Case Studies: Overview | Mission Possible | W. K. Kellogg
For schools and districts interested in implementing new initiatives or undertaking comprehensive reform, good communication both within the school system and with key external constituencies is fundamental to the program's success. School and district leaders should seek to understand the perspectives of key audiences, articulate both the purpose and benefits of proposed reforms, build support for the program, share information throughout the process, foster discussion, and seek feedback. Simply put, reform agendas are likely to be better received when they are done with teachers and the community and not done to them. Individual case study pages offer examples of these principles in practice.
Successful communications efforts are vital because they can help increase public awareness, generate support, and effect change. A strong communications strategy is multi-faceted and delivers a positive, proactive, coherent, and consistent message, while tailoring the presentation to address the particular concerns of all stakeholders. Districts and schools should view strategic communications not just as the go-to remedy when they need public support for a specific goal or during a time of crisis; rather, communications should be an integral tool used on an ongoing basis to maintain a positive flow of information between the school, parents, teachers, and community.
The benefits of a comprehensive communications strategy include:
- Lower costs associated with ongoing communications efforts that support the district's mission, goals, and objectives rather than reactive measures implemented on an as-needed basis.
- Greater public support for districts that have ongoing, planned communication programs that keep taxpayers informed.
- Increased parent and community involvement, which leads to improved student achievement and attendance.
The following section provides guidance for creating and implementing an effective communication strategy. The following recommendations are based on current research and publications. For additional resources, see the websites and tools section.
- Establish clear goals, values, and mission statement:
- Overall communications goals. Districts should identify specific objectives they wish to accomplish and measures they will use as indicators of success. Goals should be measurable in order to gauge progress.
- Organizational values and beliefs. Every organization should develop a system of guiding values that should be reflected in the organization's communications goals and strategic plans.
- Vision and mission statement. The organizational mission statement is the lynchpin of a strategic communications plan as it steers the overall direction of media activities. Including the mission statement in the communications plan serves as a constant reminder to internal constituencies that all organizational decisions stem from the mission.
- Research affected constituencies and craft a message based on their concerns:
- Understanding of the target audience. The plan should identify the concerns and needs of key audiences, the desired actions sought from these groups, and ways to encourage these actions. In addition to external audiences, it is important that the organization not forget its internal audiences, such as teachers and administrators.
- Research into past media coverage and public opinion about the issues. Understanding how target audiences perceive the district and its strategies can be instructive in determining potential challenges and effective communications efforts to overcome them.
- Message development. In communicating about their programs, districts should draw significant attention to the core messages that underlie their education improvement efforts.
- Develop materials that promote and explain the message. Districts should develop case-making materials, such as brochures, fact sheets, and FAQs documents to present their core messages to educators and the public.
- Create a written communication plan that specifies the allocation of resources and includes a built-in evaluation component:
- Written work plan. A communications plan should detail the critical tasks, assign responsibility for implementation, and set clear deadlines and expectations. See the Mission Possible case study for an example of a written communication plan.
- Financial resources from which staff and equipment will be drawn. The communications plan should detail how all resources - time, money, and people - will be allocated in order to achieve the goals of the communication effort.
- Evaluation. A strategic communications plan should have a built-in evaluation component as a way to check accountability and make improvements over time. It is important to assess the impact of a communication strategy as well as monitor for developments such as shifts in public opinion or policy. See the Evaluation page for more detail.
To see how these recommendations have been implemented, refer to the case study pages.
- The Jossey Bass Guide to Strategic Communications for Nonprofits
(Kathy Bonk, Henry Griggs, and Emily Tynes, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1999)
This nuts-and-bolts workbook is a tool kit for nonprofit and public organizations that want to create successful communications strategies. No matter their size or planning experience, organizations can use this guide to enhance their profiles in the media, increase name recognition, boost fundraising, recruit membership, and advance changes in public policy. - Communication Framework for Measuring Teacher Quality and Effectiveness: Bringing Coherence to the Conversation
(Jane G. Coggshall, National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, 2007)
This communication framework is designed to help education leaders develop a shared terminology and communication strategy around the issue of teacher evaluation. The framework consists of four components: 1) communication planning; 2) goals clarification; 3) teacher quality terms; 4) measurement tools and resources. The appendix contains additional communication tools, including a template for outlining a plan, a chart for brainstorming effective terminology, and a variety of tools to help evaluate and discuss teacher effectiveness. - Eleven Tips for Savvy Superintendents: The Communication Factor in Superintendent Success
(National School Public Relations Association, February 2008)
This publication contains advice from studies as well as the experiences of superintendents and communication leaders from the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA). Communication strategists share tips and strategies for using effective communications and incorporating the help of communications professionals to increase success in school leadership. Page six contains a checklist of communication procedures that districts should have in place to deal with a crisis. - Framing Public Issues
(FrameWorks Institute, 2002)
This toolkit provides an in-depth analysis of the strategies to "frame" a message to maximize public understanding and engagement. The FrameWorks Institute, in partnership with a research team of scholars and practitioners, has pioneered a new approach to communicating social issues called strategic frame analysis. This approach incorporates key concepts from the cognitive and social sciences that govern how people process information. The goal is to help answer questions such as: 1) What shapes public opinion? 2) What role does the news play? 3) How do policy makers gauge public opinion? 4) How can I do a better job of helping people see the realities my organization struggles to address every day? The toolkit also has an extensive bibliography for further reading. - Stakeholder Engagement and Communication
(Julia Koppich and Cynthia D. Prince, Center for Educator Compensation Reform, 2007)
This article is aimed at school and district officials who will be at the center of the development and implementation of a new educator compensation plan. The article identifies communication strategies that seek to engage stakeholders and ensure the participation and acceptance of key groups in order to minimize the anxiety and concerns associated with a wide-scale shift in compensation policy. - Six Tips for Smart School Boards: The Communication Factor in Board Effectiveness
(National School Public Relations Association, March 2008)
This publication offers research-based tips to help school boards redefine their work from a community perspective, build strong relationships between their schools and communities, and become more effective through strategic, responsible communication. Among other recommendations, the authors suggest that districts should seek to foster accountability, transparency, and involvement between schools and communities. - Strategic Communications Planning
(The Spin Project, 2005)
The communications plan pyramid in this publication outlines six questions that must be answered before implementing new media tactics: 1) What is the status of your communications infrastructure? 2) What are your goals? 3) Who is your target? 4) Who is your audience? 5) What is your frame? 6) What is your message? Also see the accompanying Strategic Communications Plan Template that provides guidance for creating a communications plan and can help facilitate a strategy session with key stakeholders.
The following resources contain additional ideas and information on communications. They provide access to ready-to-use materials aligned to the above recommendations and also suggest various external organizations that districts could work with to develop a strategy.
Ready-to-use materials for developing a communications strategy
- This communications toolkit provided by the W. K. Kellog Foundation helps non-profit organizations use communications to achieve their social change goals. The toolkit outlines the essential elements for building an effective communications strategy and provides specific, detailed steps necessary to understand options, identify resources, plan, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of strategic communications. The Pyramid Model of Messaging for Audiences helps communicators visualize the segmentation of an audience to help achieve program success by targeting messages to the correct group. For more information, see the Kellogg case study.
- The National School Boards Association has created an Education Leadership Toolkit. This toolkit includes information on creating a communication plan and involving the community in the planning and implementation of change.
- The SPIN Project of the Communications Leadership Institute teaches nonprofits and other organizations that advocate reform how to proactively work with the media in order to generate debate and coverage of their issues. The Communications Leadership Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing nonprofits with the training and tools they need to increase their communications capacity and use high-impact communications campaigns to achieve their goals. Both websites provide a variety of useful publications and other resources, such as communications tutorials, a communications planning guide, and an interactive planning tool.
- The FrameWorks Institute works to advance the nonprofit sector's communications capacity by identifying, translating, and modeling relevant scholarly research for framing the public discourse about social problems. FrameWorks designs, commissions, manages, and publishes communications research to prepare nonprofit organizations to expand their constituency base, to build public will, and to further public understanding of specific social issues. Their website offers various resources, including an interactive "beginners guide" to strategic frame analysis, which is an approach to communications research and practice that enables the public to understand social issues in a broader context.
External organizations
- The National School Public Relations Association has been providing school communication training and services to school leaders throughout the United States and Canada since 1935. NSPRA's mission is to advance education through responsible communication. NSPRA is a member of the Educational Leaders Consortium and works with all major national organizations to help improve educational opportunities for the nation's youth.
- CommunicationWorks is a full-service public affairs firm that creates high-impact media outreach, public awareness campaigns, and marketing strategies in support of education, youth development, and community building. The firm takes a customized, highly interactive, and responsive approach to developing and implementing a broad range of strategic communications services.
- Exemplar Strategic Communications provides communications support for organizations in the education, public policy, and corporate public affairs sectors. They have successfully developed and executed comprehensive strategic plans, integrated communications efforts, and national advocacy campaigns for more than 100 organizations. They partner with organizations to develop proven-effective strategic planning, public affairs, and advocacy communications solutions. By both informing audiences and driving them to action, Exemplar provides its partners the results-based strategic communications efforts needed to achieve their goals.
Find a communications consultant near you.
- Strategic Communication During Whole-System Change: Advice and Guidance for School District Leaders and PR Specialists
(Francis M. Duffy and Patti L. Chance, Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006) Clear communication is always needed, and in situations where lasting whole-system change is desired, communication must be strategic, focused, and concise. Divided into three sections, the book provides details justifying the need for strategic communication, how communication can support change, and stories from actual school districts. - Why School Communication Matters: Strategies from PR Professionals
(Kitty Porterfield and Meg Carnes, Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2008)
This book is an easy-to-use reference for the communication dilemmas that today's superintendents and principals face. It looks at real-life challenges and reframes issues in ways that suggest new and effective solutions. New generations of parents expect better and faster connections with schools. Podcasts, instant messaging, chat rooms, and blogs have left school newsletters and brochures in the dust. More and more, school leader survival depends on anticipating stakeholder demands.