1. www.iss.k12.nc.us Student, Stakeholder & Market Focus Dawn K. Creason, Director, Public Relations Kelly Marcy, Director, Student Services

2. www.iss.k12.nc.us It’s All About Our Key Stakeholders… Community Business and other partners Parents Employees Students!!!

3. www.iss.k12.nc.us Swimming in a Sea of Mandates Many student segments identified through legal and/or regulatory requirements Exceptional children Economically disadvantaged Limited English proficiency Other AYP subgroups as identified by NCLB

4. www.iss.k12.nc.us Additional identified student segments Current students Academic program School level (elem, middle, high) Grade level Geographic location

5. www.iss.k12.nc.us Additional identified student segments Former students Graduates/alumni Prospective students Mooresville Graded Schools Charter school students Other non-public school students Pre-K students

6. www.iss.k12.nc.us How Do We Listen and Learn? I-SS Two-Way Communication Model Senior Leadership & Board of Education Staff, Students & Stakeholders Two-way, symmetrical communication *Rev. 02/09. Based on Grunig’s (1992) Two-Way Symmetrical Communication Model. See page 29 of handouts for additional details

7. www.iss.k12.nc.us Addressing the Needs of Non-ISS Students School choice program, a derivative of feedback from current parents and prospective parents Also addresses facilities needs and market share Developed a comprehensive marketing plan to address the requirements of students and parents: See pages 32-33 of handout for additional details

8. www.iss.k12.nc.us We Learn A Lot By Listening… Family Resource Center PDSA Issue bins Partnerships Surveys Conferences Area advisories Focus groups Task forces Meetings Our listening and learning methods include:

9. www.iss.k12.nc.us Key Examples of the Partnerships Process Involvement in key local/regional/state agencies Golden Opportunities Partners Program Strategic, mutually-beneficial partnerships Learn & Earn Early College High Schools Barium Springs Home for Children Boys & Girls Club of the Piedmont City of Statesville

10. www.iss.k12.nc.us Evidence the Partnership Program Works More than $17 million in grants for community programs aimed at dropout prevention Community survey data indicates partners are supportive of I-SS Continued trend of growth of partnership program

11. www.iss.k12.nc.us Partnership Growth Trend

12. www.iss.k12.nc.us Complaint Management Process Identify isolated areas for improvement Identify overarching issues for total school, district improvement Regular reviews of data to determine action steps Two methods of access Electronically or by phone Family Resource Center (pages 30-31 of handout)

13. www.iss.k12.nc.us Complaint Management Process Complaint Internal External Send to process owner Valid or invalid? If valid, address complaint If invalid, contact customer with response/explanation If you can’t address, bring to CT/OT/EC

14. www.iss.k12.nc.us Complaint Management Process Three customer service requirements 1)24-hour initial response time 2)Accurate response 3)Polite/pleasant response Includes a feedback loop to ensure requirements are being met (a process improvement since original deployment) For additional information, see page 20 of handout

15. www.iss.k12.nc.us Complaint Management Process Improvement & Results: Using Data to Improve Processes Example: Large numbers of parent complaints indicating displeasure at eliminating recess as a form of discipline Reviewed policy Re-educated staff on policy expectations and requirements Monitor the implementation of the policy

16. www.iss.k12.nc.us Current Complaint Management Data The overall trend is that the number of complaints is going down Begin in March 2007 with an average of 15-20 district-level complaints per month Now seeing 3-5 district-level complaints per month Indicates two things: Individuals are handling issues at the appropriate level as directed by the process Stakeholders are more satisfied

17. www.iss.k12.nc.us Area Advisory Meeting Process Example: Parent meetings to examine the preference for changing student bell times Started based on feedback regarding traffic issues and the instructional benefits to lengthening the school day Topic was the center of fall and spring area advisory meetings Feedback gathered and shared at cabinet meetings; recommendation sent to the board of education

18. www.iss.k12.nc.us Area Advisory Meeting Process Based on area advisory feedback, as well as survey data, recommendation to the board was to keep bell times as is No change to bell times, but a number of schools identified ways to get more out of the instructional day, as well as alleviate traffic in problem areas

19. www.iss.k12.nc.us Student Focus Group Process Example: Student focus group data indicated that students felt drugs and alcohol were a problem at their school; students also stated that the district’s policies were too punitive and provided little in the way of helping students receive treatment Crime and violence data supported and validated the students’ concerns The policy was revised by a group of counselors and other stakeholders to include a process for dealing with violations

20. www.iss.k12.nc.us Student Focus Group Process Senior leaders agreed with recommendations made by counselors; recommended a policy change to the board of education Board of education approved the revision to include therapeutic components as opposed to only punitive Marketing campaign was launched to inform parents, students, and staff of the program District has seen a significant drop in the number of drug and alcohol related offenses See page 21 of handout

21. www.iss.k12.nc.us What Does Our Community Think?

22. www.iss.k12.nc.us Contact Information Dawn Creason, Director of Public Relations dcreason@iss.k12.nc.us Kelly Marcy, Director of Student Services kmarcy@iss.k12.nc.us