can you hear me now? new approaches for promoting independent schools by myra mcgovern director of...

Can You Hear Me Now? New Approaches for Promoting Independent Schools

By Myra McGovern

Director of Public Information, NAIS

[email protected]

Gauge public opinion

Define goals

Target audiences

Develop strategies

Craft messages that resonate

Part I Overview

Gauge public opinion

What are the elements of a quality school? Providing a safe environment

Employing high quality teachers

Maintaining discipline

Keeping students motivated/enthusiastic about learning

Climate that says it’s okay to study and excel

Preparing students academically for college

Encouraging parents’ participationSource: Public Opinion Poll, 2006

Top Ten Characteristics That Affect School Quality - General Public Opinion

94 93 90 89 87 87 87 86 86 85

0

20

40

60

80

100

Pe

rce

nt

Random Sample (n=501)

Providing a safe

environment


Keeping students

motivated and enthusiastic

about learning

Preparing students

academically for college

Supporting a climate that

says it’s okay to study and

excel

Employing high-quality

teachers

Encouraging parents to

participate in their child's

education

Attending to the needs of students

with learning

disabilities

Preparing students for life and career in a

global economy

Preventing drug and

alcohol use

Source: Public Opinion Poll, 2006

Top Ten Characteristics That Affect School Quality - High Income Families Opinions

97 97 95 93 91 8884 84 83 82

0

20

40

60

80

100

Pe

rce

nt

Targeted Sample (n=500)

Providing a safe

environment


Keeping students

motivated and enthusiastic

about learning

Preparing students

academically for college

Supporting a climate that

says it’s okay to study and

excel

Employing high-quality

teachers

Encouraging parents to

participate in their child's

education

Using computers and other

technology to enhance

learning

Preparing students for life and career in a

global economy

Preventing drug and

alcohol use


Safe environment

Preparing students for college

Climate that says it’s okay to study and excel


Encouraging parents’ participation

In what areas does the public think that independent schools excel?

Small class sizes Using computers/tech to

enhance learning High-quality teachers Individualized attention Offering opportunities to

be leaders Keeping students

motivated about learning


Preventing drug and alcohol use

Music and arts programs/curriculum

Having students involved in community service

Involving students in athletics and sports

Attending to the needs of students with learning disabilities

Having students drawn from a range of cultures/ races and income groups.

In what areas does the public think that independent schools don’t meet

expectations?


Gap Analysis Among Targeted SamplePercent Rating as

Extremely Important (n=500)

Percent Rating Independent Schools As Excellent(n=360)

Percentage Gap Between General And Independent School Ranking

Attending to the needs of students with learning disabilities 76% 24%* -52%

Preventing drug and alcohol use 83% 41%* -42%

Employing high-quality teachers 97% 66%* -31%

Having students drawn from a range of cultures, races and income groups 53% 24%* -29%

Keeping students motivated and enthusiastic about learning 91% 66%* -25%

Offering solid programs in music and the arts 76% 57%* -24%

Providing a safe environment 97% 74%* -23%

Maintaining discipline 88% 65%* -23%

Preparing students for life and a career in a global economy 82% 60%* -22%

Encouraging parents to participate in their child’s education 84% 64%* -20%

Supporting a climate that says it’s okay to study and excel 95% 78%* -17%

Note: “Extremely Important” represents those respondents answering an 8, 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale where 1 is Not At All Important and 10 is Extremely Important.Note: “Excellent” represents those respondents answering an 8, 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale where 1 is Very Poor and 10 is Excellent. *Indicates a significant difference from the characteristic ranked as important at the 95% confidence levelSource: Public Opinion Poll, 2006

Parents Views, Given the Current Economic Situation

Source: Parent Views on Independent Schools, Given the Current Economic Situation, NAIS, 009

Study conducted Jan-Feb 2009 found… Financing an i.s. education is increasingly difficult. Current parents would “do anything” to keep their children in their schools. Most sacrifice elements of their lifestyle. Many will need financial aid to stay in the school. Concern about funding K-12 AND college. 83% of educational consultants reported that families were increasingly worried about their ability to finance. 80% said that families are considering more options than in the past.

What is public relations?

“Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.”

-- PRSA definition

The practice includes…

“Anticipating, analyzing and interpreting public opinion, attitudes and issues that might impact, for good or ill, the operations and plans of the organization.”

“Counseling management at all levels in the organization with regard to policy decisions, courses of action and communication, taking into account their public ramifications and the organization’s social or citizenship responsibilities.”

Source: Public Relations Society of America-- http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/PublicRelationsDefined/

“Researching, conducting and evaluating, on a continuing basis, programs of action and communication to achieve the informed public understanding necessary to the success of an organization’s aims. These may include marketing; financial; fund raising; employee, community or government relations; and other programs.”

“Planning and implementing the organization’s efforts to influence or change public policy. Setting objectives, planning, budgeting, recruiting and training staff, developing facilities — in short, managing the resources needed to perform all of the above.”

Source: Public Relations Society of America-- http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/PublicRelationsDefined/

Define goals

What does your school need?

Increase admission inquiries

Increase philanthropic giving

Improve climate for expansion

Fight legislation

Attract more mission-appropriate students

Improve retention

Rebuild image after a crisis

Develop strategies

What are you going to do?

“A PR strategy is based on a theory on how and why things work, whereas a tactic is focused on the communication vehicles.”

-- Mark Weiner, Unleashing the Power of PR: A Contrarian's Guide to Marketing and Communications.

Reach new audiences

Reach current audiences in new ways

Target audiences

Who are you aiming for?

Who are you aiming for?

Survey current parents.

Craft messages that resonate

What are all parents looking for in schools?

There are two principles that parents in our research indicate they most want to find in schools for their children:

Educating the whole child: nurturing critical thinking, intellectual and personal growth.

Attending to the child’s own particular needs.

Source: Marketing Independent Schools to Generation X and Minority Parents, NAIS, 2006

Gen X parents with young children are most concerned about…

Development and opportunity: Emphasis on finding a school that offers a variety of activities and classes. They want school to engage their children and expose them to many things.

Safety concerns: need to see that schools will keep their children safe from accidents, bullies, or other dangers.

Too much selectivity and standardized testing: concerned that putting too much pressure on their children will teach them to dislike school.


Parents of older children are most concerned about…

Rigorous academics: look for schools that provide the necessary skills to prepare their children for college and career.

Safety concerns: concerned about safety, specifically social dangers such as drugs, gangs, and sex.


African-American parents are most concerned about…

Providing opportunity: want schools to open doors for their children and help them succeed in life.

Economic and racial diversity: have practical concerns that their children will be isolated in majority-Caucasian schools.

Before and after school care: single parents and dual-income families in all groups say that before and after school care is important, but the sentiment is most concentrated in the African-American groups.

Standardized testing: are wary of standardized testing. They feel that tests are not always accurate representations of children’s abilities.

Religious affiliations: would prefer some religious influence in their children’s education.


Hispanic parents are most concerned about…

Rigorous academics: see a challenging curriculum as a key to better prepare their children for later life.

Emphasis on moral values and community service: say that it is important for schools to support and supplement moral values taught at home.

Economic and racial diversity: would like their children to be in diverse schools, but not if it means lowering standards.

Standardized testing: Are also put off by an emphasis on standardized testing.


Asian-American parents are most concerned about…

Reputation of the school: think that a good reputation represents a composite of all the other factors they value such as rigorous academics, attentive teachers, etc.

Allowing one’s child to be him/herself: want a school that helps their children develop in their own fashion, however they do not want a school that lacks discipline or allows their children to “run wild.”


Simple

Unexpected

Concrete

Credible

Emotional

Story

Sticky Messages

Additional resources

“Marketing Independent Schools to Generation X and Minority Parents” http://www.nais.org/files/PDFs/MarketingIndependentSchoolstoGenXandMinorityParentsOct06.pdf

“NAIS National Public Opinion Poll 2006” http://www.nais.org/resources/article.cfm?ItemNumber=152040

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die at all booksellers

NAIS SurveyBuilder – www.nais.org/go/surveybuilder

NAIS Demographic Center (NAIS members only) – www.nais.org/go/demographics

“Parent Views on Independent Schools, Given the Current Economic Situation” (NAIS members only) - http://www.nais.org/sustainable/article.cfm?ItemNumber=151776

can you hear me now? new approaches for promoting independent schools by myra mcgovern director of...

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