Transcript Slide 1

Parent/Community Resources in
Hartford Public School Reform
Spring 2009 Internship Summary
Franci Davila and Emma Sajben
Educational Studies Program
Trinity College, Hartford, CT
April 2009
How could parents be involved in
facilitating their children’s academic
achievement?
 “It’s not about the happy-meter of adults”
 Parents > mom + dad
 Parent involvement ≠ parent satisfaction
 Home-effect highly predictive of student achievement
(Appx1)
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Multi-tiered approach: inclusive of various
stakeholders yielding a wide range of responses
Response rate by schools
(Appx2)
 Qualitative & quantitative
data
 District documents
 Interviews with
 Central Administrators
 Community Organizations
 Focus group of parents &
parent leaders
 Parent survey
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Parent survey
 388 out of 1200 returned
 Response rate: 32.2%
 Distributed to
 4 schools
 4 OPMAD – Schools
 PTO Presidents
 Non-representative sample
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Central resources provided by the district to
support student achievement
Welcome Center
 Mediator between the
district and the schools
 Limited resources to
establish a systemic familyschool/district relationship
 55.8% of surveyed parents
do not know of the
Welcome Center (Appx3)
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Percent of parents who have never
received information from the
Welcome Center (Appx3)
What resources are available at the
school level?
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F(amily)R(esource)A(id)
P(arent)T(eacher)O(rganiza
tion)
 FRA does not provide
 Parents affiliated with the
consistent resources across
different schools
(Appx4.1)
 The wide range of
responsibilities shift the
focus from
family/community
engagement
PTO tend to be more
informed of district
policies (Appx4.2)
 Could be a good channel
for communicating with
parents but this
relationship lacks trust and
is inconsistent
What resource do parents use at the
school level?
 Teachers
- 78% of parents turn to the teacher when a problem
occurs
- First and only access point for parents in the schools
- Teachers’ primary focus is student achievement and
cannot be expected to be the primary resource for parents
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How do community organizations facilitate
parents in supporting student achievement?
 Provide supplementary services that the district is unable to
provide
 Serve as an agent for Parental Engagement
 OPMAD parents are more likely to volunteer (46%) than other
parents (34%)
 Weak district-community partnership
 few initiatives
 need to update CO-database
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Implication #1
More effective ways of connecting parents with resources to support their child`s
achievement
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Implication #2
 Re-establishment of “relational trust” (Bryk & Schneider*)
 Community Organizations (e.g.: panel discussion, conference
on shared responsibility, cooperation)
 Parents (e.g.: newspaper column, blog, suggestion box etc.)
 PTO (e.g.: more frequent attendance at monthly meetings)
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*Bryk, A. & Schneider, B. (2002) Trust in schools: A core resource for improvement. New York:
Russell Sage Foundation
Implication #3
 More transparent structure of family/community
engagement
 Comer model – a compelling, well-researched structural model
(Appx6)
 Basic structure: three-level system of interconnected teams
involving teachers, parents and administrators
 HPS piecemeal elements (e.g.: future SGCs, PTO, FRA)
 Guiding principals: no fault principle, consensus decision-making,
collaboration
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Implication #4
There’s a need for a consistent,
concerted vision for family/community
outreach
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Appendix #1 - References
Abt Associates. (2001). National evaluation of family support programs.
Final report volume B: Research studies. Cambridge, MA: Abt Associates.
Barton, A. C., Drake, C., Perez, J. G., St.Louis, K., & George, M. (2004). Ecologies of Parental
Engagement in Urban Education. Educational Researcher, 33, 3-12.
Comer, J. P. & Haynes, N. M. (1991). Parent involvement in schools: An ecological approach. The Elementary School Journal, 91(3), 271-277.
Epstein, J. (2001). School, family, and community partnerships. Boulder: Westview Press.
Gibson, M.A. (2002). The new Latino diaspora and educational policy. In S. Wortham, E.G. Murillo, & E.T. Hamann (Eds.), Education in the new Latino diaspora: Policy and the politics of identity.
Westport, CT: Ablex Publishing.
Gold, E., Simon, E., & Brown, C. (2005). A New Conception of Parent Engagement: Community Organizing for School Reform. In F.W.English (Ed.), The Sage Handbook of Educational Leadership:
Advances in Theory, Research, and Practice (pp. 237-268). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Harvard Family Research Project – Family Involvement Resources and Publications: http://www.hfrp.org/family-involvement/publications-resources?topic=12
Jeynes, William H. (2005). Parental Involvement and Student Achievement: A Meta-Analysis. Harvard Family Research Project, http://www.hfrp.org/family-involvement/publicationsresources/parental-involvement-and-student-achievement-a-meta-analysis, retrieved January 10, 2008.
Henderson, A.T., and Mapp, K.L. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact on school, family, and community connections on student achievement. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory:
Austin, TX.
Institute for Responsive Education. (2003). Parent Leadership Exchange: Three-year evaluation report. Boston.
www.responsiveeducation.org/pdf/pleFinalReport.pdf
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Appendix #2
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Appendix #3
 Do you know about..?
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Appendix #4.1
How often do you get
information from the FRA?
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Which school does your child attend *
How often do you get information from
Family Resource Aide? Crosstabulation
Appendix #4.2
How many times have you gone to parent
meetings? * Do you know about the Board`s
Welcome Center? Crosstabulation
How many times have you gone to parent meetings?
* Do you know about your school`s score on CMT?
Crosstabulation
Count
Do you know about your school`s score
Count
on CMT?
No
How many times
have you gone to
0
Yes
Do you know about the Board`s Welcome Center?
Blank
Total
No
0
1
0
1
Never
42
67
7
116
3.5
18
49
3
70
1-2
47
93
5
145
parent meetings?
6 or
9
23
1
33
Blank
1
6
1
8
Total
117
239
17
373
more
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How many times have you
0
gone to parent meetings?
Yes
Blank
Total
0
1
0
1
Never
76
34
6
116
3.5
30
35
5
70
1-2
91
50
4
145
6 or more
8
25
0
33
Blank
3
5
0
8
Total
208
150
15
373
Appendix #5
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Appendix #6
 "The Comer Process provides a structure as well as a process for
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mobilizing adults to support students' learning and overall
development."
- Systemic reform program as well as school reform program
- Recognizes many barriers to parental involvement that are
directly relevant to Hartford population
Role of parents in Comer model:
Level 1: Parents provide general support and participate in a
variety of activities designed to stimulate their interest in the
school.
Level 2: Parents are involved as volunteers in daily school affairs.
Level 3: Parents participate in school decision making by serving
on the School Planning and Management Team(SPMT).
Appendix #7
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Appendix #8
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