Family, School and Community Partnerships: A Framerwork for Success by Smith Institute for Applied Research at Johnson C. Smith University

Family, School and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

A Preliminary Report November 2014

Johnson C. Smith University: Smith Institute for Applied Research ISSN: Pending Preliminary Report: Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success Authors Ruth L. Greene, Ed.D. Professor of Psychology Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Herron Distinguished Professor Johnson C. Smith University Charlotte, North Carolina

Douglas P. Cooper, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Psychology Johnson C. Smith University Charlotte, North Carolina

Acknowledgements Johnson C. Smith University: Dr. Ronald Carter, President Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent: Dr. Heath Morrison Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Assistant Superintendent: LaTarzja Henry, Community Partnerships and Parental Engagement Johnson C. Smith University: Dr. Diane Bowles, Vice President & Executive Director, Smith Institute for Applied Research Reid Park Academy: James Garvin, Principal, Student Support Services Team: Yolanda Riddick, Dr. Wanda Webb, Ambrosia Wilson, Reginald Gilkesson, Edna Ripley, Charlene Davidson, Donald Douglass, Whitney Jackson, Cynthia Hampton, Lynnette Bittle , Madelyn Miller, and Cheryl Jennings Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Community Partnership and Family Engagement Department: Dr. Fahnie S. Shaw, Carlenia Ivory, Ruby Houston, Rashaunda Jackson and Harold Dixon Johnson C. Smith University Faculty: Dr. Anita Bledsoe-Gardner, Professor Cynthia Cole, and Professor Awatif Amin Johnson C. Smith University Psychology and Education Student Researchers: Horane Holgate, Deanna Barker, Jade Moore, Robert James, Ashley Jones, and Alexandra Barber Smith Institute for Applied Research Johnson C. Smith University 100 Beatties Ford Road Charlotte, North Carolina 704 330-1332

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents..............................................................................................................................

Preliminary Report............................................................................................................................

Research Overview...........................................................................................................................

Findings..........................................................................................................................................

Recommendations Based on Preliminary Findings…………………………………………..……….

Introduction and Dual Capacity Building Family Engagement Framework………….………….

Action Planning Team......................................................................................................................

CMS 2013-2014 Parent Survey Data from Northwest Corridor Schools…………………………..

CMS Professional and Parent Advocates Survey…………………………………………………....

Methods........................................................................................................................................

Results..........................................................................................................................................

Table 1: Reliability, Means and Standard Deviation for Parental Survey Subscales....................

Discussions & Recommendations – CMS Advocates...................................................................

Case Study.......................................................................................................................................

Reid Park Academy Harvard Pre-K Parent Study Methods........................................................................................................................................

Results..........................................................................................................................................

Table 2: Reliability, Means and Standard Deviation at Reid Park Academy................................

Discussions & Recommendations ……………………..................................................................

References.......................................................................................................................................

Report Figures: Figure 1: Average rating of each school on the measure of parental involvement………….……

Figure 2: Average rating of each school on the measure of family involvement……………...….

Figure 3: Average rating of each school on the measure of school climate………………….…..

Figure 4: Average rating of each school on the measure of satisfaction………………………….

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

FAMILY, SCHOOL, AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS: A FRAMEWORK FOR SUCCESS PRELIMINARY REPORT Family, school, and community engagement in education can be a successful strategy to ensure that all children have successful academic outcomes. Reducing the achievement gap for many minority and low-income students in Charlotte Mecklenburg schools requires a change from random acts of family engagement to viewing engagement as a shared responsibility of families, schools, and communities to insure successful student learning and achievement. Educational reformists suggest an innovative framework of family engagement that is systemic, integrated and sustained. Systemic family engagement is intentionally designed as a core component of educational goals of a school and district and include student readiness, school achievement, and career success. Integrated family engagement is included in the processes that are needed to meet school goals. These processes include training, professional development, community collaboration and the use of data to assess and evaluate programs. Sustainable family engagement requires adequate public and private partnerships and resources. Researchers from the Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) Smith Institute for Applied Research conducted a three part research initiative to assess family engagement and community partnerships in the Northwest Corridor schools of the Charlotte, North Carolina The first study (1) examined data from the 2013-14 Charlotte Mecklenburg Schoolsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (CMS) Parent Survey for nine Northwest Corridor Schools. The online parent survey was developed by the CMS Center for Research and Evaluation and is administered yearly in each school in the district. Second, researchers (2) surveyed CMS, family/school advocates, school counselors, social workers, community partnership coordinators and parents who attended a professional development workshop sponsored by the CMS Community Partnerships and Family Engagement Department to get perceptions of family engagements experiences across CMS schools. Third, Reid Park Academy, a Charlotte Mecklenburg K-8 school, was selected as a case study for the academic year. We project that more than 300 Reid Park Academy parents will be surveyed using an approach to data collection that includes a variety of in-school and out-of-school (OST) venues. Out-of-School time is defined as time outside of the state required time limits for compulsory school attendance in which students and parents are engaged in planned academic or enrichment activities. Out-of-School time activities but can be useful for certain populations to enhance family engagement in meaningful and strategic ways (Kreider & Westmoreland, 2011). As part of this family engagement initiative, the lead researcher from the Smith Institute for Applied Research 3

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

meets weekly with the Reid Park Student Support Services team to discuss team goals, successes, challenges, partnerships, and professional development activities that insure student success and achievement and build staff capacity. RESEARCH OVERVIEW A growing body of research confirms that engagement of families in their children’s education improves academic achievement, promotes higher gains in reading and math, and increases higher graduation rates and career engagement (Henderson & Mapp, 2002; Epstein, 2011; Bryk, Sebring, Allensworth, Luppescua & Easton, 2010). Dr. Karen Mapp, Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and consultant to the Department of Education, advocates a Dual Capacity Building Framework for family-school partnerships that serves as a ‘compass’ to show the goals and conditions necessary to promote effective family engagement efforts that are linked to student achievement and school improvement. To implement the Dual Capacity Framework for Family-School Partnerships, schools and districts must have (1) an understanding of the challenges that must be addressed to support the cultivation of effective home and school partnerships, (2) the process and organizational conditions important to success of initiatives and interventions (3) an identification of the capacity goals that must be met by parents and families, and (4) a description of capacity outcomes (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). One important new tool that interfaces with the Dual Capacity Framework and helps to understand which types of approaches or interventions work best is the Harvard PreK12 Parent Survey designed by researchers at the Harvard School of Education. The scales can help conduct needs assessments that can identify a school’s strengths and areas for improvement in seven areas of engagement that include parental support, parent engagement, school climate, parent self –efficacy, school program fit, barriers, roles and responsibilities and child behaviors. The most recent groundbreaking and important longitudinal investigation by the Consortium on Chicago School Research, headed by Dr. Anthony Bryk, the ninth president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, listed best practices for five essential supports for school improvement (Byrk et al., 2010). They include strong leadership, instructional guidance, professional capacity, student centered learning climates and strong parent and community engagement. Funds were obtained and official support for the family engagement initiative came from the Johnson C. Smith University President, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Superintendent and the Assistant Superintendent for Community Partnerships and Family Engagement. In 2012, Johnson C. Smith University’s Executive Director of the Smith Institute and the Assistant Superintendent for Community Partnerships and Parental Engagement 4

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

formed a Parental Engagement work group that would meet throughout the year to plan activities. The decision was made to follow an evidence based framework for family engagement that included (1) the development of a strong partnership between the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District and Johnson C. Smith University that recognized that parents, educators, and the larger community share responsibility for studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; learning, (2) the implementation of an action plan for partnerships, teacher parent capacity building, research tools and practices that could be actively used to promote family engagement initiatives that support whole school improvement, and (3) the enhancement of undergraduate and faculty research that would exemplify scholarly best practices and build the knowledge base in the field of family engagement for college students interested in school careers. While the research team continues to collect parent data at Reid Park Academy and work with teams to plan and evaluate interventions, some preliminary data from the CMS professional development workshop, CMS Parent Survey of Northwest Corridor Schools, and the Harvard K-12 Parent survey have emerged. Findings Northwest Corridor School parents indicate a strong satisfaction with the teachers in their school and the level at which their school welcomes parental involvement and keeps the parents informed. Northwest Corridor schools rated their schools on average 3.5 out of 5 on the scale of parental involvement. Though the rating may not appear high, this is slightly above the CMS district average. As a group, school climate concerns remain among parents in Northwest Corridor schools, with reported scores below district level. CMS parents, professional staff, and parent advocates who have children in CMS schools and completed the Harvard PreK-12 Parent Survey exhibit positive beliefs, and behaviors to promote achievement in their children. These parents are a valuable resource and core group to share ideas on improving student behaviors and to build the capacity of parents in low performing schools. Reid Park Academy parents who completed the 2013-14 CMS Online Parent Survey report above average levels of parental involvement, family involvement, satisfaction with the school climate, satisfaction with the school, and teachers. However, not enough families completed the survey to produce important grade level analysis. Reid Park Academy has both experienced and new teachers who work together as a team. Teacher turnover has been reduced from previous years. Reid Park Academy has an experienced student services support team that works collaboratively with outside partners to provide academic and mental health services to K-8 students. There 5

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

appears to be a high volume of mental health and behavior concerns within the student population that could impact student learning during the academic year. The PTO is active and the school has cultivated more than 64 community partners. The parents who completed the survey report confidence in their ability to support their childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s education and feel that there are few barriers that prevent them from engaging with the school. These findings may change as more parents are surveyed over the coming month and our sample gets larger. Reid Park Academy results suggest that the leadership is conducting many activities to strengthen partnerships between parents, families, and the schools. There are school and parental engagement goals related student achievement. The Harvard Survey results suggest that regardless of the socioeconomic or ethnic background of the students, both CMS staff, advocates and Reid Park Academy parents are concerned about the academic habits of their children and relationships and school climate (academic and social environment) in the school. These are two areas of intervention that teachers, parents and advocates may consider to work on. Recommendations Based on Preliminary Findings 1. Given that Northwest Corridor parents show strong satisfaction with their childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s teachers, strategies to improve capacity building in teachers to link learning outcomes to family engagement learning activities could be effective. Encouraging parents in the same grade to work together in teams will also build confidence. Family engagement research repeatedly correlates family engagement at all grades with student achievement, and especially in middle and high school to promote college and career readiness. 2. Promote in and out of school activities in the school and where the parents live. Parental engagement is multifaceted and should be addressed in a collaborative manner with varied communication practices, resources, activities, and interventions. 3. Encourage and provide state and district funds to support innovative best practice community partnership and family engagement practices that can be sustained and evaluated. 4. Promote in-service education. Few educators know how they can develop and maintain partnership programs with parents or in the school community. Therefore, schools and the district must provide professional development for teachers and staff on how to include families and develop community .Some districts and schools are doing this at the school level, but must scale up to larger numbers to meet the larger needs of family engagement in both urban and suburban schools where student populations are getting more diverse. 5. Include family engagement and community partnerships in University Teacher Education Programs. Include content courses that teach students how to work 6

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

with parents on issues that include curriculum, how to lead discussions at home, behavior standards, homework, attendance, and academic and career choices. If we are to meet the capacity challenges of developing effective school family partnerships for now and in the future, teacher education programs have to lead the way. 6. CMS staff and parent advocates have the belief, values, and behaviors that many parents need to transmit good academic behaviors to their children. These professionals can be valuable resources and mentors to parents to share ideas and strategies on how to initiate adult guided activities to improve student behaviors. Schools can leverage family assets and help families support, monitor and advocate for their childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s progress. 7. Make school mental health an integral part of the school improvement plans within the district and schools. Many of the barriers to student learning in large urban centers with high poverty concentrations can be traced to mental health behaviors that include social and emotional behaviors exhibited by students or by crisis within the family. Look for strengths in the family and social capital in the community setting to support student outcomes. Examine relationships involved in family engagement by gender. Student learning can improve regardless of race, gender, income, and ethnic group, but only if mental health and other barriers to learning can be managed.

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

INTRODUCTION AND DUAL CAPACITY BUILDING FAMILY ENGAGEMENT FRAMEWORK The Smith Institute for Applied Research at Johnson C. Smith University is committed to the improvement of family engagement in the Northwest Corridor. Currently, Smith Institute researchers are using a multifaceted approach to investigate school, University and community partnerships the Dual Family Capacity Building Framework for Family – School Partnerships (Henderson & Mapp 2002). Additionally, the findings from the Consortium on Chicago School Research underscore Johnson C. Smith’s University’s shared belief that strong district and school leadership and family engagement practices, in and out of school time, have great potential for building capacity of families and school personnel. The ultimate goal of the University’s partnership with CMS is to create and sustain effective partnerships that support student learning and community and school improvement in the Northwest Corridor of Charlotte, North Carolina.

In 2012 the Smith Institute research and development goals were to understand best practice initiatives, strategies and appropriate metrics and tools to measure family engagement across multiple domains. To implement this goal, The Johnson C Smith University Institute for Applied Research submitted the ‘Report on the Qualitative Study of Community Opinions on Parental Engagement in Schools of Charlotte, North Carolina’s Northwest Corridor (Bledsoe, 2014).

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

The qualitative project was to help fulfill the Indaba, community leaders, wish for Johnson C. Smith University to focus on critical social issues of the achievement gap among African American children living near our University community and attending Northwest Corridor schools. The purpose of the study was to gain the perspectives of high school students, parents, the Northwest Corridor Indaba Council of Elders, staff of the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System, and Johnson C. Smith University concerning the various perspectives on parental engagement. ACTION PLANNING TEAM During the 2013-14 year, the Smith Institute research team collaborated with CMS to propose three action plans that would include survey data from parents. First, the researchers would review and analyze the 2013-14 CMS Parent Survey data from Northwest Corridor schools. Second, the JCSU team leaders would meet CMS team leaders weekly to plan and implement a school survey that would include meeting with parents in a variety in and out of school activities. Third, the teams would explore best practice models for parent school community partnerships that included a planning process, the exploration of new parent survey tools for the collection of baseline data, and an implementation of promising practices and methods in collection of data.

Reid Park Academy Student Support Services Team James Garvin, Principal

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

Children’s mental health needs continue to be unmet even when community services are provided. On site professionals are increasingly challenged to serve the needs of all children as more children with emotional, personal, and behavioral issues need help. These concerns include school adjustment, attendance problems, dropouts, physical and sexual abuse, school based and school-linked programs are developed for early intervention, crisis intervention, and treatment. Practitioners are finding that the mental health issues are complex. Moreover, these issues produce barriers to learning and teaching that interfere with student personal development and academic achievement (Adelman & Taylor, 2010). Research suggests a relationship between poverty and mental health issues. Increasing levels of people living in poverty in the urban Charlotte, Mecklenburg communities are likely to be associated with a greater frequency of mental health and school behavior issues. The National Center for Children in Poverty (2006) states that low income means that families are unable to provide basic necessities including housing, food and healthcare. Clearly, a line could be drawn connecting these levels of high poverty to the increasing demands for children’s mental health and academic services in selected schools located in the Northwest Corridor. There is a need for a comprehensive framework to construct interventions to address barriers to learning and teaching.

CMS 2013-2014 PARENT SURVEY DATA FROM NORTHWEST CORRIDOR SCHOOLS Researchers from The Smith Institute for Applied Research examined data from the 2013-14 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ Parent Survey. The survey was administered online through K12 Insight, a market research company. The questions were related to parent perceptions and experiences with their child’s school. Data was analyzed using eleven of the survey questions from nine Northwest Corridor schools with comparisons to the Charlotte Mecklenburg District. Survey sections measured parental involvement, family involvement, school climate, and school satisfaction. Parental involvement assesses parent perceptions of how well the staff and school provide information about how the student can be successful in school and how well the parent is kept informed of his/her child’s progress. Overall, results suggest a low return rate from parents in the District and in the Northwest Corridor. Parent reports of parental involvement for the nine Northwest Corridor schools averaged 3.36 (out of 5), which is nearly identical to the district average (see Figure 1 for individual school averages). Family involvement measures the parent’s agreement with the belief that they are an important partner in the education of their child and that family involvement is valued at their school. The nine schools had an average family involvement rating of 3.59 (out of 5), which was slightly above the district average (see Figure 2 for individual school averages). School climate measures parent’s belief that the teachers and staff at their child’s school are friendly and committed to the educational needs of their child (see Figure 3 for individual 10

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

school averages). The nine schools had an average school climate rating of 3.09, which was slightly below the district average. Finally, satisfaction measures the extent to which parents, overall, parents feel satisfied with the teachers, staff, and school. The nine schools had an average satisfaction rating of 3.76, which was slightly above the district average (see Figure 4 for individual school averages). Parent Involvement (District Average 3.31) 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1

Figure 1. Average rating of each school on the measure of parental involvement. District average in parentheses.

Family Involvement (District Average 3.16) 3.9 3.8 3.7 3.6 3.5 3.4 3.3 3.2 3.1

Figure 2. Average rating of each school on the measure of family involvement.

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

School Climate (District Average 3.24) 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1

Figure 3. Average rating of each school on the measure of school climate.

Satisfaction (District Average 3.41) 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1

Figure 4. Average rating of each school on the measure of satisfaction.

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

CMS PROFESSONALS AND PARENT ADVOCATES SURVEY More than forty-four (44) CMS family/school parent advocates, school counselors, community partnership coordinators and parents attended a Professional Development Workshop in May 2014 sponsored by the CMS Community Partnerships and Family Engagement Department and the Smith Institute for Applied Research. The family school advocate role is to discuss student concerns with appropriate school staff interact with parents, teachers, principals, assistants, social workers. Advocates also participate on school committees, coordinate activities for parents, and respond to requests for assistance and information from parents. Many of the school staff participate in parent conferences; conduct and assist with home visits, recruit parent and community volunteers, and coordinate family literacy activities. These individuals represented twenty-four (24) CMS schools. All of the individual participants with students in CMS were asked to complete the Harvard Pre K-12 Parent Survey to provide their professional judgment about parent involvement practices and their perceptions of what is currently the status of family engagement across CMS schools. The survey data will provide information on current practices and what parents/staff and family school advocates think of the practices. Finally, this survey data will provide baseline data on the strengths and weaknesses of the schools on the six of the multidimensional scales of the Harvard Pre K-12 Parent Survey. Specifically, the Harvard PreK-12 Parent survey defines parental support on the seven point framework below: • • • • • • •

Parental Support- How much help are students getting at home? Child behaviors – What habits to student have students developed that shape their success? Parent Engagement – How engaged are parents in their child’s schools and what barriers exist? School Climate – How parents view their school’s academic and social standards? Parent Self Efficacy – How confident are parents in supporting their child’s education? Parent Roles and Responsibilities – How do parents view their roles and the teacher’s roles in student learning? School program fit – How well does the schools’ academic social program and social climate and organizational structure meet a student’s needs?

CMS advocates completed questions from six of seven of these points.

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

Participants

Methods

There were 41 CMS advocates (36 Female, 5 Male) who completed The Harvard Graduate School of Education PreK-12 Parent Survey. Approximately 73% were Black or African American, 15% were Caucasian, 2% were American Indian or Alaskan Native, 2% were Hispanic American, and 7% reported multiple ethnicities. Twenty-three of the CMS advocates were parents or guardians of a student in CMS, 12 were CMS staff members, and six were parents and a staff member. Measures & Procedure CMS advocates completed the Harvard Graduate School of Education PreK-12 Parent Survey (Schueler, 2013). Participants read and signed an informed consent indicating their understanding that the survey was voluntary and anonymous and then completed the survey. Harvard Graduate School of Education Survey. The Harvard Graduate School of Education PreK-12 Parent Survey (Schueler, 2013) consists of 69 questions that assess important aspects of the family-school relationship. To shorten the survey, we removed questions measuring parental roles and responsibilities and the barriers to parental engagement. Additionally, questions were removed from other subscales that were thought not applicable to the sample, resulting in a survey consisting of 26 questions. Parental support. The parental support subscale of the survey consisted of five questions that assess the extent to which families support student learning outside of school. Each question was rated on a scale from, not at all, almost never, or almost no effort, to a tremendous amount, almost all the time, or a tremendous amount of effort. Example questions include “To what extent to you know how your child is doing socially at school?” and “How much effort do you put into helping your child learn to do things for himself/herself?” The questions were recoded as numbers from 1 to 5 with higher numbers indicating greater parental support and averaged to form a composite measure of parental support, which demonstrated adequate reliability (see Table 1 for mean, standard deviation, and reliability estimates for all subscales). Child behaviors. The child behaviors subscale of the survey consisted of five questions that assess the extent to which children are developing habits that will lead to academic success. Each question was rated on a scale from, almost no effort, almost never, or not well at all, to a tremendous amount of effort, almost all the time, or extremely well. Example questions include “How much effort does your child put into school-related tasks?” and “How regularly does your child read for fun?” The questions were recoded as numbers from 1 to 5 with higher numbers indicating more successful child behaviors 14

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

and averaged to form a composite measure of child behaviors, which demonstrated adequate reliability. Parent engagement. The parent engagement subscale consisted of four questions that assess the extent to which parents are engaged with their child’s learning. Each question was rated from, almost never, to weekly or more. Example questions include “How often do you meet in person with teachers at your child’s school?” and “In the past year, how often have you discussed your child’s school with other parents from the school?” The questions were recoded as numbers from 1 to 5 with higher numbers indicating greater parent engagement. The subscale demonstrated adequate reliability. Parent self-efficacy. The parent self-efficacy subscale consisted of two questions that assess parent’s ability to support their child’s education. Each item was rated on a scale from not confident at all, to extremely confident. Questions included “How confident are you that you can help your child develop good friendships?” and “How confident are you in your ability to make sure you child’s school meets your child’s learning needs?” Questions were recoded as numbers from 1 to 5 with higher numbers indicating greater parent self-efficacy and a composite was formed of the two questions. The two questions were found to be positively correlated with one another, indicating that higher scores on the first item were related to higher scores on the second item. School climate. The school climate subscale consisted of five questions that assess the extent to which parent’s perception of the school’s academic and social environment. Each item was rated on a scale from not at all, not at all motivating, not well at all, or almost no respect, to a tremendous amount, extremely motivating, extremely well, or a tremendous amount of respect. Example questions include “Overall, how much respect do you think the teachers at your child’s school have for the children?” and “How well do administrators at your child’s school create a school environment that helps children learn?” Questions were recoded as numbers from 1 to 5 with higher numbers indicating a better school climate and a composite was formed with the five questions. The subscale also demonstrated adequate reliability. School fit. The school fit subscale consisted of five questions that assess the extent to which the academic programs, social climate, and organizational structure of a school meets the needs of the child. Each item was rated on a scale from, not well at all or no belonging at all, to extremely well or a tremendous amount of belonging. Example items include “How much of a sense of belonging does your child feel at his or her school?” and “How well do you feel your child’s school is preparing him or her for his or her next academic year?” Questions were recoded as numbers from 1 to 5 with higher numbers indicating greater school fit and a composite was formed for the five questions. The subscale also demonstrated adequate reliability. 15

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

Results The parental support subscale of the Harvard Graduate School of Education PreK-12 Parent Survey measures the extent to which parents and caregivers feel that they are giving their students help at home. The subscale ascertains support for student learning and development outside of the class environment. As can be seen in Table 1, CMS advocates reported that they are frequently involved in helping students learn and develop at home. The child behaviors subscale measures the degree to which the child is developing habits that will make them successful in school and in the future. The subscale allows schools and advocates assessing the development of habits that promote a positive learning. CMS advocates reported that they believe that children are learning successful academic habits. The parental engagement subscale of the survey measures the extent to which parents are engaged in their child’s education. Additionally, it helps to assess the extent to which parents are involved in their child’s education including meeting teachers and discussing the school with other concerned parents. CMS advocates report a high level of engagement with student learning that they make great efforts to be engaged in their child’s education. Table 1 Reliability, Means and Standard Deviations for Parental Survey Subscales α

Mean

Standard Deviation

1. Parental Support

.77

4.17

.53

2. Child Behaviors

.79

3.74

.69

3. Parental Engagement

.88

4.05

1.00

4. Parental Self-Efficacy

.27*

4.25

.73

5. School Climate

.88

3.86

.75

Subscale

6. School Fit .83 3.74 .79 ___________________________________________________________________

Note. Means represent the average of the items that measured each subscale. *The two-items for this subscale were correlated.

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

The parent self-efficacy subscale assesses the extent to which parents feel confident supporting their child’s education. It is a measure of the capacity of parents to be engaged with their children and the school in fostering student learning. CMS advocates reported a high level of confidence in fostering their child’s learning at home and at school. The school climate subscale of the survey assesses the extent to which parents are supportive of the school’s academic and social environment. It ascertains the belief of parents that the school is providing a safe and enriching academic and social environment for their children. CMS advocates believed that the schools in the district had a satisfactory academic and social environment.

Finally, the school program fit subscale of the survey assessed the extent to which parent’s feel that the academic programs, social climate, and organizational structure meet the needs of their students. It provides a measure of whether parents perceive that the school is structured in a way that meets the academic and social needs of their child. Often the parent’s perceptions of school fit can impact the child’s view of the school. CMS advocates reported that the schools in the district do well at providing the organizational structure as well as the academic and social environment to meet the needs of their students.

Discussion & Recommendations- CMS Advocates CMS advocates represent a unique and dedicated group of CMS parents and staff members dedicated to assisting teachers and making sure that the needs of students is being met. As can be seen in the data, they score high in all areas of the Parent Survey, reporting high levels of support at home for student learning and a strong belief that children are developing successful habits and academic behaviors. Additionally, they report high levels of parental engagement and a high level of confidence in their ability to assist students in the learning process. Finally, they share a strong belief in the academic and social climate of the schools as well as a strong perception that the schools organizational structure, academic, and social environment meet the needs of children. It is recommended that any plans to build capacity and partnerships between parents and schools utilize these individuals as they are in a unique position to help bridge relationships between parents, teachers, and schools.

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

CASE STUDY REID PARK ACADEMY HARVARD PRE-K PARENT STUDY Reid Park Academy is a Project Lift K-8 school with strong community partnerships. The school hosts a variety of in and out of school activities for students and parents. Figure 5 shows the results of the 2012-2013 CMS Parent Survey. The Reid Park scores are higher than the district scores on parental involvement, family involvement This year we are using the Harvard PreK-12 Survey which has more student and parent behavior scales to understand how to leverage the strengths in family engagement conditions to student learning goals. CMS District

Reid Park Academy

4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 Parent Involvement

Family Involvement

School Climate

Satisfaction

Parents are being surveyed over an extended period of time, between May 2014 and December 2014 in a variety of venues including family fun night, ARC in the Park, school parent teacher conferences, PTO meetings, and NC MedAssist. The first family engagement activity was MayFest Legacy Festival 2014, a family community, school activity that included games, studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oral history presentations, vendors, and art activities. Johnson C. Smith University student researchers including in-service education majors, faculty, and staff participated in data collection. All participated in training prior to the activity. On the recommendation of Dr. Karen Mapp and her colleagues, JCSU researchers collaborated with the Harvard Survey staff to select survey questions and scales from the Harvard Pre K-12 Parent Survey (Schueler, 2013) to assess CMS family-school relationships. The survey is designed to receive input from parents to (1) to assess baseline information on an individual schoolsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; strengths and areas that need improvement in the family school relationship, (2) to understand how family school relationships develop as students advance from one grade to the next, (3) to assess why parents become involved with schools and (4) how to build teacher and parent capacity to support student learning. The Harvard K-12 Survey as again used to assess parent attitudes.

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

Participants

Methods

Ongoing data collection during the activities listed above has resulted in 158 participants (127 female, 17 male, 14 unreported) who completed The Harvard Graduate School of Education PreK-12 Parent Survey during the Reid Park Academy Activities from May, 2014 through October, 2014. Approximately 78% of participants were Black or African American, 4% were American Indian or Alaskan Native, 3% were Hispanic American, 4% were Asian, and 2% reported multiple ethnicities. Measures & Procedure Harvard Graduate School of Education Survey. The Harvard Graduate School of Education PreK-12 Parent Survey (Schueler, 2013) consisted of 57 questions that assess important aspects of the family-school relationship including parental support for children at home, child behaviors that shape success, parental engagement in the school, parental self-efficacy in supporting their child’s education, the academic and social school climate, parental roles and responsibilities in their child’s education, and the academic, social and organizational fit of the school program, and barriers to parental engagement. Parental support. The parental support subscale of the survey consisted of seven questions that assess the extent to which families support student learning outside of school. Each question was rated on a scale from, not at all, almost never, or almost no effort, to a tremendous amount, almost all the time, or a tremendous amount of effort. Example questions include “To what extent to you know how your child is doing socially at school?” and “How much effort do you put into helping your child learn to do things for himself/herself?” The questions were recoded as numbers from 1 to 5 with higher numbers indicating greater parental support and averaged to form a composite measure of parental support, which demonstrated adequate reliability (see Table 2 for mean, standard deviation, and reliability estimates for all subscales). Child behaviors. The child behaviors subscale of the survey consisted of nine questions that assess the extent to which children are developing habits that will lead to academic success. Each question was rated on a scale from, almost no effort, almost never, or not well at all, to a tremendous amount of effort, almost all the time, or extremely well. Example questions include “How much effort does your child put into school-related tasks?” and “How regularly does your child read for fun?” The questions were recoded as numbers from 1 to 5 with higher numbers indicating more successful child behaviors and averaged to form a composite measure of child behaviors, which demonstrated adequate reliability. 19

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

Parent engagement. The parent engagement subscale consisted of six questions that assess the extent to which parents are engaged with their child’s learning. Each question was rated from, almost never, to weekly or more. Example questions include “How often do you meet in person with teachers at your child’s school?” and “In the past year, how often have you discussed your child’s school with other parents from the school?” The questions were recoded as numbers from 1 to 5 with higher numbers indicating greater parent engagement. The subscale demonstrated adequate reliability. Parent self-efficacy. The parent self-efficacy subscale consisted of seven questions that assess parent’s ability to support their child’s education. Each item was rated on a scale from not confident at all, to extremely confident. Questions included “How confident are you that you can help your child develop good friendships?” and “How confident are you in your ability to make sure you child’s school meets your child’s learning needs?” Questions were recoded as numbers from 1 to 5 with higher numbers indicating greater parent self-efficacy and a composite was formed. The subscale demonstrated adequate reliability. School climate. The school climate subscale consisted of seven questions that assess the extent to which parents’ perception of the school’s academic and social environment. Each item was rated on a scale from not at all, not at all motivating, not well at all, or almost no respect, to a tremendous amount, extremely motivating, extremely well, or a tremendous amount of respect. Example questions include “Overall, how much respect do you think the teachers at your child’s school have for the children?” and “How well do administrators at your child’s school create a school environment that helps children learn?” Questions were recoded as numbers from 1 to 5 with higher numbers indicating a better school climate and a composite was formed with the seven questions. The subscale also demonstrated adequate reliability. School fit. The school fit subscale consisted of eight questions that assess the extent to which the academic programs, social climate, and organizational structure of a school meets the needs of the child. Each question was rated on a scale from, not well at all or no belonging at all, to extremely well or a tremendous amount of belonging. Example items include “How much of a sense of belonging does your child feel at his or her school?” and “How well do you feel your child’s school is preparing him or her for his or her next academic year?” Questions were recoded as numbers from 1 to 5 with higher numbers indicating greater school fit and a composite was formed for the eight questions. The subscale also demonstrated adequate reliability. Barriers to engagement. To assess the barriers engagement subscale, 13 questions assessed the extent to which parents perceive that there are barriers to their ability to be engaged with the school. Each question was rated from not at all, to, a tremendous amount. Example questions included “How much does feeling like you don’t belong to 20

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

your child’s school community prevent you from becoming involved with your child’s current school?” and “How much does the school staff seeming to busy prevent you from becoming involved with your child’s current school?” Questions were recoded as numbers from 1 to 5 with higher scores indicating a greater perception of barriers to engagement. The scale demonstrated adequate reliability. Results The parental support subscale of the Harvard Graduate School of Education PreK-12 Parent Survey measures the extent to which parents and caregivers feel that they are giving their students help at home. The subscale ascertains support for student learning and development outside of the class environment. As can be seen in Table 1, participants at Reid Park Academy, which consisted mostly of parents and caregivers of students reported that they are frequently involved in helping students learn and develop at home. The child behaviors subscale of the Harvard Parent Survey measures the degree to which the child is developing habits that will make them successful in school and in the future. The subscale allows schools and advocates to assess the development of habits that promote a positive learning. Participants at Reid Park Academy reported that they believe that children are learning successful academic habits. The parental engagement subscale of the survey measures the extent to which parents are engaged in their child’s education. Additionally, it helps to assess the extent to which parents are involved in their child’s education including meeting teachers and discussing the school with other concerned parents. Parents and other caregivers of students at Reid Park Academy report a moderate level of engagement with student learning that they make great efforts to be engaged in their child’s education. The parent self-efficacy subscale assesses the extent to which parents feel confident supporting their child’s education. It is a measure of the capacity of parents to be engaged with their children and the school in fostering student learning. Parents and caregivers at Reid Park reported a high level of confidence in fostering their child’s learning at home and at school. The school climate subscale of the survey assesses the extent to which parents are supportive of the school’s academic and social environment. It ascertains the belief of parents that the school is providing a safe and enriching academic and social environment for their children. Parents and caregivers at Reid Park believed that the schools in the district had a satisfactory academic and social environment. The school program fit subscale of the survey assessed the extent to which parent’s feel that the academic programs, social climate, and organizational structure meet the 21

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

needs of their students. It provides a measure of whether parents perceive that the school is structured in a way that meets the academic and social needs of their child. Often the parent’s perceptions of school fit can impact the child’s view of the school. Parents and caregivers reported that the schools in the district do well at providing the organizational structure as well as the academic and social environment to meet the needs of their students. Finally, the barriers to engagement subscale of the survey assessed the extent to which parents’ feel that a number of barriers (e.g., transportation, safety, scheduling, friendliness of staff and teachers) prevent them from being engaged in their student’s learning. The parents and caregivers at Reid Park Academy scored relatively low on these questions, suggesting that they do not feel that a significant number of barriers exist that undermines their ability to be engaged in their student’s learning process. Table 2: Reliability, Means and Standard Deviations for Subscales at Reid Park Academy α

Mean

Standard Deviation

1. Parental Support

.82

3.94

.87

2. Child Behaviors

.68

3.28

.63

3. Parental Engagement

.85

3.02

1.01

4. Parental Self-Efficacy

.89

4.00

.91

5. School Climate

.90

3.67

1.07

6. School Fit

.95

3.41

1.09

Subscale

7. Barriers to Engagement .90 1.94 1.09 ___________________________________________________________________ Note. Means represent the average of the items that measured each subscale.

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

Discussion and Recommendations That the average level of parental engagement is around the midpoint of the scale suggests that parents and caregivers do not yet feel that they are adequately engaged in their studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s learning process. It is recommended that the school continue to develop and implement activities to involve parents in their studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s learning process with the hope that the engagement at the school will extend to the home. Promising practices for family engagement need to insure that the involvement of parents in the studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s learning needs include ways in which parents can reinforce the types of behaviors that teachers and administrators feel will increase school achievement and make the children successful.

Preliminary Report of Family, School, and Community Partnerships: A Framework for Success

References Adelman, H.S. & Taylor, L. (2010). Mental health in schools: Engaging learners, preventing problems, and improving schools. Thousand Oaks,CA: Corwin Press. Bryk, A., Sebring, P., Allensworth, E., Luppesu, S., & Easton, J. (2010). Organizing schools for improvement: Lessons from Chicago. University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London. Henderson, A. & Mapp, K. (2002). A new wave of evidence: The impact of school, family and community connections on student achievement. Austin, Texas. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. Henderson, A., Mapp K., Johnson, V. & Davies, D. (2007). Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide Family/school partnerships. New York, New Press. Kreider, H. & Westmoreland, H. (2011). Promising practices for family engagement in Out-of-School Time. Information Age Publishing. National Center for Children in Poverty (2006). Columbia University, www.nccp.org/fact.html. Schueler, B. (2013). A new tool for understanding family-school relationships: The Harvard Graduate School of Education PreK-12 Parent Survey. Family Involvement Network of Educators (FINE) Newsletter, 5(1). Retrieved from http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/a-new-toolfor-understanding-family-school-relationships-the-harvard-graduate-school-ofeducation-prek-12-parent-survey.

Charlotteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Northwest Corridor

and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), Award Number PO301B100094, from the Department of Education. However, the contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

Contact Information: Dr. Diane Bowles, Executive Director Smith Institute for Applied Research Johnson C. Smith University 100 Beatties Ford Road Charlotte, NC 28216 704.378.1202