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Kyrene adopts Character Strong for middle schools; uses Panorama survey and teacher reflection to measure belonging
Summary
The district described implementation of Character Strong in grades 6–8, staff training and teacher self-reflection tools tied to Panorama survey results. Administrators are conducting learning walks and the district has a student social-emotional wellness policy (5-412).
Kyrene Elementary District leaders told the governing board they have implemented a middle-school social-emotional learning curriculum and are using Panorama survey results and teacher self-reflections to measure sense of belonging.
Amy Gendel, director of grades 4–8 curriculum, said the district adopted the Character Strong curriculum for grades 6–8 and rolled it out this fall. The lessons run in advisory periods (about 30 minutes) and are differentiated by grade. “We adopted a program called Character Strong and it is for all 6th through 8th grade students,” she said.
Policy context and measurement: staff noted the district’s student social-emotional wellness policy, identified in the presentation as Policy 5-412, and said Panorama surveys are administered twice a year (fall and winter) though district reporting focuses on spring results to avoid seasonality. Staff explained Panorama treats items as favorable if students “agree” or “strongly agree” and aggregates those responses; district-level changes of 2–3 percentage points are typical.
Implementation supports: staff described professional development for teachers and administrators (initial July training, follow-ups in September and February), a teacher self-reflection Google form that tracks relational, proactive and reactive classroom practices, and an AROI (academic return on investment) process that includes learning walks to observe classroom implementation.
Use and next steps: administrators and PBIS tier-1 teams can access aggregated teacher self-reflection dashboards to identify school-level strengths and areas for support. District leaders also said they are preparing a parallel social-emotional wellness policy for employees.
Board reaction: trustees requested access to curriculum materials and the district said hour-long walk-throughs and curriculum demonstrations were scheduled for board members who requested them.
Ending: staff said spring Panorama results will be available after the winter administration and that school-level Panorama summaries and teacher-reflection dashboards are available for board review.
