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Concord group to combine Panorama, YRBS and adviser pulse checks; members push for direct student and METCO outreach
Summary
Working group members recommended pairing Panorama and YRBS survey results with adviser pulse checks, focus groups and targeted METCO family outreach. Andrew, the district DEIB director, urged centering student voice when defining new metrics.
Members of the Town of Concord climate and culture working group spent much of the meeting debating which data sources should inform a monitoring framework for 2026–27 and how to gather actionable, timely feedback from students and families.
Laurie told the group Panorama will be readministered in the fall and described it as a formative, moment-in-time tool, while noting that YRBS provides more summative, spring-timed data. She said Panorama’s October timing should be considered when scheduling committee conversations.
Dr. Michael Hunter recommended a mixed approach: “as a clinician, I can look at your lab data... but unless I'm paying attention to the patient and have a hand on your pulse, I'm gonna miss part of the picture,” he said, arguing the working group should use advisers’ ongoing observations and focussed qualitative engagement in addition to survey snapshots.
Several members proposed practical collection methods: periodic adviser polls or aggregated adviser summaries that avoid identifying individual students, structured community “coffees” with standardized feedback forms, targeted midyear check-ins for METCO families, and student focus groups. Andrew, the district’s DEIB director, said direct student engagement is essential when defining what to measure and urged partnerships with METCO directors for authentic family outreach.
The group discussed modifying a Panorama religion question from open-ended to multiple choice to speed disaggregation, and some members cautioned against hard-coding that choice as permanent. Members also suggested inviting external facilitators who have led similar community or school work to help the committee develop common language and facilitation skills.
Dr. Michael Hunter offered to reach out to recommended outside facilitators and staff will map data-release dates to school committee meeting calendars so the committee can schedule timely reviews. The working group set a follow-up meeting in August to continue building the framework.
Quotes in this article are drawn from participants attending the Town of Concord working-group meeting.
