Academic Parent-Teacher Teams (APTT)

1. Parent-Teacher Collaboration To Drive Student Achievement Academic Parent-Teacher Teams (APTT) Family Involvement Network December 10, 2012 Maria C. Paredes Senior Program Associate - WestEd

2. Today We Will: • Foster a collective understanding of effective family engagement • Look at supporting research • Learn about Academic Parent-Teacher Teams as a promising practice and its outcomes to date

3. Quick Poll: Family Engagement What is your definition of family engagement?

4. Family Engagement is parent-teacher collaboration to drive student achievement. National Family, School, and Community Engagement Working Group. June 2009

5. Leveraging Time: Connecting Home and School Learning 10% School 57% Away from school Student time: Six hours and fifteen minutes of instruction 180 days per year

6. Research Indicates That Family Engagement Is A Key Component Of Effective School Reform

7. APTT Theoretical Framework • Concerted cultivation—Annette Lareau, 2003 Research suggests that schools have standardized views of the proper role of parents in schooling. Social class and cultural capital provide parents with unequal resources to comply with teachers’ requests for participation in student learning. • Self-efficacy—Hoover-Dempsey, 1997 What contributes to the development of self-efficacy? • Personal experience of success in the given area • Indirect experience of success in the given area • Verbal encouragement and persuasion from important others • Personal concerns, hopes, and expectations • High expectations—William Jeynes, 2003, 2005, 2007 A series of three meta-analyses hold that the most influential components of family engagement are the most subtle, like high expectations, loving and effective lines of communication, and parental style.

8. Family Engagement Matters for Students and Schools % of schools substantially improving in reading • 5 “essential supports” predicted dramatic school improvement • Combined, supports had greater impact • Weakness over time in any area undermined improvement Bryk, A.Sebring, P., Allensworth, A., Luppescu, S., & Easton, J. (2010). Organizing schools for improvement: Lessons from Chicago.Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

9. What Kinds of Family Engagement Lead to Increased Academic Achievement? The Research Meta-analyses find that: • Academic socialization matters most. • Home-based family engagement efforts predict student achievement. • Communication with school staff and participation in school-based activities is also important. • There is conflicting evidence about homework help.

10. Academic Parent-Teacher Teams: A Promising Practice

11. Academic Parent Teacher Teams • Started in Creighton, Arizona in 2008 as part of district-wide reform effort • Repurposes traditional parent-teacher conferences • Three classroom/group meetings and one individual meeting a year • Essential Elements: Personal invitation, sharing data, modeling and practicing learning activities, setting short-term goals, and developing classroom networks • Outcomes on: reading fluency, Mathematics, parent efficacy • Participating teachers need ~6-8 hours of professional development support

12. From Low to High Impact Strategies Academic Parent-Teacher Teams Parent-Teacher Conferences • 30-40 minutes a year • of parent-teacher contact time • 25-30 hours of teacher time per year • to prepare and deliver • Little to no accountability • for teachers and families • Inconsistent quality from classroom • to classroom • No measurable outcomes • 4.25 hours a year of parent-teacher • collaboration time • 6-8 hours of PD and support • Data drives engagement • Families receive information, • tools, and strategies to support learning • SMART goals for every student • High expectations for teachers and families • Measurable outcomes

13. Theory of Action

14. In The Video • Look for: • Welcome and Icebreaker • Data Review • Modeling of Activities • Practice of Activities and Materials • Setting 60-Day Goals

15. APTT Video

16. Activity In teams, discuss reactions to the APTT video. Include observations about: • Data, modeling, materials, practice, and academic goals • Implications for families • Implications for teachers

17. APTT Framework • Three 75-minute team meetings • One 30-minute individual • APTT Group Meeting Process • Welcome and Icebreaker • Review of grade-level • foundation skills • Data review • Modeling, materials, and practice • Setting S.M.A.R.T. goals

18. Foundational Grade-Level SkillsToAnchor Parent-Teacher Communication and Collaboration • Aligned to Common Core Standards • Promote grade-level success • Demand home practice • Are measured regularly through common formative assessments • Are the academic currency between parents and teachers

19. Background on APTT: The Creighton Story in 2008 • Inner city district • Nine K-8 schools • 92% Free or reduced lunch • 85% Hispanic • 45% English learners • 65% of parents had less than an 8th grade education • 23% of parents have a GED or high school diploma • 11% of parents started high school but did not finish • 1% of parents have a college degree

20. Steps Taken at Creighton • Year 1 = 11 teachers • Year 2 = 79 teachers • Year 3 = 187 teachers • This year = over 210 teachers • Professional development system for teachers and administrators • System for Parent Liaison training • System for APTT teacher planning assistance and coaching • System of parent workshops focused of student grade-level learning • System for evaluation and improvement

21. The APTT Model To Date: Districts/Schools in: • Arizona • California • Colorado • Nebraska • Nevada • Washington, DC 2009-2010 = 11 classrooms 2010-2011 = 79 classrooms 2011-2012 = 245 classrooms 2012-2013 = about 1,095 classrooms or about 28,000 students

22. Professional Development and Technical Support to Schools • Orientation and action planning with school leadership team • Ongoing training, planning support, and coaching for teachers • Develop internal expertise • Parent focus groups • Data collection, evaluation, and refinement of practice

23. Data Sources at Creighton • iSTEEP Student Data Results • Parent Surveys • Teacher Interviews • Teacher Reflections • Parent Interviews • Student Interviews

24. 2011-2012 Assessment Outcomes at Creighton (iSTEEP Scores in nine schools) Apparent APTT benefit for decreasing % of students at frustration level 30% - 19% =11% Apparent APTT benefit for increasing % of students at Mastery in Reading 42% - 27% =15%

25. 2011-2012 Assessment Outcomes at Creighton (ISTEEP Scores in nine schools) Apparent APTT benefit for decreasing % of students at Frustration in Math 53% - 36% = 17% Apparent APTT benefit For increasing students at Mastery Level 36% - 21% = 15%

26. Assertions: Qualitative Outcomes(surveys, interviews, and teacher reflections) • Parent-teacher communication—The academic information shared with families increased awareness and facilitated shared effort in the student learning process. • Parent engagement—Parents welcomed teachers’ invitations to be involved and to be held to a higher set of expectations for engagement because coaching and support were provided. • Teacher capacity—Teachers’ ability to lead and motivate their parent classroom communities was a process of adaptation, time commitment and preparedness.

27. Assertions: Qualitative Outcomes(surveys, interviews, and teacher reflections) • Student achievement—Many students met or exceeded academic expectations with confidence when parents and teachers created collaborative structures of support. • Systematic approach—APTT provided the additional time and structure teachers needed to share expectations, data, activities and materials that parents needed to be engaged in the student learning process.

28. APTT in Washington, DC with support from the Flamboyan Foundation • Seven schools in 2011-2012 • Seventeen schools in 2012-2013

29. 2011-2012 Pilot Results in DC Flamboyan Foundation, Washington ,DC

30. Operationalizing Family Engagement • Create a shared vision of what effective family engagement looks like • Adopt a research-based model: APTT • Provide ongoing professional development and support for school administrators, teachers and staff • Integrate FE into the selected core areas of school improvement • Build internal expertise for sustainability • Collect data, evaluate, refine

31. Metrics

32. Challenges • Refocusing the mind set of administrators and teachers • Perceptions and believes about families • Fidelity to the model • Budget allocations • Teacher professional development • Practice materials • Translation services for families • Childcare • Time

33. Potential Funding Sources These programs require compliance in family engagement but efforts by schools/districts are fragmented and lack a shared vision for effective family engagement • Title I • Title III • 21st Century • Homeless • Migrant • Early Childhood • Special Education

34. Questions?

35. Contact Information Maria C. Paredes mparede@wested.org 480.823.9425