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: Track the implementation and key measures of impact of your plan (Respond and Improve)

Guideline: This task considers the variety of metrics – both qualitative and quantitative – that SEAs may consider for monitoring in-process success of key messages as well as measuring the impact and outcomes of key messages long-term. Resources also provide pointers on how to report on the successes, challenges, and adjustment of key messages or communication strategies to decision-makers.

Resources

GUIDELINES

'Are We There Yet?' A Communications Evaluation Guide

The Lumina Foundation offers this guide to evaluating your communications plan and strategies.

Improve Program with Evaluation Findings

This Evaluation Toolkit article from The Pell Institute explores improving your communication program with evaluation findings.

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

5 Simple Ways to Build Measurement and Analytics Competence

This May 2, 2016, PRSA article explores 5 simple ways to build measurement and analytics competency on your communications team.

Measuring the Success of Your Communications Strategy

The NonProfit Times article, dated March 15, 2014, offers ideas for measuring the success of your communications strategy.

REFERENCES

Charting Your PR Measurement Strategy

This compilation of May 2011 articles is from the Institute for Public Relations (PR) Commission on Measurement and Evaluation. They focus on charting your PR measurement strategy, including both qualitative and quantitative metrics, and communicating those metrics to executives.

Present-Tense Measurement: With AMMO, You Don’t Have to Wait to Have Measurement Influence Planning

This Public Relations Strategist article dated July 20, 2015, explains the idea of present-tense measurement and how you don’t have to wait until the end of a campaign to measure and influence planning.

The Principles of PR Measurement

Ketchum Global reviews the key principals of public relations measurement in this 2012 PDF.

EXAMPLES

Colorado Department of Education Communications Scorecard

This March 2014 Colorado Department of Education Communications scorecard offers an example of how the department tracked the impact of their communications plan and shared the results with decision makers.

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.