The purpose of this study was to explore the planning and creating of communication relationships between public schools and their respective publics to bolster perceptions of public education. To learn about local school systems, the public actively seeks information about these stories from media outlets such as newspapers, television stations,…

This study was designed to determine the marketing strategies used by Texas public school districts, the factors influencing changes, and the extent to which districts are intentionally developing a market niche to attract families. The research was guided by three questions: 1. How do independent school districts in Texas market their schools? 2.…

Supporters of the Common Core State Standards are moving to confront increasingly high-profile opposition to the standards at the state and national levels by rallying the private sector and initiating coordinated public relations and advertising campaigns as schools continue implementation. In states such as Michigan and Tennessee, where…

Despite advances made there is still an implementation gap with regard to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in formal educational systems at the school level. The present paper focuses on sustainability reporting as a recently emerging practice in the school sector. It presents the approach and findings of an exploratory interview study…

What does it mean to be and to act like a school leader online? Although many school leaders might be comfortable navigating issues of identity in face-to-face environments, online environments may present new and unprecedented challenges. These challenges may range from concerns about privacy and surveillance to questions about how best to…

The article provides summaries of doctoral dissertations completed between January 2008 and December 2011 addressing foci of the "Journal of School Public Relations". The five areas are public relations, communication, school and community relations, conflict management, and human resources management. The periodic summaries of these dissertations…

This book focuses on the topic of the multiple-stakeholders that comprise the education community across the P-20 continuum. In various ways and forms, the authors of the chapters found within this book promote the importance of engaging with the diverse array of stakeholders in order to truly improve education in an increasingly interconnected…

With the dawn of the Information Age, schools, along with other organizations, must take note of the varied ways individuals and groups in society are communicating. Today, with the many forms of communication, most information is made public in real time. In a qualitative national study in the United States, respondents identified positive and…

The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, CT (USA) has brought the conversation about how to reduce violence, make schools safer, improve school climate, and increase access to mental health services to the forefront of the national conversation. Advocating for comprehensive initiatives to address school safety, school climate, and…

The study examined K-12 parents' attitudes about their school district's mass notification service. Survey data were collected from 146 parents with at least one child who attended school in the district. During an emergency, most parents surveyed wanted their district to expand its mass notification service from landline phone only to also…

How can schools secure volunteers to help fix up the building and grounds? There isn't much research on how to secure volunteers to participate in school clean-ups and fix-ups, but some key ideas can be found in anecdotal examples from many communities around the nation. The first recommendation is that securing volunteers is easier when the…

Superintendents know they work and live in a giant fishbowl. School board members, teachers, community members and the news media have been known to scrutinize what kind of vehicle they drive, who they socialize with outside of work, whether they drink alcohol, where they live and when they leave the house each morning. But when the harsh glare of…

No matter how hard teachers and administrators work, they cannot fulfill society's enormous list of demands for schools without addressing the four basics of public sentiment: community understanding, trust, permission, and support. They can do this through the Great Conversation, a positive, ongoing discussion between educators and the public…

This two-part quantitative study expanded our understanding of school PR personnel in public school districts, particularly those who worked during the 2009-2012 budget years. Four cultural changes have redefined the paradigm of public education and served as a springboard for this study: technology-enhanced communications information retrieval,…

Rebranding and positioning a school district has become critical to satisfy the "customer's" appetite, enhance public relations, and advance consumer perceptions. A service design model provides a district with the framework to advance its position by identifying attributes and prompts to satisfy customer needs and increase student…