. State Director Involvement and Sustainability of SPDG Efforts ADEQUACY OF RESOURCES Julia Causey, Georgia DOE/SPDG

Adequacy of Resources: The potential for continued support of the project after Federal funding ends, including, as appropriate, the demonstrated commitment of appropriate entities to this type of support. 2

To build state sustainability, SPDG leaders should build the support of the following: State Director of Special Education –vital, most valuable of all! This leadership helps: connect your initiatives to other projects, build connections, see the big picture, plan and stretch the budget. Other Staff in Your Division - they can: get the word out, lend valuable expertise and manpower! DOE General Education Staff- the SPDG must connect to the goals of the department if it will live on after grant funds leave. How do your SPDG goals align? What is general education planning and doing that aligns-can you share resources? You also will gain needed resources and expertise! Other Agencies- Such as: Early Intervention (Early Care and Learning), Georgia Professional Standards Commission (Teacher Preparation, Certification, and Recruitment), Georgia Board of Regents (Institutions of Higher Education), Mental Health, and Juvenile Justice. Parent Training Information Center (PTI) The PTI can build family leadership in your SPDG work and bring many partners to the table. 3

. So how do Georgia’s SPDG’s family engagement initiatives impact student achievement to increase early literacy and decrease the dropout rate? Through critical partnerships between GaDOE, the PTI, the PTA and local home, school and community teams! 4

“We will lead the nation in improving student achievement.” As you know, Family “disengagement” is one of the multiple risk factors of drop out A lack of communication between families and school and the family feeling “unwelcomed” are two triggers that predict future drop out. GaDOE’s family engagement team is launching data-driven family engagement initiatives beginning with pre-K. (C. Hammond, J. Smink, & S. Drew: National Dropout Prevention Center. D. Linton: Communities In Schools, Inc., May 2007) 5

“We will lead the nation in improving student achievement.” SPDG FAMILY ENGAGEMENT OBJECTIVE To increase student achievement by engaging and empowering parents to be actively engaged in their children’s education across all grade levels. 6

Considering the national and state evidence indicating a high drop out rate and a wide gap in achievement cannot change without effective family engagement, the SPDG placed the Divisions’ Family Engagement Specialist on the SPDG Design Team from the GET GO! Part of the success of embedding family initiatives into the SPDG work, comes from the early literacy teams set up for young families by Georgia’s Parent Training Information Center (PTI), in addition to the many stakeholders - from principals to ministers – who are driving teams called C.A.F.E.s (Circles of Adults Focusing on Education) at the high school level. 7

How Do We Do It? “Meeting the child care and early education needs of Georgia’s children and families.” Georgia follows researchers Karen Henderson and Ann Mapp (2002) action steps to establish effective family engagement programs: Link family, student and community engagement efforts to student learning. 8

“We will lead the nation in improving student achievement.” Georgia is Guided by the PTA’s National Standards for Family-School Partnerships Georgia is Guided by the PTA’s National Standards for Family-School Partnerships Family – School Partnerships are what parents, schools, and communities can do together to support student success. 9

In building initiatives, the SPDG team considers Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to understand the families they are trying to support as well as to find new parent leaders  Self actualization  Esteem Needs  Belonging Needs  Safety Needs  Psychological “Meeting the child care and early education needs of Georgia’s children and families.” 10

Further Considering is taken by the guidelines of the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Strengthening Families was developed in early care and education programs, but other partners - in a large variety of settings – are working with many different populations to explore4 ways to apply the approach. “Meeting the child care and early education needs of Georgia’s children and families.” 11

“We will lead the nation in improving student achievement.” Putting it All Together… The GaDOE Uses A Crosswalk to create Family Initiatives to Impact Achievement Putting it All Together… The GaDOE Uses A Crosswalk to create Family Initiatives to Impact Achievement Hierarchy of Needs Family-School Standards Protective Factors 12

“We will lead the nation in improving student achievement.” SPDG Family Engagement Strategies Embed sustainable family, school, and community engagement initiatives in school improvement work to increase student. No separate acts of kindness! Everything must be measurable to impact change. Increase communication between home, school and community through training and collaborative activities with the PTI and other state organizations targeting families. Build capacity and leadership with the PTI by activating the National PTA Standards and identifying, training and supporting leadership among the families of the students being targeted for improvement. 13

“Meeting the child care and early education needs of Georgia’s children and families.” Leadership Leadership Partnerships Partnerships Capacity Building Capacity Building PTA Standards PTA Standards Strengthening Family Protective Factors Strengthening Family Protective Factors Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Achievement Goals Achievement Goals Data Data Research Research Strategies in Action 14

“We will lead the nation in improving student achievement.” Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership We had a good start: Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership An initiative by the Division for Special Education, Georgia Department to Education A data-driven national model for family/school /community collaboration, the Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership encourages families of students with disabilities and/or other academic risks to be critical players in the school improvement process. 15

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The GaDOE’s Parent Mentor Partnership boasting about 90 parents of students with disabilities working for Georgia school systems, partners on a daily basis with the state’s PTI, Parent to Parent of GA. Parent to Parent (P2P) of Georgia offers a comprehensive database containing over 4,000 resources in more than 100 categories. Last year more than 50,000 parents and educators used the database. The state’s PTI answered almost 10,000 education calls in the last 18 months. Its multi-step support system dovetails with work of the Georgia Parent Mentors Partnership. Parent Mentors collaborate with P2P’s network of leaders and volunteers across the state. 17

P2P took the SPDG CAFÉ model to begin discussion groups between families, educators and community members in conjunction with parent mentors beginning in P2P uses the IDEA Partnerships’ Dialogue Process in its work following the lead of the SPDG. 18

C.A.F.E. What’s in a Name? CAFE MEANS: there are issues that we can understand and impact if we come together around our interests many groups of adults can contribute to supporting current strategies and finding new ones these adults need to engage with each other, communicate effectively and move to action. 19

The Parent Leadership Coalition (PLC) The GaDOE played a key role in initiating the PLC soon after the Parent Mentor Partnership was underway in This coalition of diverse state organizations work on parent engagement and training. The Southeast Regional Resource Center funded a Coalition retreat in 2004 which coalition members created a statewide Navigation Team Project. The goal is to place local team in every county. P2P now leads the navigator teams with more than 60 community action teams across the state. 20

Members of the Parent Leadership Coalition GaDOE, Division for Special Education and Title 1 Parent Outreach Ga. Division of Early Childcare and Learning Babies Can’t Wait, Ga. Department of Health Parent to Parent of Georgia Ga. Department of Behavior Health, Developmental Disabilities and Addicted Disease Family Unit Center for Leadership in Disabilities, Georgia State University Georgia Family Connection Partnership Institute on Human Developmental and Disability State PTA State PIRC, Parent Information Resource Center Strengthening Families 21

The SPDG Works Closely with other school partners in Family Engagement A 360-Degree Family Engagement Webinar series, a collaboration between Special Education, Title 1 and Division for Early Childcare and Learning is ready to air its fourth module in several weeks on embedding achievement into the work to increase family engagement in schools. The series is reaching almost 100 parent leaders in special education, 500 Title 1 Parent Involvement Coordinators and 500 Resource Coordinators in Georgia Pre-Ks. Locally, the 3 entities are on the same team! 22

Big Picture Promote the Power of Action Teams Build a committed team of educators, parents and community members Understand the research behind family engagement in increasing achievement Embrace the IDEA Partnership Dialogue Process Support Local Teams to be Empowered! 23

For more information contact Patti Solomon Family Engagement Specialist, GaDOE or Debi Tucker, Executive Director of Parent to Parent of Ga.