Articles tagged with Nora Carr

December issue of ASBJ now online

With winter season still officially weeks away, it’s possible Mother Nature could have one more unwelcome surprise ready to round out 2011, which months ago the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared as one of the most weather-extreme on record. 

Tornados. Flash-floods. Wildfires. 2011 hasn’t been fun or easy for the countless school districts and communities struck by a natural or manmade disaster. December’s cover story profiles some of the district’s who were hit the hardest and looks at how they’re recovering.

As always, December’s issue includes a rich line-up of  features, including this month’s column from ASBJ contributing editor, Nora Carr, on the importance of telling your story, visually.

Naomi Dillon|December 5th, 2011|Categories: Leading Source|Tags: , , , , , |

New on ASBJ.com

While it’s not a panacea, employee-first communications is extremely important to a district’s future success, writes ASBJ communications columnist Nora Carr in her latest edition.

Leaders at all levels must develop systems and structures that allow for ongoing feedback from employees. This requires making a concerted, coordinated, and systematic effort to ensure all employees know what is going on, why, and how it will affect them.

Carr says effective employee communication requires three key strategies: engagement, transparency, and a commitment to getting to staff first with good news and bad. To learn more about how to implement strategies that ensure all your employees are working off the same page, read Carr’s column, now online and free to view for a limited time.
Naomi Dillon|September 16th, 2011|Categories: Board governance, Leading Source, NSBA Publications|Tags: , , |

New on ASBJ.com

As rhetoric heats up, parsing legitimate concerns from intractable political or philosophical positions is getting more challenging. Misinformation abounds, spread worldwide 24/7 by bloggers and social media savants, writes ASBJ communications columnist Nora Carr in her latest installment for the magazine. 

Traditional political wisdom counsels school officials to reinforce their supporters, engage those in the middle, and ignore the negative 2 percent to 10 percent whose opinions will never change, continues Carr.

Unfortunately, with more than 70 percent of U.S. voters no longer directly connected to their public schools through their children, ignoring media-savvy activist groups is likely to backfire.

Before school officials spend limited time and political capital, Carr offers some pointers from savvy public relations and communications professionals on how districts can get in front of an issue before it overwhelms them, and ultimately inflicts harmful political damage.

Read Carr’s column here, though hurry as it’s available free only for a limited time.

Naomi Dillon|July 20th, 2011|Categories: Crisis Management, Governance, Leadership, School Boards|Tags: , , , , , |

New on ASBJ.com

From union busting to thinly-veiled attempts at privatization, public schools are under attack. Using budget cuts as cover, the dismantling of public education is well under way, writes contributing ASBJ editor Nora Carr in her latest installment.

It’s not enough to spend taxpayer dollars well. School officials need to tell people how those dollars are making a difference in the lives of children, Carr continues.

And while more proactive media relations will help counteract the news media’s tendency toward sensationalism, better press doesn’t build trust— relationships do. To learn how to build the kind of relationships that are critically important to your school community, read more from Carr’s column, now available online and free for a limited time.

Naomi Dillon|June 13th, 2011|Categories: Leading Source, NSBA Publications|Tags: |

New on ASBJ.com

Definitions of what constitutes parent involvement may differ based on cultural perspectives and biases, but most experts now agree that engaging parents is as important to the mission of the school as instruction.

As a result, engagement efforts are focusing more on boosting the capacity of parents to support learning at home as well as at school. In her latest installment, ASBJ contributing editor Nora Carr highlights the efforts of several school districts in helping parents become full partners in the education process.

Read their lessons learned, as well as, some pointers on how you can best support parents in this mutual endeavor. But read it fast, as it’s available free here only for a limited time.

Naomi Dillon|March 9th, 2011|Categories: Leading Source, NSBA Publications|Tags: , , |
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