In the Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s (OSSE) 2023-25 Strategic Plan, the agency committed to administering school climate surveys of students, educators, school-based staff, and caregivers. OSSE's goal is to offer a high-quality tool, hands-on technical support, and robust professional development with a minimal administrative burden for school- and local education agency (LEA)-based staff. OSSE believes that school climate survey data will provide LEAs with a critical tool, bolster the District’s school and community supports, and inform the public. OSSE has partnered with Panorama Education to design, administer, and report on statewide school climate surveys. OSSE convened an Advisory Cohort for the 2023–24 school year and is scaling up to a statewide administration in 2024–25.
2024–25 School Year
OSSE will provide all LEAs with school climate surveys to administer for students (grades 3–12 and adult), caregivers, educators, school-based staff, and school leaders. The survey window will run from March 3-April 4, 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Why is OSSE administering a statewide school climate survey?
Answer: OSSE believes that students, schools, LEAs and the public will benefit from comparable high-quality and actionable school climate data from students, school-based staff and caregivers. Administering the surveys citywide ensures that all of the results are shared within our local context. The surveys are a key project in our 2023-25 Strategic Plan and will support our programmatic work at OSSE, as well. Additionally, OSSE is required by a DC State Board of Education (SBOE) resolution to report these data on the DC School Report Card.
Question: Does my LEA have to participate in the statewide school climate survey?
Answer: Yes. All LEAs will be participating. Students in grade 3 and above will take the student surveys, so LEAs that serve students in PreK to grade 2 will only administer the school-based staff and caregiver surveys. Adult and alternative LEAs will have a customized student survey, as well as school-based staff and caregiver surveys. .
Question: What is the survey administration window?
Answer: OSSE is looking to administer the surveys between March 3 – April 4, 2025.
Question: What are the survey topics and questions?
Answer: The surveys are designed to efficiently capture feedback on a wide range of topics. The survey questions are available on OSSE’s website.
Question: How will OSSE share the school climate data with LEAs and the public?
Answer: OSSE will share high-level summaries of the data on the DC School Report Card beginning in December 2025. LEAs will have access to their own LEA- and school-level dashboards with benchmark comparisons for each question and topic for the District. OSSE should have SEA-, LEA-, and school-level results in May 2025; LEAs should receive access to their data shortly after. In short, school leaders will receive access to their data roughly within a month of the survey window closing, allowing them to take action during the school year and plan over the summer.
Question: Our LEA has an existing contract with Panorama (and/or uses our own school climate survey tool), how will our LEA’s data be imported/transferred into the OSSE platform?
Answer: OSSE encourages LEAs to reach out to Panorama to discuss current and future contracting options. OSSE is taking on the cost of an annual spring survey, a customized data dashboard for LEAs, and professional development. Panorama offers a myriad of additional products and services that may be of interest to your LEA, but, as the state education agency, OSSE is not involved in the sales or procurement for individual LEAs. OSSE is very confident that what OSSE is offering for free to all LEAs will be of high value to your work. OSSE encourages LEAs to still administer their own tools—and is hopeful that the statewide survey tool will supplement existing work.
Question: What professional development and supports will OSSE be offering LEAs in advance of the survey administration window opening?
Answer: LEAs will receive administrative support prior to the survey administration window opening; this professional development is likely to occur in January 2025. The surveys are all web-based and simply require survey takers to log in and complete. Panorama recommends that every campus designates at least one Survey Liaison who will receive roughly 30–45 minutes of training to learn how to administer the surveys, use the platform to monitor participation throughout the window, and reach out for support if necessary. During this training, Survey Liaisons will receive the scripts and checklists to successfully administer the surveys. LEAs should ensure that they have designated someone with a Survey Liaison role in All Staff.
Question: What professional development and supports will OSSE be offering LEAs in advance of the survey administration window opening?
Answer: LEAs will receive administrative support prior to the survey administration window opening; this professional development is likely to occur in January 2025. The surveys are all web-based and simply require survey takers to log in and complete. Panorama recommends that every campus designates at least one Survey Liaison who will receive roughly 30–45 minutes of training to learn how to administer the surveys, use the platform to monitor participation throughout the window, and reach out for support if necessary. During this training, Survey Liaisons will receive the scripts and checklists to successfully administer the surveys. LEAs should ensure that they have designated someone with a Survey Liaison role in All Staff.
Question: What professional development and supports will OSSE be offering LEAs after survey responses and data have been collected?
Answer: OSSE will support LEAs as soon as the data is available in their platform 4–6 weeks after the survey administration window closing. OSSE recommends that everyone on the LEA’s school climate team attend professional development, which could include staff such as counselors and behavioral technicians. For LEAs that are administering Panorama surveys for the first time, the training will cover all of the basics of the platform, what the data means, and recommended next steps. For LEAs with more experience, the training will go more in depth. Once logged into the platform, all LEAs will have access to Panorama’s extensive Playbook suite of resources which include lesson plans and staff training sessions. Additionally, OSSE will continue to tailor existing professional development offerings to include school climate survey data.
Here is a printable version of the FAQs.
2023-24 School Year
OSSE has partnered with 16 LEAs to administer surveys in the spring of 2024 and provide feedback to OSSE.
Advisory Cohort
- Academy of Hope Public Charter School (PCS)
- Appletree Early Learning Public Charter Schools
- BASIS DC
- Briya PCS
- Capital City PCS
- Cesar Chavez PCS
- DC International PCS
- District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS)
- Friendship PCS
- Mary McLeod Bethune Day Academy PCS
- Maya Angelou PCS
- Meridian Public Charter School
- Monument Academy PCS
- Sela PCS
- Two Rivers Public Charter School
- Washington Yu Ying PCS
Surveys