Parent Involvement/Engagement & Student Achievement A Theoretical Model and Methodology

The way schools care about children is reflected in the way schools care about the children’s families. If we view children simply as students, then they are expected to do its job as separate from the school. That is, the family is expected to do its job and leave the education of children to the schools. If we view students as children, they are likely to see both the family and the community as partners with the school in children’s education and development. Partners recognize their shared interests in and responsibilities for children, and they work together to create better programs and opportunities for students Joyce L. Epstein

What is Parent Involvement; Engagement? What is a Welcoming Environment? What is Shared Decision Making? What challenges does your School Community face? What strategies have you tried to overcome challenges? How did your school overcome the challenges your school faced? What is your ideal school community?

What are the demographics of my school? How does my school relate to my parent community? How many students attend my school? Are the students in my school performing below, at or above grade level? What attracts parents in my community to my school? What are the concerns of my students outside of the classroom? What events at my school invite the participation of my parent community and the community at large? What are the concerns of my parent community?

Do you have a plan to build your ideal school community? What goals should be established to build your ideal school community? What needs to be in place to set your action plan in motion?

Qualities of High Performing School Communities High Quality Teaching A Safe & Well Maintained Facility Dedicated and Caring Teaching Staff Family Involvement Home Environments that Support Academic Achievement Communities Environments that Support Academic Achievement Steven B. Sheldon Improving Student Outcomes with School, Family, and Community Partnerships: a Research Review

The evolution in research on school, family and community partnerships is important for increasing knowledge on how different types of involvement may affect children’s learning and development. According to Joyce L. Epstein there are six involvement types Consider which types of involvement you want to increase in order to attain specific school goals and desired outcomes

View School, Family, and Community Involvement/Engagement as programs for your students. Research and analyze data Establish Goals Create Action Plans Link and Align Parent/Community Involvement & Engagement Goals with Student Achievement Goals

Six Types of Parent Involvement Parenting – Assist families in understanding child and adolescent development, and in setting home conditions that support children as students at each age and grade level. Assist schools in understanding families. “Parenting Workshop” to mean more than a meeting about a topic held at the school building at a particular time. “Workshop” may also mean making information about a topic available in a variety of forms that can be viewed, heard, or read anywhere, any time, in many ways. Epstein’s Six Types of Parent Involvement

Six Types of Parent Involvement Communicating - Communication with families about school programs and student progress through effective school-to-home and home-to-school communications. “Communications” about school programs and student progress” to mean two-way, and many-way channels of communication that connect schools, families, students, and the community.

Six Types of Parent Involvement Volunteering - Improve recruitment, training, work, and schedules to involve families as volunteers and audiences at school or in other locations to support students and school programs. “Volunteer” to mean anyone who supports school goals and children’s learning or development in any way, at any place, and at any time – not just during the school day and at the school building.

Six Types of Parent Involvement Learning at Home – Involve families with their children in learning activities at home, including homework, other curriculum-related activities, and individual course and program decisions. Learning at Home – “Homework” to mean not only work done alone, but also interactive activities share with others at home or in the community, linking schoolwork to real life. “Help” at home to mean encouraging, listening, reacting, praising, guiding, monitoring and discussing – not “teaching” school subjects

Six Types of Parent Involvement Decision Making – : Include families as participants in school decisions, governance, and advocacy through PA/PTA, school councils, committees, action teams, and other parent organizations. “Decision making” to mean a process of partnership, of shared views and actions toward shared goals, not just a power struggle between conflicting ideas. Parent “Leader” to mean a real representative, with opportunities and support to hear from and communicate with other families.

Six Types of Parent Involvement Collaborating with the Community – Coordinate resources and services for students, families, and the school with businesses, agencies, and other groups, and provide services to the community. “Community” to mean not only the neighborhoods where students’ homes and schools are located but also any neighborhood that influence student learning and development. Community not rated only by low or high social or economic qualities, but by strengths and talents to support students, families, and schools Community mean all who are interested in and affected by the quality of education, not just those with children in the schools.

Begin the Process Determine Data Sources Implement Action Plan Gather & Analyze Data Access Action Plan Create Action Plan Make Adjustments Use The Parent Involvement Types to help clarify the kinds of events you can use in planning for the year. Establish a framework to build an Action Plan Create Partnerships to assist with achieving goals

What is the goal? The goal is the terminal point; an area to be reached; the end toward which effort is directed. What is a goal-oriented approach to Parent Involvement/Engagement? A methodology that enables schools and families to reach out to each other and assist students with specific results in mind.

Create a framework to build your ideal community through Parent and Community Partnerships that support student learning and achievement. Identify Data Sources Gather Data Evaluate Plan Effectiveness Assess Interim Progress Analyze the Data Develop Action Plans & Budget Implement the plan

What are your data sources? ATS Learning Environment Survey (School Survey) Parent Survey CEP Quality Review Report Other Sources

Parental Engagement Goals & Action Plans Academic Goals & Action Plans Establish Goals & Action Plans for Parent Community that will be aligned to Academic Goals and Action Plans Parental Engagement Goals & Action Plans Academic Goals & Action Plans

Parental Engagement & Academic Integrate Goals & Action Plans for Parent Community that will be aligned to Academic Goals and Action Plans Parental Engagement & Academic Goals & Action Plans

CEP Action Plan for ELA Goals should be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Bound Goal 1 By June 20 __ , the percentage of students in grades 3-5 who score at proficiency as assessed by the NYS ELA Test will increase by 2 percent Action Plan Include: actions/strategies/activities the school will implement to accomplish the goal; target population(s); responsible staff members; and implementation timelines. Identify all students in grades 3-5 who scored level 1 and 2 by grade and class. Identify proficiency ratings, one year progress and school’s lowest 1/3 criteria for each student. Create an inquiry team made of teachers of grades 3-5, special educators, AIS providers and school administrators to select a target population from the pool of special education students identified in bullet 1.Consistently analyze periodic assessment results to identify common strengths and weaknesses among these students. Create two groups: Students who are significantly below grade level in reading and students who are close to being on grade level based on going running record assessments. Provide intensive pull-out Leveled Literacy Interventions and Read 180 reading intervention for the first group, the students who are significantly below grade level in reading. Provide intensive push-in skill and strategy instruction for the second group, students who are close to being on grade. Implement a 30 minute reading comprehension instruction daily using the new comprehension curriculum, Making Meaning, to increase reading comprehension across the curriculum. Implement a 50 min writing block daily to increase volume of writing instruction across the curriculum using the new writing program, Writing Fundamentals Starting January, alternate the Making Meaning block with Testing Fundamental, a contextualized test sophistication program through read TEMPLATE - MAY 2010 21 aloud. Implement a 25 minute word study block increase phonemic awareness and word attack strategies through the new word study curriculum titled Words Their Way. Provide a 27 two hour session ELA Test Sophistication Academy for all students in grades 3-5. Aligning Resources: Implications for Budget, Staffing/Training, and Schedule Include reference to the use of Contracts for Excellence (C4E) allocations, where applicable. Identify and train at least two academic intervention service providers Provide response to intervention training to all special education teachers and AIS providers Utilize computer based support/intervention programs such as Success Maker and Brain pop to increase student engagement. Utilize the Inquiry Team to monitor and revise the instructional actions taken around this population based on multiple data sources. Utilize the Literacy Coach in the training of the teachers and execution of the two-tiered intervention services to student. Utilize the ELA Aussie for pd on differentiated small group instruction in reading and writing. Indicators of Interim Progress and/or Accomplishment Include: interval (frequency) of periodic review; instrument(s) of measure; projected gains Monthly running record assessment indicating adequate movement in reading levels aligned with grade level and quarterly expectations.2 % increase in grade level equivalent measure in each Scranton administration (every 8 weeks for Sped Students)2 % increase overall % correct items in Acuity predictive administration from November to June.

CEP Action Plan for ELA with a Parent Component (Elementary School) Parental Involvement / Engagement Encourage Parent Community to read with students in grade k-5 through a series of activities sponsored by the Parent Association and organized by the Parent Coordinator. Parental Involvement - School Home Reading Program – encourage children to read daily for pleasure, provide parents with a mechanism to monitor their children’s reading progress, and to encourage a whole family approach to literacy. Children in grades 1 through 5 borrow books from the classroom library or the local library for home reading. Parental Engagement – Encourage & Invite parents to come to school to read with their child’s class 1 hour each month.

Goal Oriented Approach Increase academic achievement in reading, writing, science, math, social studies and other subjects (All Grade Levels) Improve attendance (All Grade Levels) Promote positive student behavior in school (All Grade Levels) Ensure successful transition and adjustments to new schools (MS/HS) Provide grade appropriate counseling for college and careers (HS) Advance students’ health, nutrition, safety (MS/HS) Attain other important academic or nonacademic goals on the school’s agenda for the year. (MS/HS)

Resources RIF: Reading Is Fundamental http://latinoliteracy.com National Headquarters Reading Is Fundamental, Inc.  1255 23rd Street, NW  Suite 300  Washington, DC 20037 Family Literacy Experiences Stenhouse Publishers 480 Congress Street Portland, ME 04101-3400 Phone: 800-988-9812 Fax: 800-833-9164 Family Reading Partnership Ithaca, New York Phone: 607-277-8602 Email: office@familyreading.org Magazine Publishers Family Literacy Project, http://magazineliteracy.org Building blocks : building a parent-child literacy  Lawrence Hall of Science program at your library http://lawrencehallofscience.stores.yahoo.net/familymath.html Sharon Snow. Westport, Conn. : Libraries Unlimited, 2007 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics The Barbara Bush Foundation For Family Literacy http://www.figurethis.org/index.html http://www.barbarabushfoundation.com The Latino Family Literacy Project

Research Harvard Family Research Project Webinar Series http://www.hfrp.org/ Parent Involvement Matters http://www.parentinvolvementmatters.org/articles/mariela-dabbah.html National Network of Partnership Schools, Johns Hopkins University School of Edcuation http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/publications/research.htm PTO Today http://www.ptotoday.com National PTA http://www.pta.org/ Columbia University; Teachers College http://www.tc.columbia.edu/ Fordham University; National Center for Schools and Communities http://stage.web.fordham.edu/test_suite/test_designs/colleges_and_grad_sc/education/school_partnerships/national_center_for_/education_policy_and/parent_involvement_72721.asp