Communication

What is an SEL communication plan?

An SEL communication plan provides an important roadmap for getting the word out about SEL, building enthusiasm and support, and informing key stakeholders about your plans and achievements with SEL implementation. In your communication plan, you’ll answer four key questions:

• Who do you want to reach? (Your audience)
• What do you want to achieve? (The goal)
• What do you want to say? (The message)
• How will you send your message? (The medium)

Your answers to these questions will guide what kinds of messages you’ll create, who you’ll send them to, and how you’ll deliver them. Here’s an example of a simple communication plan.

Your communication plan can include many different kinds of messages targeting various audiences, including:

• Launch materials for key stakeholders (Example: Cleveland’s District Wide Launch Materials)
• A website to introduce parents to SEL (Example: Anchorage: Parents and SEL webpage)
• A research brief for funders (Example: Austin’s SEL Research Brief with District Plan Summary)
• Press releases and articles in local newspapers (Example: Washoe County’s “Impact of SEL of Graduation Rates”)

Why does my district need to develop a communication plan?

Clear, ongoing communication is a key strategy in the successful implementation of SEL. By getting the message out to key audiences (such as district leaders, funders, staff and teachers, students, families, and community members), you’ll be able to:

• Help these stakeholders understand what SEL is.
• Increase awareness of the research and findings about the benefits of SEL.
• Promote SEL in classrooms and schools.
• Make the case for investing in SEL.

Sustained communication about your district’s implementation of SEL can help you:

• Influence district leaders to promote and support systemic adoption of SEL principles and practices.
• Engage teachers and staff to rally behind SEL initiatives and strive to incorporate SEL practices schoolwide.
• Build enthusiasm in district students and families, and encourage them to adopt SEL practices in the home and community.
• Convince funders to dedicate financial support to SEL implementation.

Failure to communicate about SEL with key audience can:

• Create confusion about SEL in our schools.
• Lead community members to question the value of this work.
• Lessen the commitment of educators, school leaders, and others.
• Reduce the chances for sustainable funding.

When should my district develop a communication plan?

It’s a good idea to develop your communication plan early in the planning for SEL implementation to help produce support and buy-in from internal stakeholders such as staff, teachers, and after-school providers. You’ll also want to consider communicating with parents, family members, and the community about what SEL is and how they can support and benefit from SEL practices. As a result, you may wish to develop your communication plan while working on your SEL implementation plan.

Once you’ve launched SEL in your district, you’ll want to maintain communication with stakeholders throughout the school year and update your communication plan as needed.

Who should be involved in an SEL resources and needs assessment?

Your SEL lead should work with the planning committee that creates the SEL plan to consider what needs to be included in the communication plan. You will likely also wish to include any communication lead or staff for your district to lend their expertise to the communication plan.

When implementing your plan, there are a range of other communication professionals you may wish to engage to help craft your messaging. Often, these roles will be taken by existing staff, although depending on your district’s resources, you may wish to bring in additional staff or temporary assistance, or outsource to a communication firm. Some useful roles to consider include:

• Editorial lead: to lead content discussions, manage communications calendars and campaigns, develop content as needed.
• Designer: to provide visual guidance and direction for messaging, and procure images as needed.
• Media outreach lead: to pitch stories of interest to media outlines, guide staff in creating content for blogs and news sites, develop an organizational media outreach list, create and distribute press releases.
• Social media manager: to create and manage content for social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.), schedule publication of content, monitor engagement and provide responses when needed.
• Website manager: to manage updates to the district website, work with vendors, monitor traffic and look for strategies to increase traffic and usage.

Process

Understand the process you can take to implement this module within your district. Use these steps to help you structure your approach, build your plan, and access resources for each step along the way.
See Process

Resources

Access resources organized around the most common areas of need districts face when implementing this module. Resources include real world examples from districts engaged in this work, as well as information and worksheets designed to help you build your own.
See Resources