Six Charts That Changed the Way We Think About School Communication

Teachers and staff feel responsible for improving their district’s reputation.

While the idea of teachers and staff serving as district brand ambassadors isn’t new, many administrators don’t want to think of their teachers and staff as the voices of their district’s brand. Why is that? We found many school leaders and communicators are reluctant to add anything new to teachers’ already overcrowded plates. And honestly, this is admirable considering how high teacher burnout rates are across the globe. 

But the good news is this—teachers and staff already view themselves as brand ambassadors. In our 2022 nationwide survey of over 1,600 teachers and staff, more than 72% of teachers said they either “strongly agree” or “somewhat agree” with the statement: “I feel it is my responsibility to improve the district’s reputation when I speak to someone about the district.” And as our chart clearly shows, non-teaching staff responded similarly. 

When you consider how many touch points your teachers and staff have with your community each day, the implications of this statement are huge. Your voice as a school leader may carry the most weight, but the voices of your employees have the greatest volume. That’s why it’s crucial to think about your teachers and support staff as brand ambassadors.

Despite this, teachers and staff are rarely trained on district branding and messaging priorities.

In the same study, we found that even though a majority of teachers viewed brand ambassadorship as part of their jobs, many weren’t very familiar with brand elements such as logos, mottos and values. We also asked respondents, “On average, how often have you received training on your district’s brand and messaging priorities?”

The data revealed that, on average, teachers and other employees receive far less training than school leaders. Only 12% of superintendents reported they had never received training, while more than half reported they received training at least once or twice per month. However, one in five teachers (21%) said they had never received training on their district’s branding and messaging. For non-teaching staff, the number was even higher: 28% said they had never been trained on brand and messaging. Only 33% of teachers and 20% of non-teaching staff said they  received training more than once or twice a year.

It’s clear teachers and other staff already consider themselves brand ambassadors, but their efficacy is diminished if they aren’t trained on how to do it properly. The responsibility falls on administrators—school communicators, principals and central office staff—to prepare your teachers and staff to be effective brand ambassadors. 

Read Who Speaks for Your Brand

47% of school communicators work on a team of one. 

In early 2024 the SchoolCEO team surveyed 600 communications professionals across the country about their work. When we combed through the data we collected, one statistic in particular stood out: almost half of all school communicators work on a team of one. This is incredible when you consider the scope of their work. From interfacing with the press to external and internal communication to website and social media management, comms teams have their hands full. To think that 47% of the time a “team” of one is doing it all is astounding.

Even teams with more than one person were still likely to be small, with 32% of comms professionals reporting being on teams of only two or three people. Communications professionals working on teams with more than five people accounted for less than 15% of our respondents. 

For school communicators, the AI revolution is already here.

In the same 2024 study of school communications directors, we wanted to find out how school communicators were acclimating to a tool that had only been around for a little more than a year. 

We found that artificial intelligence (AI) was already being used at least once a week by roughly 45% of participants, with 15% of them saying they used it daily. A slim majority of respondents showed hesitance to embrace the new tool—36% of them used it either “once a month” or “less than once a month.” We assume those numbers have changed in the year since, as AI has continued to grow in popularity.

If you’re a school communicator or administrator not using AI, our study suggests you’re in a shrinking minority. Our discussions among school communicators have pointed to the usefulness of AI in a field where over 40% of school communicators work alone. AI’s unique ability to broaden capacity is something to keep an eye on as the field continues to develop.

Read A Seat at the Table

Families prefer to receive new information from your school website above all else.

The question of how to increase families’ trust in their public schools is one that preoccupies many school leaders and communicators right now. This is why it’s so important to consider the role that school communications can play in building that trust. In our most recent survey What Parents Want, we sought to understand not just how families felt about school communication in general, but also how it influenced their overall view of their school districts. 

To accomplish this, we asked the following questions:

• “In general, on a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with your child’s district?”

• “On a scale of 1-5, how much do you trust your child’s district?”

• “In general, on a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with your child’s district’s communications?”

When we compared the answers to these three questions, there was a clear correlation: Parents were far more likely to trust their schools when they also had positive ratings for their school communications. This suggests something powerful about how communication in education can shape families’ perceptions of your district as a whole. Your schools may be doing great things, but if you don’t communicate about it, families have no way to know. But where do families prefer to learn new information from your schools? On your school or district website.

Our conclusion is this: If school communication has the power to heighten families’ trust in your district, and families prefer your website over other forms of communication, why wouldn’t you go all in on making sure it meets or exceeds their expectations?

Teachers aren’t just powerful brand ambassadors—they’re vital school communicators too.

Earlier on this page, we discussed how important it is that you train district personnel at all levels, from the classroom to the central office, to reinforce the best parts of your district brand. And our latest research pushed this belief to a new level.

We asked our participants, “Who from your school district do you most trust to communicate valuable information?” Over half of parents—58%—chose teachers, with principals and district communications directors trailing somewhat behind at 24% and 13%, respectively. Less than 5% of families selected superintendents.

Of course, this finding doesn’t indicate that superintendents, communications directors or principals aren’t communicating valuable information. But the information that teachers share is usually more specific and personalized than district communications. 

As you organize your school communication strategy, keep this finding in mind. Superintendents and communications directors can and should still communicate valuable information—but when you have an update you don’t want families to miss, bring in teachers, too.

Read What Parents Want

As we’ve researched over the past six years, communication in schools has shifted, just as trends in school communication in general have changed. What all of these findings point to is that it’s critical to invest in a school district communication plan in order to meet the changing expectations of families.

What findings will future research uncover to continue to shape the way we think about school communications? Stay tuned by subscribing to SchoolCEO and reading our guides.