Exclusive Report: 700+ Communications Leaders Reveal New K-12 Trends

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Hope Warner | May 09, 2019

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Reading the Pulse of the K-12 Communications Leader More than 700 K-12 communications leaders share their insights on the evolution of messaging, priorities, and tools used to create a healthy relationship between their schools and the community. 14 percent increase: More communication leaders see parents of preschool children as an important audience – a 14% increase in just two years. 84% of communication leaders say social media is a top effective tool for good news messaging. Communication leaders say three out of four of their outbound communication pieces are now digital. 57% of communication leaders say they have conducted a website accessibility audit. 77% of communication leaders say informal feedback is the most effective way to measure communication efforts. 78% of communication leaders say building and enhancing district brand and reputation if a top priority. 97% of communication leaders identify parents of school-aged children as a primary audience. This is a 4% increase from two years ago. 73% of communication leaders identify attending conferences to learn from experts as their favorite professional development strategy. Read the full Communications Leaders Report for more key findings. Download

What’s at the heart of a successful communications strategy? Involved parents and community members? An expansive list of communication channels? Tools galore?

None of those, exactly. It turns out that listening and adapting are key to maintaining a healthy communications heartbeat. To get a clear diagnosis of what’s working, evolving, and even disappearing in communications departments across the country, Project Tomorrow surveyed more than 700 K-12 communications professionals. The data showed us how the work of the communications leader Reflects the Pulse of the School District in our latest report, written in partnership with Project Tomorrow.

Key findings include:

  • Emerging importance that district communications officers are placing on engaging and communicating with the parents of young children who are not yet in school 
  • Communications pros are increasingly turning to social media vehicles to support their outreach to parents and the community
  • Development of a new “communications divide” that has the potential to disengage or disconnect parents from their local schools because they do not have home Internet access
  • School districts are increasingly prioritizing the accessibility of their websites and other online content in a new effort to enhance communications initiatives

To learn more, download the full report to see the complete set of data and our predictions for what’s coming next in the world of K-12 communications.