Community Engagement

How to open and sustain lines of communication with students, families, school personnel, activists, community members, businesses, and state and local government agencies and incorporate their voices in education policymaking.

NASBE Experts

Renée Rybak Lang
Communications Director

Abigail Potts
Director of Strategic Initiatives and Planning

Working with the Media

Board members can work with the media to help communicate important decisions to stakeholders and build public trust.

Boardmanship Reviews

Building Partnerships in the Education Community

Successful engagement creates a sense of buy-in and shared ownership of the state’s vision and strategic plan for education.

Policy Update

ESSA Stakeholder Engagement: Early Challenges and Promising Practices

This NASBE policy update identifies five common challenges in engaging this extensive list of stakeholders, and highlights several promising practices states are using to address them.

State Innovations

Kansas Loops Stakeholders In on Conversation about K-12 Policy

Kansas made stakeholder engagement central to its ESSA plan and strategic planning, with lessons for other states.

Also from NASBE

A State of Engagement: NASBE Study Group on Student Engagement

“A State of Engagement” explores the behavioral, emotional, and cognitive dimensions of student engagement and the role peers, educators, school environments, parents and communities play in helping students become invested in their own learning. The report finds that an educational system that more meaningfully engages students will require state policymakers to act.