Students

Leaving a Lasting Ed Footprint

Eduflack NCLB, Obama, Presidential campaign, Reading First, Students

For months now, the drumbeat for education reform in the presidential campaigns has grown louder and louder.  Until recently, we got a tease in a stump speech here, a response to a YouTube question there, but little of any real substance and little of any real meaning.  Democrats have bashed NCLB, promising to overhaul it or kill it off completely.  Republicans have made mention of local control.  But few really tried to wade into the rhetorical waters, seeing if they could withstand the waves generated by the status quoers.

So it was refreshing to see that no fewer than four aspirants — on both sides of the aisle — for our nation’s highest office weaved education into their communications portfolio this week.

In the red corner, we heard Mitt Romney turn a great (though not original) rhetorical phrase, calling education a civil rights issue.  And from Rudy Guiliani, we heard the call for expanded access to school vouchers.  Both are speaking to the same concern — that every child, regardless of where they may lay their heads at night — is entitled to a high-quality, effective education.  And that education is a ticket to success in college and in career.

In the blue corner, we heard from John Edwards, focusing on the need for multiple pathways to high school graduation.  And just yesterday, we heard Barack Obama again praise the potential value of merit pay for teachers.  Here, both candidates called for a little innovation in our education reform, seeing merit in what is either unpopular with key constituencies (Obama) or shaking the foundations of that which we’ve known for decades (Edwards). 

And what can we glean from these forays into the ed reform arena?  First, it seems the growing demand for educational rhetoric and ideas is finally being heard in the campaign offices.  Be it Ed in 08, be it increased questions on the stump in Iowa or South Carolina or New Hampshire, but candidates finally see that education is a top domestic concern of the voters.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, we are finally talking about education reform with an eye on the outcomes, not just on the inputs.  For years, education-speak was about what textbooks were purchased, what tests were to be given, and what a teacher payscale may look like.  Our focus was on the front end — what was going in.

With these latest remarks, we may have finally made the shift into outcomes.  The impact charter schools have on low-income students.  Equal access to a high-quality education.  Increased value of a high school diploma.  And rewarding effective teaching.

We’re still a long way from getting to the point where our educational successes are assessed on the achievement of our students and the measurable successes in our classrooms.  But we are starting to get there.  At the end of the day, outcomes are the only reliable measure we have.  We are still a nation at risk.  We are still leaving children behind.  If education is to truly become a civil right, we need to empower our teachers, our schools, and our communities to ensure that all kids get access to instruction that works, all students are measured effectively and equally, and all teachers have the support and incentives needed to drive such a train.

Yes, that is Eduflack’s educational dream.  Once we put aside the NCLB punching bag and start talking about the instructional issues that are of most importance to us and our children, we start seeing what is possible.  Education shouldn’t be a defense of the status quo and a firm “no” to new and innovative ideas.  There is a chance to leave a lasting educational footprint, a footprint that future generations can follow to continued improvement, achievement, and success.
  

A Sign of the Times

Eduflack Marketing, PR, Students

We spend a lot of time focused on the meaning (or lack thereof) of specific words when it comes to talking about education reform.  What’s the intent?  What’s the goal?  What’s the measurement?

But sometimes, a item hits Eduflack like a sledgehammer, and just doesn’t need such exploration.  Case in point — “My Child’s Pack.” (http://www.mychildspack.com/)  Special thanks to Alexandra Bruell at PRWeek for throwing the spotlight on this latest back to school product.

What is it?  There is now a line of ballistic backpacks for middle and high school students designed to “provide on the spot protection against guns and knife violence!”

MJ Safety Solutions clearly knows the problem, the solution, and are not shy to talk about it in the bluntest of terms.  Do we even have to ask what message this sends?  Or what parental concern it is addressing?  Of course not.  There’s no misunderstanding the message here.

I loved back-to-school time because it meant a new Trapper Keeper.  Oh how times have changed.

Deskilling Our Students?

Eduflack early college, higher ed, Marketing, NCLB, PR, Students

Are our high schools effectively preparing our students for life beyond the schoolhouse doors?  It is a question that groups like National Governors Association, Jobs for the Future, Alliance for Excellent Education, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and many others have lent their policy heft to.  And it is an issue where the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has lent the heft of its coffers to.  In a few short years, high school improvement has become THE ed reform issue.

This week, Eduflack was down at the Education Industry Association conference, hearing tales of SES, charters, technology, and entrepreneurship.  There was one concept, though, that has stuck deep into the troubled mind of Eduflack.  Deskilling.

When we look at high schools, we recognize that most of our secondary schools are still built on an educational model that is now vastly out of date.  That’s why we are trying to restore rigor and relevance to the schools, demonstrating that high school is a necessary step to both college and career.

But how do we do it?  In districts throughout the nation, we still have high school students sitting in row after row of desks, reading from hard-cover textbooks, taking mimeographed quizzes, and generally using the learning tools and approaches that their parents once used.  Simply, we’re teaching 21st century students with 19th century approaches.

These students, of course, are coming to class equipped in a way their parents never envisioned.  Strong computer skills.  Communication skills derived from websites like MySpace and the like.  Organizational skills coming from sites like MeetUp.  Multimedia learning abilities from iPods and YouTube.  Instant messaging.  Blogs.  Students are equipped with an unending list of skills and abilities that most of our public schools still don’t have a handle on.  They utilize multiple ways of learning, without even knowing they are being taught.

And how do we approach such students, once they pass through the high school entryway?  Simply, we deskill them.  Instead of building on these abilities and providing instruction and learning opportunities through the mediums and vehicles that students know (and that future employers will benefit from) we are asking many of our students to leave their knowledgebase at the door, and pick up the textbook, sit at their one-piece desk, and be educated the way their forefathers were.

That’s a cryin’ shame.  If we look under the hood of high school reform, we’re seeing successes in early colleges, redesigned classrooms, one-to-one computing, and distance education.  We’re succeeding where our classrooms are evolving and meeting the learning, socialization, and communication skills of the students we’re serving.  If we expect more from our students, we need to work with them, and not against them.  We need to enhance their skills, not discourage them.  We need to equip them, not deskill them.

If we want a skilled workforce, we can’t send the message that such skills have no place in a traditional classroom.  In our multimedia world, we need a multimedia education.  Don’t know what that means?  Try asking one of the kids in your class.  I’m sure they’ll be happy to teach, if we’re ready to learn.  

Great Test-pectations

Eduflack Marketing, NCLB, PR, Reading First, SBRR, Spellings, Students

Much of this week’s education attention has been focused on the CEP’s findings that No Child Left Behind is indeed effective.  Though many have gone out of their way to mitigate the findings, offer up alternative explanations, discount the impact, or generally change the fact, one thing is certain.  NCLB does work.  In those states where CEP found student achievement gains, there is only one common denominator — all of those states have made NCLB-based reforms.  NCLB may not be the only reason for the successes, but it is undoubtedly a major driver behind the improvement.

More interesting, though, was Ledge King’s piece (with an assist from Greg Toppo) in USA Today, looking at the broad discrepancies of testing benchmarks across the states.  http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-06-06-schools-main_N.htm 

At the very heart of NCLB was the commitment that every American student deserved the opportunity to succeed.  That was how the law was marketed.  Regardless of race or income or neighborhood, every student is afforded the opportunity to learn, to achieve, and to succeed, both in and beyond their K-12 experience.

But in the Gannett analysis, King finds that such an opportunity is still a goal, and not necessarily a reality.  The beauty of federal education reform is that measures of achievement and success are expected to be uniform.  Instead, as King reports, we see that reading achievement in Mississippi versus achievement in Massachusetts couldn’t be more different.  And those differences are going to be even more acute when it matters — in postsecondary education and in the workplace.

Perhaps that’s part of the problem.  Even for those in the know, NCLB is perceived as an elementary school law.  With its focus on elementary school reading and middle school assessments, it is seen as far more Click, Clack, Moo than The Sun Also Rises.  An unfair focus, sure, but public perception is the new reality.

The thousand-dollar question is how do we take what we know from CEP and others and use it to address the problems that King has identified.  The answer is an easy one.  It may not be one that Secretary Spellings is particularly fond of, but the single greatest way to truly level the playing field and fulfill NCLB’s mission of providing all students an opportunity for success is found in two simple words — national standards.

At the end of the day, student proficiency is student proficiency.  Achievement should not have a geographic accent.  It shouldn’t be mitigated by per-pupil spending ratios.  It shouldn’t be defined by the lowest common denominator.  And it surely shouldn’t be disaggregated away.  Achievement is achievement.  Success is success.  It doesn’t matter if it the MCAS, the SOL, NAEP, or any other single assessment tool.  Student proficiency needs to be a common, universal measure.  It is the only way we can ensure every American student is reading at a proficient level in the fourth grade, prepared for the rigors of our changing high schools, and ready for the opportunities available in either postsecondary education or career.  If education is the great equalizer, its measures of that education need to be equal.

That’s how one effectively sells national standards to the teachers and parents who are skeptical of the federal government’s ability to effectively implement and manage meaningful education reforms.  We don’t want to hear about statistical analyses, variations, and experimental models.  We want to know that if our kid is deemed proficient in reading, that means he is able to read at the same level as an average fourth grader in Oregon, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Mississippi.  When she gets a B in Algebra II, we expect that a B in our school equals a B in LAUSD, Chicago, Dallas ISD, or DC Public Schools.  We might not say it, but we assume our children meet a common standard when their academic abilities are assessed.  And we depend on it, believing those assessments mean our children are able to keep up with any student in college or compete with any graduate for a job.

So how do we talk about it?  At the end of the day, national standards are borne out of national policy.  NCLB is that policy.  Thanks to CEP, EdTrust, and a number of other education organizations, we have our messaging.  It works.  NCLB works.  National education reform works.  Reading First works.  Scientifically based education works.  Results-based teacher training and instruction works. 

It works because it is effective.  It works because it generates results.  It works because it established a national standard for teaching and learning.  And we can now see it working in states, districts, schools, and classrooms just like those in our neighborhood.  No getting around it — NCLB works.

And that’s the marketing slogan.  That’s the soundbite.  That’s the bumper sticker.  NCLB works.  Data proves it.  Teachers and administrators and parents and students have embraced it.  Curriculum and professional development has been built around it.  Critics have tried to tear it down for five years, to little avail.  And you know what, NCLB still works.

The general communications mantra is to keep it simple, and it just doesn’t get any simpler than that.  The law is effective, and there is the data and the emotional connection in classrooms around the country to prove it.  Now ED just needs an effective messenger to deliver it.  How hard can that be?    

Injecting the Education Continuum in the Campaigns

Eduflack higher ed, NCLB, PR, Presidential campaign, Students

Kudos to Inside Higher Ed’s Scott Jaschik for today’s piece on how the 18 active 2008 presidential candidates are talking about education — primarily higher education.  http://insidehighered.com/news/2007/05/16/election  If the early results are any indication, it seems that college access and student loans are THE message with regard to education platforms.

Why?
* It is easy to define.  Most Americans understand the value of a college education.  They know college is expensive.  They know student loans are available.  These are terms of issues the average voter understands and can relate to.
* It’s a hot PR topic.  The New York State Attorney General has made student loans (and student lender relationships) the scandal of the day.  It is in the news, it is the focus of congressional hearings.  From a communications standpoint, it is the current wave that most need to at least test out.
* It’s relatable.  The rich can afford to go to any college.  Funny thing is, most Americans perceive themselves as being in the middle class, even if demographically they are not.  When you start talking about fairness and ensuring the middle class have access and funding to attend the college of their choice.  When those swing voters in Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nevada, Florida and the like here the argument that we need to make college more affordable for the average American, they think the candidates are talking to them.

What’s missing, though, is an equally passionate debate on the education continuum.  Postsecondary education is important for virtually every student in America.  But what will the candidates do to ensure that students are prepared for college?  How will they deal with the 1.1 million high school dropouts each year?  How about the 30-50% of college students who have to take remedial courses to get up to speed?  And how will they ensure that students are gaining knowledge and skills related to what they want to do with their lives?

The general silence on K-12 issues at this stage of the presidential campaigns can only mean one of two things.  Either all candidates agree that NCLB is essentially steering us in the right direction, and requires only the moderate tinkering Congress and its influencers are discussing or they simply don’t have answers (or even thoughts) on how to further improve primary and secondary education in the United States.

Unfortunately, it is probably the latter, and not the former.  So I’ve got three pieces of advice for the candidates, Democrat and Republican, to remember when crafting their messages:
* As in generations past, we all want to see our kids do better than us.  The key to that is education.  Making sure they are achieving at grade level by fourth grade.  Instilling independent thinking in the middle grades.  And advocating for both rigor and relevance in high school.  Success requires an education continuum, not just a college degree.
* K-12 education touches every U.S. citizen.  We all went to school.  We all pay taxes to support our schools.  We all have or know of children in the schools.  Promise us you will ensure that those kids are getting the best and that our taxes are being well spent.  And tell us how you will measure it and hold policymakers and schools and teachers accountable.
* Education is not just a learning issue, it is a work issue.  Too many people put school in one bucket, career in the other.  A strong K-12 education is necessary to a strong, effective workforce.  Whether you be wearing a blue or a white collar, you need core reading, math, problem solving, and teamwork skills to succeed.  Want a good job, you need a good education.  And it is up to the President, the Congress, the Governors, the Mayors, and the Superintendents to ensure that our schools are delivering such an education.  It is the only way to truly keep our economy, and our nation, strong.

Now is the stage of the campaign where candidates start telling us what they stand for and what they believe in.  And their are few issues that define character and a campaign than education and education improvement.  Here’s wishing these ideas start making their way into stump speeches and campaign commercials.  

Winning the Hearts and Minds of Youth

Eduflack Marketing, PR, Students

Recently, I was asked to write an opinion piece, entitled “Winning the Hearts and Minds of Youth,” for O’Dwyer’s PR Report (www.odwyerpr.com).  The goal was to detail how to effectively market to youth.  But the lessons move beyond simple youth marketing.  They also have relevant application to education reform, where an increased focus on high school reform and transitions to college requires effective communication with the very students we are looking to educate and prepare for productive futures.

I won’t bore you with the full piece (if you’re interested, just email me).  But my three recommendations are important for marketing to youth, adults, and any and all interested in improving our educational offerings.  It comes down to three simple words — respect, preparedness, and diversity.

First, respect your audience.  Nothing is more frustrating than warmed over rhetoric or materials that were clearly created for someone else.  It shows a lack of respect and an absence of understanding.  Understand the audience and communicate directly with them, on their terms.  Can you imagine selling charter schools by using the same messages or brochures for teachers, school administrators, parents, and the business community?  Of course not.  We respect the actors in education reform too much for that.  Or we should.

Second, do your homework.  It’s Media Relations 101.  Find the right media, and apply the right messages.  It may mean moving out of your comfort zone, but it about reaching your audience.  If you are asking them to change their behaviors, you have to be prepared to do the same to convince them.  Instead of seeking coverage from NPR or The New York Times, you may have to look to YouTube or Flickr or MySpace. 

Finally, integrate and diversify.  There is no one-stop shopping in education communications.  We have too many stakeholders.  Too many demographic differences.  Too many histories to expect one-size-fits-all solutions.  Success comes from multiple activities hitting multiple audiences multiple times.  It is the only way we move from informing folks to changing the way they teach, learn, and behave.  Education conferences.  Radio coverage.  WOMA.  Blogs.  They all play a role in convincing a community (either geographic or demographic) to embrace a change.

Simplistic?  Of course.  Good communications usually is.  More importantly, though it works.  Such communications approaches should be non-negotiables for any education reform initiative.