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Bringing Into Focus: Strategic Communications As We Safely Return to School  NCSSLE' s Bringing Into Focus shares carefully selected, high quality resources on timely topics to help educators create safe, supportive learning environments. 

Student safety and well-being is the highest priority of K-12 school systems. Schools are not only looking at the educational and social and emotional needs of its students, but also how to keep them safe in the school buildings as we continue to contend with the COVID-19 pandemic. As schools work with public health to establish safety processes and procedures, it is important to establish clear and effective communication strategies to ensure that the diverse audiences they serve—students, parents, community—will receive the most current up-to-date information available.  Strategic communication is an essential capacity to support students’ return to safe and supportive schools as we continue to contend with COVID-19 and the other contemporaneous challenges of the 2021-22 school year. School systems, in partnership with public health, should update their communication plans to (a) articulate goals, requirements and expectations; and (b) identify key audiences, including channels and spokespersons for each message. In addition, testing, assessing, modifying, and refining communication strategies throughout the school year will ensure that messages are adjusted as needed and reaching their intended audiences.

FEATURED RESOURCE

Communication Planning for Sustainability and the 8-Step Communication Planning Model

Click Here to Access the Communication Planning Model

Developing a communications plan can help schools deliver student safety and well-being information to a variety of audiences. This resource will help you and your partners go through an 8-step process to assess, develop, test, and refine messages that relate to safely opening school buildings for this coming school year.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Data Meeting Toolkit – IDEA Data Center Source: IDEA Data Center Education agencies, program evaluators and advocates can use this suite of tools to support data-driven decision making. The toolkit provides resources to support success before, during, and after data meetings; and can support preparation of presentations to meet the information needs of multiple audiences, and federal, state and local reporting needs.  SCIRP: School Climate Data Interpretation Resources Source: National Center on Safe and Supportive Learning Environments A positive school climate is crucially important to school success. School climate affects attendance, engagement, learning and even graduation rates. Until 2020-21 educators have never had to tend to school climates in a full-scale “virtual world” such as that which has grown out of the COVID-19 public health emergency. This extensive resource package provides strategies applicable to public schools and districts. It includes resources designed to help states, districts, and schools interpret school climate data, translate the data into action, and communicate to those who will promote and engage in data-driven decision making for school climate recovery and improvement.

7 Ways Schools Can Maintain Supportive Climates  Source: Intercultural Development Research Association (Infographic example) A positive school climate is crucially important to school success. It affects attendance, engagement, learning and even graduation rates. This infographic engages multiple audiences who may want to learn how school districts can ensure a safe learning environment for students, teachers, staff, and family members during the pandemic. School Reopening Communications Plan  Source: Louisiana Department of Education As vaccination rates are rising across the states, schools are in the process of determining how to transition to in-person learning. Schools or districts can use this communication plan as a possible guide for how to effectively communicate with parents and students during this transitional year.

CDC Social Media Toolkit: K-12 Schools Operational Strategy Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] has developed an extensive set of media resources that can be used and adapted by school systems to communicate clear strategies for students’ safe return to in-person learning. This toolkit offers numerous social media messages designed to reach students, families and others via Facebook, Linked In, Instagram and Twitter. Gateway to Health Communication   Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Another CDC product, this online gateway offers a “one-stop shop for health communicators," including an optional listserv through which participants can receive new communication ideas shared by thought leaders. This gateway provides resources to support print journalism, podcasting, and other media. Contents range from discrete tools and templates to entire public health communication campaigns. An extensive health literacy website and clear communication index are valuable assets to support strategic communications.

NEED MORE INFORMATION

National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments | https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov The contents of the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments' Bringing Into Focus were assembled under a contract from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Supportive Schools to the American Institutes for Research (AIR), Contract Number ED-ESE-16-A-0002. The contents of this product do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor do they imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education. ‌ ‌ ‌