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Mason educators ask Who Cares?
Thursday, November 1, 2007 11:02 PM EDT
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Of course they care about student achievement and test scores. But they care not only about those academic measures of success, they care about the students themselves. Middleton and Petitt care about forging relationships with those students, and they care about providing good service to the primary customers in the public education system: the students and their families.
Middleton, an associate superintendent, and Petitt, an assistant superintendent of the Mason County school system, spent two and a half years working on their book, Who Cares? Improving Public Schools Through Relationships and Customer Service.
The concept for the book came from Middleton and Petitt's brainstorming of best customer service practices which could be implemented within the Mason County School District.
They evaluated some of the practices of companies known best for their customer service, interviewed professionals with those businesses, then determined how those practices could be implemented within the public school system.
The Mason County School District has made strides towards improving customer service based on those practices.
To better establish relationships between students and staff, home visits were implemented.
Middleton said one practice companies implement is that of keeping "backstage items backstage." In the school system, that means keeping discipline and other issues out of the main office, where visitors would be more likely to see them.
Middleton and Petitt have spoken at a number of school districts in the country regarding their methods of customer service, and were asked on occasion if they had a book.
So, the practices Middleton and Petitt came up with were then turned into 10 concepts, which are shared in their new book, released last week.
In addition to not only making the educational experience a better one for students and their families, Middleton and Petitt outline another reason why it is important for public schools to focus on customer service in chapter one of their book.
With a push for "school choice," Middleton said public schools are going to have to compete with private schools eventually to keep and retain students. With public schools' "stock" seemingly plummeting, students choosing other schools could hurt financially, and cause a loss of jobs.
According to information on the book provided by Middleton, Who Cares? is a "call to arms for all proponents of public schools: administrators, teachers, support staff and unions."
To that end, Middleton and Petitt not only include best customer service practices for teachers and administrators, but for bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers, and everyone else in the school system.
Some of the concepts offered in the book include: hire the best people and train them, monitor and evaluate performance, make facility maintenance a top priority, and look for ways to do the "extra" things and to improve customer service, among others.
The book also includes "29 ways for teachers to WOW parents and administrators."
The book is published by Wheatmark publishing. It is available at each of the schools, or can be ordered on-line through http://www.amazon.com or http://www.barnesandnoble.com.
Contact Misty Maynard at misty.maynard@lee.net or 606-564-9091, ext. 274.
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