ACET, Parental Involvement: Culture and Relationships

1. ACET,Parental Involvement: Culture and Relationships Region 16, Title I Statewide School Support and Family & Community Engagement Initiative Skip Forsyth, Education Specialist May 2013

4. School Culture “If we could successfully teach every child by ourselves, then it seems to me we would have already done so.” Steve Constantino “Families are the first and most influential teacher in a child’s life.”

5. Money can buy you a fine dog, but only love can make him wag his tail. Kinky Friedman

6. School Culture IT IS INTENTIONAL! • How can you sense school culture? • Sight? • Sound? • Smell? • Touch (or Feel)? • Taste?

7. School Culture • What are the largest barriers to family engagement? • Time • Build connections • Culture • Build trust • Uncertainty • Build capacity

8. School Culture • 1. A culture includes all staff members and every family • People are more important than programs • Relationships precede reform • The outcome is student academic success

9. School Culture - Relationships • Take it to the streets… • Understand the traffic flow • Different venues • Go to the work place • Go to places of worship • Go to community centers • Home visits • Build relationships and BUILD TRUST

10. School Culture - Communication • 2. A culture builds and maintains effective communication • What types of communication do you use? • What types of communication seem to be most effective? • Have you surveyed the parents/families about preferred types of communication? • When do you initiate communication?

11. School Culture - Communication • Maintain traditional forms of written communication • Leverage technology • Email, Text, FaceTime and Skype • Correct telephone, email, and website • Names of principal, ass’tprincipal, counselor, teacher(s), AND receptionist, nurse, head of food service, head of transportation • BUILD CONNECTIONS

12. School Culture - Efficacy • 3. A culture empowers every family • Every family “invited to the party” • Especially families of students with greatest need • BUILD CAPACITY

13. Building Capacity: MUST • Shall provide assistance to participating parents in such areas as understanding the State's content standards and performance standards, and local assessments, and how to monitor a child's progress and work with educators to improve the performance of their children as well as information on how parents can participate in decisions relating to the education of their children;

14. Building Capacity: MUST • Shall provide materials and training to help parents to work with their children to improve their children’s achievement, such as literacy training and using technology;

15. Building Capacity: MUST • Shall educate teachers, pupil services personnel, principals and other staff, with the assistance of parents, in the value and utility of contributions of parents, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between home and school;

16. Building Capacity: MUST • Shall coordinate and integrate parent involvement programs and activities with Head Start, Even Start, the Home Instruction Programs for Preschool Youngsters, the Parents as Teachers Program, and public preschool programs and other programs, and conduct other activities such as parent resource centers, to the extent feasible and appropriate;

17. Building Capacity: MUST • Shall ensure that information related to school and parent programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to the homes of participating children in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can understand;

18. Building Capacity : MUST • Shall provide such other reasonable support for parental involvement activities as parents may request.

19. School Culture - Strategy • Comprehensive Needs Assessment • Honor the findings • Identify the needs • Enact the strategy

20. School Culture - Strategy • Include parents and families… • Review and revision of district PI Policy, school PI Policy, and School-Parent Compact • Decision-making: SBDM, district parent advisory council, use of PI funds • Student course selection in high school, which may include discussion about mentoring, tutoring, SES, dual credit classes, AP classes, etc.

21. School Culture - Strategy • Strategies should address needs • Meetings and events need to be personalized • Math • Language Arts

22. School Culture – Questions? • How would you describe your current school culture? • What are the evidences of your current school culture? • How is your school culture sustained? • How is your current school culture beneficial for family engagement? • If your school culture is negative, what can you do to transform the school climate and culture?

23. Performance Resulting in Student Success Forging Partnerships Building Relationships

24. USDEDRAFTFramework • Family Engagement Capacity Building Framework Outcomes Challenge Effective Home/School Partnerships – Supporting Student Achievement Ineffective Home/School Partnerships

25. USDEDRAFTFramework Policies and Initiatives: Compliance directed toward capability, connections, cognition, confidence Challenge: Desire exists but lack of resources or skills Conditions for Success: the System and the Process Outcomes: Intended outcomes for school staff and for families Building Capacity Building Success Building a Framework

26. OUTCOME: Elevate Family Engagement In the Future • Performance • Build Capacity • Dynamic Documents • School Culture • Higher Levels, Respond to Needs of Families to Improve Student Outcomes Currently • Compliance • Checklist • Shelf Documents • Satisfy ICR’s • Ground Level, Meet Requirements

27. Title I Statewide School Support & Family and Community Engagement Initiative RESOURCES… • www.esc16.net • Scroll down and click on the Title I Statewide Initiative icon • Access the variety of resources available

28. 2013 Parental Involvement Conference Parental Involvement: Hidden Treasures December 5 – 7, 2013 Galveston Island Convention Center Host Hotel: Galveston Island Hilton Resort

29. Upcoming • 20/20 Parental Involvement • Revised Website – easier to find needed information • Continuing to improve Facebook page • Checklist for policy and compact – assist with random validations

33. School Support Resources

34. P I Resources

35. Requested Materials

38. Stay in Compliance

41. Publications Order Form

42. Book Reviews

43. Like us on… Title I Statewide School Support/Parental Involvement Initiative

44. Creed Parents and patrons are the most important people to enter this office in person, by mail, or by telephone. Parents and patrons are not dependent upon us; on the contrary, we are dependent on them. Parents and patrons are not an interruption of our work; they are the purpose of it. We are not doing them a favor by serving them; they do us a favor by permitting us to do so.

45. Creed, cont’d Parents and patrons are not cold statistics; they are concerned human beings with feelings and emotions like our own, who entrust their children to our care. Parents and patrons are persons who bring us their problems, their needs, and their ideas. Our job is to handle these problems with understanding, fairness, enthusiasm, and professional skill.

46. Need Assistance • Contact your regional ESC • Terri Stafford, terri.stafford@esc16.net • Skip Forsyth, skip.forsyth@esc16.net Thanks, have a great day!