Creating Access for Success Alameda County 7 th Annual Academic Language & Literacy Conference

1. Parent Facilitators Creating Access for Success Alameda County 7th Annual Academic Language & Literacy Conference Advancing the Language and Literacy of English Language Learners through New ELD & Common Core Standards February 1, 2014 Presented by: Garry Grotke Principal James Madison Elementary San Leandro Unified School District

2. James Madison Elementary Award Winning Staff

3. San Leandro Celebrates a Diverse Student Population Based on STAR 2011 Answer Documents 3 August 31, 2011

4. We inspire learning, Every day, Every way, for Everybody! Welcome To James Madison Elementary School

5. At Madison we believe…. • Every child wants to be successful • Every family wants their child to be successful • Every employee from the principal to the para-professional is here to ensure success • Everybody working together increases success • At Madison we know…. • Success begins with access to a safe school for all children and staff • Success is not limited to a test score • Diversity of the human experience contributes to a successful society

6. James Madison School-wide API Growth

7. Parent involvement is most successful when it is viewed, practiced and promoted as a partnership between the home and the school. Resource: California Strategic Plan for the Education of Parent Involvement.

8. Madison API Growth Trends by Student Subgroup Over a 4-Year Period Four Complete API Cycles: 2006 Base to 2010 Growth

9. Madison API Growth by Student Subgroup 2011 Base to 2012 Growth

10. Parent Facilitators began 2006-07

11. San Leandro USD & School English Learner Goals for AMAO 1 2012-13 Annual Growth on CELDT

12. San Leandro USD & School English Learner Goals for AMAO 2 2012-13 Annual Growth on CELDT

13. San Leandro USD & School English Learner Goals for AMAO 3 Attaining English & Math AYP Proficiency

14. Unity creates power, and by working together, parents and educators, we can ensure a quality learning environment for our English learners.

15. James Madison Elementary 2012 Academic Performance Index All Subgroups Surpasses 800 Benchmark

16. James Madison Elementary 2013 Academic Performance Index All Subgroups Surpasses 800 Benchmark

17. The Parent Facilitator Program • Parents are hired and trained for the sole purpose of connecting and reconnecting parents with school. • We currently have three facilitators supporting each of our significant populations of languages. • Spanish, Vietnamese, Cantonese

18. Not just translators • They each work three hours a day • Daily in the classrooms • Time to call and connect with parents. • They attend and support translating at conferences • Attend ELAC and DELAC Meetings • SST, IEP meetings and report card conferences • They each have a designated phone line that parents may call into for question. • They support CELDT administration and primary language support for newcomers.

19. Funding • $20 per hour x 3 hours daily x 180 days per facilitator = $10,800 • LCFF funding creates targeted support • Check classified Job Descriptions • Parent advocates / title one facilitators / para professionals • Ensure that you are able to hire current parents • Work with Human resources and Classified Unions • Build it into your needs assessment from ELAC • Fold the program into the School Plan • Get teacher buy in….review benefits

20. Keys to success Current Parents work best • They know the school, the PTA, teachers and students • They are familiar, trusted by the parents, they are Madison parents • Understand that parent to parent conversations are different than teacher, staff or admin….. • Leadership Qualities and experience at the site • Site Council Members, ELAC Leaders, aspiring educators • Bi Cultural, parents who understand and have lived the struggle of navigating school bureaucracy • Respect confidentiality of students and teachers • Office Space or meeting rooms are beneficial • Time to overlap when parents drop off/pick up • Phone access

21. Best Practices • Set schedules with Flexible time • By working in the classrooms each day the facilitators see the curriculum • Know and hear the teacher expectations • Understand and know the children they are speaking about • Can better communicate regarding expectations for learning • Attend events and be available to welcome families • Understand that your facilitators are parents too!

22. Best Practices • Set time aside at the beginning of each year to call home to each family • Introductions in home language • Contact information • Solicit questions and needs • Invite parents to the first ELAC • Create contact time for news and events • Support for the PTA /PTO • Inform regarding times lines and office docs

23. Best Practices • ELAC / DELAC meetings are part of the job • This creates leadership opportunities • Keeps school up to date • Makes the school presence felt at district • Increases parent knowledge of systems • Create parent leaders and advocacy for site and students • Knowing how to navigate the layers of the system • Making it comfortable for parents to have a voice

24. Best Practices • Encourage parent participation at school • Recess • Lunch • Field trips • Events • Conferences • PTA • Fundraising • Homework support • Staying connected for middle and high school

25. Recipe for success • We need to help parents understand that there are many ways to be successful in life and school. • Relationships are fostered faster • Student assets (talents and skills) are identified quickly • Attitude, Skills, and Knowledge are the ingredients to developing a definition of success that is attainable for all students.

26. Unexpected Benefits • After 5 years our parent trust and participation at events has increased for previously unrepresented families. • Staff stress in minimized • Students are referred for support quicker and more accurately • fewer special education referrals • Improved student behavior • Increase in free and reduced lunch applications • Increase in parent initiated concerns • Fewer misunderstandings / less frustration • More homework completed • Teachers understand and build relationships with students and families • Less wasted time in class, • Faster re-designation of English Language Learners • All systems policies and programs work better when parents understand what is needed. • Ongoing parent involvement at Middle and High School

27. Stories from the classroom

28. Stories and Questionscomments from staff and parents • It is incredibly helpful to have a Vietnamese, Chinese and Spanish speaker on campus almost all the time. I have asked each of them to make phone calls home about academic progress, homework, discipline, and IEP meetings frequently. It works so well because when they call home they have or they build relationships with the parents, so the phone call is inclusive instead of distancing. Plus, I am able to contact parents in a timely manner. This closes the loop for kids and they know that I can contact their parents, which holds them accountable. • Parents who are not strong in English are present more often at school, they know there are people there to network with so that language is not an issue. • Parent facilitators are the foundation for clear and open communication between the school and home. They provide clarity to an unsure parent and an avenue where a parent’s concerns are able to be expressed and relayed back to his/her child’s school. This in turns builds that all important level of trust. • Our parent facilitators at James Madison Elementary School are joyful and willing partners. They assist in any way they can; often times making contacts in the evening, on weekends and being available for parent’s to contact them as well. It is not uncommon that a parent facilitator may be the “link” for outside resources beyond the school. Although, not expected of them, our parent facilitators go that extra mile because in the end, we are all working toward a common goal…the children.

29. Stories • My name is Samantha Tung. I am a Parent Facilitator/Para-educator at James Madison. I work actively with many Chinese parents and their children at this school. Many of these parents speak little or no English. They feel helpless and do not know how to get in touch with the school or school district regarding their concerns. I help direct these families to the appropriate places where they can find information they are seeking, such as homework assistance for their children, after school programs, transferring assistance, and other services related (sometimes unrelated) to education. I also help provide and translate school news to these families by speaking with them in person or on the phone, in order to engage them in making decision to involve in the school communities. • I’ve been the first person many Chinese families contact when they have questions or concerns about Madison’s school events, news, policies, and related issues surrounding the school environment. I often encourage families to learn more about our school by keeping them informed about instructional goals, after speaking with the teachers myself. I work with Mr. Grotke (our principal) and the teachers in identifying issues of concern to some of these families so that they could be addressed in a timely manner. • Asides from my direct, ongoing communication with the Chinese families to address their children’s educational concerns, I also provide assistance to teachers daily. These teachers’ workloads are quite overwhelming, and I assist them with instructional and non-instructional activities for students. I’ve tutored students individually and in small groups, corrected classroom work, monitored student’s behavior, and prepared classroom materials. I also help supervise students on the playground by ensuring that they follow rules and regulations. As a result of my direct involvement with Madison and the teachers, I have a better understanding on the school environment and know how to approach these Chinese families to offer assistance and advice.

30. Gerhard M. Grotke Principal James Madison Elementary School I am currently completing my 27th year in public education. I have spent nine years as a classroom teacher, six years as a Superintendent/Principal of single school districts, a year as a Director of Educational Services and Personnel and I am currently completing my 12th year as a Principal in the San Leandro Unified School District in Alameda County. (ADA 9,500) I have worked in five different counties ranging from the most urban to the most rural. In addition to being a full time Principal of more than 400 students, I currently serve on the State Elementary Education Council for ACSA Region VI. I have been a speaker at the Disaster Resistant California Conference on school safety and at the National Association of Elem. School Principals on school success My wife Annie Blackstone and I have five wonderful children. I am the parent of two adopted English Language Learners along with three boys. For the past 8 years we have developed our non-profit organization, Sionfonds for Haiti, where we have funded the building and maintenance of three schools. We support medical programs to serve families in rural Haiti. I am currently a parent of an English Language Learner. Contact information Direct office 510 895-4129 e-mail ggrotke@sanleandro.k12.ca.us Sionfonds for Haiti http://www.sionfondsforhaiti.org/