1. 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

2. 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 school year.
Bullet points/highlights here instead of paragraphs for PowerPoint
NOT a real school district

3. 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 s 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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.

17. Budget Tactics Cost Initial June phone survey to 200 $6,000
Two 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 ed to parents
Staff & volunteer time (Super, teachers, Comm.)
$7,000
Total
$31,400

18. Timeline & Task List Date Task Responsible June-July
Initial parent survey ed
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 ed
September- October
Ads designed and placed in local newspaper and magazines

19. 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 ed to parents to measure awareness & support

20. Evaluation against Objectives
Tactics
Result
By August 2014, parent awareness of the new science curriculum will rise at least 10%.
ed 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?

21. Evaluation against Objectives
Process
Result
By January 2015, parent support of the school district science curriculum will rise by 10%.
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

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

23. 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

24. 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