School RelationshipBuilding Community Engagement

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School Relationship-BuildingCommunity Engagement

• Presented by Mia Urick
• Minnesota Rural Education Leadership Program
• September 20, 2007
• Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, Plymouth, MN

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Big Broad Topic

• Community Engagement School Board Relations
• Communications Public Relations
• Reputation Management Public Ownership
• Leadership

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Supporting Student Achievement

• If you are a new principal in a troubled
  inner-city school under orders from your
  superintendent to raise student test scores and
  involve parents, what should you do?

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• If I were you, I would look at the results of
  studies that show a convincing link between
  student achievement and various approaches to
  parent and community involvement.
• Don Davies
• Founder, Institute for Responsive Education
• Visiting Professor, Northeastern University

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National Center for Family and Community
Connections with Schools (part of the Southwest
Educational Development Laboratory) www.sedl.org/
connections/resources
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(No Transcript)
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National School Public Relations Association
(NSPRA) http//www.nspra.org/ cap.htm
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Countless studies demonstrate that students with
parents actively involved in their education at
home and school are more likely to earn higher
grades and test scores, enroll in higher-level
programs, graduate from high school, and go on to
post-secondary education. --- Beyond the Bake
Sale
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Relationships Relationships Relationships

• Built on Trust
• Trust confidence, reliance, certainty, safety,
  hope, belief

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Trust-building and information-sharing with your
audiences board staff students parents
volunteers wider community and groups
within immediate school building
neighbors taxpayers business
community policymakers et cetera!
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within the culture of your school district and
community. Culture has symbols language r
ules values woven into the fabric of the
culture.
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Communications

• Pervasive in the culture
• Responsive to environment
• Relationship-based
• Skills can be taught/learned

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It is human nature to create symbols that create
exclusivity (think of teenagers). But in order
for a culture to be inclusive and welcoming, the
elements of the culture must be communicated and
understood by audiences.
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Including the rules!
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Its important to understand your culture and
your community.

• Factors that influence the feelings and attitudes
  your community has regarding the school district
• History (stories)
• Demographics
• Relationships (Asset Mapping)
• Perception vs. Reality

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Communications

• Pervasive in the culture
• Responsive to environment
• Relationship-based
• Skills can be taught/learned

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Relationships Build trust in an intentional way.

• Focus on kids.
• Intentionally build your community network.
• Listen to your network.
• Be open and honest.
• Do what you say you are going to do.
• Tell your story
• Always ask Who needs to know about this?
• Make trust a priority.

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Focus on kids.

• Key characteristics associated with academic
  improvement include high standards and
  expectations for all students and parent and
  community involvement. The importance of
  establishing and maintaining meaningful, direct,
  two-way communication between schools, parents,
  and the community is one of the defining features
  of effective parent and community involvement.
  (NSPRA, How Strong Communication Contributes to
  Student and School Success www.nspra.org)

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Intentionally build your community network.

• Group goals, reciprocity, and rewarding joint
  efforts are all essential for collaboration to
  occur, but what has the most powerful influence
  on whether those goals get achieved? Positive
  face-to-face interaction leaders must therefore
  provide frequent and lasting opportunities for
  team members to associate and intermingle across
  disciplines and between departments. Handy as
  virtual tools are for staying in touch, they are
  no substitute for positive face-to-face
  interactions. (Kouzes and Posner, The
  Leadership Challenge)

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When there are bumps in the road

• Confront the issue.
• Tell the truth.
• Follow up.
• If you want to make peace, you dont talk to
  your friends. You talk to your enemies. (Moshe
  Dayan)

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Role of the Leader

• The object of leadership in the concept of
  cultural community is the stirring of human
  consciousness, the integration and enhancement of
  meanings, the articulation of key cultural
  strands, and the liking of organizational members
  to them. (Sergiovanni, Leadership and
  Organizational Culture)
• Thus, school leaders enliven day-to-day district
  activity with meaning and significance through
  constant communication.

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Intent

• Leaders use attention to focus the lens of
  intention. Watch what youre paying attention
  to, for others are going to pay attention to the
  same things. (Houston and Sokolow, The
  Spiritual Dimension of Leadership)

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Communications

• Pervasive in the culture
• Responsive to environment
• Relationship-based
• Skills can be taught/learned

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Relationships

• Opinion Leaders
• Key Communicators
• Internal (Employee Engagement)
• External (Community Engagement)

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When you allow human relationships to fall by the
wayside, people tend to anticipate a bureaucratic
agenda.

• suspect
• dehumanized
• rules-driven
• start referring to The District

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Relationships

• Opinion Leaders
• Identify them and make a database
• Develop a plan to communicate with them on a
  regular basis
• Check in with them to insure they are getting the
  message
• Review the list -- it is dynamic and can change
  in a heartbeat.

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Relationships

• Key Communicators
• Who associated with your district has voice on
  any particular topic? Make a list.
• Are they skilled in communicating? Need
  training/coaching?
• Each time a decision is made, identify the key
  communicators and plan the message and method of
  communicating.

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Relationships

• Internal (Employee Engagement)
• The nature of relationships among the adults
  within a school has a greater influence on the
  character and quality of that school and on
  student accomplishment than anything else.
  (Barth, Improving Relationships Within the
  Schoolhouse handout)
• Internal/External audiences may be the samemake
  sure that internal hears what external hears

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Relationships

• Internal (Employee Engagement)
• Employee Engagement is not your fathers Internal
  Communications.
• Requires 2-way communication that creates a
  conversation and therefore a personal
  relationship!
• ROI on Employee Engagement
• Lower Staff Turn-over
• Better Performance
• Lower Absenteeism
• Enhanced Feelings of Personal Accountability
• Higher Level of Satisfaction as Members of
  (Wider) School Community
• Employee as District Ambassador and Cultural
  Translators

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Relationships

• External (Community Engagement)
• Planning - be intentional.
• Define your goal(s).
• Inform audiences about the Boards twenty goals
  for student achievement and achieve audience
  buy-in.
• Notify the community about the intent to create
  and execute a strategic plan, build interest and
  participation.
• Pass the levy.
• Recruit eight high quality candidates for the
  middle school principal position.

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Plan RACE

• Research
• Action Plan
• Communicate
• Evaluate

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Plan RACE

• Research
• Determine Opportunities and Challenges (SWOT
  Analysis)
• Get data.
• Anecdotal/Conversational
• Formal
• Surveys
• District Records
• Government Reports

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Plan RACE

• Research
• Identify audiences and stakeholders
• Who will care?
• Where do you connect with them?
• Home
• School
• Businesses
• Media
• Events

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Plan RACE

• Action Plan
• An effective interaction of
• Message geared toward outcome, tailored for
• Audience, using an appropriate
• Method
• Develop your message(s)

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Plan RACE

• Action Plan
• Key Messages
• Decided upon ahead of delivery.
• Concise, brief, memorable
• Honest
• Pertinent
• Timely
• Key messages are not about spin.

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Tell the truth.Tell the truth.Tell the truth.

• Its OK to say nothing,
• but if you say anything,
• tell the truth.

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Plan RACE

• Action Plan
• Decide on the method
• Face to Face One-to-One
• Face to Face Group Presentation, Small or Large
  Group
• Phone Calls
• Print via District (Letters, Brochures,
  Newsletters)
• Media
• Electronic (Internet, Video, Podcasting, Etc.)
• Other (Logo Items, Billboards, Etc.)
• Budget!
• Tasks, Responsibilities/Accountabilities, and
  Timeline

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Plan RACE

• Communicate
• Execute the plan.
• Pay attention to buzz.
• Keep a wide focus.
• Just because there is a plan for one initiative
  doesnt mean there arent other communication
  needs.

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Plan RACE

• Evaluate
• Did it work?
• How do you know?
• What are you seeing and hearing?
• Goals met?
• Any hard data?

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Help I need somebody Not just anybody (The
Beatles)You are in a unique position to help
your district develop and execute an incredibly
effective communication plan that will help to
engage all of your community and maximize the
success of your students.
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Help ...

• Build your infrastructure!
• Enhance your skills and the skills of your key
  communicators
• Leadership Skills
• Commitment/Enthusiasm
• Teaming/Collaboration
• Good Judgment
• Respect
• Honesty
• Confidentiality
• Loyalty/Focus on District Goals
• Commitment to Own Professional and Personal
  Development
• Service Orientation
• Empathy
• Etc.

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Help ...

• Build your infrastructure!
• Enhance your skills and the skills of your key
  communicators
• Writing
• Speaking
• Listening
• Group Facilitation
• Use of Technology
• Etc.
• Make communications skills an essential aspect of
  assessment and feedback to one another!

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Help ...

• Build your infrastructure!
• Develop your database of opinion leaders
• Meet with them often.
• Communicate with them often.
• Dont lose touch until an issue appears.
• Review and update the database regularly!
• Find methods to provide regular and expected
  communication to your community.
• Communicate both good and bad news.
• Use a variety of communication methods--print,
  electronic, video, etc.
• Be strategic about building trust and confidence
  within all of your relationships.

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Help ...

• Assess and Plan
• Standard logo identifying all district (and
  school) materials?
• Expectations regarding communications for all
  staff?
• Up-to-date, content rich web site?
• Processes to harvest feedback from stakeholders?
• Communications vehicle for staff (i.e.
  newsletter)?
• Solid, standard staff orientation?
• Staff recognition?
• Regular parent communication vehicle?
• Staff training regarding communication with
  parents/wider community?

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Help ...

• Assess and Plan
• Standards for receiving messages and returning
  calls/emails?
• Program for welcoming new families?
• Community-wide communication vehicle?
• Way to communicate with citizens who do not have
  children in the schools?
• Method of receiving/responding to community
  input?
• Way to monitor public opinion and buzz?

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Help ...

• Assess and Plan
• Concise, jargon-free, understandable information
  regarding the quality of education in your
  district?
• Method of ongoing assessment of facility
  presence?
• Relationships with local service organizations
  and faith communities?
• Regular meetings with local media?
• Submit articles/opinion pieces for local
  publications?
• A plan for crisis communications?

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Help ...

• Remember
• If you are going to communicate to external
  audiences, communicate first to your internal
  audiences.
• Stay on message.
• Be open and honest.
• Listen.
• Teach and Learn.

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Were here for you!

• Mia Urick
• Director of Communications
• MASA
• 1884 Como Avenue
• St. Paul, MN 55108
• [phone]
• toll free 1-866-444-5251
• fax [phone]
• urickm_at_mnasa.org
• www. mnasa.org

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• Just do your best and everything will turn out
  just great.
• Mias Grandma Wanda