Transcript Connecticut School-Family-Community Partnerships Project

Let’s Renew our
Title I Compact
To reach our school
improvement goals, everyone
needs to be on board!
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Compact:
A written agreement of shared responsibility
How will families and teachers
work together this year to
achieve the goals of the
school improvement plan and
make AYP?
USDE 1996
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Our New Compact Will:
• Link to the goals of our School Improvement Plan and
our grade-level achievement data
• Describe strategies families can use at home to
strengthen students’skills
• Explain what teachers will do to support family learning
• Describe what students will do to reach their
achievement goals
• Be written in family-friendly language with meaningful
input from families and students
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Not Use General Statements Like:
• Teachers will hold high expectations for all
children and offer high-quality instruction
• Parents will monitor attendance and TV watching,
and make sure their children do their homework
• Students will be good citizens, read 30 minutes
every day, and bring home notices from school.
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Why do This?
• Section 1118 of the law says we must have a
School-Parent Compact
• Research says that engaging families helps
students do better in school
• Parents and families want to help
• We need all the help we can get to make AYP
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
School-Family-Community Partnerships
“Schools, families and communities all contribute
to student success, and the best results come
when all three work together as equal partners.”
CT State Board of Education Position Statement on School-Family-Community Partnerships
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Organizing Schools for Improvement
• Long-term study of Chicago schools: When schools
have strong family and community ties, their students
are:
• Four times more likely to make significant gains in
reading
• Ten times more likely to make significant gains in
math.
Anthony S. Bryk et al, (2010) Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press)
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
What are Strong Family Ties?
Title I students‘ reading and math scores (3-5th
grades) improved 40-50% faster when
teachers:
• met with families face-to-face
• sent materials on ways to help their child at home
• telephoned routinely about progress
(Westat and Policy Studies Associates, 2001)
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
First Two Steps to Success
1. Motivate and get buy-in from staff
- Explain at a staff meeting what Compacts are
and how they contribute to student success
2. Designate a leader
- Pick a person with leadership skills. Math/literacy
coach, AP, data team leader, home-school
coordinator
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Next Two Steps to Success
3. Align Compact with school improvement plan
- Review and analyze school data and SIP goals to
ID skills to focus on
4. Get grade-level input on skills that need to
improve in each grade
- Data teams ID three goals/grade level and draft
home learning ideas to discuss with parents
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
STUDENT DATA
District and School Improvement Plans
School-Parent Compact
Grade Level Strategies
Parent-Teacher
Conferences
Home
Learning
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Steps to Success #5 and #6
5. Reach out to Families
- Meet by grade level to discuss how to work
together (workshops, class meetings, math night).
Two-way conversations!
6. Don’t forget the Students
- How will they take responsibility for their learning?
- What do they want teachers and
parents to do to support them?
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
It’s All About the Conversations!
• Recruit parents to fun event -- then break into grade
level groups with translators.
• Ask: How can the school help YOU support your
children’s learning?
\
• Type up and circulate parents’ideas.
• Teachers meet at each grade level to respond, draft
Compact plan.
• Parents approve.
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
What do Teachers Say?
"As a result of collaborating with families on our school
compact, we teachers looked at parents differently,
appreciating how much they were willing to help. We
realized that as teachers we never were specific about
the learning skills and strategies that we wanted them
to do at home, and often assumed that there was no
support. Wow, were we wrong!! Our relationship with
families grew stronger and finally, we were all on the
same page to strengthen student achievement.”
Teacher, Geraldine Johnson School, Bridgeport CT
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Next Two Steps to Success
7. Pull it All Together
- Create an attractive, family-friendly Compact with
input from all
- Design a roll-out plan
8. Align all Resources
- ID professional development
- Pull in volunteers and community partners,
- Tap the Title I budget for materials, speakers
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Aligning Resources
• Budget
• Parent Workshops
School-Parent Compact
Grade Level Strategies
• Staff Development
• Volunteers, Tutors and
other Partners
• Title 1 Evaluation
School Action Team for Partnerships
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Last Two Steps to Success
9. Market the Compact
- Get the word out at every opportunity
- Refer to the Compact at parent-teacher conferences
and meetings
10. Review, Revise, Celebrate Progress
- Discuss what worked, what needs to Improve, then
develop new plan.
- Celebrate success and ask students to show off!
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Quality Indicators
• Link actions to goals in SIP and to school data
• Connect activities for families to what students are
learning and doing in class
• Include follow-up steps to support parents and
students
• Consult with parents on communication strategies
that work best for them
• Translate into families’ home languages
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
REMEMBER:
It’s all about
the Conversations!