Transcript Slide 1

“We believe
partnerships
with parents,
families,
communities,
and other
stakeholders are
essential to
quality public
education and
student
success.”
Module 1| The
Power of Knowledge
NEA core value on
partnership
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The Power of Knowledge
• “We believe partnerships with parents,
families, communities, and other
stakeholders are essential to quality
public education and student success.”
NEA core value on partnership
2
Research- and Evidence-Based
Elements of Change
Leverage
Community
Assets
Improve
District/Local
Association
Capacity and
Collaboration
Improve Staff
Capacity/
Effectiveness
Improve Student
Outcomes
 Access
 Performance
 Attainment
Develop Family and
Community
Partnerships
Adapted from the NEA Foundation
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We do not have to close a school, fire most or all of its
teachers, or turn it into a charter school to improve it.
There is a better way. Successful and innovative models of
public education that involve partnerships among
government, parents, community organizations, education
unions, businesses, and foundations are happening around
the country. For long-term, sustainable school
transformation, shared responsibility and collaboration
are essential.”
NEA President Dennis Van Roekel
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Epstein’s Framework on Involvement
• “A philosophy, culture, and process; overlapping
influence on education/well-being of children and
adults.”
Community
Family
School
Researcher, Joyce Epstein, Director, National Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships
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Epstein’s Framework on Involvement
• Parenting. Assist families with parenting skills, family
support, understanding child and adolescent development,
and setting home conditions, too.
• Communicating. Create two-way communication channels
between school and home that are effective and reliable.
• Volunteering. Improve recruitment and training to involve
families as volunteers and as audiences at the school or in
other locations.
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Epstein’s Framework on Involvement (2)
• Learning at Home. Include families with their children in
academic learning at home, homework, goal setting, and
curriculum-related activities.
•
Decision Making. Include families as participants in school
decisions, as well as in governance/advocacy activities.
• Collaborating with the Community. Coordinate
resources/services for families/students/school with community
groups, businesses, agencies, cultural/civic
organizations/colleges/universities.
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Title 1—Parent involvement …
Parent Involvement means “participation of parents in
regular, two-way, and meaningful communication
involving student academic learning/other school
activities, including:
- Parents assisting their child’s learning;
- Parents are encouraged to be involved at school;
- Parents are full partners in decision making;
Other activities, described in Sec. 1118, include compacts, policies, funding, capacity building, etc.
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Family Engagement is:
• A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY
Schools and other community agencies and organizations are committed to engaging
families in meaningful ways, and families are committed to actively supporting their
children’s learning and development.
• CRADLE TO CAREER
Family Engagement is continuous across a child’s life, from early head start to college
and career.
• ACROSS CONTENTS
Family Engagement is carried out everywhere that children learn— home, in pre-Ks,
school, after-school programs, faith-based institutions, and community programs and
activities.
National Family and Community Engagement Working Group, 2009
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OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH: What do we
mean by family-school-community
partnerships?
• “Parent and community involvement that is
linked to student learning has a greater effect
on achievement than more general forms of
involvement.”
Key finding from A New Wave of Evidence (Henderson and Mapp, 2002)
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Students with involved
parents/families:





Earn higher grades and test scores, and enroll in higher-level programs;
Are promoted, pass their classes and earn credits;
Attend school regularly;
Have better social skills, show improved behavior, and adapt well to school;
Graduate and go on to post-secondary education.
“A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family and Community Connections on Student Achievement,”
Anne T. Henderson and Karen L. Mapp. 2002. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
(SEDL).
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What successful schools do…
• Focus on building trusting, collaborative relationships
among teachers, families and community members
• Recognize, respect, and address families’ needs, as
well as class and cultural differences
• Embrace a philosophy of partnership where power
and responsibility are shared
A New Wave of Evidence (Henderson and Mapp, 2002)
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Middle/High School
Achievement-Family interaction:
• Talk regularly with students about school;
• Help make plans for post-secondary
education;
• Keep students focused on learning,
homework, and study habits throughout the
year.
A New Wave of Evidence (Henderson and Mapp, 2002)
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Necessary Support for School
Improvement
Strong parent-community-school ties are:
• Critical for attendance and safety;
• Lead the drive for change.
Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago. 2009.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
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Community Schools
A community school represents a partnership between
the school and community and its resources. It has an
integrated focus on academics, health and social
services, youth/community development/engagement
which leads to student learning, stronger
families/healthier communities. Schools became centers
of community/open to everyone, every day.
Coalition for Community Schools
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Community Schools (2)
• Community schools recognize that many factors
influence achievement of our children.
Community schools work to mobilize the assets
of the schools and the entire community to
improve the overall well-being of their citizens.
Coalition for Community Schools
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Community Organizing: A powerful
strategy to improve schools
Organizing Successes:
• Education funding
• Equitable distribution of resources
• Access to college preparatory courses
• Teacher recruitment and retention in hard-to-staff
schools
(Mediratta, Shah, and Mc Alister, 2009)
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Community Organizing (2)
• Community organizing for education reform
focuses on working “with”—not on behalf
of—low-income communities of color to
increase the power of residents to speak and
act for themselves.
The Strengths and Challenges of Community organizing as an education reform,
Annenburg Institute for School Reform
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Community Engagement Essentials
•
•
•
•
The role and leadership of Education Support Professionals (ESPs);
Building trust and sharing power;
Joint training/professional development sessions;
Mapping/understanding/valuing—community served;
• Long haul commitment.
“These are all our children, and we will benefit by or pay for what
they become.”
James Baldwin
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Ten Truths of Parental Involvement
1. Parents have hopes and goals for their children.
2. Home is one of several spheres shaping a child.
3. Parent is the central contributor to child’s
education.
4. Parent involvement must be legitimate.
5. Parent involvement is a process.
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Ten Truths of Parental Involvement (2)
6.
Parents’ interaction with their children is a
cornerstone of involvement.
7.
Parent involvement requires vision, policy, and a
framework.
8. Most barriers to parent involvement are in school
practices.
9. Any parent can be “hard to reach.”
10. Successful parent involvement nurtures relationships
and engagement.
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