It is important to keep families up to date about the survey projects your school or district is working on, especially if you will be asking families or their students to take surveys.
Share Introduction to Panorama Videos
If this is your first time running Panorama surveys, it may be helpful to share a few videos to introduce families to Panorama. Click here for the direct video link to share.
Share Survey Communications Toolkit
To support your goal of engaging family members in what's happening across the district, Panorama has created a Survey Communications Toolkit filled with sample letters and emails you can send out to families to keep them informed. Clicking on the toolkit to the right will bring you to a view-only Google Doc, which you can copy or download to edit it to fit your district's needs.
Toolkit Contents
- How to Use the Communications Toolkit
- Communication Best Practices
- Messaging About Family Surveys
- Survey Notification Email [English and Spanish]
- Survey is Live Email [English and Spanish]
- Survey Closing Soon [English and Spanish]
- Messaging About Student Surveys
- Student Opt-Out Letter [English and Spanish]
- Glossary of Survey Terms
A Note About Student Opt-Out Letters
At Panorama, it is our best practice to provide letters that allow guardians to opt their students out of taking the survey, rather than requiring signed letters to opt students in. This typically results in higher response rates, while still keeping families informed and allowing them to choose if they do not want their children to be surveyed. If you have any questions about this, please reach out to your Panorama contact or support@panoramaed.com!
Other Tips for Building Buy-In with Families
- Change the messenger; have students explain to their own families how important their feedback is. Parents may be too busy for a request from a stranger at the school, but they are likely to find it much tougher to say that they are too busy to do a favor for their son or daughter.
- Emphasize that schools need parent feedback to create the best learning environments for students. Parents know a different side of their child…one that the school may not be fully aware of. However, the survey gives parents a chance to fill in that missing information about their child so that the school can help better address the child’s learning needs.