Transfigurations of Parent Involvement That Work For 21st Century: Page 1
Overview
By Mary Johnson. Parent-U-Turn
Parent –U-Turn goal in this section is to improve on Epstein’s model to fit all parents in the 21st century.
Since the majority of schools in urban communities are under performing, one model fix can’t fix all. Due to the lack of funding and resources that exist in urban schools, parents in the nonprofit created seven different Types of Parent Involvement for all parents in the 21st century. This is the first document created by Urban Parents regarding what is needed for parents of color to become advocates for their children. These seven keys help empower parents to make informed decisions on the education, safety, and health of their children. This is the first time that parents of urban students have written a document on engaging parents as equal partners the system with the goal of improving student achievement.
When recasting Joyce Epstein’s six principles, we used her model as a guide. We included principles, which we, as parents of color, believe all parents need in order to successfully move our children beyond high school and into college. These are the seven types (REQUIRED)
Type 1
Access to Information and Data Collection
Parents need to have access to timely and accurate information regarding their child’s education in order to best support their children’s academic success. This includes:
· Parents using, analyzing, and collecting data about their schools
· Parents understanding data and using data that drives reforms
· Parents becoming empowered to investigate and document conditions at their schools by becoming researchers in their own communities.
· Parent access to information about the resources, and rights to support their children.
In Joyce Epstein’s “Six Keys Steps” she doesn’t mention anything regarding data collection. We now live in a data driven society. Type 1 is aligned with the intention of the 2001 NCLB section 1118 and California School Report Card. Research shows that an informed parent is a powerful instrument for social change.
Type 2
Parents In Decision-Making Roles
Parents provide leadership in schools by being at the table with teachers and administrators to:
1) Actively develop policies and be involved in the decisions along with school leadership teams.
2) Ensure that the school has adequate resources and allocates them appropriately to carry out its mission.
3) Provide training and evaluation of school structures, physical and academic
4) Incorporate input from families and the community
This might include:
· Local Advisory Committees with genuine parent participation
· Effective advocacy and education as a direct result of understanding how systems are structured (e.g. how decisions and power are distributed between schools, staff, parents and students)
· Providing parents with knowledge, skills, and opportunities to be actively engage them in all levels of the decision-making process
· Representation of parents on the school decision-making teams
· Develop a parent workshops team to integral input from families and community and establish benchmarks.
In recasting Type 2, Joyce Epstein addressed decision-making in her six keys. However, it was too general, and lacked content or suggestion on what it should look like in practice. It left too much open to interpretation. This left too much up to the school district to determine what it should look like.
Our Type 2 actually correlates to Joyce Epstein’s Type 5, “Decision Making: including families as participants in school decisions, governance, and advocacy through PTA/PTO, school councils, committees, and other parent organizations.”
Type 3
Parents as Student Advocates
Parents need to know how to navigate and negotiate the school system. We need to support the creation of an environment where parents have access to information and support systems to be effective advocates by monitoring and directing the education of our children. This includes:
· Parents need to know what children need, how to access resources and how to implement a plan of action.
· Parents need to understand a “power map” detailing the functions and structures of the system. Parents need to understand and be able to communicate in an educational setting, using terms spoken by educational professionals.
· Parents need to identify the areas of training and services needed.
The recasting of Type 3 content wasn’t addressed in the six keys that the State of California adopted. Parents need to know how to engage grades K-12 if they are going to be public participants in their children’s education. Only when parents know the rules of engagement, can they hold the system accountable.
Type 4
Parent Leaders at Home and in the School-Community
Parents need opportunities to build leadership and advocacy skills to enhance student-parent-community partnerships. Schools will serve the family and community needs for health and social service and provide resources and information for accessing those services:
· Parents will learn intergenerational and cross-cultural communication strategies, with a special emphasis on immigrant families.
· Parents will learn “twenty-first century parenting skills” such as how to develop boundaries, parent-child communication, identify risk factors- drugs, gang involvement, etc.)
· Parents will understand the college requirement and financial aid process.
· Leadership training will be offered that will include meeting facilitation, public speaking, conflict resolution and cross cultural training
· Communications training for parents will be more effective in navigating their children through K-12 and to college.
· Parents receive on-going support and technical assistance to equip them for effective participation.
Joyce Epstein did discuss parent roles, but it was limited in content. There was a need to expand content beyond homework to address urban parents’ needs. Parents in urban schools need equal resources in the area of gang, drug, and criminal activities that go beyond basic parenting skills.
Our Type 4 correlates to Joyce Epstein’s Type 1 , “PARENTING: Assisting families with parenting and child-rearing skills, understanding child and adolescent development, and setting home conditions that support children as students at each age and grade level. Assisting schools in understanding families.”
Type 5
Effective Two –Way Communication
· Communication must be translated in languages that parents speak in their home.
· Communication between home and school is regular, two-way, and meaningful.
· There is a need to have computerized machines, newsletters, personal contact, letters/flyers and a marquee.
· Parent Liaison roles include helping bridge the open communication between school and home and helping to create effective home/ school relationships.
· Parent Liaisons will have the ability to work with all races of people.
We enhanced and expanded on Type 5 because a major stakeholder was left out of the two-way communication. This was the Parent Liaison role that is the key to fostering relationships with parents and open communication between schools and communities.
Our Type 5 correlates to Joyce Epstein’s Type –2, “COMMUNICATING: Communicate with families about school programs and student progress through effective school-to-home and home-to-school communications.”
Type 6
District Level Support
Structures are provided to build parent capacity that is well-defined, meaningful participation where dialogue, empowerment and action are critical components of educational reform. This mid-level structure will be fully funded and led by parent councils that will:
· Provide parents with training and capacity building opportunities to effectively engage in school reform at the local and district level.
· Provide parents with information and resources to meet the needs of the whole child.
· Enable parents to support students and schools programs.
· Create opportunities for collaboration in providing training and services jointly with parents such as in areas of: college fair, parenting classes. School leadership and PLC’s.
Also, it very important that there be support at the District Level. We are looking at the district with a critical eye. We are hoping to see the District develop a forum that is led by parents, as we can’t continue with the status quo. There are many people in high places that are still limited in their perception of parent involvement. Parents at the district level need authentic roles that look similar to the ones describe in appendix:
Please see the attached appendix
Type 7
Friendly Schools Atmosphere
Schools will post welcome signs throughout the school in many languages including English. The staff of each school will provide mandatory customer service every year for the entire school. Parents will be asked to fill out a survey on services rendered.
A friendly school atmosphere was also left out of the six keys that were adopted by the State of California. The number one complaint in urban schools from parents is that the school staff is rude and unfriendly. This is the major reason parents stop participating or volunteering at local schools.
Appendix
Role of Council Of Parents
REVIEW SARC
Review and comment on school SARCs at the same time that the Mayor’s council does.
BUDGET
Ability to review and have a full accounting for the Title 1 budget of each school, each mini-district, and of LAUSD as whole.
GUIDE AND OVERSEE PARENT CENTER AND PARENT TRAINING
Set the policies for the school-based parent centers and parent training programs. HEAR CONCERNS OF PARENTS
· Organize regular public forums.
· Gather information through parent surveys.
· Report to the Council of Mayors and School Board on a regular basis.
Create the Council of Parents (Required)
· Each School chooses a liaison to the parent council;
· Each mini-district chooses two of these liaisons to serve as members of the Parent Council (Total 16 members for LAUSD);
· Parent Council members.
Nowhere in the six keys by Joyce Epstein did she ever mention a role for the District level. Every school is under the District or Local Education Agency and the district plays a major role in the accountability and policies that govern the schools and effect parent’s rights.
Review and Evaluate Work of Parent Centers and Parent Training Programs
Parents can be powerful stakeholders of changes and reform in our public schools.In regions across the country, parents who are stereotyped by race, economic status, or language, are leading pioneers to improve school accountability and demanding quality education for all students.
We believe that significant reform can happen in California:
• when parents are genuinely engaged in their children’s education;
• when a support structure for parent involvement is developed and strengthened.
Require that a Parent Center be the Hub for all School Sites
Three Levels of Parent Structures for 21st Century Parent Centers
- Building Local Parent Capacity:
· Help parents navigate the school system
· Provide parent counseling
· Support individual and collective parent efforts to address issues and improve conditions on their campuses
· Provide parents with training on leadership and governance skills.
2. Parent Space
• Provide space for parent organizations to share ideas/strategies
• Provide advanced training to engage parents in advocacy
• Conduct independent analysis of policies affecting children
• Provide forum for groups to express their concerns/issues
3. Parent Center As Hub For School Site
• Act as information clearinghouse
• Refer parents to social service agencies
• Research availability of data for parents
• Provide information to parents and community members
Appendix
The following recommendations outline a comprehensive approach to parent engagement with the potential of making a significant impact to increase academic achievement and provide more equity and access to quality education in
California. The following represents our vision and objectives to implement the best practices that would work in our California schools:
Recommendation # 1 (Required)-- Promote and improve parent engagement training so that parents are meaningfully involved in the education of their children at home, in their schools and in their communities.
As highlighted above, because of numerous structural and personal barriers, many parents are prevented from being involved in their children's education.What are needed are strength, encouragement and recognition for all parents.This must go hand-in-hand with advocacy training and engagement opportunities.
Parent engagement and training includes, but is not limited to, helping their children with homework and help fundraise for the school.The continuum of parent training includes: 1) guiding their children’s education beyond high school to universities; 2) volunteering in the classroom and the schools; 3) playing a role in authentic decision-making for the school;
Recommendation # 2 (Required)-- Build and Support Independent Parent Engagement Structures.
While PTAs often do play important roles in supporting the school programs and administration, they are often not able to address the needs and concerns of many parents.Some schools are forming their own parent booster clubs to support schools events.
Recommendation# 3--Providing Leadership Training is another key role for parent center.
It is often repeated in parent circles that school and district staff are following district directives and have vested interests in preserving the status quo rather than in training parent leaders to become advocates for their children...
The trainings need to be provided to all parents in a friendly environment and be culturally friendly.Leadership training topics may include:
• Training on how to volunteer in their school, how to navigate the school system, and how to advocate for the benefit of children;
• Training on parental responsibilities, such as information on how to help your child with homework, how to participate in a parent teacher conference, and knowing the “A-G” requirements;
• Training about parental and students’ rights so that they can be advocates for their children.
• Training on how to collect, analyze and use data about their schools for effective advocacy;
• Training on School Budget, Advisory Committees, School Councils, and Leadership Team to be equal partners as decision-making on campus;
Recommendation # 4 (Required)--Parent Liaison will serve as connective function
linking parents to community resources.This position should be full a time job, and
not a three-hour position. (Required)
The parent liaison center will also provide direct services to parents.Also the
parent center will act as a resource to help meet the needs of the whole child and the
whole family.Parents will receive referrals to local independent agencies in their