Family and Community

Collaboration

John Somers, Azure Dee Smiley Angelov, and Lynn Wheeler University of Indianapolis

February 6, 2012

Guiding Philosophy

The starting point for thinking about home-school relationships needs to adopt a ‘wealth’ rather than a ‘deficit’ model. The unique contribution of children’s home and family life needs to be valued and validated, and developed and built on to support children’s learning at home, rather than attempting to introduce a completely new and alien set of school-based requirements on children and their families.

Developing the home-school

relationship using digital

technologies@www2.futurelab.org.uk/

resources/.../home-

school_relationships.pdf (2010)

DOES YOUR SCHOOL SEND A STRONG MESSAGE THAT

What impact does family

collaboration and involvement have

on student success?

Student Benefits:

Improved attendance

Increased learning and grades

Better test scores

Better social functioning

Enroll in post-secondary education

Henderson and Mapp (2002)

What are characteristics of effective

partnerships? Joint interest

◦ Common vision

◦ Shared goals

Team work

◦ Effective communication

& support

◦ Strength-based

Mutual Trust

◦ Dual responsibilities

◦ Common purpose and

actions

deFur, S. (2011)

What are characteristics of effective

partnerships? Share common

language and understanding

Share power and decisionmaking

Celebrate successes

Take risks

Engage in joint problem solving

Wandy & Pleet (2009). Engaging & Empowering Families in Secondary Transition: A Practitioner’s Guide

deFur, S. (2011). Teaching Exceptional Children

The Evolution of School Relationships

with Families

Power over

Power with

Power through

Turnbull, A.P., Turnbull, H.R. (1986-2006) (4 eds). Families, Professionals, and Exceptionality: A special partnership. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson/Merrill-Prentice Hall.

IN Educational Leadership Standards

5.8 developing family and community

partnerships that increase access to resources

(e.g., classroom volunteers, funds, equipment),

as long as they clearly align with and do not

distract from the school's goals for student

growth and achievement

Do families matter in this Indiana standard?

Six Types of Family Involvement

PARENTING. Assist families with parenting skills, family support, understanding child and adolescent development, and setting home conditions to support learning at each age and grade level. Assist schools in understanding families’ backgrounds, cultures, and goals for children.

COMMUNICATING. Communicate with families about school programs and student progress. Create two-way communication channels between school and home.

VOLUNTEERING. Improve recruitment, training, activities, and schedules to involve families as volunteers and as audiences at the school or in other locations. Enable educators to work with volunteers who support students and the school.

LEARNING AT HOME. Involve families with their children in academic learning at home, including homework, goal setting, and other curriculum-related activities. Encourage teachers to design homework that enables students to share and discuss interesting tasks.

DECISIONS MAKING. Include families as participants in school decisions, governance, and advocacy activities through school councils or improvement teams, committees, and parent organizations.

COLLABORATING WITH THE COMMUNITY. Coordinate resources and services for families, students, and the school with community groups, including businesses, agencies, cultural and civic organizations, and colleges or universities. Enable all to contribute service to the community.

Joyce Epstein (2002)

What does technology have to do

with learning and family

engagement? Parental

involvement with

school activities has

little impact on

children’s

achievement where

it is not directly

connected

Developing the home-school relationship using

digital

technologies@www2.futurelab.org.uk/resources/.

../home-school_relationships.pdf (2010)

Learning Platforms: Connecting

families to student learning Track children’s

progress

Watch field trips

Ask questions about student work and home work

Help parents understand assessments and data

Hear about student’s day at school

Developing the home-school relationship using digital

technologies@www2.futurelab.org.uk/resources/.../h

ome-school_relationships.pdf (2010)

Connecting Home & School

Weblogs:

Students

photographed teddy

bears at home and

dictated their

adventures. Stories

were posted on the

blog for family

reading.

Twitter:

Some schools are using

the micro-blog to

share student activities

and classroom news

with families. And,

alerting community and

family members to new

policy proposals.

Developing the home-school relationship using digital

technologies@www2.futurelab.org.uk/resources/.../home-

school_relationships.pdf (2010)

Family Message Journals

"Writing is a powerful tool for influencing others, getting what you want, and problem-solving. ... In addition, children need to write for real purposes and audiences if they are to learn that writing is personally meaningful and a powerful communication tool." Julie Wollman-Bonilla

FMJ’s connect the voice of the child at school with the voice of the family at home.

FMJ’s represent ‘two-way’ communication

Julie Wollman-Bonilla (seeWollman-Bonilla, Julie. 2000. Family Message Journals: Teaching Writing through Family Involvement. Urbana, IL: NCTE.)

Hey! Guess What I Did in School Today. Teaching Exceptional Children. January 1, 2012

Worlds of Words. University of Arizona

Charlene Klassen Endrizzi, Westminster College, PA

Family Message Journal Entry Oscar is OSUM!

Oscar’s message home afrc is osum

jus thing about it.

Deer mom and dad

can we go to afrca?

Dear Oscar,

Sounds fun! We will need to

save our money. While we are

saving, maybe we can check out

some books about Africa from

the library.Love, Mom

Family Message Journals

Students write daily messages to parents about a school activity or experience

Family member reads the message and asks student questions

Questions help student reflect on the message and its clarity

Family members reply and students being the message back to school

The teacher engages in guided writing strategies to improve skills

Wollman-Bonilla, Julie. 2000. Family Message Journals: Teaching Writing through Family Involvement. Urbana, IL:

NCTE.

Hey! Guess What I Did in School Today. Teaching Exceptional Children. January 1, 2012

LEARNING AT HOME TIPS: Teachers Involve Parents in

Schoolwork

Homework assignments involve students,

teachers, and family

Math example

◦ http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/tips/tips_download_p

df/fractionalparts.pdf

Template

◦ http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/tips/tips_download_p

df/Blank/TIPStemplate%20elementary%20math.pdf

Epstein, J. L., Salinas, K. C., & Van Voorhis, F. L. (2001). Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork (TIPS)

Manuals. Baltimore, MD: Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships, Johns Hopkins

University.

North Penn SD Knapp Home

and School 2 0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p

layer_detailpage&v=i1CbHylGfnE

What’s going on around the world?

Duke Study (Ladd,

2011)

Strong correlation

between family

engagement and

student achievement

across all 13

countries in the

study, including

Finland.

Families and School Reform

Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago (Byrk et. al., 2011)

Teachers know the community & draw on community organizations.

Teachers reach out to families as partners in education.

Families are involved in schools and respond to school outreach.

Revolution in California and 10

Years of Research on Home Visits

Parent Unions in

California

Parent Trigger Law

Sacramento Study,

2011

Confusion in a time of Choice

Pennsylvania Lawsuit

2011 ruling that

charter school (LEA)

was responsible for

transition services.

Family left with

$75,000 in service

fees and additional

legal costs.

Families get Voice in Teacher

Evaluations

Family evaluations of

teachers are now

part of the teacher

raise formula in

Idaho. (FoxNews,

2011)

Family Academies in the Big Apple

Privately funded

family academies in

NYC

State funded family

academies given by

NYC Department of

Education

NYC School districts

offer Saturday family

academies

Schools promote their strengths

“With an increase in the number of choices parents have for their child’s education, they are becoming savvy shoppers.”

Principal John Pfaff knew parent-to-

parent contact was the best way to get

positive messages out to the public

about his school.

Lincoln-Erdman Elementary

School’s Parent Connection

Marketing Committee

Proactive initiatives to promote

their strengths in academics,

programs, and parent

involvement.

Pfaff, J., Sondalle, N., Biebel L. & Haen, A. (2008)

Hartford Public Schools 2011-2012

Choice Marketing Campaign http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ueZiq

e15Jw

Marketing Your School in the 21st

Century Understand your consumers: current parents,

prospective parents, faculty, staff, community at

large, etc.

Speak in a shared voice.

Write strategic objectives.

Gather consensus.

Develop a language.

Use technology.

Plan marketing activities.

Spring, K. (2003)

Assessing our interaction with

families School leadership teams conduct

a “welcoming schools”

assessment with 4 staff

members/8 parents + community

members

Teacher evaluation (Indiana RISE

rubric) includes components of

professional practice such as

engaging families in student

learning.

Teachers track parent

involvement with student

management systems.

Community organizations assess

disconnects between schools and

parents.

Henderson, Map, Johnson & Davies (2007)

Indiana Department of Education, RISE 1.0 (2011)

http://www.indystar.com/article/20120105/NEWS08/120105019/Matthew-

Tully-our-schools-friendly-enough-parents-

Recommended Resources

Harvard University, Family Involvement Network of Educators

University of Kansas, Beach Center on Disability

Johns Hopkins Center on School, Family, and Community

Arizona State University, Equity Alliance

National PTA

Indiana Partnerships Center

The Parent Teacher Home Visit Project

Parent Revolution

Presentation Resources

Ladd, H.F. (2011), Education and Poverty: Confronting the Evidence, Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy.

Bryk, A., Sebring, P.B., Allensworth, E., Luppescu, S. & Easton, J. (2011), Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago, University of Chicago Urban Education Institute.

Sacramento Study/ Parent Teacher Home Visit Project (2011) http://www.pthvp.org/

Presentation Resources

Henderson, A.T., Mapp, K.L., Johnson, V.R.,

& Davies, D. (2007). Beyond the bake sale:

The essential guide to family-school

partnerships. New York: New Press.

Indiana Department of Education, RISE

Handbook 1.0 (2011).

Pennsylvania 2011Dutkevitch by

Dutkevitch v. Pennyslvania Cyber Charter

School 57 IDELR 32 (3d Cir. 2011).

Presentation Resources

Spring, K. Marketing your school in the

21st century. Montessori LIFE, Summer

2003.

Pfaff, J., Sondalle, N., Biebel, L. & Haen, A.

Parent connection: A school marketing

effort that works. Principal, March/April

2008.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ueZiq

e15Jw

Presentation Resources

Parent Revolution (2011)

http://parentrevolution.org/

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/10/30/i

daho-parents-help-determine-whether-

childs-teacher-gets-raise/

http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/mediarelatio

ns/NewsandSpeeches/2009-

2010/Fall_Saturday_Parent_Academy.htm

Presentation Resources

http://www.indystar.com/article/201

20105/NEWS08/120105019/Matthew

-Tully-our-schools-friendly-enough-

parents-

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240

52702304450604576420330972531442.ht

ml

Presentation Resources

Pennsylvania 2011Dutkevitch by

Dutkevitch v. Pennyslvania Cyber Charter

School 57 IDELR 32 (3d Cir. 2011).

http://www.futurelab.org.uk/

Hey! Guess What I Did in School Today. Teaching

Exceptional Children. January 1, 2012 Valerie,

Lynda M; Foss-Swanson, Sheila