Advisory Committee Meeting #2 Sarah Potter Missouri Dept. of Education June 2011 Case Study: Smithville School District Science Curriculum Launch (12 step process) Sarah Potter Missouri Dept. of Education Fern Bonomi’s 12-step process was easiest to follow Checklist made it easy to see that I had all of the elements APR Online Study Course July 1, 2014

Situation Analysis Smithville School District (SSD) is a K-12 district with 5,000 students in a suburb of Chicago. SSD is updating local curriculum aligned to new state science standards. Parents start protesting science standards & district’s science curriculum. Parents threaten to remove students from district & opt out of state testing. SSD must have curriculum & students testing or could face problems with their accreditation. Launch of the new science curriculum is in next six months when school starts in the 2014-15 school year. Bullet points/highlights here instead of paragraphs for PowerPoint NOT a real school district

Research Community Phone Survey (Formal, Primary, Quantitative): The district conducts a phone survey of the community in June. Superintendent and teachers are the most trusted sources. The district is seen as providing very high-quality education. 10% of community has heard about the new science curriculum. 2. Parent Survey (F, P, QT): The district emails a survey to all parents in the district in June. 20% of the parents have heard about the new science curriculum. 2% of the parents are upset about the science curriculum.

Research 3. Focus groups (Informal, Primary, Qualitative): The district meets with the parent teacher association, business leaders, and the parent group upset about the new curriculum. The PTA knew all about the new science curriculum and fully supports its implementation. Business leaders say they would like to partner with the schools to support and enrich the science curriculum. Upset parents say the science curriculum should not include the theory of evolution. They want alternate theories of such as Creationism taught. They have religious and political objections to the science materials.

Research 4. Facebook profile (Informal, Primary, Qualitative): The parents upset about the curriculum formed a Facebook group to discuss their concerns. Facebook page has about 100 “likes,” but it seems to be growing. It’s unclear if those are parents/community members in the SSD. The main concerns center on evolution. Content analysis shows posts are politically right-winged and religious in nature.

Key Research Findings Awareness/support of the new science curriculum is low with parents and the community. The group of parents upset about the new science curriculum are small, but they seem to be growing. Community survey shows that the superintendent and science teachers should be the primary spokespeople for the new science curriculum. Community survey shows that the local paper is a well-read source of news and information about the school district.

Problem Statement Growing parent complaints about the new SSD science curriculum could derail its implementation. District needs parent support and student participation for the science curriculum or it risks the state lowering its accreditation.

Goal Smithville School District will implement new science curriculum with parental support.

Audiences: Top 5 Parents of school-aged children in the district Staff of the school district especially science teachers and all other teachers, administration and support staff Teachers unions that represent the teaching staff Community members without children in the school district Area businesses especially those that need workers with strong science backgrounds

Objectives for Parents Short term (1 month): By August 2014, parent awareness of the new science curriculum will rise at least 10%. Long term (6 months): By January 2015, parent support of the school district science curriculum will rise by 10%. Objectives should be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound

Strategies Objective: By August 2014, parent awareness of the new science curriculum will rise at least 10%. Strategy 1: Build awareness through the local media. Strategy 2: Use school events to build awareness.

Messaging to Parents SSD’s science curriculum will prepare children for a successful future. A well-rounded education includes sound science curriculum. We must uphold high standards for our children to succeed after high school graduation.

Tactics Strategy Tactics Spokesperson Awareness through local media Invite media into science classroom to see curriculum in action Science teacher Place ads in local paper promoting science curriculum N/A Have two local business owners write op eds in local newspaper in support of high-quality science education Business owners 3 tactics listed for each of our strategies

Tactics Strategy Tactics Spokesperson Use school events to build awareness Booth at back to school event lets kids and parents try fun experiments Science teachers (five) Hold two informational sessions about new science curriculum Superintendent & science teachers (five) Write articles on events in monthly school e-newsletter Communications

Is he really prepared? Messaging: Example Ad Without a solid educational foundation, he might not be ready for college or a promising career. Smithville School District knows his future has no limits because of the high-quality education he received. Continue to hold us to high standards. Your children deserve it. Because we’re on strategy & messaging, I thought I’d show what a couple of the ads could look like for the local paper

Could she cure cancer one day? Messaging: Example Ad Could she cure cancer one day? The sky is the limit for our future scientists at Smithville School District. High-quality science education opens doors for our students. Continue to hold us to high standards. Your children deserve it.

Budget Tactics Cost Initial June phone survey to 200 $6,000 Two email surveys to parents (staff time & tool cost) $400 Two informational sessions (snacks, AV, security) $1,000 Back to school science booths $5,000 Design & print parent flyers on science Ads designed & placed $6,600 Recap events in district e-newsletter $200 Evaluation survey emailed to parents Staff & volunteer time (Super, teachers, Comm.) $7,000 Total $31,400

Timeline & Task List Date Task Responsible June-July Initial parent survey emailed Communications Design & print materials supporting science curriculum for event August Back to School event: booth for science projects with materials Science teachers to staff event Article in e-newsletter Invite media to classroom demonstrating science curriculum Comm. Coordinated w/ Superintendent, science teacher 2nd parent survey emailed September- October Ads designed and placed in local newspaper and magazines

Timeline & Task List Date Task Responsible September- October Connect with two local business owner with science focus to place Op Eds in local newspaper Communications Two Informational sessions held for parents and community. Local business leaders could attend. Comm. Coordinates w/Superintendent and science teachers November -December Place articles in district e-newsletter on informational sessions January Follow-up survey emailed to parents to measure awareness & support

Evaluation against Objectives Tactics Result By August 2014, parent awareness of the new science curriculum will rise at least 10%. Emailed surveys Parent awareness of the new curriculum rises at least 10% Back to school events Good parent and student participation E-newsletter analytics Lots of clicks on articles on new science curriculum Media invited to classroom & article written Articles are shared; content analysis of comments Many tools for evaluating our tactics. Have the option to re-evaluate the tactics as we go: Did the back to school event have many participants? Did the e-newsletter have lots of clicks?

Evaluation against Objectives Process Result By January 2015, parent support of the school district science curriculum will rise by 10%. Email survey to parents in January Parent support of the new curriculum rises at least 10% Op Eds supporting science curriculum Articles shared and lots of comments; content analysis Ads placed in newspaper High impressions for online ad & circulation

Evaluation against Goal Smithville School District (SSD) successfully launches new science curriculum with parent support.

Advisory Committee Meeting #2 Sarah Potter Missouri Dept. of Education June 2011 Questions? Sarah Potter Missouri Dept. of Education APR Online Study Course July 1, 2014

Thank You! Barbara Arnold, APR Ameerah Palacios, APR, MBA Advisory Committee Meeting #2 June 2011 Thank You! Barbara Arnold, APR Ameerah Palacios, APR, MBA Sarah Potter Missouri Dept. of Education Thank you to the two APRs who reviewed my presentation. Barbara Arnold spent a couple of hours helping me! She is a great teacher! APR Online Study Course July 1, 2014