Family & Community Involvement Planning Session

1. Family & Community Involvement Planning Session Louisiana Positive Behavior Support Project A cooperative endeavor with the Louisiana Department of Education

2. Subway Orders $5.45-please write name on envelope

3. Purpose of the Session • Identify types of involvement related to PBS • Discuss strategies & resources for collaboration • Action plan future directions for your district in relation to family/community engagement

4. Benefits of Family Involvement: Parents • Communication/relations with children and teachers improves • Self-esteem goes up • Education level/skills increase • Decision-making skills become stronger • Attitude toward school and school personnel improves

5. Benefits of Family Involvement:Students • Higher grades, test scores, and graduation rates • Better school attendance • Increased motivation, better self-esteem • Lower rates of suspension • Decreased use of drugs and alcohol • Fewer instances of violent behavior • Greater enrollment in postsecondary education

6. Benefits of Family Involvement: Teachers • Greater morale (and self-esteem) • Teaching effectiveness (proficiency) increases • Job satisfaction goes up • Communication/relations with students, parents, families, and communities improves • Community support of schools increases

7. Quick Research Facts • Courtesy of Michigan Department of Education (pages 2-5)

8. Where are you now? • District Triangle Activity Self-Assessment (p. 7)

9. Joyce Epstein’s Six Types of Parent Involvement • 1Parenting 2Communicating 3 Volunteering 4Learning at Home 5 School Decision Making and Advocacy 6Collaborating with the Community John Hopkins University

10. Type 1 PARENTING • Assist families with parenting and child-rearing skills, understanding child and adolescent development, and setting home conditions that support children as students at each age and grade level • Assist schools in understanding families, family resiliency and family development

11. Parenting Strategies • Create “PBS at Home” classes for parents • Create behavior support classes for parents and community members • Provide training in parents’ native language

12. Brochures • Positive Solutions for Families Brochure (p. 9-10) • Parents Partnering in PBS Brochure (Top 10) (p. 11) • Parent Brochure from MODEL Program (p. 12) • http://www.modelprogram.com/pbs-newsletter.html

13. Resources & Activities • Family Engagement Article (pp. 14-22) • Early Childhood Activities*http://www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/familytools.html *http://www.splcenter.org/images/dynamic/main/LA_Reducing_Student_Dropout.pdf

14. Share Time after next session!

15. Action Planning (p. 82) • Type 1: Parenting See Epstein’s Summary Page p. 23

16. Invited Guest Monica Ballay, LASIG

17. Type 2 COMMUNICATING Communicate with families about PBIS kick offs, training events, team meetings, activities and individual student progress through effective school-to-home and home-to-school communications.

18. Communication Strategies • Design effective forms of school-to-home and home-to-school communications about school programs and children’s progress. • Share results of PBS assessments and surveys with parents • Create and maintain a PBS bulletin board • Create “PBS In Action” video • Include PBS motto on school letterhead Provide

19. Code of Conduct • http://www.rsdla.net/Files/2008-2009%20Student%20Code%20of%20Conduct.pdf • http://www.rsdla.net/Files/2008-2009%20Student%20Family%20Handbook.pdf • Code of Conduct Activity

20. Other Ideas • Open House/Orientation/Parent Nights • Sporting Events (expectations, shirts, SIP Plan Sign off) • Example Letters (p. 25-28)

21. Visibility • Website • http://www.rapides.k12.la.us/sped/TC_2/ • http://www.usd305.com/southmiddle/Teachers/Stevens/SMS%20PBIS%20FILES/MAIN%20PBIS%20SMS%20MENU.htm • http://www.usd305.com/heusner/default/Students/Character.htm • http://www.rsdla.net/StudentsAndFamilies/PBS_copy1.aspx • http://www.acadia.k12.la.us/SWPBS.htm • http://staffdevelopment.ebrschools.org/explore.cfm/positivebehavior/ • http://www.nrms.k12.nc.us/departments/pbs/school_examples.asp

22. Additional Items • Mastricola PBS Parent Survey & Results (see LAPBS website) • Videos/Podcasts • http://www.pbis.org/swpbs_videos/default.aspx • http://www.pbis.org/swpbs_videos/school_examples.aspx • http://www.pbisaz.org/videos • Postcards • Newsletters • Gonzales Middle (p. 30-41) http://www.lapositivebehavior.com/content.cfm?id=124 • Mastricola News (p. 42-49) http://www.nhcebis.seresc.net/document/filename/369/Mastricola_ES_Nov_newsletter_revised_highlighted.pdf

23. Resources • http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeprevention/pi_parent_school_partnerships.htm (p. 50-51) • Jefferson County Public Schools PBS Power Point (p. 52-56)

24. Share Time! Parenting & Communicating

25. Action Planning • Type 2: Communicating See Epstein’s Summary Page p. 58

26. Type 3 VOLUNTEERING Improve recruitment, training, work, and schedules to involve families and community members as volunteers and audiences at school or in other locations to support students and school wide PBIS programs at all levels.

27. Volunteering Strategies • Recruit and organize parent help and support • Create a volunteer book that describes the PBS program and behavior expectation for parents • Have parent available to read to students as PBS Incentive or reward • Have parents help children design PBS posters • Survey parents for “donations” to reinforce staff • Recruit volunteers for “fun days” tied into your reinforcement system

28. Share Time after next session!

29. Action Planning • Type 3: Volunteering See Epstein’s Summary Page p. 60

30. Invited Guest Bridget Bergeron, St. Martin Parish

31. Type 4 LEARNING AT HOME • Involve families with their children in learning activities at home, including homework and other curriculum-related activities and decisions • Family liaisons creating PBIS home matrix using school wide expectations

32. Learning at Home Strategies • Provide information and ideas to families to families about how to help students at home with homework and other curriculum-related activities, decisions and planning. • Have web topic and activities available each week/month • Purchase resources that parents can check-out that support the PBS initiative • Have children explain and give examples of how PBS works with their family as “homework” • Have PBS video available for checkout/download with follow-up activities • PBS Home Matrix (p. 62)

33. Share Time! Volunteering & Learning at Home

34. Action Planning • Type 4: Learning at Home See Epstein’s Summary Page p. 63

35. Invited Guest Ascension Parish

36. Type 5 DECISION MAKING • Include families and community members as participants in school wide PBIS teams in decision making, planning, implementation and evaluation processes • This can include PTA/PTO, school councils, committees, action teams, and other family support resources and family liaisons • Must be reflective of school’s ethnicity and culture

37. Decision Making Strategies • Include parents in school decisions, developing parent leaders and representatives • Recruit multiple family members for PBS team who are not employees or educators • Alternate meeting times: morning, afternoon and evening • Pair new parents with veteran parents • Offer “short term’ participation on PBS team, with option to renew • Plan for care of children during meeting • Involve parents in selection of incentives and celebrations

38. Roles of Family • LASIG Handout Roles of Families (p. 65-66) • Contract Handout for parents (p. 67) • 10 Skills (Abate & Mann, 2006) (p. 68)

39. Share Time after next session!

40. Action Planning • Type 5: Decision Making See Epstein’s Summary Page p. 69

41. Type 6 COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNITY • Coordinate resources and services for students, families, and the school with businesses, agencies, and other groups, and provide services to the community • Allow some to serve on peripheral team

42. Community Strategies • Identify and integrate resources and services from the community to strengthen school programs, family practices, and student learning and development • Collaborate with local businesses and recreation centers to promote positive behavior expectations • Recognize community partners and parents at PBS celebrations, newsletter, resource • Create implementation video that shows PBS in action to show at local library, town hall • Community Signs • Donations • Call the newspaper!

43. Share Time! Decision Making & Collaborating with Community

44. Action Planning • Type 6: Collaborating with Community See Epstein’s Summary Page (p. 71)

45. Additional Resource • Louisiana Promise http://www.lpirc.org/index.php

46. District Planning: Next Steps • Family Engagement Checklist Handout (Muscott & Mann, 2004) (p. 73-74) • NY State Team Implementation Checklist (p. 75) • Marketing & Visibility Plan (Tennessee) (p. 76-77) • Lead & Succeed: District Inventory (John Hopkins University) (p. 78-81)

47. Action Plan Wrap-Up Discussion

48. Books • School-Family Partnerships for Children’s Success. Patrikakou, Weissberg, Redding, and Walberg. Columbia, 2005 • Schools and Families: Creating Essential Connections for Learning. Christenson and Sheridan. Guilford, 2001 • Parenting with Positive Behavior Support. Hieneman and Childs. Brookes, 2006

49. More books… • Beyond the Bake Sale: the Essential Guide to Family/School Partnerships. Henderson, Johnson, Mapp and Davies. New Press, 2007 • School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook in Action, 2nd edition. Epstein, Sanders, Simon. Corwin, 2002 • http://www.parentsreachingout.org/pdfs/english/behavior/behaviorpd.pdf

50. Resources • www.lapositivebehavior.com • www.pbis.org • www.lasig2.org • http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/sixtypes.htm • http://www.pbismaryland.org/