Engaging Families for Student Success

1. EngagingFamilies for StudentSuccess Systemic opportunities for engaging the families of all students Barbara Boone, Ph.D. The Ohio State University, CETE

3. What is the Challenge Before Us? • Move beyond well intentioned but often random acts • Increase understanding and valuing of family engagement at all levels • Embed family engagement in the improvement and leadership system • Implement practices aligned with district goals that are research-informed • Use data to measure progress and drive family engagement strategies

4. Definition of Family Engagement Family engagement is what families do to support their child’s education and healthydevelopment, birththroughadulthood. And, What schools do to partner with families and strengthensupport for the child.

5. Outcomes for Students • Accelerated literacy acquisition • Improved academic performance – higher grades and test scores • Positive attitudes toward school • Improved behavior • School readiness • Academic perseverance • Lower dropout rates and fewer suspensions • Study skills and homework completion rates • School attendance rates • Successful transitions to adulthood • Promoted more and earn more credits • Increased pursuit of higher education

6. Ohio Special Education Research Project, 2013

7. Higher ranked schools…

8. Ask yourself: What might a school look like that has created a genuine culture of school-family partnership? Beyond the Bake Sale, Mapp, Henderson and others, 2010

9. Fortress School • “Parents don’t care about their children’s education, and they are the main reason the kids are failing.” • “Parents don’t come to conferences, no matter what we do.” • Principal picks a small group of “cooperative parents” to help out. • “We’re teachers, not social workers.” • “Curriculum and standards are too advanced for these parents.”

10. Come-If-We-Call School • Open house for all parents at beginning of year. Then only sporadic meetings, or conferences with some families for the remainder of the year. • Workshops are planned by staff. • Families can visit school on a few select days. • Parents called when there is a problem – “no news is good news.”

11. Open-Door School • Parent-Teacher conferences are held twice a year. • There is an “Action Team” for family engagement. • School holds curriculum night 3 or 4 times a year. • Parents raise issues at PTA meetings or see the principal. • School sends out parent survey once a year.

12. Partnership School • Parent feedback and ideas are solicited often. • All family activities connect to what students are learning. • There is a clear, open process for resolving problems. • Parents and teachers research issues together. • Families are actively involved in decision-making.

13. Family engagement examples

14. Roles Families Play • Teachers • Supporters • Encouragers • Monitors • Models • Advocates • Decision-makers • Collaborators

15. Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Type 4 Type 5 Type 6 THE KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL-FAMILY-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS EPSTEIN’S SIX TYPES OF 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. COMMUNICATING:Communicate with families about school programs and student progress through effective school-to-home and home-to-school communications. 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. 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. DECISION MAKING:Include families as participants in school decisions, governance, and advocacy through PTA/PTO, school councils, committees, action teams, and other parent organizations. 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.

16. High School Example Plan for Postsecondary Planning • Workshops for parents and students on course credits, requirements for high school, career planning, college application • Series of YouTube videos on helping their child plan for career and college • Field trips to colleges for parents and students • Interactive homework that require student to discuss goals and make plans with family • Post-secondary planning group (parents, teachers and students) plans series of activities on post-high school planning • Alumni group and community mentors are linked with students and families to help guide planning for after high school School, Family, Community Partnerships, Epstein et al. 2009

17. Middle School Transitioning • New student scavenger hunt and parent tour • Panel discussion at feeder elementary schools • Survey parents about how they can partner with the school • Videos for parents about how they can best support their child with learning in middle school • Parent-Teacher group plans for successfully transitioning parents and students • Collaborating with feeder schools and hosting joint events

18. Elementary Plan - Reading • Workshops for parents on various ways to read with their child – books made available to take home. • Teachers meet with parents in classroom to explain classroom reading data and their own child’s progress. • Parent volunteers are guest-readers and reading buddies. • Teachers call or meet more frequently with parents of children receiving reading intervention so parent can learn how to intervene at home. • PTA support for making books more available to students (swaps, reading bags, etc.). • Community businesses make donations for books for classrooms and for children to take home.

20. Reaching families of students receiving intensive academic or behavioral interventions Programs and services for families of students targeted for early academic or behavioral interventions. What we do with all families.

21. Pre-K Transitions

22. Attendance

25. Key points to effective family engagement strategies: • Sustained • Targeted • Intentional – clearly linked to goals • Proactive • Enjoyable • Child focused • Strengths-based

26. Principles of OIP “Every plan gets its strength from the people who are committed to it. To make sure the plan will yield positive results, engage [parents]… in understanding the plan, helping to make it stronger, and ultimately, becoming invested in making it work.” (Ohio Leadership Advisory Council, 2008)

27. Essential Practices for superintendents and District Leadership Teams (DLT): • Collaborate effectively with [parents] in the development and support of district goals. • Offer opportunities for meaningful input and feedback from [parents] with regard to district goals. • Ensure that [parent] partnership activities are focused on district goals. • Provide for training/support as needed by [parents] to enable them to meaningfully participate in activities aligned with district goals (Ohio Leadership Advisory Council, 2008, p. 15).

28. Essential practices for Building Leadership Teams: • Engage [parents] in establishing and supporting building-level strategies/action steps. • Offer opportunities for meaningful input and feedback from [parents]. • Develop collaborative partnerships [with parents] aligned with building-level strategies/action steps for improving instruction and achievement. • Provide for training/support needed by [parents] to enable them to meaningfully participate Ohio Leadership Advisory Council, 2008, p. 32).

29. Where do families fit? • DLT and BLT include parent perspectives in planning • Parents on planning teams • “All kids” perspective • Preparation for parent members • Expectations of parent members • Gathering broad parent input to shape plan • Surveys and Focus groups • Tapping into existing parent groups • Informed perspectives/expert informants • Parent-Teacher Partnerships groups • Parent perspectives (gifted, spec. ed, gen ed) • Planning strategies to partner with families to reach goals • Assessing outcomes of family engagement strategies • Sharing data with families • TBT, Building, District • Child progress • Feedback on parent perspectives

30. Princeton City SchoolsSST, Region 13 Princeton Parent Teacher Partnerships Video

31. Framework for Building Partnerships Among Schools, Families and Communities

34. Ending with the beginning in mind.

35. Guiding Principles • For our systems to improve, we must engage parents. • School leaders must set the expectation. • Systemic changes that build parent engagement over time yield the strongest results. • Family partnerships benefit students, schools and families pre-K-16. • Families want, and can learn, ways to help their children at all ages. • All families have strengths to build upon. • It is the responsibility of educators to initiate and build school-family partnerships.

36. EngagingFamilies for StudentSuccess Systemic opportunities for engaging the families of all students Barbara Boone, Ph.D. The Ohio State University, CETE Boone.32@osu.edu