The Road Map of Our Action Research Project
For this action research project our team chose to implement an analysis of the marketing strategies used in three school districts that, demographically, are quite different (see Appendix A). The rationale behind this approach is that since educators are not formally trained marketers, yet we are in an era of declining enrollments statewide and a funding system that is tied to per pupil allotments, was it possible to identify common marketing strategies that were successful in attracting parents for enrollment across these demographically different school districts? We believe that being able to successfully identify this will assist school districts in their marketing efforts, and provide a cost-savings over time while increasing their enrollment.
The data collection strategies utilized for this action research were qualitative interviews with district personnel in charge of respective marketing efforts, and a survey instrument of parents using a three-point Likert Scale. Each member of the team conducted an interview with the individual in their district who oversaw the marketing efforts. These jobs varied greatly amongst districts as marketing was not their title nor educational background. In the Grosse Pointe Public School System, Rebecca Fannon serves as the Communications Director. Her primary job is public and media relations, not marketing, though marketing is a significant aspect of her job. In the Troy School District, Kerry Birmingham, the Director of Communication and Media, serves as the media liaison and marketing director for the district. The Roseville Community School District has given the responsibility for overseeing marketing efforts to Mark Blaszkowski, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, whose primary role is overseeing evaluation and instruction. These interviews took place in a face-to-face setting using twelve standard questions. The phrasing and order of these questions varied from interview to interview based upon the flow of each conversation, but all questions were addressed, in addition to probing questions (See Appendix D).
A survey instrument provided quantitative data for this research project. Parents were given a survey asking them to assign value to district marketing efforts using a three-point Likert Scale. There was a targeted setting that the survey was given in; transition points in a child’s education. These transition points were incoming kindergarteners, elementary to middle school, and middle school to high school. Parent participation was voluntary, but took place at events hosted by the school. The survey asked parents to rate the importance of educational factors and sources of information when making a school choice decision.
In evaluating the data we examined the transcripts of each interview as a group to triangulate data points to find commonalities within the discussions regarding school marketing. This qualitative data was organized and analyzed so that key phrases, words, and quotes were further examined to identify emergent themes. In identifying common themes, the research team drew conclusions and connected those inferences to our quantitative survey data. For the survey instrument the results were disaggregated for each researcher’s school district. This allowed the team to analyze the data for each school site to make determinations on what were considered the areas of importance in school selection, and marketing strategies that were making an impact on the parents of prospective students. The next step in this data analysis was aggregating the survey results to determine if successful marketing strategies across school districts could be determined. These results will be explored in the next section of this action research paper.
This study had refinements that the team made over the course of its life. It began as an examination of combating declining student enrollment in a time of economic downturn, population decrease, and school of choice. This problem was then refined to examine the effectiveness of strategies to deal with the issues above in a cost-effective way. As the research and data collection instruments began to take shape, this action research project was given a more specific focus of determining if it was possible to identify successful marketing efforts across demographically different districts at key transition points in a child’s K-12 education.
The data collection strategies utilized for this action research were qualitative interviews with district personnel in charge of respective marketing efforts, and a survey instrument of parents using a three-point Likert Scale. Each member of the team conducted an interview with the individual in their district who oversaw the marketing efforts. These jobs varied greatly amongst districts as marketing was not their title nor educational background. In the Grosse Pointe Public School System, Rebecca Fannon serves as the Communications Director. Her primary job is public and media relations, not marketing, though marketing is a significant aspect of her job. In the Troy School District, Kerry Birmingham, the Director of Communication and Media, serves as the media liaison and marketing director for the district. The Roseville Community School District has given the responsibility for overseeing marketing efforts to Mark Blaszkowski, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, whose primary role is overseeing evaluation and instruction. These interviews took place in a face-to-face setting using twelve standard questions. The phrasing and order of these questions varied from interview to interview based upon the flow of each conversation, but all questions were addressed, in addition to probing questions (See Appendix D).
A survey instrument provided quantitative data for this research project. Parents were given a survey asking them to assign value to district marketing efforts using a three-point Likert Scale. There was a targeted setting that the survey was given in; transition points in a child’s education. These transition points were incoming kindergarteners, elementary to middle school, and middle school to high school. Parent participation was voluntary, but took place at events hosted by the school. The survey asked parents to rate the importance of educational factors and sources of information when making a school choice decision.
In evaluating the data we examined the transcripts of each interview as a group to triangulate data points to find commonalities within the discussions regarding school marketing. This qualitative data was organized and analyzed so that key phrases, words, and quotes were further examined to identify emergent themes. In identifying common themes, the research team drew conclusions and connected those inferences to our quantitative survey data. For the survey instrument the results were disaggregated for each researcher’s school district. This allowed the team to analyze the data for each school site to make determinations on what were considered the areas of importance in school selection, and marketing strategies that were making an impact on the parents of prospective students. The next step in this data analysis was aggregating the survey results to determine if successful marketing strategies across school districts could be determined. These results will be explored in the next section of this action research paper.
This study had refinements that the team made over the course of its life. It began as an examination of combating declining student enrollment in a time of economic downturn, population decrease, and school of choice. This problem was then refined to examine the effectiveness of strategies to deal with the issues above in a cost-effective way. As the research and data collection instruments began to take shape, this action research project was given a more specific focus of determining if it was possible to identify successful marketing efforts across demographically different districts at key transition points in a child’s K-12 education.