Engaging All Families with Parent Leaders www.pepartnership.org Engaging All Families with Parent Leaders Family engagement is a piece of the student proficiency puzzle Merle Siefken Illinois Statewide Technical Assistance Collaborative Family and Community Engagement Focus Area 9:30 AM This is a presentation of the Illinois Statewide Technical Assistance Collaborative (ISTAC). All rights reserved. NCLB February 2014

Discuss with a partner Whose responsibility is the success of each child? How does your school district engage families to support student success? Do parents have the skills and knowledge to be engaged? Do parents feel welcomed to engage?

Learning Objectives Today we will: Examine the role of parent leaders in public education Identify strategies to partner with parent leaders to engage more families

Working Agreements Everyone shares knowledge and skills Common courtesy Avoid distracting side conversations What’s said here stays here, what’s learned here leaves Turn electronics to silent or vibrate mode

Did you know? The number one predictor of a child’s success at school is the mother’s literacy.

Did you know? Home factors account for 49% of a child’s success at school.

Barriers to Engaging Families Lack of knowledge about the importance of family engagement Lack of confidence and skills to work with families Lack of time Unwelcoming venues

Barriers to Families Engaged Lack of knowledge about the importance of their role in their child’s education Lack of confidence and skills to work with teachers Lack of time Lack of trusting relationships

Barriers to Families Engaged Lack of confidence and skills Lack of knowledge Lack of trust Lack of time Unwelcoming venues Avoidance

NCLB, Title 1 Building Capacity for Involvement Section 1118 (e) (3), “shall educate teachers, pupil services personnel, principals, and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between parents and the school.”

NCLB, Title 1 Schools Shall Build Capacity for Involvement by: Providing professional development for staff with the assistance of parents Understanding the value and utility of contributions of parents Learning how to reach out to and communicate with parents Working with parents as equal partners Implementing and coordinating parent programs Building ties between parents and the school

Remove the barriers by Creating a Welcoming environment Building knowledge around the role of parents Developing skills to be equal partners Providing quality time to partner Creating a Welcoming environment

Family engagement is built upon the idea that we ALL want students to do well.

The choice is to work in partnership or isolation.

Students benefit from partnerships Higher grades and test scores Better attendance/more homework done Less need for student support services More positive attitudes and behavior Higher graduation rates More post-secondary education A New Wave of Evidence

If we are serious about improving student achievement, we must be serious about improving family engagement.

Schools that succeed In engaging families from very diverse backgrounds share three key practices: 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.

Do our Schools reflect our Communities Student Information Teacher Information White – 51% Black – 18% Hispanic – 23.6% Asian – 4.2% Two or more races – 2.8% White – 83.3% Black – 7.1% Hispanic – 5.3% Asian – 1.3% Two or more races - 0.8% 2012 Illinois State Report Card

NCLB, Title 1 Building Capacity for Involvement Section 1118 (e) (9), “may train parents to enhance the involvement of other parents.”

Parents may be nurtured as leaders For a variety of purposes: Educating Advocating Engaging Connecting Organizing Deciding

Parent Leaders help parents: Understand they should be involved Know they are capable of making a contribution Feel invited by the school and their children Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler

Roles of Parent Leaders Build parental capacity to be teachers of their own children Build school capacity to reach the underrepresented Build trust between families and schools

Do we need to check our temperature or pulse? Parent Engagement Assessment

Parent Leaders assist Schools to: Build a community of parents committed to school improvement Develop relationships of trust between parents and schools Enhance parent participation and leadership skills Provide parent opportunity to influence the process and outcomes of an issue Create parent participation in a deliberation process where all participants are on an equal footing

What steps do you need to take 3 things you learned today? 2 things you found interesting and would like to learn more about? 1 question you still have about the information?

Our time has just begun Merle Siefken merle.siefken@istac.net www.pepartnership.org 877-317-2733, ext. 222