Dear Public: Can We Talk?

By Jean Johnson and Will Friedman

From the February 2006 edition of The School Administrator.

In this article, Jean Johnson, senior vice president and executive director of Education Insights, and Will Friedman, senior vice president for public engagement, discuss the increasing importance of public engagement in school reform. While parents, educators, employers and the public may agree that education reform is important, research shows that different groups see things through very different lenses and often operate on surprisingly different wavelengths. And a lack of communication in a community can be serious enough to stall or derail progress.

For example, they note:

• Parents may not be ready for change.
  
• Communication within schools and districts may be more wish than reality
  
• Districts and communities may not agree about where to put their money and what to do first
  

Johnson and Friedman then outline an approach of authentic public engagement that can succeed in getting differing groups talking to each other and on the same page.

Read the full article at The School Administrator Web site.