Marcellus seeks input on communication effectiveness
The Marcellus Central School District has partnered with SCoPE School Surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of the district’s communications efforts with key stakeholder groups.
School Communications Performance Evaluation (SCoPE) Surveys seek feedback from district staff and parents of students on how they receive information and whether they consider the communication to be effective.
“SCoPE Surveys will help us to take the guesswork out of our communications,” Marcellus Superintendent of Schools Judith C. Pastel explains. “Through the surveys, we will learn whether people prefer receiving an email, seeing a post on social media or reading about something in the local paper. We will also find out if we are providing enough information about key topics and issues.”
SCoPE Surveys are conducted online in a secure portal and take approximately 10 to 15 minutes to complete.
Questions primarily revolve around the district’s communication mechanisms, the effectiveness of communications in key areas of importance to each audience and whether communication is considered to be accurate, timely and trustworthy.
Participants can access the surveys on desktop and laptop computers as well as most tablets and smartphones.
The surveys are available in both English and Spanish and participation is completely anonymous. Marcellus’ SCoPE Surveys will open on April 4, 2016, and constituents will have until April 22, 2016, to participate.
Because the reliability of the results increases with the percentage of people taking the surveys, strong participation is important.
“We strongly encourage everyone to take the time to give us this extremely important feedback,” Board of Education President Ryan Riefler said.
Once the surveys are closed, SCoPE then provides reports of the results and an individualized consultation on how Marcellus can analyze and best use their findings to make improvements.
The results will focus on both those areas where communication is working as well as those areas where it is not.
Developed by leaders in school communications, SCoPE Surveys are rooted in research and align with nationally developed standards for effective school communication. “We have experienced first-hand how effective communication builds trust,” said founders Sandy Cokeley and Julie Abbott. “Faculty, staff, parents and families all deserve to be informed about their local schools so that they can each do their share in supporting student achievement. Dr. Pastel agrees: “Here in Marcellus, we know effective communication is essential to supporting our students’ success as well as our success as a school district. Once again, we need to hear from our constituents on what is working and what is not and we ask everyone to participate.”
For more information about Marcellus’ SCoPE Surveys, visit the district website at marcellusschools.org. To learn more about SCoPE, visit scopeschoolsurveys.com. –
