Creating a successful superintendent entry plan: communications personnel play key role

A year of listening and learning

When Greg Baker was hired in spring 2010 to be the next superintendent of Bellingham Public Schools in Bellingham, Wash., he contacted Tanya Rowe, executive director of communications and community relations, right away to start working on his entry plan.

“He wanted to be very intentional about getting to know our community,” recalled Rowe. “He wanted to be open and transparent and very clear about his plan to get to know Bellingham schools.”

Rather than having people who knew the system call the superintendent’s office to randomly set up appointments, Baker wanted to create a strategic plan for meeting with staff, students, parents, community members, business leaders and service leaders.

“Usually the phone starts to ring when a superintendent is hired,” said Rowe. “As people started to call, we said we would be sharing a plan.”

“Baker’s Plan of Entry: Listening and Learning to Strengthen Relationships for Student Success,” published just two weeks after he officially began work, set up a year-long outline of his plan to meet stakeholders, analyze performance, financial and other data and, throughout it all, learn about the district and community. The plan, available at http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/69178, was vetted by administrators and the leadership team.

“This helped level the playing field, too,” said Rowe. “We did a lot of outreach with our Latino community, and with students who attended the alternative high school — groups that wouldn’t always

It wasn’t all formal. Students, staff, parents and community members were invited to join Baker for a before-school morning jog on “Fitness Fridays” for several weeks in the fall, after which they had an opportunity for a visit over a healthy snack at one of the schools. Listening posts, a survey and school visits also were outlined in the plan of entry.

Reporting back

A key ingredient of Baker’s plan included a schedule of reports back to the community about the results of his listening and learning. This helped the community track what the superintendent was doing during his first year.

“When people heard ‘entry plan’ they weren’t quite sure what it was,” said Rowe. “It was a lot of work to communicate about that. It became clearer when he shared what he had learned about the system.” Baker did a mid-point video report (http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/33719) in January 2011, and a summary report (http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/17366) in fall 2011.

“There was some tension about the idea of learning without making immediate changes, but this was a way for him to say, ‘This is what I’m hearing; let’s think about a process to begin working on it.’”

Building an entry plan from scratch

“Bringing in a new superintendent presents a beautiful opportunity,” said J. Marie Riche, communications consultant. “Engaging in a listening tour can be a research project for a new leader.”

She suggests a four-part strategy for getting a new superintendent on board, created collaboratively with communications personnel.

  • Identify key audiences
    Who does the superintendent need to know and listen to? Be sure to use a wide net; don’t just listen to the district’s fans. “Don’t leave anyone out,” advised Rowe. “And use inclusive language, such as ‘includes but is not limited to,’ just in case.”
  • Use different tools for different groups
    Think about how you will connect with different target audiences within your community. Who are those essential people the superintendent needs to meet with one-on-one? Who needs personal phone calls or emails? Small group meetings can be effective for staff, PTA leaders, focus groups, business and community partners, and other appropriate stakeholders. Semi-targeted emails and community meetings can be used to raise awareness among other groups.

    You have to make some decisions about the best use of time and energy. “You can’t have a one- on-one meeting with everyone,” said Riche. “But one-on-one is the best place to change minds. You have more influence with individuals and smaller groups.”

  • Execute the plan
    Schedule the meetings and publicize them appropriately. Make sure your superintendent has been briefed about hot issues.
  • Close the loop
    “Report back to the community what the superintendent heard and learned,” said Riche. “Based on that, how will it shape his or her first year as superintendent?” Ideally, the direction of the district’s work and the communications plan will draw from this report.

Partnership between superintendent and communications director is essential

In Rowe’s case, her new superintendent came to her to start creating the entry plan. But, often the first move may fall to the communications director or other staff member who generally handles districtwide communications.

“I would advise others: When your new superintendent is hired, approach him or her through appropriate channels and suggest the ideal entry plan,” said Rowe. “It will depend on your superintendent’s experience and comfort level; it could be small or large scale.”

“I want to be one of the first people to make an impact,” said Gary Aungst, director of community affairs and marketing in Tempe Elementary School District, Tempe, Ariz. “I have to become a trusted advisor, and hopefully I can take their communications to the next level as their counsel.”

“Bringing in a new superintendent is as varied as the person coming in,” said Jim Cummings, APR, director of communications and parent and community engagement in Glendale Elementary School District, Glendale, Ariz. “You have to sit down with them and have an open and frank discussion about the culture of the district, your strengths and weaknesses, hot button issues to the community and staff. It’s a gigantic induction.”

Cummings recommends the PR person get time with the new superintendent at the very beginning. “You want to make sure they know you are part of their cabinet and are in there for those discussions as soon as possible. Reading the community and reading the staff are all part of keeping the superintendent healthy,” he commented.

Winning early victories

For Aungst, the prehiring time with the school board also is crucial. “I try to make sure I am listening to the governing board that is going to hire the superintendent, so I get an idea of the type of person they want to hire, and the type they do hire,” he said. “At the end of the day, the superintendent reports to the governing board. I want the superintendent to look his or her best to the board.”

Aungst then looks for ways to deliver the message to stakeholders and get the superintendent quick wins. “I believe in early victories,” he said, “so I look for something quick to achieve with employees, the community or any stakeholder. You have a honeymoon period.”

The ultimate goal: building relationships

“The real key for any superintendent coming in from the outside is to make personal connections,” said Cummings. He emphasizes the importance of meeting with building staff, parents, key contacts, legislators and community groups. “Do school-to-school visits. The idea is to connect on a more personal level.” Cummings arranges school visits that allow time for individual introductions and for the superintendent to talk with teachers.

For Bellingham Public Schools, the year spent on listening and learning has paid off. “It was a really positive experience,” said Rowe. “As we work to improve, the relationships we built allow us to have challenging and difficult conversations.”

Contributed by Candace Wilson, communications consultant

Is your district’s website front and center?

With summer break comes an opportunity to re-evaluate district communication tools. Many districts use this time to update how their schools connect with the community.

They take a look at the communications plan to see what changes need to be made to the website, and if it’s time to extend the social media reach of the superintendent’s office.

As recently as 2011, superintendents in an American Association of School Administrators focus group said they wanted nothing to do with social media. However, they are gradually coming around to see the district website, Facebook and Twitter as key components in an effective communications strategy.

What’s so important about the website?

The underuse of the website in most school districts is a loss to the superintendent’s office. When more parents go to the website to find out calamity day information, for example, fewer flood the telephone hotline for information. This should be a good incentive to keep the website up to date.

How about being able to download lost permission slips? What about reminders about canned food drives and SAT deadlines? Jay Remy, communications director for Salem-Keizer Public Schools (www.salemkeizer.org), likes how information can be easily distributed to all the schools in his district.

“Our webmaster has set it up to easily post districtwide updates on all school websites,” Remy said. “It’s something you can do if you have a modern content management system.”

When parents and students need something, their first instinct is to go to the Web. Many teachers put homework assignments and links to resources on the school website, as well as permission slips and forms that always seem to get lost somewhere between school and home. Remy is proud of the results of his staff: “We’ve made a real effort to produce school websites. We helped get all school sites up. We have 70 schools and for a long time, a lot of them didn’t have a website.”

Remy points out that staying ahead of issues is a key part of the communications mission: “We set alerts on Hootsuite (a Web-based content management system for social media) for the superintendent’s name, school district name and certain issues. If an issue crops up in the media and everyone is talking about it on social media, we should have been talking about it, and we try to get active on that issue. You can modify your communication plan based on what people are discussing.” Google Alerts also are a good tool for monitoring your mentions on the Web.

A website has already become a mainstay for sharing information among parents, students and their school. But it can be just as essential at the superintendent level. Getting the entire community together to discuss a proposal that will have wide community implications could take weeks to set up.

If you have succeeded in expanding your online presence, however, you don’t need to book the gym to hear the community’s point of view. Your entire community is already gathered together and waiting for what you have to say — on Facebook.

Facebook is where your community lives

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could take the temperature of the community before developing a big plan that everyone might unilaterally hate? Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to talk to people who are upset about the new school bond but haven’t mentioned it to the school district?

A March survey by IDC of iPhone and Android smartphone users ages 18-44 found that 63% of Facebook users checked their newsfeed several times a day and 27% checked at least once a day. Community members are already using social media, districts just need to take part in the conversations surrounding their schools. 

As Meg Carnes and Kitty Porterfield, co-authors of Why Social Media Matters, School Communication in the Digital Age (2012), point out in their book, “The rules of engagement are different now. In one form or another, social media will remain in our lives, because its tools have become the way in which new generations communicate.”

A note of caution: the level at which you participate should match the level of staff resources you have to take part in the conversations. Once you begin a two- way conversation with the community, you need to stay in the conversation.

Please don’t say Twitter …

Hopefully the thought of using Twitter doesn’t cause you to wince. It can be a great asset for up-to-the-minute communications with parents or the media. The school lunch was supposed to be fried chicken tomorrow, but now it’s meatloaf? The tennis team tryouts have been moved to a different date? The one-hour snow delay has turned into two hours? Short bursts of information are perfect for Twitter. 

Carnes wants to make it clear, though, that “your website is the hub of all of your communications. Facebook and Twitter are some of your outposts ... whatever people find easier to connect with.” You may post on Twitter that tennis tryouts have been rescheduled, but you also need to make sure that information is available on the website.

Remy agrees. “Facebook and Twitter and all the social media really look a lot better when you have a vibrant website because you can use other social media to get the word out. Then people can get much deeper information.”

Ideally, with your Facebook and Twitter feeds linked to your website, a simple blog post will feed itself from your website to all your “outposts” with a minimal effort. You may want to consider using Hootsuite, which allows you to monitor mentions in social media and manage posts across social media platforms.

Summer is a good time to see if there are ways your district’s mission can be better presented through social media in the coming school year, and the website is a good place to start.

Examples of effective websites, Facebook pages and Twitter feeds

District websites

Facebook pages

Twitter feeds

Surveys, part one: a low-cost way to listen to your community

Ever-increasing tools and technology bring a greater demand for meaningful, two-way communications and community involvement. Our stakeholders want to be “in the know” about their schools. They want to know their opinions are sought and considered, and have ready access to key decision-makers. They expect fast responses with clear explanations. Some resent any organization that only listens to “influential” opinions or the loudest voices for important decisions.

Fulfilling these public expectations requires refining our old bag of listening tricks. Surveys that take four weeks to design, administer and analyze are still valuable for some purposes, but they no longer meet the needs of the fast-news participant — the social media users and texters who want immediate attention.

Trying to extract opinions from all corners of the community causes most school districts to wrestle with how to balance limited resources and the desire to adequately listen to and respond to all community members. Here are some ideas for gathering public opinion in ways that build trust without generating a large cost.

The ‘y’all come’ electronic survey

This is a short online survey with a wide invitation to anyone and everyone who might want a say on the issue. The survey can be placed online using a survey website (e.g., SurveyMonkey, Zoomerang), costs very little and produces fairly comprehensive reports of results. Postcard invitations can be sent to every potential respondent with the Web address for the survey and information about how to get a paper version for people who prefer a hard copy.

A library system in Washington state uses this type of online survey for everything from asking households in a community to rank the services they most desire to asking staff members to evaluate training sessions. The online service provides results in many formats and the ability to sort by demographic groups or compare answers by any factor included in the survey. Results are widely published and used for evaluating programs, making budget decisions and planning future programs.

The advantage of using this kind of survey is that everyone has the opportunity to express an opinion. In some cases, the survey questions provide new information and help people know more about the organization.

The disadvantage of this kind of survey is you don’t have the statistically accurate results you would have if you had conducted a formal, random-sample survey. To extend the results to the greater community, you would need 40% of all possible respondents to take the survey. Forty percent is the statistical rule of thumb for validity in voluntary written surveys. Reaching that response rate is difficult to achieve. The people who tend to take this kind of survey are the members of your fan club and your detractors, leaving out those who are less interested but may share their opinions later.

The respondent-controlled online or phone survey

This type of survey, which gathers opinions from a predetermined group of respondents, is increasingly used by firms and organizations. Some of these firms draw a random sample of people whose opinions they will seek on various issues. They then contact these potential respondents and ask them if they will take future surveys for the firm. Some firms offer a small incentive, such as credit toward purchases or free admission to events, in return for every survey they submit. Other organizations find volunteers who fit various profiles and promise to take surveys when asked.

Another way to use this survey method and ensure a fairly accurate sample is to build a large pool of potential respondents. In this case, you have information about the respondents, such as their ages, their geographic locations, whether they have a school- age child in their home, how long they have lived in the community or any other factor you might need to know when selecting respondents for a survey. Surveys can be administered as needed to respondents with characteristics most desired to that particular survey.

Any electronic survey, including this or the “y’all come” survey, can be designed in many ways for many purposes. The survey can ask respondents to give their reactions to materials such as a sample publication, logo, marketing materials, short video clips or other visuals.

A respondent-controlled survey may be placed online or administered as a phone survey. If it is a phone survey, callers are staff members or others who have been trained in interview techniques that do not influence answers. If the survey is an online survey and the desired number of responses has not been reached by the time the survey closes, some firms phone those who promised to take the survey but have not yet done so and urge them to respond.

The advantages of the controlled-sample survey is having more accurate results for a particular group than those obtained in the “y’all come” survey. The main disadvantage is the necessity of building a database of random-sample respondents, obtaining needed information about those respondents and getting them to take the surveys.

Focus groups

A focus group consists of 10 to 15 carefully selected participants who meet with a skilled facilitator who asks probing questions about a given subject. Focus groups are especially valuable for identifying potential attitudes and reactions. They may be used to glean a specific piece of information, explore potential questions for a more comprehensive survey or follow up on survey responses to further define the attitudes behind those responses.

Participants should be selected from groups that are likely to have the strongest opinion about the subject. They should be invited in a personal way that piques their interest and motivates them to participate.

Focus group sessions are usually one hour and are most successful when the facilitator has a neutral attitude toward the item under discussion and is skilled in guiding deep thought and probing for answers. Someone who is very proficient at taking copious notes should record as many comments as possible, and participants should be assured that their comments will be completely anonymous. Audio taping of the systems also is often helpful, although videotaping can be distracting and may intimidate some participants.

The advantages of focus group research are the opportunity for face-to-face communications, group conversations and the ability to probe for reactions, deeper answers and rationale.

The disadvantage of focus group research is the results are usually nothing more than the opinions of the 15 or 20 people who participated rather than a true sampling of community opinion. It is difficult to get attendance of those who are not already interested in the subject unless participants are paid for attending, something most public agencies are reluctant to do.

No matter what method you use, know what you want and be sure you get it

The key factors in selecting the right research method are:

  • Knowing exactly what you want to learn. This often means discarding things that would be “nice to know” in favor of the subject you need to explore in depth.
  • Determining whose opinions you need. In some cases, you may need to provide an opportunity for the entire community to participate. In other cases, you may want those who will be most affected by a decision.

No matter what you do, don’t leave them wondering. Be sure to report results to those who participated or were invited to participate. In some cases, you will want to report results to the entire community. This sends the message that you value and are using the information you gained, and sets the stage for increasingly successful research. Community members will realize you do value their opinions, and it is worth their time to participate in future surveys.

Contributed by Gay Campbell, communications consultant

Surveys, part two: deliver the message that gains the most support

Your efforts in conducting the types of surveys or focus groups described earlier should yield clear, strong messages to shape public opinion around a given issue or general goal.

As you look through responses to open-ended questions, conduct a focus group or review focus group notes, you will find phrases repeated by various participants. If you had a skilled facilitator for the focus group, you will see how opinions changed as the facilitator suggested new facts or viewpoints.

A paper, online or phone survey will reveal that the attitudes of respondents change as they learn more about the issue. In a well-designed survey, you can look at questions about specific items and see gains or decreases in approval ratings as those items are mentioned. Responses to open-ended questions may yield the same phrases repeated by many respondents. If you asked respondents why they assigned a given rating to an item, you may detect emotions that help you understand the attitudes being expressed.

Use your survey results effectively

Close examination of a well-designed survey or focus group will tell you:

  • phrases that can be used in your messages to echo and reaffirm how people feel about a given goal, project or organization;
  • how people feel about an issue at the beginning of the survey or focus group;
  • how people feel about the issue at the end of the survey or focus group session;
  • if they changed their opinions and, if so, what caused them to change their opinions. 

You can use that analysis to plan messages and delivery methods to influence the larger population represented by the survey or focus group.

These examples of how some organizations used research to determine messages may give you ideas to plan your own communications:

  • A focus group session around relocating a community library started with a negative response from more than half of those participating. As the focus group session progressed and participants learned more about limitations of the current site and possibilities at the proposed site, they gradually switched to favoring the new site. The arguments they presented to each other and the “what-ifs” the facilitator used for probing brought a definite swing in attitudes. This identified what the library system needed to emphasize in their communications and identified some of the words that caused people to shift. The fact that one woman in the focus group would not shift — and her reasons, rationale and discounting of most facts — also told the library system the kinds of resistance to expect.
  • An online survey of high school parents and staff about goals of the school and general satisfaction with student learning and programs ended with an open-ended question that asked if there was anything else the respondent wanted to say. More than half of the respondents were critical of one particular extracurricular program. Although the administration knew there had been some discontentment, the survey responses and the language used provided good information about misperceptions, as well as genuine problems. The school used the survey responses in critical decisions and communications around those decisions. The demographics of the survey allowed the communications director to identify staff reactions versus parent reactions and build messaging for each group.
  • Senior citizens participating in a focus group about library services said at the beginning of the session the thing they wanted most from their local library was a larger variety of books and materials. After focus group discussion on the limitations of the current library, participants unanimously agreed they would vote for a ballot measure to pay for a larger library. They believed the library should have more space for children’s programs. They ended up agreeing that space to encourage children to read is more important than space for adult materials. What started as adiscussion about needed services evolved into one that provided deep insights about the true heart of that community and how to appeal to it.
  • Analysis of a written survey showed fewer than 50% of respondents favoring renovation of the local school. As the survey progressed and respondents learned how the limitations of the current building were affecting student learning, they gradually swung to favoring the renovation of the school. By the end of the survey, more than 75% of them said they would support the renovation. Surprisingly, demographic analysis showed that women over the age of 60 were more favorable toward this renovation than the parents of school-age children. The survey revealed which parts of the potential project gained the most support. The school district saw there was a great need for information for all community members before the district could think of placing a bond measure on a ballot.

As these examples show, good research often identifies key messages that need to be delivered to specific audiences or the entire community. Examination of how questions were asked revealed language that brought more positive responses. Including demographics in the survey allowed analysis of how a specific group of respondents was influenced positively or negatively.

Each of the organizations in these examples gained greater community support through survey use and analysis. They gained a large return for minimal investment of time or money. The trust built with their communities and the knowledge gained for planning communications and making decisions gave them a huge payoff. The organizations agree that taking time to conduct and analyze research was a good investment, one they will replicate many times.

Contributed by Gay Campbell, communications consultant

Translate jargon into language your audience will understand

“The well-meaning communicator, in opting for jargon, has lost a valuable opportunity to communicate. Knowingly or unknowingly, jargon has become the lazy man’s way to avoid wrestling with how to communicate clearly, concisely and with passion to others who may not understand the concepts that some of us live and breathe each day.”
— Joan Lowery, principal, Lowery Communications, Sarasota, Fla.

It’s a little ironic that many educators have difficulty explaining things outside of a classroom. They may teach their subjects clearly to students but struggle to share information with parents or community members. When they talk about education issues, they often fall back on “eduspeak” or jargon.

Jargon is not effective for communicating and can be alienating. Jargon tells the listener he or she doesn’t belong in the conversation. Not only is jargon difficult for non-educators to understand, it may cause confusion among fellow educators who have a different or incomplete understanding of the terms.

This is not a new problem, nor is it entirely the fault of educators. Educational jargon often starts with educational reform efforts. By the time new initiatives reach classrooms, educators have been trained in the jargon of the issue. They use it to convey the program or reform to parents and community members. By then, it’s not jargon to the educators; it’s familiar language.

Consider this example by author and educational correspondent John Merrow (http://takingnote.learningmatters.tv/?p=5003):

“Aligned instruction with buy-in by highly qualified teachers for authentic inquiry-based learning and student engagement in professional learning communities will produce 21st century skills in our youngsters.”

Does this make perfect sense to you? Does this sound like you? Now consider how much of this sentence you would understand as a parent or visitor to the school.

Liz Dwyer, education editor for GOOD magazine, commented on that very quote in an online post:

“No one — not even the academic policy wonks that have convinced teachers and principals that this is how you have to talk in order to sound competent and professional —  really knows what that means. It’s no wonder many parents skip coffee with the principal or dread the biannual parent-teacher conference. Understanding this stuff is like translating a foreign language” (http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/48335).

If you don’t use big words, how will people know how educated you are?

Every field has its own jargon. The challenge for people working in any field that requires regular communication with the public is to ensure the public can understand them. Doctors are trained in complex medical terminology, but we are most confident in the ones who put us at ease by explaining our particular medical concerns in plain language.

Big, complex terms should make you sound smart. Unfortunately, the opposite often is true. Merrow said these words can result in suspicion of educators and often mask a lack of understanding.

“Do some educators obfuscate because they think it makes them sound more professional? Are some educators so deep in the weeds of their profession that they have forgotten how to communicate with ordinary folks? And are some being duplicitous, saying, ‘We know what works,’ when in fact they do not? I suspect it’s ‘yes’ to all of the above.”

You can use jargon if your audience knows the jargon

Lowery suggests a simple solution to the jargon problem: know your audience. “Effective communicators in any environment must understand the knowledge base of their audience,” she said. When speaking to colleagues, feel free to speak in jargon. On the other hand, you’ll have an easier time establishing a habit of plain language if you try to speak plainly most of the time.

Please remember that school board members and education reporters may not understand eduspeak. In reports and meetings, it is important to define terms and avoid too many buzzwords.

FYI: Replace acronyms with real words

Acronyms are SOP in education. They are AKA jargon. To be completely PC and ensure maximum understanding, don’t use this “alphabet soup” as your MO. If you do, be sure to be available for Q&A sessions or provide a list of FAQs to your community.

Seriously, most people probably know what a PTA is, but NCLB — even this many years after it started — may be gibberish to non-educators.

Laughing at us, not with us?

Some regular observers of school district business have found humor in trying to keep up with changing buzzwords. They have produced tools to help show the absurdity of too much jargon. According to Merrow:

“Reporter Jackie Borchardt of the Casper Star- Tribune made a school board bingo card last year that included ‘literacy,’ ‘goal team,’ ‘rigor,’ ‘pathways,’ ‘research-based,’ ‘engaged,’ ‘high-access,’ ‘what’s best for kids,’ ‘cohort,’ ‘strategic plan’ and ‘21st century education.’ She didn’t say whether she called out bingo during a school board meeting!” (See example below.)

There is an online Educational Jargon Generator that can help you “generate and leverage impactful interfaces in your conversations” (please note: this sentence contains jargon). The author developed it to “amaze your colleagues with finely crafted phrases of educational nonsense” (www.sciencegeek.net/ lingo.html).

Decoding the jargon

Educational jargon may differ slightly among states for some state-related programs, but the standard words are likely to be found everywhere. An online search of educational jargon yields translation tools that may help clarify terms for non-educators.

Contributed by Marcia Latta, communications consultant

Print this Page