Authentic public engagement is a key component in a comprehensive strategic communication program.

But just what is public engagement?

Check out these resources from various experts, including the Public Education Network, Public Agenda, Everyday Democracy, and NSPRA. 

PEN's Civic Index for Quality Public Education

The Public Education Network has launched its Civic Index for Quality Public Education, a first-of-its-kind on-line toolkit, as well as new national Civic Index poll results.

This newly released tool enables a community to self-assess - and improve - its support for its public schools in response to a growing consensus that schools can't do the job alone, and that community support is critical!

We know what is needed inside a school to make it successful; the Civic Index gives a framework for what is needed outside a school, in the community, to ensure success.
With this web-based toolkit, your community can conduct a self-assessment of whether it is doing all it can to support its local public schools.

Your "score" would be defined by using these ten categories:

1. Education Leadership of Local Elected Officials
2. Commitment to the Values of Tolerance and Inclusiveness
3. Knowledge of and Voting for School Board
4. Strong Civic Organizations
5. Partnerships with Higher Education
6. Utilization of School Performance Data to Improve School Quality
7. Active Parents
8. Youth Involvement
9. Media Coverage
10. Active Business Community

Using the scientific poll which is on the website (and by gathering some additional data), your community can compare its local results to the national baseline poll; engage stakeholders, the media and the public about the results; create a community action plan to address those conditions that need improving; use the tips and strategies in the online toolkit to improve your "score;" and measure progress over time.

For more information, go to:

Civic Index website

2008 Poll results

1-page executive summary of the Civic Index

Source: Public Education Network

A Public Engagement Primer from Public Agenda

Authentic public engagement is a highly inclusive problem-solving approach through which regular citizens deliberate and collaborate on complex public problems. Rather than relegating people to the sidelines, it invites them to join the public dialogue surrounding a problem and provides them the tools to do so productively. As a result, leaders know where the public stands as problem solving progresses, while citizens themselves contribute to solutions through their input, ideas and actions.

The Center for the Advancement of Public Engagement has released a primer on ways to cultivate greater community engagement with public life and a more citizen-centered approach to politics. The primer is organized around four themes to help citizens engage other citizens in their work toward a common goal:

1. Creating Civic Capacity for Public Problem-Solving;
2. Ten Core Principles of Public Engagement;
3. Examples of Key Practices and Strategies; and
4. The Power of "Citizen Choicework."

"In our society, public decision-making is typically the domain of powerful interest groups or highly specialized experts," the primer states. "To the extent that citizens are considered at all, it is usually as consumers or clients of government, while as a whole, the public is most often viewed as an audience to educate or a problem to manage. In this dominant framework, the citizenry is rarely viewed as a vital resource or potentially powerful partner in problem-solving."

Source: The Public Agenda

Recruiting Participants for School/Community Dialogues

If you are looking to start a public engagement project that involves opening a dialogue between your schools and the community, one of the challenges will be to enlist the participation of a diverse group of people.
Whether you are planning to use study circles, forums, summits or town halls, in order to be successful you will need to involve a large number of people that reflects the make up of your schools and community.

The Study Circles Resource Center (now called "Everyday Democracy") provides the following tips on where to find participants in your community:

• Solicit the help of community leaders who will help you recruit participants. People are more likely to take part when asked by someone they know.
• Go where people worship. Interfaith and ecumenical councils can often provide connections. List all the faith institutions in the community, and the groups with them, such as choirs, youth programs and adult education committees.
• Go where people study. Community colleges, universities and high schools are all good places to find participants. Talk to administrators and student leaders.
• Go where people socialize. Non-political groups such as bridge clubs, bowling leagues, sports groups and ethnic organizations are excellent contacts. Don't overlook local restaurants and businesses where people like to congregate (hair salons, laundromats, coffee shops).
• Go where people work. Some employers may not only encourage their employees to participate but may give them release time to do so.
• Go where people talk politics. Political parties and government organizations may post information about your project on their web sites or in publications. Groups such as the League of Women Voters are also likely to participate.
• Go where people participate in community service. Check with sororities and fraternities that perform community service, community leadership programs and civic groups.

Visit Everyday Democracy for more public engagement resources for schools and communities.  

Source: NSPRA Resource Files (This NSPRA Tip of the Week was first published for 02/07/00.)

Student and District Success Result When Boards Commit to Engaging, Enduring School Communication

Faced with eroding public confidence, declining trust between staff and administration and an unprecedented budget crisis, the School Board of the White Bear Lake Area (Minn.) Schools did the unexpected: They created a communication position.

“It took a lot of courage to be facing statutory operating debt and add a communications position anyway,” said White Bear Lake Communications Coordinator Susan Brott. “They saw it as a vehicle to make the district more transparent and accountable.”Seven years later the position still exists in spite of continued budget woes.

Mandate to Listen

White Bear Lake’s school board is one of a growing number of boards around the country investing in public relations and communications as a strategy to bring the community closer to the decision-making.

“My job, of course, requires doing the media relations, the newsletters, the brochures,” Brott said. “But strategically, it’s the mandate to listen to the community and involve it in the Board’s decision-making process that makes the real difference.”

The White Bear Lake Area Schools chose community engagement as the Board’s primary tool for accountability and transparency.“In the past, our community meetings consisted of the school district doing all the talking,” Brott said. “The Board wanted to listen more and talk less.”

Formula for Success

To accomplish that goal, the district follows a formula that includes these steps:

• Board and administration identify critical questions on a topic of importance to the district.
• An administrator or Board member begins the meeting with a brief presentation on the topic.
• Attendees break into small groups where trained leaders listen to the voice of the community by gathering questions generated by those attending as well as reaction to the critical questions developed before the session.
• Finally, the evening ends with a general Q & A session.

Voices Heard

“We’ve found that this kind of meeting is more productive for us than a ‘Town Hall’ style,” she said. “Participants leave with more of a sense of ownership… or at least with the feeling that their voices were heard. They believe this input will be used as the Board makes decisions.”

The community engagement format enables the White Bear Lake Board to shape policy that reflects public opinion.

“We’ve used this technique to shape significant budget cuts in 2002. For example, we heard from our community that the middle school format was very important to maintain,” Brott said. “So the Board looked for ways to preserve the middle school model as it created its list of budget cuts. We’ve also used this approach to work through changing attendance boundaries as well as referendum and bond issues.”

Brott said that her district has been tracking public perceptions about its schools for some time. In every poll since 2002 when they implemented the community engagement model, the percentage of the community giving the district a grade of A or B has increased.

“It’s been so positive for us; community meetings really make a difference.”

Engaging the Community

The Kentucky School Boards Association (KSBA) believes in the power of community engagement as well. According to Brad Hughes, director of member support services, the Association urges Kentucky school boards to listen to their residents through “community discussions” facilitated by KSBA staff.

“Formal listening is one thing schools haven’t done very often,” he said, “but the payoff is huge when schools do it well.”

In the KSBA community discussions, the school district invites a select cross section of the community to attend.“We ask that they invite representatives from particular groups: parents, teachers, support staff, business community, etc. We hope for a total of two dozen participants.”

“During the 3-4 hour discussion, the district learns about the community’s expectations for its schools… what it likes… what could be improved. They learn about the educational priorities of the groups involved.”

Board Observes

The superintendent and board members are not allowed to participate; they observe the session.
The school district then uses the information derived from its community discussion as it plans for the future.

“Boards are able to point to a particular proposal and say, ‘This is in our plan because you told us it was a high priority in our community discussion.’ That adds tremendous value to the district’s planning process,” Hughes said.

Hughes believes that one of the benefits of a community discussion is that people not only walk away feeling good about being asked to participate, they also learn that not everyone agrees about priorities.

“They learn that not everyone thinks the way they do. That’s an insight they might not have had when they walked into the meeting,” he said.

E-newsletters

For school boards looking for an inexpensive yet effective way to connect with the community, Hughes suggests an e-newsletter aimed at opinion leaders in the district.

“Getting to opinion leaders is crucial,” he said. “Opinion leaders influence others, so it’s important that they are aware of the issues facing the board and the board’s plan to address them.”

“An electronic newsletter is a perfect way to reach those people. Give them a summary of board action the previous evening; send them the background of an issue to be discussed at the next meeting. Ask them for feedback on a proposal before the board votes.”

Accurate Information

“School boards know that they will be making many decisions along the way that will upset someone. It just comes with the territory. But think how great it would be to know that the people most respected in your community know about the issue and understand the choice before the board. It’s accurate information on the grapevine. And it’s affordable,” Hughes said.

Effective school board communication begins with a plan. Brian Hale, director of communication for the Nebraska Association of School Boards notes that “When times are good, boards really want to communicate the message; when times are bad, boards really need to communicate the message. Both require planning to be effective.”

Hale agrees that taking steps to listen to the community pays dividends for school boards. “When it comes to public schools, we’re all in this together. Boards have to realize that every view in the community is worth (at least) considering.”

- This article was written by Nancy Kracke, the community relations director for School District 112 — Chaska (Minn.). She is also a past NSPRA North Central Regional Vice President. The article was originally published in NSPRA's Network newsletter, April 2006.