Stakeholder research: optimize use of communication tools

Every child has the right to a good education. Teachers, school boards and other professionals are committed to this every day. With effective supervision, the Education Inspectorate contributes to better education in the Netherlands.

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Challenge

The Inspectorate of Education publishes an annual overview of the most important trends and developments in the education system. At the conference of the same name, the State of Education is presented to the ministers of Education, Culture and Science.

The Inspectorate of Education wants to create as much positive impact as possible throughout the education field with the State of Education. To this end, optimal use of means of communication is of great importance.

In order to properly address the needs of school administrators and school leaders, the Inspectorate of Education asked Blauw to conduct research into the reach, appreciation and use of the State of Education among this target group in all education sectors.

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Vision

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Solution

Combination of quantitative and qualitative research

In the study, we used a combination of methods:

An online quantitative survey of 219 administrators and school leaders to understand the reach, understanding and use of communication tools surrounding the State of Education.
An in-depth qualitative study in the form of 22 in-depth telephone interviews in which we spoke at length with administrators and school leaders about their knowledge of the findings of the State of Education 2019, its significance for their own organization's policy and strategy, and actual use of the State of Education findings.

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Result

The research showed that the State of Education is well known and appreciated by school administrators and school leaders. The results were enthusiastically received by the project team of the Inspectorate of Education, which is preparing the next State of Education. During a workshop led by Blauw, they translated the recommendations from the study into concrete improvement actions in order to further sharpen the communication strategy and further increase the impact of the State of Education. We look forward to the next edition!

case

"Blauw took us through the process well and time after time their added value was in the sharpness of their analyses and good ability to distinguish main and secondary issues."