Effective Modes of School-Parent

Communication

(Betsy) Elizabeth Compton

EDAD 6317: School Public

Relations
DBU

Fall 2015

Effective school-parent communication is an absolutely vital aspect of

effective education. Teachers, staff, and administrators all have information
to share with students and parents. Likewise, parents have information to
share with the school. Finding effective modes of communication is an ever
evolving art. As society changes, so must the channels of communication.
In todays world of online communication and social media, there are more
options available than ever before. This paper strives to identify, analyze,
and compare various modes of technology driven communication to
determine the most successful mode for school-parent communication.
In Using Technology to Increase Parent Involvement in Schools,
Christine Olmstead reports her findings from her study to to determine
whether emerging technologies facilitate better parent-teacher
communication and parent involvement (Olmstead 28). Her research shows
that both parents and teachers agree that parent involvement is important.
She further discovers that technology allows parents to be involved without
physically attending the school, but cautions educators to focus these
technologies in a way that effectively connects parents to the classroom.
One obstacle to this is the differing views of technology by teachers and
parents. Her research found only 36% of families indicated that teachers
use the internet to communicate with them, even though 60% of principals
reported that teachers use the internet in this way (Olmstead 30).
Olmsteads purpose was to generally understand the effectiveness of
online communication between schools and parents. Much of her article is

devoted to the nature and benefits of parent-school relationships. In addition

to understanding the effectiveness of these communications, she also strives
to discover the perceptions of parents and educators. However, within these
studies, she also briefly examines types of technology driven
communication, specifically websites and phone calling systems. Olmstead
writes of the greatest benefit of websites being the access to homework
assignments and lesson plans by teachers, students, and parents. While we
may think of websites as just a place for school information and
announcements, the potential for classroom connections is huge. Calling
systems are also beneficial for communication due the ability for the listener
to set up the calls to come to a phone of his choice for immediate
communication needs as they occur.
In School, Parent, and Community Online Relations, author Laurence
Steinberg focuses on the need for parent involvement in schools. He begins
by examining the benefits of positive relationships and frequent visits. He
studied 12,000 students from nine different high schools over a three year
period in search of the best types of parent involvement to increase student
achievement. He concluded that, When parents come to school regularly,
it reinforces the view in the childs mind that school and home are
connected, and that school is an integral part of the whole familys life
(Steinberg 12). Having established this premise, Steinberg advocates for
moving away from paper copies and onto the internet to reflect the current

population and maintain parent involvement and student success. He

specifically advocates websites and calendar software.
There is an additional insert in the article written by Arlan Yodar,
President of DynaCal, LLC, which makes online calendar software for schools.
He quickly dismisses websites as a primary means of calendar information
due to the difficulty to maintain and update the site. Although obviously bias
due to his profession, he makes a solid case for purchasing calendar software
instead of paying for a website. It is important to note this was published in
2004. Eleven years represents a lot of growth in the technology industry.
Yodars entire argument for the calendar software was based on the difficulty
of maintaining a website. That is not the case anymore. There are plenty of
free and paid websites that most people can build on their own. While very
topical in 2004, this portion of the publication is unnecessary today.
Therefore, calendar systems alone are not the best mode of online
communication for schools. Websites, however, are still a viable option.
Websites are further discussed in the article Websites Designed for
K12 Districts. Author Kurt Eisele-Dyrli examines how websites have become
the main communication tool for many school districts. He states web sites
are now often the home base from which the district conducts an overall
communication strategy, keeping the community informed about news,
events, or emergencies (Eisele 47). The article also features product
placement of four top website designers; Edline, eChalk, School Loop, and

SCHOOLinSITES. All four seem very comparable and there are only slight
differences.
In Communicating with Parents, It works Both Ways, Edwin Neely
examines four modes of online communication; email, websites, phone
messaging, and listserv. Neely is very positive of email. There are numerous
benefits listed, such as direct access between teachers, administration, and
parents, and sharing documents. This article was published in 2005, so while
it didnt have all of the features available today, email was well-established.
The focus of this portion of the article was on publishing email addresses in
as many ways as possible to provide the online access needed for
communication, which is still an important goal today.
Like Yodar, Neely believes maintaining a website is the most difficult
form of online parent communication. However, he also states, current
software is so easy to use, that someone with basic word-processing skills
can create a website for their school (Neely 25). He goes on to examine the
benefits of a school website, such as providing a living document, and an
area for communication and documentation. He also explains websites are
beneficial on the both the micro and macro level. While the website
immediately serves the school students and parents, it also serves the
current community and future home-buyers.
Telephone systems give administration the ability to send voice
messages directly to the entire school district, campus, or specific group of

people. Neely believes the most beneficial aspect of this communication is

that it is the principals voice delivering the message (Neely 26). Voicemail
callouts have continued for the last ten years. A shift occurred from home
phones to cell phones, but parents are still getting messages. This seems to
still be a viable option for one-way communication with parents.
Lastly, Neely examines listservs. Messaging servers are able to deliver
hundreds of emails to users at one time. They allow paragraphs of
information, calendar dates, and links to be included. Now, they can also be
used to send voice messages. The author provides two examples in which
emails and phone calls were rapidly sent to the entire community through
email and phone messaging systems to establish safety in an emergency.
While email accounts, websites, and phone message systems are all
important, Neely claims the listserve is the most powerful of the four
communication tools discussed (Neely 26).
Michelle Davis explores Facebook and other social media sites in
Social Networking Goes to School. She analyzes several high school
programs around the United States and finds that social media is used
effectively to teach global perspective and understanding of many social and
cultural issues. Social media sites in the classroom are becoming more and
more common. Eric Sheninger, a New Jersey principal, stated, I used to be
the administrator that blocked every social-media site, and now Im the
biggest champion (Davis). Davis finds similar learning through social media
in Florida, Utah, and North Carolina. With all of this social media driving

instruction, it makes since for it to drive parent, student, and community

communication. Students can even complete some of the work through
class projects and assignments. They learn valuable computer programing
and communication skills, while also serving the needs of the public.
The textbook, The School and Community Relations, includes an indepth chapter devoted to online communication. The chapter is mostly
written to understand best practices of preparation. It is important to
research and plan what items and subjects should be covered online.
Communication planning should drive website content, while design and
technology planning should consider the most effective ways in which to
deliver the content (Moore 223). The majority of the chapter is focused on
website development, publication, and updates. Social networking, enewsletters, emails, and listservs are all also discussed, however the
weighted information on websites, causes this mode of communication to
stand out as a priority for educators.
In conclusion, social media, email, websites, and phone and email
messaging systems are all important modes of communication online. Each
has the potential to reach a different audience and quickly provide vital
information. Examining the evidence in the articles dated from 2005 to 2011
has shown that time and opinion will continue to change the answer of which
is best. Websites slightly stand out due to their versatility for administrator,
teacher, student, parent, and community use. However, all other forms are
also important modes of communication that uniquely target population

groups. Therefore, the research in this paper shows that instead of focusing
one mode, the best approach for effective communication is a mix of a
website and other technology driven communications, based on the needs of
each specific community.

References:

Davis, Michelle E (2010). Social Networking Goes to School, Education

Digest, November 2010, Volume 76, Issue 3, pages 14-19.

Eisele-Dyrli, Kurt (2011). Websites Designed for K12 Districts, District

Administration, January 2011, Volume 47, Issue 1, page 47.

Moore, E., Bagin, D., and Gallahger, D. (2012). The School and Community
Relations, 10th Edition, Pearson: Boston, MA.

Neely, Edwin (2005). Communicating with Parents, It works Both Ways,

Leadership. May/June 2005, Volume 34, Issue 5, pages 24-27.

Olmstead, Christine (2013). Using Technology to Increase Parent

Involvement in Schools, Tech Trends, November/December 2013, Volume
57, Number 6, pages 28-37.

Steinberg, Laurence (2004). School, Parent, and Community Online

Relations, Media and Methods. August 2004, Volume 41, Issue 1, pages 1217.