Louisiana State Personnel Development Grant ( LaSPDG )

1. “Family Engagement: Let’s Go Beyond the Bake Sale” Anne Henderson Senior Consultant Annenberg Institute for School Reform Louisiana State Personnel Development Grant (LaSPDG) The webinar will begin momentarily

2. Housekeeping Be sure to adjust your computer’s speakers. Feel free to use the Chat Pod and/or Q&A Pod throughout the presentation. Access the powerpoint slides in the File Share Pod. The webinar will be recorded and archived. Type email address to Q&A pod before the end of the webinar for the link to webinar survey and webinar recording.

3. Family Engagement:Let’s go Beyond the Bake Sale Anne T. Henderson Senior Consultant, Community Organizing and Engagement Annenberg Institute for School Reform AnneTHenderson1@yahoo.com

4. NAEP 2011/US Achievement

5. NAEP Achievement /LA 2011

6. Is there a Link between Family-School Partnerships and Student Achievement?

7. A New Wave of Evidence School, family and community connections have a powerful impact on student achievement www.sedl.org/connections

8. What did we find? When families are involved at home and at school -- Children do better in school and the schools get better.

9. When families and school staff work together to support learning, students: • Earn higher grades and test scores • Enroll in higher-level programs • Are promoted and earn more credits • Adapt well to school and attend regularly • Have better social skills and behavior • Graduate and go on to higher education

11. Organizing Schools for Improvement • Long-term study of Chicago schools found five essential supports for school improvement • Without all five, schools were far less likely to make gains. • Schools with strong family and community ties are 4x more likely in reading, and 10x more likely in math, to make significant gains. Anthony S. Bryk et al, (2010) Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago (Chicago: University of Chicago Press)

12. Organizing Schools for Improvement

13. How Likely Is Major Improvement, Given Weak or Strong Supports Reading 50% 47% 45% 43% 45% 40% 40% 36% 35% 30% Weak Percentage of Schools that Substantially Improved in Reading 25% Strong 20% 16% 15% 11% 10% 10% 9% 10% 5% 0% School Work Safety & Curriculum Parent Leadership Involvement Orientation Order Alignment

14. Strength in Multiple Supports • Real value of the essential supports is in their combined strength • Schools strong in 3-5 of supports were 10x more likely to improve in reading and math • Weakness over time in one undermined improvement Student-Centered Learning Climate Parent –Community Ties Instructional Guidance Professional Capacity Leadership

15. What did they measure? • Teachers’ ties to community: Understand local issues, spend time in the community, use local resources. • Teacher outreach to parents: Invite parents to observe in class, try to understand parents' concerns, and embrace parents as partners • Parent response: Become involved in school activities and respond to teacher concerns about schoolwork.

16. What Creates Strong Family and Community Ties?

17. School Practices are KEY The strongest, most consistent predictors of parent involvement at home and school are the specific school programs and teacher practices that encourage and guide parent involvement. Dr. Joyce Epstein Johns Hopkins University

18. Impact of SystematicParent Outreach Students’ reading and math scores improved 40-50% faster when teachers: • met with families face-to-face • sent materials on ways to help their child at home • telephoned routinely about progress Westat and Policy Studies Associates, 2001

19. Parent Impact: Middle-High School • High expectations for success • Planning for future education • Knowledge of courses and classes • Monitoring progress • Helping students prepare for college / post-secondary education Ascher and Maguire, Beating the Odds, Annenberg Institute for School Reform, 2009

20. Beyond the Bake Sale The Essential Guide to Family-School Partnerships Anne T. Henderson, Karen L. Mapp, Vivian R. Johnson and Don Davies NY: The New Press, 2007

21. Three Key Concepts • Role Construction: How parents develop their job description as a parent • Efficacy: How confident parents feel about their ability to help their children • Invitation: Whether parents feel invited -- both by their children and school Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (2005)

22. What is a Family-School Partnership Supposed to Look Like?

23. Fortress School (Below Basic) • “Parents don’t care – they’re the reason the kids are failing!” • “Parents don’t come, no matter what we do” • A small group of “cooperative parents” helps out • “We’re teachers, not social workers” • “Curriculum and standards are too advanced for these parents”

24. Come-if-we-call School (Basic) • Fall Open House tells parents what students will be learning • Workshops planned by staff • Families can visit school on report card pickup day • Parents call office for recorded messages about homework

25. Open-Door School (Proficient) • Parent-teacher conferences twice a year • “Action Team” for family engagement • Curriculum nights three or four times a year • Parents can raise issues at PTA meetings and see the principal • Multicultural nights once a year

26. Partnership School (Advanced) • “We do WHATEVER IT TAKES” • All activities connect to student learning • A clear, open process to resolve problems • Parents and teachers research issues together • Families involved in making decisions • Home visits to every new family

27. Keys to Powerful Partnerships • Building Relationships:A steady focus on developing trust and respect among all members of the school community is linked to higher performance • Linking to Learning: When parent and community involvement is focused on student learning, it has a greater effect on achievement

28. The Joining Process • Welcoming • Honoring • Connecting Mapp, K.L. 2003. Having their say: Parents describe why and how they are engaged in their children's learning. School Community Journal, Volume 13, Number 1

29. Link to Learning -- How Will the Activity: • Help parents understand what their children are learning and doing in class? • Promote high standards for student work? • Help parents assist children at home? • Promote discussion about improving student progress? • Help families recognize good teaching?

30. Make your School Family-Friendly • Create a welcoming environment • Offer programs that are linked to student achievement • Build strong relationships between teachers and families • Develop families’ self-confidence • Offer PD for families and staff to learn together

31. What‘s the Point? A Renewed Vision of Family Engagement in Learning

32. Family Engagement: Reframing the Work

33. Louisiana State Personnel Development Grant (LaSPDG) Thank You • Special thanks to Anne Henderson!!! Please remember: • to enter your email into the Chat Pod for links. • to complete the webinar’s evaluation. • to share the information you’ve learned!