#SchoolPR Insights Blog

In schools, surveys are often treated like bookends—one at the start of a school year, another at the end. They’re collected and filed away, and it’s essentially “case closed.” But what if survey data wasn’t the end of the conversation? What if it was the conversation?

Across the country, K–12 districts are rethinking how they use data to build stronger relationships, elevate communication, and foster real transparency—not just with families, but also with teachers, support staff, students, and even external stakeholders. Here’s how they’re doing it—and how you can, too.

1. Understand the Data You’re Collecting

Too many districts stop at the spreadsheet. Real success starts with interpretation.

Reading raw survey results is like flipping through a book with no plot. You have to look for themes, contradictions, gaps, and patterns. What’s not being said can matter just as much as what is. Ask questions like:

• Are there trends by subgroup (e.g., elementary vs. high school parents)?
• Are staff and families aligned in their perceptions?
• What emotions show up repeatedly in open-ended responses?
• Are satisfaction scores stagnant—or slipping?

East Troy Community School District in Wisconsin took this part seriously. With help from the Donovan Group, they’ve run structured staff satisfaction surveys for four consecutive years. What made it work so well was that they tied each question to one of the district’s four strategic priorities. This gave them a narrative thread to follow across years, buildings, and strategic changes.

By disaggregating responses by building, East Troy leaders gained granular insight: where staff felt supported, where morale was low, and where culture-building needed real attention.

“Leaders now have a clearer understanding of where staff feel most supported and where additional attention is needed.”

2. Match Messages to the Right Channels

One of the biggest values of a survey? Finding out what communication methods actually work.

Parents might say they want emails—but open rates tell a different story. Students may say they like social media updates, but comment sections reveal gaps in clarity. Using survey data to confirm, challenge, and refine your channel strategy can turn generic updates into targeted engagement. Some lessons we’ve seen districts learn from their own survey data:

• Texts outperform emails for urgent updates.
• Parents want one central “hub” instead of six different apps.
• Students prefer notifications through school-branded apps.
• Teachers want fewer “FYIs” and more actionable communication.

This data gives your communications team a roadmap—and justification for investing in better tools or sunsetting outdated ones. It also means you stop wasting time putting out a message that doesn’t get heard.

3. Use the Data to Build Trust

Here’s a hard truth: communities won’t trust your survey unless they see how you use the results. Once a district collects data, it has a responsibility to loop back—transparently. This includes:

• Publishing summary findings.
• Sharing what you’re going to change—and what you’re not.
• Explaining the why behind your next steps.
• Giving credit to the community for shaping future actions.

Surveys can help you form better partnerships. If you asked families how they feel about district communication, and 63% said it was inconsistent, don’t gloss over it. Acknowledge the issue. Share what you’re doing to improve it. Then, follow through.

That’s what East Troy CSD did—and year-over-year comparisons showed measurable growth in staff morale, precisely because leaders used the data to inform action.

4. Keep the Loop Open

The best survey strategies aren’t “one and done.” They’re iterative. Use your big surveys as foundation, but stay nimble with:

• Pulse checks (short follow-ups on targeted topics).
• Listening sessions (especially after major changes).
• Focus groups (to unpack nuanced concerns).

For example, if your survey showed that staff feel out of the loop on district decisions, you might:

• Create a short follow-up survey asking which decisions they want more visibility into.
• Host optional listening sessions by building or department.
• Launch a staff-only newsletter from district leadership.

Then, follow up again to ask: “Is this helping?” Generally, the more feedback loops you build, the more trust you earn—and the less reactive your communication becomes.

5. Look at Communication as a System, Not Just a Tool

It’s easy to reduce school communication to tactics: update the website, post on social media, send a reminder email. But surveys give you something far more powerful: a system-wide view of how your district is (or isn’t) communicating effectively. From our experience with districts nationwide, here’s what systems-level insights survey data often reveals:

• Communication inconsistencies across schools or departments.
• Lack of alignment between what leaders think they’re saying and what people hear.
• Gaps in communication between district office and school-level staff.
• Mismatch between the volume of updates and their usefulness.
• Missed opportunities for two-way communication.

When you treat communication like a system, you can identify weak links, duplicate efforts, and pain points—then fix them strategically, not chaotically.

6. Build for the Long-Term: Use Data to Shape Your Strategy

Districts that excel at communication don’t just respond to survey results—they use them to drive long-term planning. This might mean:

• Creating a five-year communication strategy with annual data benchmarks.
• Using survey findings to build or restructure communication teams.
• Developing training programs for school staff on effective family outreach.
• Aligning communication goals with your Portrait of a Graduate or strategic plan.

Some districts even use survey feedback to inform capital project communications, school boundary changes, or new policy rollouts. Why guess at community reaction when you can map it in advance? Communication success isn’t luck. It’s listening, measuring, adjusting, and repeating.

Case Study: WIAA Listens to Officials—and Acts

While not a traditional K–12 district, the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) used Donovan Group’s survey services to listen to another critical education audience: high school sports officials. The survey reached over 2,700 active and retired officials, asking about their experiences, frustrations, and motivations. What stood out?

• 40.8% of respondents with 25+ years of experience began officiating between ages 18–24
• 73.8% said they officiate to “give back to the game”
• 1,800+ wrote in comments emphasizing fairness, safety, and service

This data went far beyond anecdotes, allowing WIAA to validate assumptions, challenge others, and develop informed strategies for recruitment, retention, and training.

“The entire process was easy on our end, which allowed us to focus on what mattered most: listening to our officials and using the data to take intentional steps toward positive change.” — Stephanie Hauser, Executive Director, WIAA

The Best Surveys Lead to Better Conversations

Want to build a culture of responsiveness and mutual respect? Survey data helps you learn and listen, giving you insight on how to act on what you hear. Whether you’re leading a district, running a school, or supporting communications from behind the scenes, using surveys well means showing your stakeholders that they matter. And that’s where the real success lives—not in the survey itself, but in what happens next.