What strategies can a teacher apply to strengthen the relationship between school and community?

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Answer:

To help educators use the Glossary as a school communications tool, we created the following guide. While the recommendations are focused on schools, any educational institution or organization will be able to apply the strategies. If we have overlooked anything, please let us know by submitting your suggestions here.

Link to entries on your website or blog. If you are explaining a new school-improvement initiative, whether it’s project-based learning or professional learning communities, consider including links to Glossary entries on your website or school blog. Explaining the technical nuances of a new strategy in accessible language can take a lot of time and thought, and it often proves to be trickier than it appears. If our entries are relevant and useful to your school-communications work, let us do some of the work for you. You can link specific terms on your website or direct visitors to our entries if they want to learn more about a particular concept or strategy.

Incorporate entries into social media. Does your school have a Facebook page? Do you tweet? If so, consider posting or tweeting Glossary entries from time to time as a way to build greater understanding of specific school-improvement ideas. For many people, social media have become their primary sources of news and networking, and it’s where they are regularly exposed to new ideas, readings, videos, resources, and innovations. And because people can like posts or retweet, social media helps to spread ideas through personal relationships, professional networks, and communities.

Reuse and repurpose Glossary content. All of our entries have been published under a Creative Commons license, which means that schools are free to reuse, republish, and repurpose all of our content, including excerpts, provided that the following guidelines are followed: (1) the Glossary of Education Reform and Great Schools Partnership should be credited as the original source of the content; (2) the republished or repurposed content cannot be sold or used commercially in any way; and (3) modifications to the content are allowed (even encouraged), but all modified content must also carry a Creative Commons license so that others can republish and repurpose it. That’s right: Go ahead and use our content if it helps you out! To acknowledge the Glossary, simply use the CC license that appears at the bottom of an entry or add you can add the line “Adapted [or Republished] from the Glossary of Education Reform by the Great Schools Partnership” beneath on your website content or print materials (adding links where appropriate). Learn more about CC licenses →

Print and email entries. Do you have an upcoming community forum, orientation program, or event for parents and families? Consider distributing—through printed handouts, email, newsletters, or other publications—any entry or selection of text that serves your school’s communication needs. Increasing understanding of new and proposed initiatives can lead to greater community support for your work. We have worked hard to create understandable introductions to complex topics, so go ahead and use them if they help.

Brief your school board and elected officials. In every school community, local elected representatives—whether they are school-board members, city officials, or state legislators—are among your most vital constituents and supporters. Making sure these community leaders truly understand what your school is doing—and why it matters for students—is one of the most important jobs school leaders have. Consider using or adapting our entries as needed when briefing your school board and local officials about new or proposed strategies.