Several times throughout the school year, the Panorama Survey is distributed to students. They’ve been implemented since the 2020-2021 school year, surveying students on topics like belonging, personal skills, and equality within the school.
“We want school to be a place where students feel safe, seen, heard, valued, [and] believed in,” DCS Data Coordinator Toby West said. “It helps us have our finger on the pulse of how students feel about their experience at Hayes.”
This data is pivotal at Hayes when it comes to understanding its students, as, when the data is calculated, it goes straight to the teachers to use in their classrooms. One of the most immediately noticeable effects of the results of the Panorama Survey is found in House, implemented as a direct response to the feedback received through the Panorama that year.
“House gives students a way to connect with others while still in school,” Principal Jake Shafer said. “The goal is to give students a sense of belonging and community… [that] they might not have if they aren’t involved in after school activities.”
One of the notably low areas of the Panorama was the sense of belonging within the school, so House is just one of several strides that Hayes has taken in an attempt to raise it.
However, the survey isn’t without criticism. Concerns have been raised regarding the flexibility of the questions, and the multiple choice nature of the survey does not allow students to properly express their answers.
“Say, hypothetically, I love all of my teachers but one, and that one specific teacher is a real [jerk],” senior Jaiden Allen said. “I don’t want to say that all my teachers are great, because they aren’t, but I also don’t want to give them all a bad name because of one bad egg.”
Another frequent point of concern is whether or not student feedback is actually taken into account.
“Through all my years at this school, I honestly can’t think of a time when I feel like anything has actually changed regarding our responses,” Allen said.
On the administrative side, the Panorama survey has been suffering from low participation rates since it was shifted to being taken during House as opposed to taking place during a core class.
“I really hope that students are taking [the survey] seriously, because we take their responses very seriously,” Shafer said. “We’re always striving to be a better and more welcoming place for everybody [and] the survey is our sort of way of keeping our finger on the pulse of the students.”
