Building Sustainable Community Partnership Networks

1. Building Sustainable Community Partnership Networks Roberta P. Gardner, Ph.D. rgardner5@gsu.edu

2. Partnership Continuum Where is your district/school on the Partnership Continuum?

3. Who Has Seat at the Partnership the Table? Key Spheres of Influence Social, emotional, Intellectual Structures of Opportunity Comfort and Support Sociocultural/Meaningful contexts Opportunity / Access Gap Equity is not just about resources. Equity must also be about affirming student identity regardless of culture, nationality, race, language, or income. (Epstein, 2011; Sanders, 2006; Williems & Gonzalez-DeHass, 2012)

4. Partnership Framework Access to High Quality Print and Digital Texts Local Businesses Professional Learning All Teachers, Family Friends Direct Partners Summer Reading Program Language Nutrition P-20 Partner RESA District Health & Wellness Out of School Literacy Support Maternal/ Child Health National Writing Project Public Library Mentorship WIC Wrap Around Services Families Family Connection P-20 Partner SCHOOLS Teachers, Students, Administrators, Staff After School Tutoring Mental Health Local News Faith-Based Chamber of Commerce YMCA Knowledge Translation Identity Affirmation Social Cultural Organizations Civic Switchboard Awareness Language Support Meaningful Contexts Communication Iterative & Relational

5. School Librarians Demystifying school libraries for developing readers Methods for supporting older developing readers “Skinny Reads” High-interest, Low-Reading Level Titles How Often Do Students in Your Schools Use Library Resources? Compelling stories about interesting real teenagers in realistic situations. These books are designed for self directed reading, with linear plots, and controlled vocabulary and grammar. Photo courtesy of Cicely Lewis/Gwinnet County Schools

6. Public Library Out of School / Social Cultural / High-Quality Texts • Library Card Drives • Pop-Up –Place Based • 1st Saturdays: Careers in Focus, exposing teens to diverse careers; YOUmedia, dedicated teen digital learning spaces ChiTeen Lit Fest is brought to you by Chicago Public Library, UIC-College of Education, GEAR UP, Center for College Access and Success at Northeastern Illinois University, Columbia College Chicago, Poetry Foundation, After School Matters, 826CHI, Young Chicago Authors, Kuumba Lynx, DePaul University, Chicago Public Schools Department of Libraries, and ChiArts. This event is supported by the Chicago Public Library Foundation and the Hive Chicago Fund for Connected Learning at the Chicago Community Trust.

7. Interagency Collaborations Working with other organizations to develop new programs or bolster existing relationships • Leveraging available resources – public and private; federal, state, and local • Collaborative program of activities to support interventions • What opportunities exist for cross-sector partnerships? • What are the existing community events and how can partners collaborate to support literacy achievement?

8. Connecting Businesses to Education Businesses have a vested interest in their communities.

9. Gwinnett County Public School Book Mobile “Unfortunately because of any number of obstacles, many children are not able to visit a library so we are bringing the library to them” Mary Barbee, GCPS Director of Media Services and Technical Training https://publish.gwinnett.k12.ga.us/gcps/home/gcpstv/videos/news/focus/221783774

10. Social Cultural Organization Identity, Affirmation, Language Support & Meaningful Contexts • Targeted Support • Affirmation • Culturally Relevant Instruction • Meaningful Contexts BOOKS & BROS www.booksnbros.com Boys Making Reading Famous While Focusing on Black Culture & African American Literature.

11. P-20 Professional Learning PROGRAM PURPOSES: • Faculty/staff offer up-to-date content knowledge in their field • Faculty/staff share knowledge about resources in their field • Faculty/staff gain knowledge of K-12 education • K-12 students have opportunity to interact with Faculty/staff Reciprocity

12. Health & Wellness Budding Readers - WIC Partnership Budding Readers and Finger Lakes WIC Budding Readers formed a partnership with the Finger Lakes WIC (Women, Infants and Children) in Canandaigua, NY.  Budding Readers volunteers participate at five WIC clinics each month in Canandaigua, where they give out books, educate parents about the importance of reading daily with their children, and model reading techniques for parents.  Budding Readers and Geneva WIC Budding Readers, with assistance from Geneva Reads, spent two years attending WIC clinics in Geneva, NY to gift age-appropriate children's books and promote literacy. 1,500 books later, literacy services for these families have been transitioned to Geneva Reads. Out of School / Health & Wellness / High-Quality Texts The strength and uniqueness of the WIC partnership is its 5-year continuity, face-to-face connection with parents, and the opportunity to reach low-income, rural and semi-rural children well before they enter kindergarten.

13. B-5 Partnership Framework Bridge to Kindergarten Improving Quality Care Education All Teachers, Coaching Family Friends Direct Partners Food Insecurity P-20 Partner Music & Art RESA District Health & Wellness Maternal/ Child Health K-3 Educators Access & Exposure Art Organization Building Home Libraries WIC Vision & Hearing Head Start Families & Friends Head Start Family Connection Ferst Foundation Teachers, Students, Administrators, Staff Identity Affirmation Mental Health Local News Talk to Me Baby Faith Based Receptive & Expressive Language Chamber of Commerce Public Library Knowledge Translation Family Literacy Civic Switchboard Awareness Bilingual Support Purposeful Play Communication Iterative & Relational

14. “A WES Extraordinary Reader Lives Here.” • Wilkinson Elementary School Principal Heather Teto, right, hugs student Jessie Kelley Jr.,10, Monday when Teto and the school's assistant principal Carolyn Hayward delivered a sign to Kelley's house identifying him as one of the school's top readers coming out of fourth grade. • PHOTO BY KILE BREWER Achieve 3000, 

15. Identifying Barriers & Organizational Challenges Building Literacy Capacity through Community Partnerships Schools & Communities Schools & Businesses Partners & Families Policies & Practices Name a significant barrier or organizational challenge? Valli et.al, 2018; Warren, 2005

16. Common Mistakes • Omitting key players/ partnership misalignment. Direct and indirect partners. • Underestimating the power of place and space • Not amending communities of practice or the structures within them (history & relevance) • Inconsistent communication or feedback loop 5. Gaps Knowledge Translation between schools and partners 6. Not Clearly Defining What, Who, When, Where, Why, and How (Cole, 2010)

17. Bolstering Communication Channels • Branding, Awareness, Access, Clear Messaging • Feedback Loop • Knowledge and Support • New and Established

18. Collaboration • It is important to examine collaboration to see which people or organizations we are working with and where our strengthens are. • We can draw on our current strengths and connections for future collaborative projects.

19. Social Network Analysis • Identifying L4GA partners, understanding the relationships that exist between partners (i.e.: strength of ties between partners) • Understanding the manner in which information flows through the L4GA network. • The ties that exist between L4GA partners can provide further information regarding how information regarding literacy interventions flows throughout the state, where gaps may exist, and who may act as an important “bridge” in the network to pass information to less connected LEAs.

20. Summer Reading Program Embedding Literacy in their Daily Summer Routine Allington & Franzen, 2014

21. Partnership Kick-Off • Invitations • Celebrate, Acknowledge, reaffirm, (re) establish • Who’s Who? Introductions /Feedback Loop • Timelines, calendars/key dates/events/next steps