Beyond the School-Business Partnership

An Appleseed Perspective on Parent and Community

Engagement

Evidence-Based

What is the State of Parent Involvement in Public Schools and What is Needed?

It Takes a Parent:Transforming Education in the Wake of the No Child Left Behind Act

Appleseed

Local Direction, National Connections.

We are a growing network of local organizations, rooted in and responsive to their own communities, backed with national expertise and resources.

The Project

• Assessment of Parental Involvement, particularly since the No Child Left Behind Act

• Six states: Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, New Mexico, Texas and Washington

• 18 school districts – city, suburban and rural, including one that is predominantly Navajo

The Project

• Partners: Holland & Knight, DLA Piper, Columbia Teachers College, Pricewaterhouse Coopers

• Interviews of federal and state officials

• Interviews of community groups

• Focus groups with parents

• Review and inclusion of social science literature supporting effectiveness of parents in raising academic performance

What Is This Animal?

Why Is It Important?

• Goes to the heart of NCLB

• Parents are largely overlooked as a key strategy in school improvement

• Parents can help to close the persistent achievement gaps

• Fulfills the mission of public school as open to all (including low-income and second language)

Why Is It Important?

• Turns parents into active advocates rather than just passive recipients

• Creates a more welcoming environment and thereby a more collaborative educational approach

• Social science research supports the proposition that more parent involvement equals higher academic performance

• Mandated by law

What Does the Research Say?

• A 2007 study found that for students between kindergarten and 5th grade:

– Increases in family involvement in the school predict increases in literacy achievement.

– Family involvement in school matters most for

children at greatest risk.

What Does the Research Say?

Research studies consistently “showed a relationship between parent involvement…and improved student achievement. This relationship holds across families of all economic, racial/ethnic, and educational backgrounds and for students of all ages”

– The National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools

Findings

Finding 1: Too many parents fail to receive clear and timely information about their children and their schools.

Finding 2: Poverty, limited English proficiency, and varying cultural expectations are among the biggest barriers to parental involvement.

Findings

Finding 3: Poor communication with parents hinders their ability to exercise NCLB’s choice and supplemental education services options.

Finding 4: Creative, multi-faceted communication and engagement strategies can promote better parental involvement in schools.

Findings

Finding 5: Parental involvement is not uniformly valued by school leaders as a key accountability strategy.

The Goal

Mission:

Advance academic outcomes for students most at-risk of academic failure by empowering parents and educators to become knowledgeable and powerful advocates for school improvement and school success.

Assessment-Based

How Can Appleseed Make a Difference with the Measuring

Parent Involvement Effectiveness in Elementary Schools Tool?

Action-Based

Ideas to Consider and Discuss

Parental Leave

•Employers provide unpaid leave for primary care-givers to attend school activities for their child.

•Several states have existing laws mandating time off.

Parental Leave

• Tax Incentives for Businesses Voluntarily Offering School-Related Parental Leave

• Survey at National Summit on Family/School/Community Engagement:

• 55% Yes

• 22% No

• 20% Don’t Know

Use of Technology

Example:

Business Videoconferencing Technology Used for Parent-Teacher Conferences with Members of the Military or Parents Away for Business Reasons.

Alumni Recognition

• Provide Employees as Role Models Who Can Provide Living Proof that Public School Graduates Can Achieve Success

• Create a Speakers’ Bureau Where Employees Can Talk to Parents and Kids About Their Work or Their Outside Passion

Investment in Innovation

The Federal I-3 or Investment in Innovation Grant Program Requires a 20% private match to secure funds from the U.S. Department of Education ($650M in Stimulus). Pending: $500M Request.

•A Possible Condition of Giving: A Parental Engagement Component

Cross-Border Work

Businesses are located in one jurisdiction but have business and employee connections regionally.

Idea: Sponsor a cross-border/multi-district/multi-business collaborative stressing parent involvement, information sharing and more.

Workplace Flexibility

•Permit Parent-Teacher Conferences to take place at the work site.

•Host Career Days to give students and parents together a sense of how the workplace operates and the knowledge, skills and disposition needed to be successful.

Public-Private Partnerships

•Work with schools to make mixed-use school and housing parent friendly.

One way: Sponsor a dedicated parent gathering room within the complex

Do-It-Yourself

•Start a Charter School in which parent involvement is a central component.

•Place an employee on a Charter School Board of Directors

•Support a Charter School Parent Involvement Initiative

Citizen Schools

Participate in an existing program, like Citizen Schools:

•Goals: School success, oral communication, team-building, community explorations

•Twice a week apprenticeships (hands-on projects with volunteers)

•Serves 6th, 7th & 8th graders

Citizen Schools

• Statistics– 37 Program Sites– Serving 4,400 Students– 4,000 Volunteers– 7 states: California, Massachusetts New Jersey,

New Mexico, New York, North Carolina and Texas

– After-school program– Educators supervise 60-90 minutes of homework

or study time

Parent University

• Participate in programs that bring value to the community while showcasing business expertise:– Real Estate and Homeowner Information– Banking Services– Health and Nutrition– Advocacy– Prepare Parents and kids for special

academic academies

Legislative Action

• Involvement in advocating for parent involvement in reauthorization of the Elementary/Secondary Education Act (NCLB)

• Involvement in state legislation

• Speak out with business bully pulpit about the positive values of public schools

The Bottom Line

“Schools should be places that honor and respect families, that meet parents on their own terms. . . that [kind of] mutual support and engagement is still missing from too many schools.”

-- U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan