Strategic Communications

This KnowledgeBase archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.

The Strategic Communications KnowledgeBase is an online resource to aid those leading or supporting communications in education in understanding the history, value, framework, planning, and execution of effective Strategic Communications to nurture and build strong relationships in education. Strategic Communications is essential to engage stakeholders and achieve goals at the state level. The elements, activities, and tasks in this KnowledgeBase are designed to better prepare communications professionals within state education agencies (SEAs) to plan for and respond to communication challenges and support implementation of education policy.

Task 2: Determine strategies and tactics to achieve purposes and objectives

Guideline: In this task, you will have the opportunity to review specific strategies and activities used as part of a Strategic Communications approach. Some of these examples are artifacts of a strategy’s implementation, while others are descriptions of the strategy itself.

Resources

GUIDELINES

5 Reasons for Crowdsourcing Content

This August 2016 KnowledgeTree article provides 5 reasons for crowdsourcing content for your organization.

CDC Social Media Toolkit

This July 2011, Social Media Toolkit from the CDC provides a guide to using social media to improve reach of messages, increase access to your content, further participation with audiences, and advance transparency.

CDC's Guide to Writing for Social Media

This April 2012 Guide aims to assist you in translating your messages so they resonate and are relevant to social media audiences, and encourage action, engagement, and interaction. It is largely tactical, giving you specific ways to write for social media channels.

Eight Ways to Communicate Your Strategy More Effectively

This August 22, 2011, article from Harvard Business Review provides ways to communicate your strategy more effectively.

How to Conduct a Virtual Meeting

This Harvard Business School article offers the best practices for conducting a virtual meeting.

SEA Strategic Communications: Making Communications More Proactive, Efficient, and Effective

Over time, the role of state education agencies (SEAs) has shifted from a focus on low-profile compliance activities to more complex and politically charged tasks, requiring more thoughtful communications with all stakeholders. In response to this shift, SEAs have increased their communications capacity by creating communication divisions and executive leadership positions focused on managing agency information (i.e., a Chief Information Officer). This Solutions piece explains basic strategic communication concepts and illustrates how the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) has been applying these strategies over time.

PRACTICAL TIPS

Educational Leaders: Effective Communications

This Ministry of Education website provides tips and tools for effective communications in school.

REFERENCES

Creating A Basic Internal Communications Strategy

This March 23, 2014, LinkedIn article outlines the basic elements needed to create an internal communications strategy and why they are necessary. There are examples, which relate to an audit strategy, i.e. where the communications process and framework is under review.

State Education Agency Communications Process: Benchmark and Best Practices Project

This 2014 Building State Capacity and Productivity Center Benchmarking project report explains the major processes associated with strategic communication and details the communication approaches employed by five SEAs to support the adoption of new state standards, a major education policy change in those states.

The contents of this website were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and are intended for general reference purposes only. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education or the Center, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Some resources on this site require Adobe Acrobat Reader. This website archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.