Case Study > New School Development
Research, design and media make an impact
The Challenge:
The Donnell-Kay Foundation, along with policy firm Augenblick, Palaich & Associates, embarked on a research project to evaluate urban school district reform in several major cities across the U.S. The goal: To learn lessons and make recommendations for Denver Public Schools (DPS).
In order to influence the debate occurring simultaneously within DPS, Donnell-Kay decided to release some findings from the research project. But for the report to have any impact, the release needed to make a splash and get noticed by opinion leaders and elected officials.
The Solution:
SE2 sought to design an attention-grabbing report that people would want to read while using media coverage to generate interest in and raise awareness of the report.
SE2 worked to convert a text-heavy research report into a streamlined, visually appealing document. Ample white space, color, clean design and photos of students engaged in learning kept readers’ attention and reminded them of the human element behind the facts and statistics.
The Result:
The Rocky Mountain News covered the report’s release as part of a two-page spread addressing issues around DPS school reform. As part of that coverage, a link to the report was included on the front page of RockyMountainNews.com, driving traffic to the Donnell-Kay website, increasing awareness about the issue and ultimately influencing the debate on school reform.