There has been much discussion about the use of third-party surveys to gauge our children’s success in schools.
One such survey is Panorama Education which has/had been used in many of the Hamilton County school districts. According to their website Panorama Education is an education technology company committed to providing tools to improve two key components of student success: academic progress and well-being. They claim to accomplish this by elevating student achievement with a comprehensive social-emotional learning (SEL) solution that improves core academic skills, behavior, and attendance.
I wanted to better understand what is driving the division on this topic, so I looked at several sources of information and had discussions with district leaders from Carmel, Fishers, Westfield, and Noblesville. In the end, this is what I come up with.
The law says school districts should include data from, at minimum, school attendance rates, ILEARN scores, and high school graduation rates. The plans also require ways to maintain a safe learning environment and areas of needed improvement. But the Indiana Department of Education officials no longer require student climate and culture data to be given.
According to Panorama’s Privacy Policy, they do not get personally identifiable information (PII). That includes a student’s name, address, school ID number, telephone number, or email. But once a contract has been signed with Panorama, they are allowed to go into the School Information System (SIS) which houses the students’ information. Panorama also states that when a school uses Panorama Services, the school may share Education Information with them, such as student rosters and parent or guardian contact information. Education information may also include email addresses for students and student demographic information.
These surveys are given to students in grades 3 to 12. The survey information is supposed to be analyzed in aggregate, not on an individual basis. Detractors express concerns about potential privacy breaches involving student data. According to Panorama, when schools work with them, schools own all data and control all data use – not Panorama. Yet in another paragraph, they state that the information is stored on their servers.
Because of these concerns and others, the Hamilton Southeastern School Board recently halted the use of Panorama Education surveys. Westfield Washington stopped using the survey years ago. Westfield Washington decided that if they need a survey, they will provide their own. Zionsville Community Schools does not use Panorama and never did. According to one district official, they keep their eyes on state and national data and focus on a qualitative approach. Another community leader stated that they seek feedback from kiddos in a face-to-face form, which they think is more authentic.
The bottom line is that the measure that seems to be of interest to the school is to gauge how students are feeling. We all know that students can have “bad days” and fill out a survey differently than the next survey they take. We also have counselors and mental health specialists available in each school to gauge student well-being. They are best suited to help put together a plan to maintain a safe learning environment. Presentations that Panorama made to one of the Hamilton County schools failed to show a significant improvement in the two areas they state are at the core of their business: student academic progress and well-being. Finally, the cost of the survey can range from $18,000 to $26,000 per year depending on any additional services and fees agreed upon.
With student privacy concerns, high annual cost, and no significant results, is it fiscally responsible to continue using Panorama services?