One of the wonderful aspects of working in the education marketplace is that partnerships between public and private entities regularly form for the purpose of research. Often, the research is freely shared for the benefit of the entire education community and marketplace.

Such are the new study results on assessment from the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) a not-for-profit committed to child-centered education and Peter Grunwald and Associates, a public relations and research practice focused on children, families, technology and education.

The factor that sets this K-12 study apart from others is that it adds a new voice to the conversation – parents. Most studies about assessment focus on students and educators only. As the study points out, parents are the primary consumers of assessment information and foot the bill for the assessments through taxes.

Agreement on Fundamental Goals

Not surprisingly, there is fundamental agreement between parents and educators about the goals for assessment:

• Zoom in for a close-up view of performance progress and needs of individual children.
  
• Zoom out by using a wider lens from multiple angles, over many moments in time – to assess student achievement in a full range of subjects and skills.

The study notes that formative and interim assessments are perceived as more valuable and more closely aligned to parent and educator priorities AND they provide a positive impact on instruction.

Since all three groups (parents, teachers, district administrators) find formative assessments more valuable and want more of them, the question becomes, why are we spending so much money and time on summative assessments? It is impossible to have this conversation without considering the effects of NCLB over the last ten years. Many critics believe that NCLB has lowered academic standards, narrowed the curriculum and initiated too many punitive measures.

NWEA makes recommendations for assessment developers and policy makers based on findings from this study:

1. Broaden dialog beyond summative assessments and high stakes accountability.
   
2. Avoid tunnel vision. Focus on more than English and Math and take the full measure of student learning across the curriculum.
   
3. Develop innovative ways to measure the application of critical thinking, learning and life skills.
   
4. Encourage local decision making on assessments that support learning.

Why does this matter?

Throughout this recent period of high unemployment, millions of U.S. jobs have gone unfilled due to a lack of qualified workers. The skill deficits for these jobs are primarily in the STEM fields – science, technology, engineering and math.  U.S. graduates are not prepared to move into these jobs. Nor are they ready for the many thousands of jobs that haven’t been created yet but which will almost certainly require skills in technology and engineering.

The future of our economy depends on our abilities to reform our education system to prepare graduates for jobs that require critical thinking and collaboration in addition to technical skills. The recommendations of this K-12 assessment study point us in the right direction, and deserve wide readership.

How are you participating in this essential national conversation?

One of the most important elements of successful marketing is customer engagement. In order to build relationships, you have to talk to your customers.

Some years ago, I worked for a company that believed that businesses could be effectively managed from behind spreadsheets, and it was all about the numbers. Consequently, not much effort went into building relationships with customers other than responding to minor customer service issues.

Then and now, the idea that you can build a successful business without customer engagement is nonsense.

Sometimes, the easiest thing to do is go meet your customers at conferences and trade shows. That’s where I’m headed today –to the Texas Computer Education Association annual conference or TCEA for short.

In the K-12 industry, there is a shared belief by educators and vendors that all children CAN learn, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure that schools, teachers and students have the best tools to facilitate that.

We’ve long past the point where technology is considered a separate entity. Now it is all about integration into the curriculum and making the technology as invisible as possible. What matters most is what has always mattered most – the effectiveness of teaching and learning.

Attending these kinds of conferences is stimulating and rewarding. Everyone is excited to be there to learn about new products and services. I suspect that another quality that is shared by educators and the publishing community alike is that most of us are, ourselves, lifelong learners.

If you ask them, educators are happy to tell you what works and what doesn’t work; what they would love to have in their classrooms; and the student challenges that keep them awake at night. Educators are the touchstones of this business and whether online or in person, publishers and service providers should seek every opportunity to engage them whenever possible.

Where and how are you engaging your customers?

Yesterday was the first-ever national Digital Learning Day organized by the Alliance for Excellent Education headed up by former WV governor, Bob Wise. 15,000 educators and 1.7 million students from 39 states participated in this remarkable event. In addition, an untold number of education advocates, enthusiasts, reformers, policy wonks, journalists, consultants and K-12 vendors also participated via web broadcast and social media.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski kicked off the national town hall meeting with an announcement that the Obama administration wants digital textbooks to be implemented in every U.S. public school within 5 years. Yes, 2017.

"The President and I are convinced that with technology, we have an extraordinary opportunity to expand educational excellence and equity, and personalize the experience for students," said Duncan. 

He went on to say that the United States must move from “laggard to leader” in education and that “technology can enable the high-quality teaching and learning that today's students need to thrive as citizens, workers, and leaders in the digital age, and the globally competitive knowledge economy."

Chairman Genachowski noted that 1/3 of Americans still do not have broadband at home and that the FCC is committed to changing this through programs like the eRate program and the Comcast program providing families on federal free or reduced lunch access to broadband at only $9.95 per month – about one quarter of the average monthly rate. The chairman also challenged both the states and educational content providers to help ensure that all students have access to digital resources within 5 years.

The remainder  of the 90-minute town hall meeting highlighted the work of educators and school districts across the country that had implemented technology solutions to increase student achievement. Educators in Mooresville, NC, were understandably proud of their program that tied technology to a curriculum initiative, using data to differentiate learning. The result? They have increased their high school graduation rate from 64% to 91%. Hearing teachers, students, and superintendents from around the country highlighting their own success with great enthusiasm about the impact of educational technology was exciting for anyone connected to improving educational outcomes.

 So what is the takeaway of Digital Learning Day for K-12 publishers and edtech providers?

• The bus is leaving the station. If by some chance you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t started down the digital path, it’s time to wake up and get moving.
• There is a real opportunity for the K-12 market to help speed the implementation of new, effective technologies by working with schools and school leaders even more effectively by smoothing out obstacles and providing top-notch professional development with our product offerings.
• At one point in the Duncan/Genachowski conversation, someone mentioned the education ecosystem. What is that? It’s all of us. We all have a stake in the successful implementation of educational technology as parents, educators and citizens.
• There are tons of digital tools to help parents, students, educators and vendors communicate with each other sharing best practice and recommendations. Let’s use them.

·      The entire business community (not just the K-12 community) has a stake in the outcome of this effort. The future of our companies and our country depend on our ability to ratchet up the quality of graduates who are equipped with 21^st century skills to take on global problems in a global marketplace. Get into the schools. Volunteer. Mentor. You can make a difference.

What are you doing to speed our schools’ transition to broadband delivery of digital curriculum, professional development and services?

Wikipedia defines social proof as a psychological phenomenon where the actions of others are indications of correct behavior around a particular situation.

In social media, social proof is reflected in the number of Twitter followers you have; the number of fans on your Facebook page; the number of RSS readers your blog has; the number of views for your YouTube videos, etc.

Why is this important? It’s a clear indication to your prospects that you have content worth reading – that your opinions will be important to them.

Think of it as a personal recommendation from people your prospects know and trust. When marketing to educators, this is particularly important because educators regard the opinions of other educators as the best kind of recommendation. It is a way to differentiate your company from your competitors.

Two of the primary examples of social proof for educational publishers have been case studies and customer testimonials. An educator, school or district is reassured by the case studies and testimonials of colleagues and is more likely to take the time to check out particular products or services.

In some ways it operates as a guarantee in that your product offering is pre-approved to be worthy of their attention.

In an interview with Social Media Examiner, Lisa Barone puts it this way:

It also gives another indicator that you’re committed to building your presence, and that as a customer, they’ll be able to get in touch with you if they have a question, concern or complaint. Creating a social media presence is another way of letting customers know you’ve left a light on for them.

 What are your current strategies for creating social proof for your products or services?

Via Content Marketing Today Sally Hogshead's video explains the 9 second rule. Grab them fast or lose them. Keynote speaker Sally Hogshead is the author of FASCINATE, teaching audiences how to persuade and captivate in a world with a 9 second attention span.  

Content is our stock and trade. We've invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in developing the best-of-category, and now we should give it away for free?

How is that a viable business model?

Yet more and more companies are allocating larger amounts of their resources each year to this effort as reported by the Content Marketing Institute.

If we focus on building relationships with educators by helping them solve problems with our valuable and free content, the theory is that they will align themselves with us to buy our premium content and services.

There is an amazing amount of free content available to K-12 schools. Every publisher competes with Free.

The goal of content marketing is to differentiate your company from your competitors by sharing the MOST valuable content.

Share without trying to "sell" and you will become their "go-to" resource and after you've earned their trust they will buy your premium products and services.

Earning your community's trust is the first goal. That's the point at which the community will seek you out as a valued partner in helping them solve their problems.

How much content are you willing to share to build your community of trust?

More about content marketing strategy.

The way we communicate with customers and prospects is now more interactive and multidimensional.

Marketing has shifted from interruption mode (broadcast) to invitational (attraction).

But what does this mean to K-12 marketers in a practical way?

ATTRACTION STRATEGY = INBOUND MARKETING = CONTENT MARKETING

No matter what we call it, this new way to market products and services is about providing value and earning customer loyalty.

To be successful with this strategy, companies need to have engaged audiences. To grow your audience, you have to deliver value with superior content that helps them solve problems.

We will be talking about this over the coming weeks, but to give you something to think about, here is a list of opportunities to communicate with your audience – customers, prospects, and fans:

• How-to articles
• Newsletters
• Case studies
• News stories
• Blog
• Social media
• Webinars
• Podcasts
• Reports based on survey data
• White papers
• eBooks
• Professional learning communities

For more on this:

Interruption v Invitation Marketing for K-12 Publishers

A New Conversation

Are you plugged in to your customers’ conversations?

For me 2011 was a tumultuous year and I am happy to move on. As I thought about why I was more optimistic about 2012, three things came to mind that have nothing to do with whether or not the economy improves (although we all hope it does).

1. A fresh perspective. Most of us have had some down time during the holidays, and whenever we spend time away from the day to day, we can examine what we’re doing in new ways. Even if the only change for you is the New Year itself, take this opportunity to evaluate your work for an opportunity to bring a fresh perspective or to try a new strategy or tactic. If you’ve been dreaming of something different, this could be the time to activate that dream.
2. Opportunities to be of service. If we regard our businesses as vehicles to be of service to others, it totally changes the energy around what we do. I’m not suggesting that we all work for not-for-profit organizations or stop selling our products and services, but I am suggesting that being of service is a mindset that can change our lives and our businesses
3. Being entrepreneurial. If the last few years have taught us anything it is that we can no longer depend on big institutions and traditional companies to provide us jobs and security. Perhaps one of the best outcomes of the recession is that it has expanded the entrepreneurial class – people who have created jobs for themselves. What could be more American than forging our own futures and relying on our own abilities to create?

Whether you own your own business or work in someone else’s, the New Year brings us a perfect opportunity to look at our work lives with different eyes and to change our thinking.

No matter where we sit we can bring fresh ideas and attitudes to our customer relationships and be more entrepreneurial in our thinking and business practices.

If we build our companies around the idea of being of service to our customers, we increase the value they find in our products and services.

In what ways are you optimistic about 2012?

Across the country schools and districts are struggling to develop and implement BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies.

Protecting school and student data is a concern.

Overcoming the objections of administrators and educators who have to give up some control of the learning process is another.

Parents are putting pressure on schools to allow their children to use mobile devices in school. In many cases the students have better technology than the schools including more and more tablets.

Many educators believe that the best technology solution is for every student to have a computer. Although there is now history and research to support the efficacy of 1:1 – a computer for every student – the reality is that we are not at all close to a national roll out in public education.

Expense is the largest hurdle. Staying current with technology is another. Speed of implementation is a third.

With their affordability and portability, mobile devices are quickly becoming the personal technology of choice.

If you are not already delivering content via mobile devices, here are three reasons why K-12 publishers need to accelerate development of mobile content delivery:

1. The sale of smart phones now outpaces the sale of personal computers. Their affordability, their connectivity, and their personalization will result in a acceleration of this trend. We expect to see a fast adoption of tablets as well for the same reasons.
2. Mobile devices facilitate the holy grail of education -differentiated instruction. The ability to match the needs of the learner with the most appropriate content has resulted in real learning achievement.
3. We are at the beginning of the second wave. This is where newer K-12 publishers potentially have an advantage over traditional publishers. They have built-in mobile delivery as part of their content delivery systems. For those publishers who have hesitated, you're running out of time to remain competitive.

Savvy K-12 publishers have already developed a mobile strategy to deliver their content via mobile devices.

Is implementation of an efficient mobile delivery system in your 2012 publishing plans?

Teachers have long been savvy consumers of educational products.

They can spot marketing jargon and marketers from 100 feet away, and do what they can to avoid both.

K-12 educators don’t generally have a lot of brand allegiance. Their primary concern is  - does the product work in the classroom?

Given that educators are particularly resistant to marketing, how should educational publishers begin the marketing and sales process?

Just like most other consumers, teachers want authenticity with their vendors. First and foremost, publishers need to respect teachers. That has not always been the case and educators know when they’re being patronized or manipulated.

Secondly, educators want publishers to understand what they’re selling -  the pedagogy and learning standards that the product supports.

Thirdly, most educators or schools want to see proof that other educators and schools have used the product successfully before committing to a purchase.

To authentically engage educators, publishers and technology companies need to:

• Make product and research information freely available on their websites so that educators can easily find and evaluate without commitment.
• Create a social media stream for educators to investigate and share information with each other.
• Feature case studies that highlight product success in real classrooms – remembering that this is the truest test for educators.
• Use videos to spotlight educators using the product successfully because above anything else, educators value the opinions of other educators.
• Provide professional development opportunities that support teachers in their use of the product to meet the standards they are held to.
• Ensure that your implementation and tech support are rock solid and respect the needs of educators and users after the sale.

Trust is an essential ingredient in marketing to educators. Treat them with respect and provide the information they need to make informed decisions.

This is the best way to be authentic.