How did our school get involved? Iowa Sustaining Parent Involvement Network i S P I N

Ed Redalen Robin Galloway Tracey Adamowski Iowa PIRC Engaging Parents in their Children’s Learning: A Strategy for Increasing Student Achievement Iowa Parent Information Resource Center – Iowa PIRC

Goals for this Presentation:  Beliefs Create Realities  Research on Family Involvement  How to build a partnership between home and school  What is next?

Core Beliefs Exercise Circle the statement next to the statement that best reflects how you feel about that statement We will collect all the papers and then randomly redistribute them later in the presentation You will then “represent” the opinion on the questionnaire that was redistributed to you The Questionnaire…

A New Wave Of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family and Community Connections on Student Achievement Why? Why should schools invest time in building strong family, school, and community partnerships?

The Research  Started with a group of 80 studies and literature reviews that focused on the influence of family and community involvement on academic achievement and other outcomes  Studies met these standards:  Sound methodology  Study findings matched the data collected  Early childhood through high school  All regions of the country  Diverse populations  Community as well as family involvement  A variety of research methods  Different sources of data Strong Criteria for Selected Studies 51 Studies were Selected

Overall Finding:  Home-School Partnerships:  There is a positive and convincing relationship between family involvement and benefits for students, including improved academic achievement. This relationship holds across families of all economic, racial/ethnic, and backgrounds and for students at all ages.

Impact of Home-School Partnerships  When parents and school staff work together to support learning, students…  Earn higher grades and test scores  Enroll in higher level programs  Are promoted more and earn more credits  Adapt better to school and attend more regularly  Have better social skills and behavior  Graduate and go on to higher education

 Programs and interventions that engage families in supporting their children’s learning at home are linked to higher student achievement. What? What types of engagement have the greatest impact on student achievement?  Family involvement at home appears to have the greatest effect on student achievement.

Family Engagement  The more families can support their children’s progress:  The better their children do in school  The longer they stay in school  Families of all cultural backgrounds, education, and income levels:  Encourage their children  Talk with them about school  Help them with their post high school plans  Keep them focused on learning and homework  All families can, and do, have positive effects on their children’s learning Protective Effect Benefits for ALL Families

Linked to Learning Parent and community involvement that is linked to improving student learning has a greater effect on achievement than more general forms of involvement.

Using Components of Effective Partnerships Schools How? How can we achieve effective school, family, and community partnerships?  Programs that successfully connect with families and community:  Invite and encourage involvement  Are welcoming  Address specific parental and community needs. WELCOMING  Parent-involvement programs that are effective in engaging diverse families:  Recognize diversity  Respect diversity  Address cultural and class differences RESPECT DIFFERENCES

The Joining Process Putting the Findings into Action…

Welcome, Honor, Connect WELCOMING... Families are made to feel at home, comfortable, and a part of the school community. HONORING… Family members are respected, validated and affirmed for any type of involvement or contribution they make. CONNECTING… School staff and families put children at the center, connect on education issues of common interest, and to increase parental engagement with their children’s learning at home.

The “oil” that keeps the cogs in motion… Relationships Welcome…Honor…Connect

Beyond the Bake Sale  Anne Henderson  Karen Mapp  2006  Karen Mapp Video  Educator’s Toolkit 2.3.1

Using the iSPIN Planning and Implementation Model Research  Practice

iSPIN Core Beliefs

Core Belief 1 All parents have dreams for their children and want the best for them

Core Belief 2 All parents have the capacity to support their children’s learning.

Core Belief 3 Student success is bolstered when families, teachers, and other members of the school community work together as equal partners on their behalf.

Core Belief 4 School leaders are the prime movers in establishing and nurturing the processes and practices necessary to intentionally build a school community.

In short… A school community rests upon mutual respect, strong relationships, shared responsibility, and focused attention to students’ learning.

iSPIN Desired State Our School Culture is one in which parents…  Feel welcome in our school  Understand and play a role in their children’s education  Feel confident and competent as they support their children’s school success …and is based upon the positive relationships that are developed, nurtured, and sustained between parents and school staff. Our goal is for students to internalize the following attributes of successful students…  Feel confident they can succeed  Be internally motivated to do well in each class  To know how to manage their own learning  To know how to ask for help

Moving the needle  Aspirations  I plan to continue my education after high school.  My family expects me to do well in school.  Talking with family members  I talk to my family about my homework.  I talk to my family about what I'm learning in school.  Self-efficacy  I can do even the hardest homework if I try.  I can learn the things taught in school.  I can figure out difficult school work.  I want to understand how to solve problems.  Intrinsic Motivation  I like to look for more information about school subjects.  I want to learn new things.  Managing learning  I ask myself questions as I go along to make sure my homework makes sense to me.  I try to figure out the hard parts of my school work on my own.  I go back over things I don’t understand.  I try to find a place that makes it easier to do my homework.  Asking for help from teachers  I can get along with most of my teachers.  I can go and talk with most of my teachers.  I can get my teachers to help me if I have problems with other students.  I can explain what I think to most of my teachers.  I ask the teacher to tell me how well I'm doing in class.  There is at least one adult at school that I could go to for help with a problem.

Your School Community Council… What is next?

QUESTIONS? THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!