Real-Life Communication
Many school superintendents say that effective communication skills
take care of the most important part of their job. Communicating is what supers
have to do best if they want to be effective. Their days are full of meetings,
phone calls, e-mail and correspondence with all kinds of people.
"Communication
skills are vitally important," says Neil Gannon. He is the former director
of an organization of superintendents. "Their whole job involves communicating
with their school board, who they report to, plus all their staff -- central
office staff, school principals, teachers, parents, the general public, the
media, the students, the government."
School-related stories are always
hot topics in news hours and papers. As a superintendent, you can expect plenty
of camera time, speaking for one of the many schools in your district.
"You
are the spokesperson for the school district," says Joseph Schneider. He is
the former deputy director of the American Association of School Administrators.
"Whenever there's an issue with the school district, the media will go
to the superintendent for a comment. So you've got to be good one on
one, and you've got to be good in front of the camera."
But the
bulk of communication is directed internally. Annual reports, day-to-day correspondence
and meetings are meant for those with an interest in the school system --
whether that's a child, a job or a government mandate. Superintendents
must be skilled at dealing with all groups by communicating with efficiency,
wisdom and tact.
You are the superintendent of a school district. You
are submitting your annual report to the community and various levels of government.
The report includes statistics of student achievement as well as other overviews
of the district's year. You are to preface it with a message from the
superintendent -- a general letter which outlines the report's intentions
and the schools' mandates.
Write a 250-word letter to the report's
audience, addressing them as parents, staff, the community, the board and
the students. Include a push for more involvement of this audience in providing
an effective learning organization. Mention the purpose of the overview: to
identify areas in the school system needing both improvement and praise.
Outline
the district's vision: to encourage research-based change and staff risk-taking
to develop better teaching methods. Ask the questions the report is based
on this year: did we do what we said we would do? Did we achieve what we expected
as a result? Encourage feedback from the audience, and thank those who helped
put the report together.