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Summary of Questions from Webinar 2:
A New Day: Family, School, and Community Engagement in Education Reform - Responses from Speakers and National PIRC Coordination Center

Responses written by Susan Shaffer, Maryland State PIRC, and Barbara Scherr, Maryland State Department of Education

1. Where can we access Maryland's framework for accountability and outcome measurement tools, sample school parent compacts, and standards for parental engagement training?

The Maryland Parent Advisory Council (M-PAC) Report serves as the MD's framework for parent involvement. The Council's report, Shared Responsibility, includes all 21 recommendations under five themes—communication, training, partnership, leadership, and accountability.

Report accessible via the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) Web site at www.marylandpublicschools.org/NR/rdonlyres/724B578E-3BEB-4506-9238-2C7D7A89B3AB/7765/MPAC_FinalSummary_October2005.pdf

Title I Parent Involvement Information Web page available at
www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/programs/titleI

MSDE has two full time staff working to support school districts, schools, and parents. For more information about Title I Parent Involvement or general questions about family engagement, please contact:

Barb Scherr
Phone: (410) 767-0291
E-mail: bscherr@msde.state.md.us

Young-Chan Han
Phone: (410) 767-6756
E-mail: yhan@msde.state.md.us

2. How does Maryland include nonprofits and community organizations in supporting family engagement efforts?

Each district in Maryland has a Family Involvement Coordinator and an ELL Family Involvement Coordinator designated by local superintendents to support family engagement. These coordinators meet throughout the year with the staff from Maryland State Department of Education. The representatives from MD PIRC, MD PTA, Maryland Alliance for Family Involvement in Education (MAFIE), and Maryland English Language Learning Family Involvement Network (MELLFIN) are also invited to network, share resources and discuss best practices on family engagement. Maryland thrives on partnership and collaboration with these and other nonprofits and community organizations in supporting families.

About two years ago, MSDE, MD PTA, and MD PIRC together birthed the Maryland Alliance for Family Involvement in Education (MAFIE). MAFIE hosts two professional conversations a year around parent involvement. The meeting is open to district leaders, schools, partner organizations, and parents to attend. In collaboration with MSDE, MD PTA, and MD PIRC, these conversations bring nationally known speakers, such as Anne Henderson, to share her work. Most recently in May 2010, MAFIE invited three local superintendents to share their vision and work on behalf of families.

These three organizations have also declared October as Maryland's Parent Involvement Month. This past October, MSDE, MD PIRC, and MD PTA brought together over 300 parents, educators, and community representatives to express our appreciation for the hard work and important role parents play in their children's education. MSDE used this event as a platform to launch the Third Annual Comcast Parent Involvement Matters (PIMA) Award. This award program is the first of its kind in the nation to shine a spotlight on parents who have been involved in an effort to raise awareness of the impact of parent involvement and to encourage others to get involved. For the past three years, PIMA has honored and recognized the outstanding accomplishments of 24 very special people at a statewide recognition ceremony. These parents have made significant contributions to their child's school.

MSDE also collaborates with MELLFIN, a statewide nonprofit organization, created to share information and resources in support of English language learning families in education. MSDE provides guidance to MELLFIN for their regular professional development meetings and the annul MELLFIN seminar.

Towson State University is also a valuable partner in parent involvement. The University was given a State grant to train teachers and stakeholders on effective parental and community collaboration and engagement.

3. What kind of training is needed to implement parent classroom observations?

The Tellin' Stories approach emphasizes the development of meaningful relationships among families, between families and their schools, and by supporting collective action to transform schools. Since community building and trust is integral to the sustainability and success of the program in schools, this important first step must be taken before parent classroom observations can take place. Prior to classroom observations, parents must be confident that they will be welcomed in teacher's classrooms. Teachers, on the other hand, must be assured that the purpose of the observations is to help families gain a deeper understanding of what is happening in their children's classrooms, increase their appreciation of the daily experiences of their children and school, provide direct support to classrooms, and make informed recommendations for school improvement—NOT to critique teaching.

There are two types of classroom observations: initial classroom visits and achievement-focused classroom visits

1. Initial Classroom Visits require
   1. A meeting with the principal to explain the purpose and get approval for the visits.
   2. Write a memo to teachers explaining the purpose and nature of visits.
   3. Orientation session for parents (two hours)
2. Achievement-focused classroom visits require
   1. Formation of an academic achievement committee
   2. The following parent workshops:
      1. Parent brainstorming session—developing the classroom observational tool
      2. Parent/teacher session: feedback from teachers
      3. Preparing for classroom visits
   3. Classroom visits
   4. Conferencing with teacher
   5. Supporting teaching and learning
   6. Meeting with principal
   7. Summary report—to be presented at a school leadership team meeting

4. What do we need to do to create a Tellin' Stories program?

The first step towards implementing the Tellin' Stories Program at your school or to hold a district-wide train-the-trainer training is to identify a district or school-based leader who is willing to engage parents in community building, student learning, school decision-making, and school reform. The next step is to get in touch with either Susan Shaffer or Deborah Menkart to get the program underway at your school or in your district.

If you are located in Maryland, you can contact:

Susan Shaffer, Executive Director
MD Parental Information and Resource Center (MD PIRC)
5272 River Road, Suite 340
Bethesda, MD 20816
Phone: 301-557-7741 ext 118
E-mail: sshaffer@maec.org
Web: www.mdpirc.org

If you are located outside of Maryland, please contact:

Deborah Menkart, Executive Director
Teaching for Change
PO Box 73038
Washington, DC 20056
Phone: 202-588-7204
E-mail: dmenkart@teachingforchange.org
Web: www.teachingforchange.org

5. What types of evaluations are being used determine the impact or effectiveness of the Tellin' Stories program on student achievement?

The Tellin' Stories Program is evaluated in a variety of ways to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data to determine the program's effectiveness in increasing parent efficacy to advocate for their children's education, increased parent participation in school events and school planning, and the increase in the capacity of parents to help support their children's education and learning at home. Furthermore, state assessment results and attendance rates for participating schools are tracked to determine whether the percentage of students scoring "proficient" or better and attendance has increased. Data collection instruments include: pre/post surveys for parents, teachers, and principals; workshop surveys (distributed at the end of each workshop); focus groups; personal interviews; state assessment results; and average daily attendance rates.

Responses written by Mishaela Durán and Lela Spielberg, National PTA

1. How can we start a PTA in the territories?

Currently, PTA has 55 state Congresses, in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Department of Defense Schools in Europe and the Pacific. To start a local PTA chapter, contact National PTA by filling out a form for new units on our Web site (http://pta.org/how_to_join.asp).

2. What programs are available through PTA for foster parents?

PTA does not offer programming exclusively for foster parents, but encourages all caregivers to participate in its programs. PTA is also working to engage more caregivers with children in the foster care or juvenile justice system. For instance, Maryland PTA works closely with the Maryland PIRC to engage families with children in the foster care system and provide services and outreach that meet their needs. Recently, Maryland has established first-ever foster caregiver PTA unit.

PTA also recently published a State Laws on Family Engagement Reference Guide, which profiles state laws on family engagement in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This guide includes a section Youth and Families in High-Risk situations, which analyzes laws that address the needs of youth experiencing multiple educational placements or who are at-risk of disengaging from or dropping out of school.
Guide available at http://pta.org/3717.asp

The U.S. Department of Education has also used PTA's National Standards for Family-School Partnerships in it's a Family Guide to Getting in Involved with Correctional Education, which provides guidance on how to work with families of systems-involved youth. The National PTA also advocating for changes in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization that would ensure that caregivers and biological parents of youth in the foster care, child welfare, and juvenile justice systems were engaged in transition planning and strength-based interventions for the youth.
Guide available at http://www.neglected-delinquent.org/nd/resources/spotlight/familyGuide2008.asp

Responses created by National PIRC Coordination Center

1. What recommendations would you give for data collection on family engagement programs: what data to collect; how to collect it; and how to use data to link family engagement and student outcomes?

While there is no one way to collect and use data on family engagement programs, there are things to consider in designing a method for data collection and use, including methodology, matching methods to outcomes, and privacy. The following resources provide useful information on these topics and more.

• CoreWork Diagnostics was developed by National Center for Educational Accountability as research-based online service that builds capacity on analyzing student performance, effective educational practices, and improvement planning.
  Web site access at http://www.nc4ea.org/index.cfm/e/initiatives.corework_diagnostics
• The Data Collection Instruments for Evaluating Family Involvement, created by Harvard Family Research Project, explores data collection instruments for evaluating family involvement.
  Document available at http://www.hfrp.org/hfrp-news/news-announcements/data-collection-instruments-for-evaluating-family-involvement
• The Nevada State PIRC has created a collection of tools called the Parent Involvement Tracking Kit and Evaluation Report. Within this set of tools is a detailed explanation of what data to collect and how to track the data, a sample Excel spreadsheet for tracking data, a sample report document.
  Tools available at http://www.nevadapirc.org/school-parent-resources/
• SEDL's presentation, Talk School Talk: Using Data to Build PTA-School Connections, for the National PTA Convention provides information on how to access and use school level data.
  Presentation slides available at http://www.nationalpirc.org/engagement_webinars/webinar-2/PIRC-PTA-conf-data-session.pdf
• The New Jersey State PIRC has created Tile I Parental Involvement: A Self-Evaluation Tool for New Jersey Schools, a guide for districts and schools to help them collect and use data related to the Title I provisions.
  Tools available at www.njpirc.org/documents/parent_involvement_self_evaluation_toolkit.pdf
• The Quick Tips 9: Ways to Improve the Quality of Your Program Evaluation and Quick Tips 14: Basics of Good Evaluation Reporting created by the University of Wisconsin-Extension provide detailed explanations of issues to consider in planning an evaluation.
  Tools available at http://www.uwex.edu/ces/pdande/resources/pdf/Tipsheet9.pdf and http://www.uwex.edu/ces/pdande/resources/pdf/Tipsheet14.pdf

2. Have you done any analysis that reflects cost and benefits to education, individuals, society, public institutions, employment, social work, and other similar factors?

The following resources provide information on cost and benefit analysis for family and community engagement programs.

• The National PTA provides information on this topic and other related issues in National PTA Public Policy Agenda (2010).
  Document available at http://www.pta.org/PPA10.pdf
• In Parental Effort, School Resources, and Student Achievement, Houtenville and Conway (2008) have reported on a variety of factors that impact the U.S. economy, including parental involvement. One finding commonly cited is that schools would need to increase spending by more than $1,000 per pupil to gain the same impact as a well designed family engagement program.
  Document available at www.unh.edu/news/docs/Conway_May08.pdf
• Yates' (2008) article Cost-effectiveness and Cost-benefit of Family Involvement Initiatives describes a method for performing a cost effectiveness analysis on family involvement programs.
  Article available at http://www.hfrp.org/evaluation/the-evaluation-exchange/issue-archive/building-the-future-of-family-involvement/cost-effectiveness-and-cost-benefit-analyses-of-family-involvement-initiatives
• The Education Finance Statistics Center Web page provides finance information on public elementary and secondary education.
  Web site access at http://www.nces.ed.gov/EDFIN/

3. How do we help educators to redefine the role families can take in supporting education and build a culture of engagement instead of random acts of involvement?

The following resources provide explanations and information on strategies to help educators redefine the school's culture of engagement so that families can take a meaningful role in supporting student learning.

• The June 2010 issue of The Education Innovator provides a description of the research-based vision for family engagement as well as real-life examples.
  Newsletter available at http://www2.ed.gov/news/newsletters/innovator/2010/0625.pdf
• Parent Power Build the Bridge to Success provides suggestions for actions that families can take to engage in their children's preschool, elementary, middle, or high schools.
  Document available at http://www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/parentpower/booklet.pdf
• The PTA National Standards for Family-School Partnerships: An Implementation Guide provides detailed explanations for each of the PTA standards and practical suggestions for how to engage families in the education of their children.
  Document available at http://www.pta.org/Documents/National_Standards_Implementation_Guide_2009.pdf
• The Georgia Department of Education in partnership with the Georgia State PIRC has developed a set of resources for families and educators. The Georgia Department of Education Web site provides practical tools and a web-based virtual school tour to promote a family friendly culture.
  Tools available at http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/School-Improvement/Federal-Programs/Pages/Parent-Engagement-Program.aspx
• SEDL maintains several resources that specifically address strategies for promote a culture of engagement:
  • The School-Family Connection: Looking at the Larger Picture—A Review of the Current Literature; Diversity: School, Family, and Community Connections
    Synthesis available at http://www.sedl.org/connections/research-syntheses.html
  • A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement
    Synthesis available at http://www.sedl.org/connections/research-syntheses.html
  • Organizing Family and Community Connections with Schools: How Do School Staff Build Meaningful Relationships With All Stakeholders?
    Research Brief available at http://www.sedl.org/connections/research-briefs.html
• In a synopsis of Beyond the Bake Sale: How School Districts Can Promote Family Involvement, Henderson, Mapp, Johnson, and Davies (2008) provide a description of a framework that can help school staff create meaningful family engagement programs.
  Synopsis available at http://www.hfrp.org/evaluation/the-evaluation-exchange/issue-archive/building-the-future-of-family-involvement/beyond-the-bake-sale-how-school-districts-can-promote-family-involvement
• The publication Family Engagement in Education, Seven Principles for Success was developed by the National Resource Center on Charter School Finance and Governance, the Center on Educational Governance, and the University of Southern California to provide practical step-by-step directions for educators to help them reach out to parents and actively engage them in their children's education.
  Resource available at http://www.usc.edu/dept/education/cegov/focus/charter-schools/publications/books-chapters/Family%20Engagement%20in%20Education.pdf
• Seeing Is Believing: Promising Practices for How School Districts Promote Family Engagement was created by the National PTA and HFRP to share examples of research-based strategies that are used in schools.
  Resource available at http://www.hfrp.org/content/download/3420/98238/file/SeeingIsBelieving.pdf

4. How do you assess administrator commitment for effective engagement practices?

While there may be assessments specific to administrator commitment available, we are not familiar with them. There are, however, various tools that assess the structures that administrators need to create if they are to establish an effective family engagement program. Examples of these types of instruments follow.

• There are two tools in A Toolkit for Title I Parental Involvement, Tool 4.4: Action Planning—Building Systemic Support for Parental Involvement and Tool 4.5: Evaluating Effectiveness—Building Systemic Support for Parental Involvement.
  Toolkit available at http://www.sedl.org/connections/toolkit
• Even though the checklist created by Policy Institute for Family Impact Seminars in Assessing the Impact of Policies & Programs on Families may have been developed primarily for policymakers, it provides clear descriptions and characteristics of leaders who support parental engagement. This checklist provides both explanation and specific issues that should be addressed through policy.
  Document available at http://www.familyimpactseminars.org/doc.asp?d=fi_checklist_aipf.pdf

There are also resources that describe the characteristics of effective leadership support for family engagement including the following.

• The National Network of Partnership Schools has a variety of tools that target leaders at the district and school level including information on the Partnership models—school, district, state, and organizational on their NNPS Partnership Model Web page.
  Resources available at http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/program.htm
• SEDL's Developing a Collaborative Team Approach to Support Family and Community Connections With Schools: What Can School Leaders Do? provides an explanation of research, a scenario, and suggestions for leaders.
  Resource is available at http://www.sedl.org/connections/research-briefs.html
• Anne Henderson's Leverage Points for Parents and Community Leaders provides specific explanations and suggestions for leadership in family and community involvement.
  Resources available at http://www.ncpie.org/pubs/KeyLeveragePoints.pdf
• Crossing Boundaries, Changing Communities, Lessons in Collective Leadership provides real-life examples of leadership strategies that support family and community engagement.
  Document available at http://www.wkkf.org/~/media/23FD4136AFDC457D9C5685F437A8E40C.ashx

5. What strategies empower families to engage in their children's education including fathers, families of very young children, and diverse families?

The following resources describe strategies that help to empower fathers, families of very young children, and diverse families to engage in their children's education.

Fathers

• The National PTA has a collection of resources that promote and support male and father involvement on their Male Involvement Web page.
  Resources available at http://www.pta.org/topic_male_involvement.asp
• The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has a variety of strategy resources on their Web site including Involving Fathers and Taking Steps to Help Families.
  Resources available at http://www.naeyc.org/files/tyc/file/InvolvingFathers.pdf and http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200211/TakingSteps.pdf
• Child Welfare League of America has created a list of research studies on engaging fathers in their publication Annotated Bibliography, Fatherhood. For each entry, they provide a bulleted list of key findings.
  List available at http://www.cwla.org/programs/r2p/bibliofa.pdf
• The National Head Start Association initiative on male and father involvement includes Father/Son Resources, a Web page with an array of resources on this topic.
  Resources available at http://www.nhsa.org/services/general_services/fatherson_resources

Young Children

• SEDL has resources that provide research-based strategies and practical information on working with families of young children.
  • Readiness: School, Family, and Community Connections
    Synthesis available at http://www.sedl.org/connections/research-syntheses.html
  • Easing the Transition from PreK to Kindergarten: What Can Schools Do to Address Child Readiness
    Research brief available at http://www.sedl.org/connections/research-briefs.html
  • How Can Schools Involve Family and Community Members in Supporting a Child's Readiness for School
    Online interactive brief available at http://www.sedl.org/connections/interactive-briefs.html
• The U.S. Department of Education has a variety of resources that provide research-based strategies for family involvement. They include
  • Learning to Talk and Listen An Oral Language Resource for Early Childhood Caregivers provides background information and practical strategies to help young children develop literacy skills.
    Resource available at http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/LearningtoTalkandListen.pdf
  • A Child Becomes a Reader: Proven Ideas from Research describes actions families can take at home to support literacy.
    Resource available at http://www.nifl.gov/publications/pdf/reading_pre.pdf
• The U.S. Department of Education has a variety of resources that specifically target early learning. They include
  • The Early Learning Resources Web site provides descriptions and links to resources from U.S. Department of Education programs, National Research Council, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources.
    Web site available at http://www.ed.gov/early-learning/resources
  • The Early Learning Initiative Web site describes the U.S. Department of Education initiative to improve health, social, emotional, and educational outcomes for young children from birth to third grade and specific programs that will help to achieve these outcomes.
    Web site available at http://www.ed.gov/early-learning
• Hepburn (2004) Families as Primary Partners in Their Child's Development and School Readiness is a toolkit that promotes parental involvement as an integral element in ensuring children's readiness for school. It provides explanations and helpful tools for effective strategies to engage families in the education of very young children.
  Resource available at http://www.aecf.org/upload/publicationfiles/families.pdf
• In The Transition to Kindergarten: A Review of Current Research and Promising Practices to Involve Families, Bohan-Baker and Little (2004) present a review of current research and suggested practices for family involvement in children's transition to kindergarten.
  Article available at http://www.hfrp.org/content/download/1165/48670/file/bohan.pdf

Diverse Families

• The Family-School Partnership Lab Web page at Vanderbilt University has been involved in a long-term research project on strategies to engage parents in their children's education.
  Studies on their findings available at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Peabody/family-school/papers.html
• The following SEDL resources provide information on working with diverse populations:
  • Diversity: School, Family, and Community Connections
    Synthesis available at http://www.sedl.org/connections/research-syntheses.html
  • Reaching Out to Diverse Populations: What Can Schools Do to Foster Family-School Connections?
    Research brief available at http://www.sedl.org/connections/research-briefs.html
  • Family and Community Involvement: Reaching Out to Diverse Populations
    Resource available at http://www.sedl.org/pubs/family29/
• This summary for Sherick Hughes' article, How Can We Prepare Teachers to Work with Culturally Diverse Students and Their Families? What Skills Should Educators Develop to Do This Successfully? on the HFRP Web site helps to illustrate the nuances of working with families from diverse backgrounds.
  
  Resource available at http://www.hfrp.org/family-involvement/fine-family-involvement-network-of-educators/member-insights/how-can-we-prepare-teachers-to-work-with-culturally-diverse-students-and-their-families-what-skills-should-educators-develop-to-do-this-successfully

6. Does anyone have examples of parent training used as a degree program for parents?

Although there may be examples of parent training being applied to degree programs, the most commonly referenced programs offer 1) certificates or college credits to foster parents or caregivers who take specified classes related to being a foster parent and 2) certificates or GED credit to parents who attend specific training as part of a school's parental involvement program. There are also some university programs that offer course work or degrees in parent education including the University of Minnesota and Adelphi University.

Information on parent educator programs available at http://www.cehd.umn.edu/CI/Programs/college/Certificates/ParentEd.html and http://www.adelphi.edu/parentinginstitute/profdevpt-conted/certificateprog.php

7. What strategies help to support policy and planning that promotes and supports family engagement as a change strategy?

The following resources describe strategies and approaches that can help to support policy and planning that promotes family engagement as a change strategy.

• Parent and Family Involvement: A Guide to Effective Parent, Family, and Community Involvement in North Carolina Schools not only provides examples of policies that support family engagement, but it also provides a clear explanation of the research and practice that should be in place to support this policy.
  This document is available at http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/parents/home/2010/parent-involvement-guide.pdf
• HFRP's Thinking Big: A New Framework for Family Involvement Policy, Practice, and Research provides insight into current and future directions for family and community engagement policy.
  Resources available at http://www.hfrp.org/evaluation/the-evaluation-exchange/issue-archive/building-the-future-of-family-involvement/thinking-big-a-new-framework-for-family-involvement-policy-practice-and-research
• SEDL's A Toolkit for Title I Parental Involvement contains a variety of planning tools related to parental involvement policy. Tools 3.4, 4.3, and 5.1 are specifically designed to help in planning and monitoring parental involvement.
  Tools available at http://www.sedl.org/connections/toolkit
• The Alaska State PIRC has developed A Guide to Developing Your School's Parent Involvement Policy or Plan, a step-by-step guide for developing parental involvement policy in Alaska schools. Although each state may have a different structure for family engagement, this resource provides a framework that any school can use.
  Resource available at http://www.eed.state.ak.us/nclb/2010wc/Parent_Involvement.doc
• In A Toolkit for Educators, the Iowa State PIRC has developed a collection of resources to support family engagement policy development and program planning.
  Resources available at http://www.iowaparents.org/getting-involved/toolkit

8. What roles can students play as part of the process to engage family and community in supporting student learning?

The following resources provide information on the benefits of involving students and strategies for engaging them to support learning.

• The Annenberg Institute's Student Engagement Series of resources on student engagement provides information on current research and practical suggestions.
  Resources available at http://www.annenberginstitute.org/tools/practice/stud_engage/
• The report from the High School Survey of Student Engagement provides insight into what matters from the students' perspectives.
  Report available at http://ceep.indiana.edu/hssse/index.htm
• Parent Expectations and Planning for College: Statistical Analysis Report focuses on actions that support students in going to postsecondary programs after high school graduation; however, it also helps to frame the context that correlates to long-term student success.
  Document available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2008/2008079.pdf
• The report, Building Student Voice for School Improvement, was created to accompany a student engagement guide created for Manitoba schools. It provides a brief overview of research and very detailed explanation of ways to engage students.
  Document available at http://home.oise.utoronto.ca/%7Eblevin/MSIP%20st%20hdbk%20chapter%20Oct05.doc
• Student Voice A Historical Perspective and New Directions briefly explores the research on this topic and provides a framework for new student engagement directions.
  Document available at http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/publ/research/publ/Student_Voice_report.pdf

9. Acronyms/Terms

SEDL's Glossary of Educational Terms provides brief explanation of educational acronyms and terms.
Resource available at http://www.nationalpirc.org/engagement_webinars/webinar-2/glossary-of-ed-terms.pdf