Intentionality and Focus on
Customer Experience
in the South Dakota Department of Education

Schools have been measured primarily by test scores, graduation rates, attendance, and discipline. For some time, educational leaders and policy-makers have been in pursuit of a more balanced and fair way to measure the complex and high-impact work of caring and nurturing that goes on in every school. Every state’s effort to incorporate culture and climate surveys as part of school ratings is a testament to this earnest struggle.

The advent of school choice and the shift in how stakeholders now communicate has led us to identifying Customer Experience as a key indicator of the caring and nurturing in schools. It is a more real-time and direct measure of what an annual survey aspires to capture and provides more actionable insight in the areas of employee morale, equity, student safety, and operational effectiveness. K12 Insight, in partnership with National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) and National School Boards Association (NSBA), just concluded the first State of K-12 Customer Experience study with salient findings that should be of interest to every state department of education. I would love to share these with you in Santa Fe and appreciate your assistance in bringing it to the attention of educational leadership in your state.