Journal of School Public Relations. Theme Issue Building Positive School Community Relations through Community Education.

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1 Journal of School Public Relations Theme Issue Building Positive School Community Relations through Community Education Guest Editors Larry E. Decker C. S. Mott Professor College of Education Florida Atlantic University 777 Glades Road Boca Raton, FL Virginia A. Decker Managing Editor Community Collaborators Water Circle Boca Raton, FL

2 Abstract One of the goals of school public relations to have the general public understand that everyone in the community benefits when schools are able to carry out their mission of academic success for all children. As guest editors, it is our contention that positive community relations can be built through community education. In this issue, we have brought together articles that illustrate the value of community education to school public relations and how its implementation strategies can be used to involve people individually and in agencies, businesses, and organizations in partnerships with schools; to create and sustain programs designed to help meet the diverse needs of a community, to employ the varied tools of public relations to reach out to all parts of the community, and to engage in the politics that are needed to achieve educational objectives.

3 Building Positive Relations, page 1 Building Positive School Community Relations Through Community Education Introduction Voter support for public education has declined dramatically since the 1960's. Taxpayers have become increasingly reluctant to invest in something they perceive to be declining in quality, and many do not believe that they benefit directly from public education. It is the goal of school public relations to change this perception to have the general public understand that everyone in the community benefits when schools are able to carry out their mission of academic success for all children. The 1998 Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public s Attitudes toward the Public Schools (Phi Delta Kappa International) points to a central problem in school public relations: The schools to which people assign low grades do not exist. Respondents assign low grades to schools generally or to schools in communities in which they do not live not to the schools they know. The schools that rate low are perceived to exist on the basis of information received from the media. The emphasis here for school public relations should not be on the erroneous conclusions based on media impressions and misinformation, but on the lack of adequate, high-quality information issued by schools. There is evidence that public school advocates have been doing a better job of positively impacting communities perception of their school in recent years. The 2001 Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public s Attitudes toward the Public Schools reported that: For the first time in the 33-year history of these polls, a majority of respondents assign either an A or a B to schools in their communities. And, as has been the case in all past polls, the closer people are to the public schools, the better they like them. The percentage of A s and B s rises from 51% for all respondents to

4 Building Positive Relations, page 2 62% for public school parents and to 68% when these same parents are asked to grade the school their oldest child attends. There is also good news in the 2002 poll: Local schools continue to be regarded favorably, with 71% of public school parents giving the school their oldest child attends a grade of A or B. And, in what may be the best news for the public schools, when asked how states should adjust to the reduced revenues brought on by the weak economy, Americans reject cuts in education spending. While these Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup polls seem to indicate that school public relations efforts are having a positive impact on the public s perception of public schools, efforts need to be ongoing. To be effective a school s public relations must be a continuous effort to understand the concerns of relevant populations (students, families, staff, taxpayers, senior citizens, businesses, and the like) and respond to those concerns. The key concepts are understanding or, more precisely, mutual public understanding and responding. Image Matters Marketing consultants often advise clients that image is more important than reality because image the sum of perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, ideas, and feelings about something makes people act in certain ways and shapes attitudes toward a product, service, or organization. This advice applies as much to schools and school systems as it does to the private sector. Because image does matter, one of the first steps in developing a school s public relations initiative is finding out what the community s image of the public school actually is. As Carroll and Carroll (1994) point out, assessing a school s image benefits in several ways:

5 Building Positive Relations, page 3 It requires that the school look at its internal and external publics and systematically identify community perceptions so that planning can be based on fact, not speculation. It helps to build better public relations by letting community members know that their opinions are important. It provides the school with baseline data to measure long-term increases in support, monitor changes in image over time, and keep in touch with the opinions of key groups. The Value of Community Education Community education s basic philosophy is grounded in the dynamics of outreach and involvement. The community education process is designed to reach out and identify what members of the school s community need and want and then to help find the resources financial, physical, and human to meet the requirements. The school s image is one of a partner: a member of a partnership working along with community residents, businesses, agencies, and organization in problem-solving and delivery of services. Community education s valuable contributions to school community relations is not limited to helping build a positive image. Of even more valuable is the process s emphasis on engendering as broad and diverse community involvement and participation as possible. It is a basic fact of human nature that people have a strong tendency to support those organizations with which they become involved. They tend to feel commitment to and support for -- any decision or action to the extent that they participated in making or choosing it. Their personal experience influences their attitudes. The reverse is also true. People tend to feel uncommitted to a decision or action to the extent that they feel others made it for them or 3

6 Building Positive Relations, page 4 imposed it on them. Historical Highlights of Community Education and Community Schools Community education has deep roots that can be traced to concepts expressed by John Dewey in education for the whole child and the role of family and community in shaping the experiential learning opportunities for all learners. Community education is usually implement through community schools. Early 1900 models with related links to concept of community school were the lighted school in Milwaukee, the settlement house and community centers in Chicago, and the Kentucky and West Virginia community schools spearheaded by Elsie Clapp. The modern community school movement stems from the motivation and actions of Frank J. Manley in Flint, Michigan. However, its evolution in Flint would not have been possible without the philanthropy of Charles Stewart Mott. The community school concept in the Flint program evolved gradually as a long-lasting creative partnership between Mott and Manley. The initial concept was that schools were properties and facilities owned by the entire community that were commonly underutilized. The idea behind community schools was simple. Open up what the community already owned and use the properties and facilities to serve the community a little better. The concept kept growing and broadening until the entire community, not just the school, became involved in health, educational, and recreational activities. Adults from all walks of life had to be involved in the planning and the programs needed on-going advisory councils. Manley s early experiences in community education became the basis for his Four I s 4

7 Building Positive Relations, page 5 theory. He believed that if he could get people in, they would get interested, could not help but become informed, and that would lead toward community involvement. He felt that these four I s would combat four negative I s: ignorance, indifference, inertia, and intolerance. (Procunier, 1999) Principles of Community Education The principles of community education and the strategies designed to implement them all have an positive impact on a school s public relations. These principles (Decker and Decker, 2003) are: Lifelong Learning. Education is viewed as a birth-to-death process and everyone in the community--individuals, businesses, public and private agencies--shares responsibility for educating all members of the community and providing learning opportunities for residents of all ages, backgrounds, and needs. Self-Determination. Local people have a right and a responsibility to be involved in determining community needs and identifying community resources that can be used to address those needs. Self-Help. People are best served when their capacity to help themselves is acknowledged and developed. When people assume responsibility for their own well-being, they build independence and become part of the solution. Leadership Development. The training of local leaders in such skills as problem solving, decision making, and group process is an essential component of successful self-help and improvement efforts. 5

8 Building Positive Relations, page 6 Institutional Responsiveness. Public institutions exist to serve the public and are obligated to develop programs and services that address continuously changing public needs and interests. Maximum Use of Resources. The physical, financial, and human resources in every community should be interconnected and used to their fullest to meet the diverse needs and interests of community members. Integrated Delivery of Services. Organizations and agencies that operate for the public good can better meet their own goals and serve the public by collaborating with organizations and agencies with similar goals. Decentralization. Services, programs, and other community involvement opportunities that are close to people's homes have the greatest potential for high levels of public participation. Whenever possible, these activities should be available in locations with easy public access. Inclusiveness. Community services, programs, and other community involvement opportunities should be designed to involve the broadest possible cross-section of community members and eliminate the segregation or isolation of people by age, income, sex, race, ethnicity, religion, or other factors that impede participation. Access to Public Information. Public information is shared across agency and organizational lines. Community members know more than just the facts; they know what the facts mean in the lives of the diverse people who make up the community. Articles in This Issue 6

9 Building Positive Relations, page 7 Two types of articles are included in this issue of the Journal of School Public Relations. The first articles address the positive connection between school public relations and community education. The following articles focus on the high impact of involvement. Charles Porter addresses the impacts of community education on school community relations. He highlights how the various components of the community education philosophy can work in positive ways to assist good school community relations. Irene Petrisky and Steve Stark believe the primary goal of school community relations is to create an understanding among everyone in a community regarding the benefits of education and the gains inherent to a society that supports education for all. They emphasize that using the precepts and strategies of the community education process can ensure the success of a school community relations initiative. Susan Bernstein looks at the key role that principals play in building positive school community relations. Based on her research findings, she reports on action-based communication strategies that elementary principals use in strengthening school, family, and community partnerships. Larry Winecoff and Kathy Gibson Carter stress the point that with the growing problems faced by schools and communities, the public school must do a better job of connecting to the community. They focus on the role of service learning as one dynamic way to promote school success, enhance volunteerism and build an ethic of service. Valerie Bryan focuses on the information explosion. Her article addresses the role of the community educator (and by implication, school public relations personnel), the skills he/she 7

10 Building Positive Relations, page 8 needs in the new information age, and how the Internet and various technologies can impact the community schools and create virtual learning centers that benefit the entire community. Because community education is most often implemented through community schools, the issue concludes with Steve McVey s review of the book Making the Difference: Research and Practice in Community Schools by Blank, Melaville, and Shah (2003). The book also provides examples and profiles of local community school projects. From the Guest Editors Perspective Today s school public relations differ from those of the past in that they reflect a deeper awareness of the devastating effects of barriers to learning not directly involving the school, such as poverty, poor health, insufficient economic resources, and an unstable home life. If the challenge of educating all children for academic success is to be met, the school must have help; the general public must be involved. We agree with the National School Public Relations Association s (NSPRA) emphasis on the public in school public relations. We belief as NSPRA (2002) does: School public relations must be grounded in solid two-way communication techniques and used as a vehicle to build trust, confidence and support for doing the best for all children in our schools. NSPRA firmly believes that school systems and schools have a public responsibility to tell parents and taxpayers how the schools are spending their money, and to seek their insights on helping the school district deliver a high quality, efficient educational program. The public has a right to know and be engaged in their schools. 8

11 Building Positive Relations, page 9 We believe that Frank Manley s Four I s theory is correct. It is our contention that use of community education principles and practices can not only help school public relations personnel to get the public in, interested, informed, and involved, but help ensure the public stays involved. Community education implementation ideas and strategies are directed at involving people individually and in agencies, businesses, and organizations in partnerships with schools; at creating and sustaining programs designed to help meet the diverse needs of a community, at using the varied tools of public relations to reach out to all parts of the community, and at engaging in the politics that are needed to achieve educational objectives. 9

12 Building Positive Relations, page 10 References Carroll, S. R., and Carroll, D. (1994). How smart schools get and keep community support. Bloomington, Ind.: National Educational Service. Decker, L. E., and Decker, V. A. (2003). Home, school, and community partnerships. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, Inc. National School Public Relations Ass4ociation. (2002). Getting a public relations program started. Retrieved September 9, 2002, from Phi Delta Kappa International. (1998, 2001, 2001). Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll of the public s attitudes toward the public schools. Retrieved February 16, 2004, from Procunier, D. (1999). The origin and evolution of the community school in Flint, Michigan: The Frank Manley influence in L. E. Decker and V. A. Decker, The evolution of the community school concept: The leadership of Frank J. Manley. Fairfax, Va.: National Community Education Association. 10

13 Building Positive Relations, page 11 About the Editors Larry Decker is the Charles Stewart Mott Professor and Eminent Scholar Chair in community education at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. Virginia (Gina) Decker is managing editor and senior consultant of Community Collaborators in Boca Raton, Florida. Together they have had a long career in the advocacy of community education and community schools at the local, state, national, and international levels. 11