Setting a high standard for parent involvement projects will boost student achievement
By Anne T. Henderson, Karen Jones, and Beverly Raimondo
Ever since A Nation at Risk was published in 1983, our country has been grappling with serious school reform. At the close of the century, we still have far to go. Beyond any doubt, the research shows that involving parents improves student achievement. Yet few schools engage parents as real partners in school improvement, and district-wide reform efforts rarely take parents seriously. Could there be a connection between the lag in results and the fact that so few parents are involved?
Yes, there is a connection, and concerned parents, educators, and others are trying to do something about it. In 1997, a national meeting was held on engaging parents in school reform. The report from that meeting is called Urgent Message: Families Crucial to School Reform. It describes eight schools in poor neighborhoods that have raised student achievement to high levels. They did it by working closely with their families. In these schools, parents sit on governing councils, take part in standards committees, and analyze school data. They also help write school policy, assess student portfolios, and press district and state officials for more resources.
Even the strongest school-reform legislation can’t make a difference without parent involvement. The state of Kentucky has a far-reaching school reform law that sets high standards for all students, provides help to schools to carry out those standards, and assesses student progress every year. Yet this law will not work, and students won’t learn at high levels, unless families can take part in the ways described in Urgent Message.
How can we help them do this? In Kentucky, the state PTA and the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence have become partners. Together, they have created the Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership (CIPL). CIPL has already trained 300 parents across the state. To become CIPL fellows, parents must commit to attending three two-day training sessions, offered in different regions of the state. They also agree to design and carry out a project in their local community.
CIPL has set high standards for these parent projects. Each project must be designed to improve student achievement, involve more parents, and have a lasting impact. To help participants, CIPL developed a scoring guide for partnership projects. CIPL hopes the standards can serve as guidelines for those promoting parent involvement in other states.
1. Will the project improve student achievement? Projects should try to improve conditions that lead to low grades and test scores. This should raise achievement to a higher level. Why write a school handbook if more than half the kids in the school are reading at the lowest level? Each project must address these questions:
· Is the project based on real data or information about student achievement in your school or district? Does it meet a real need? How do you know?
· Does the project aim to improve the quality of student work? Will you and others be looking at student work to see if the project has an impact? How will you do this? What impact will this have?
· Does the project refer to high academic standards? How will it promote understanding of higher standards in the school community? How will it help parents, teachers, and students tell if students are working at a high level?
· Why will the project improve student achievement? Is the link between the project activities and improved student achievement clear and direct? How will it improve student learning? Why do you think so?
2. Will the project increase parent involvement? It’s important to go beyond the parents who are always involved. Questions like these must be addressed:
· Will you engage all types of parents in the school community? Will you be working with parents who are not involved? Are there parents who will not be reached by the project? Why? Who are they?
· Will at least one-third of the families in the school be involved? Will you be involving the parents who can have an impact on the problem your project is addressing?
· How will you reach out to the families you want to include? Do you think your approach will work? Why?
3. Will the project have a lasting impact? Often, projects tend to be one-time events such as an open house, a reading night, a family fun fair, a science exhibit. What kind of effect do you want to have? Consider these questions:
· Will the project activities extend at least two years? If not, will they have an impact that will last after the activities are done?
· If your project is an event, will it happen at least three times during the school year? Will there be activities between the events? Will key people in the school community be involved (e.g. the PTA, custodial staff, principal, student group, school council)? Will it help other activities or events in the school be more successful?
·Will the project become part of standard practice in the school? Could it easily be adopted by the school? Will it be part of the school improvement plan?
To help parents, family members, and community people think about these questions, we have developed a scoring guide (see box). It is based on the four levels of performance used in Kentucky: novice (beginner), apprentice (starting to learn), proficient (learning well), and distinguished (at the highest level).
First, think about a project that is already underway. Bring a few people together to talk about how it’s going. Place a check by the statements in the scoring guide that you think best answer the questions in the first column. Where do most of the checks fall? To be proficient or distinguished, all but one or two checks should fall in those columns. This scoring process should result in an interesting discussion.
Now think about a project being planned. Which statements best describe how the project is designed? Use the statements in the guide as tips for increasing the project’s
impact. Almost any project can have a positive effect on how well our kids do in school, if it pays attention to these three standards. What could be more important?
Anne T. Henderson is the author or coauthor of many books and other materials about parent, family, and community involvement in education. These include Urgent Message: Families Crucial to School Reform, A New Generation of Evidence: The Family is Critical to Student Achievement, and Beyond the Bake Sale: An Educator’s Guide to Working with Parents, available from the Center for Law and Education in Washington, DC. Karen Jones, president of the Kentucky PTA, is a public relations and outreach officer for the Kentucky Commission on Community Volunteerism and Service. Beverly Raimondo is the founder and director of the Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership (CIPL), a major project of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, a statewide citizens’ advocacy group in Kentucky.
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Standard |
Distinguished |
Proficient |
Apprentice |
Novice |
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1. Is the project focused on improving student achievement? |
I. Project is based on at least three sources of data or information (e.g. state test scores, school improvement plan, school survey) II.Parents, teachers and students will look at a wide range of student work III.Project will help people understand how standards are used in the classroom and whether student work meets standards IV.Project design is clearly linked to improving student achievement. |
I.Project is based on at least two sources of information or data II.Some parents and teachers will look at student work in one or two subjects in a few grades III.Project will show how standards are reflected in student work IV.The design may have an impact on student achievement |
I.Project is based on some information, but not very thorough II.Looking at student work is not a main feature of the project III.The link to standards is not clear IV.The case for how the project will improve student achievement is not clear |
I.Project is based on scanty or vague information II. Looking at student work is not a priority III. Project does not refer to standards IV. Project is not designed to improve student achievement |
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2. Will the project increase parent involvement? |
I. All types of families in the community will be reached II.Project will engage at least 1/3 of school families III.Families most in need are main target IV.Project will reach families not now involved |
I.Many families in school community will be reached II.Project will have some personal contact with about 1/3 of families III.Families most in need are part of target group. IV.Outreach strategy will work with most families |
I.Some families not now involved will be reached II.Project will get information to some families III.No special effort to reach families most in need IV.Outreach strategies are traditional (flyers, newsletter) |
I.Project will involve only the usual suspects II. Information is hit- or-miss III. Families most in need not part of strategy IV. No outreach |
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3. Will the project have a lasting impact? |
I. Activities will extend at least two years II.Events scheduled at least three times during school year, with activities in between. All key players involved III.Project will be adopted by school. There is a plan for making that happen |
I.Some activities will last two years II.Events will happen three times during first school year. Some key players involved III.Project will probably be accepted by the school |
I.Activities will last one year II.One or two events, with some activity between. Only a few people are responsible III.School is not committed to continuing the project |
I.Project is a single event or product II. Project is very dependent on one or two people III. School leaders are not interested in project |