The View of Schools From Outside the Castle of K–12

Everyone from the Governor to students, has something to say about schools. In the face of this deluge of discussion, are you telling your district's story and your schools' stories effectively?

Parents are adding their opinions about schools to Web sites run by nonprofits who know what they're doing. High school students are evaluating teachers, and their words can sting. Realtors' Web sites are adding school information to their offerings, and the quality of the data they present can range from poor to polished.

National and regional magazines are running annual cover stories, touting the "best schools," and those stories are extremely popular. They appear high among the "most emailed" stories, months after publication date. Take a hint from their successes. Complex stories require simpler handles in information. One handle that has proven to be especially effective: lists, especially presented in rank order sequence.

You can see this show-and-tell slide show here. It is based on a talk I delivered to research directors at the Sacramento County Office of Education on January 18, 2008. Text accompanies the slides. Estimated reading time: 15 minutes.

— Steve Rees, Editor and Publisher, School Wise Press