, associate professor and associate dean at the UC Santa

Barbara's Gevirtz Graduate School of Education and director of research at Panorama Education. Dr. Gehlbach and his research team at the Harvard Graduate School of Education followed a rigorous survey development process consisting of literature reviews, focus groups, feedback from experts around the county, cognitive interviews with students, and multiple rounds of piloting and refining.

Dr. Gehlbach and his team developed the instrument based on modern principles of survey design.

These best practices include:

- Wording survey items as questions rather than statements.

- Avoiding "agree-disagree" response options that may introduce acquiescence bias and instead using verbally labeled response options that reinforce the underlying topic.

- Asking about one idea at a time rather than using double-barreled items (e.g., "How happy and engaged are you?").

- Using at least five response options to capture a wider range of perception. - Phrasing questions with positive language rather than using reverse-scored or negative language, which students tend to have trouble understanding.

Who can participate in the survey? Will all teachers and schools participate?

Staff, students and families will have the opportunity to take the stakeholder survey specific to them Dec. 6-17.

What does the Panorama Student Survey measure?

The Panorama Student Survey measures student perceptions of teaching and learning, culture and climate, and student experience in the classroom and school. Student perceptions of their classroom experience helps identify a teacher's strengths and areas for teacher growth. Schools and teachers can use the results to set specific priorities for differentiated professional development and coaching support, to design effective teaching practices and more engaging learning environments, and to take actions that will improve student experience in school.

The Panorama Student Survey contains two main categories of scales:

1. Scales about the Classroom and Teaching: Measures student perceptions of teaching and learning in a particular class.

2. Scales about the School: Measures student perceptions of teaching and learning at the school in general.

Within these two categories, Panorama offers several scales – or sets of questions – that measure specific topics (e.g., School Climate, Teacher-Student Relationships).

What are the student survey topics?

Panorama has a total of 19 scales that measure student perceptions of teaching and learning in a particular class or at the school in general. The following scales have been selected for the student survey:

Scales about the Classroom and Teaching

- Pedagogical Effectiveness: Perceptions of the quality of teaching and amount learning students experience from a particular teacher.

- Classroom Climate: Perceptions of the overall social and learning climate of the classroom.

- Classroom Rigorous Expectations: How much students feel that a specific teacher holds them to high expectations around effort, understanding, persistence, and performance in class.

- Classroom Engagement: How attentive and invested students are in class.

- Classroom Teacher-Student Relationships: How strong the social connection is between teachers and students within and beyond the classroom.

Scales about the School

- School Belonging: How much students feel that they are valued members of the school community.
- Valuing of School: How much students feel that school is interesting, important, and useful.
- School Safety: Perceptions of student physical and psychological safety while at school.

How many questions or survey items are there for each stakeholder survey?

- Grades 3-5: 28 survey items (15-25 minutes)
- Grades 6-12: 35 survey items (15-25 minutes)
- Teachers: about 85 survey items (30 minutes) - Staff: about 50 survey items (20 minutes)
- Families: 44 survey items (15-20 minutes)

What kinds of survey questions are asked?

Each of Panorama's survey scales includes 4-7 items that measure one specific construct or topic. Survey items were developed based on modern principles of survey design. These best practices include:

- Wording survey items as questions rather than statements.

- Avoiding "agree-disagree" response options that may introduce acquiescence bias and instead using verbally labeled response options that reinforce the underlying topic.

- Asking about one idea at a time rather than using double-barreled items (e.g., "How happy and engaged are you?").

- Using at least five response options to capture a wider range of perceptions.

- Phrasing questions with positive language rather than using reverse-scored or negative language, which students tend to have trouble understanding.

Stakeholder survey items use response options that reinforce the central focus of the question. For example, a question like "How much do you enjoy your class?" might have the following responses to keep respondents focused on the idea of "enjoy" as they think about their response:



An example question for each survey scale are included below:

Scales about the Classroom and Teaching
- Pedagogical Effectiveness How often does this teacher give you feedback that helps you learn?
- Classroom Climate In this class, how much does the behavior of other students hurt or help your learning?
- Classroom Rigorous Expectations How often does this teacher take time to make sure you understand the material?
- Classroom Engagement How often do you get so focused on class activities that you lose track of time?
- Classroom Teacher-Student Relationships If you walked into class upset, how concerned would your teacher be?

Scales about the School

- School Belonging How connected do you feel to the adults at your school?
- Valuing of School How much do you see yourself as someone who appreciates school
- School Safety How likely is it that someone from your school will bully you online?

What information is there regarding the reliability and validity of the Panorama Student Survey?

Panorama developed the Panorama Student Survey as the first major survey instrument with the following essential properties:

- Educator-focused design, including survey scales that equip teachers with feedback they can use to improve practice and enable educators to monitor student attitudes, beliefs, and values that are predictive of important outcomes;

- Theoretically-grounded, empirically-based design process that meets or exceeds standards of academic scholarship;

- Adherence to best practices in survey design;

- Allowing schools to customize the survey to their specific needs and teaching frameworks while retaining validity and reliability; and

- Providing the survey instrument to any educator interested in improving pedagogical practice and student outcomes for free.

How will the survey data be used?

The primary purpose of the survey is to provide valuable reflective information for educators who are working to improve the classroom and school learning environment. Teacher reflections of the Panorama Student Survey results are used to inform a teacher's Core Professionalism.

Teachers may reflect upon their individual or school-level results as appropriate to their role in the school. Teachers should consult and collaborate with their evaluator on the acceptable documentation method of reflection. Data is also aggregated to provide school, complex- and state- level feedback. These data can be used to highlight priorities, track improvement and evaluate programs.