Helping Your Child Learn Resources from the Department of Education
Fathers' Involvement in Their Children's Schools
Community and School Research
January 7, 2004 Vol. III, No. 6
Leadership for Community Schools
The New Year begins with two pieces in major education journals about
the role of strong leaders in system change at community schools. We encourage
you to share these with leadership in your
System Change Through Community Schools
Published in the January 2004 issue of the AASA magazine, School
Administrator, "System Change in Community Schools," tells the stories
of superintendents in four small to mid-size districts. Illustrating how schools
are changing from the inside out, this piece highlights how these superintendents
braided state and community services together to solve their community's problems
of family mobility, insufficient health care and unsafe neighborhoods.
Principal Leadership in Community Schools
Bringing the focus to the school level, the December 2003 issue of
NASSP's Principal Leadership magazine features an article on how
Chicago principals are doing what it takes to transform their buildings into
community schools. "Inviting the Outside In," by Craig Colgan, is
a valuable resource for looking at the opportunities and challenges of creating
and sustaining community schools.
Community-Focus Helps Superintendents Sustain Small Rural High Schools
In his article on the importance of keeping small rural schools small,
Craig Howley challenges rural superintendents to develop a worldview well-aligned
with the community school vision - keeping hold of a community focus. Identifying
that it is essential to remain small, he presents a community school solution
as the key to rural small school sustainability (with suggestions like 'Adopt
the perspective that the community is the reason for the school' and 'Cultivate
wide community participation in tough decisions about the system.' (http://www.aasa.org/publications/sa/2003_10/Howley.htm)
Communities And Schools
Community Involvement Key in Public School Reform "Vital Voices:
Constituencies for Public Education Reform", a recently released report
from the AED Center for School and Community Services and the Chapin Hall
Center for Children at the University of Chicago, examines the key role that
community plays in achieving school reform. Based on conversations with people
doing this work on the ground, this piece takes the perspective that ordinary
people, including families, community groups, businesses, and faith-based
organizations, can be a powerful force for educational reform. (http://www.aed.org/scs
Charter Schools as Community Centers
Charter schools can revitalize a neighborhood, quickly become central
places for residents to gather. Appearing in the November/December issues
of the Journal of Housing and Community Development, this article provides
some anecdotal evidence of the connection between charter school facilities
and community economic development. (http://www.communityschools.org/CharterSchoolsArticle.pdf
Community Revitalization and Community Schools
An article on Chicago's James Monroe Elementary School in Logan Square
makes personal the impact of one community school can have. This article brings
to light the delicate balance between the impacts these schools can have on
the lives of those involved in them and the unintended impacts on the neighborhood.
Collaboration Lessons Learned in LA
Collaboration is a challenge for all community schools. The Los Angeles
County Children's Planning Council has produced a report entitled "Walking
the Collaboration Talk: Ten Lessons Learned." It presents the ten lessons
gleaned from twenty years of public/private cross-sector collaboration, including
the connecting to existing networks, the value of investing in relationships,
and using data to drive planning. (http://www.childrensplanningcouncil.org/resource-files/tenlessons.pdf
Student Learning Research
TV's Negative Impact on Childhood Literacy Our last newsletter highlighted
the findings of Paul Barton's new report, "Parsing the Achievement Gap",
where television watching was identified as one of eight before and beyond-school
factors contributing to the achievement gap. Affirming this research is a
study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, "Zero to Six: Electronic Media
in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers." Findings here indicate
that a third of all children ages 0-6 have a TV in their bedrooms, children
in "heavy" television households are less likely to read, and that
this country's 0-6 year old children spend three times more time watching
television, or using computers or video games than they do reading. (http://dev.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia102803pkg.cfm
Working with Emotionally Challenged Youth
Staff at community schools oftentimes must work with students whose
lives involve multiple challenges that influence their learning. An article
on ASCD's website suggests strategies teachers can use to identify and work
with students facing emotional challenges and help them overcome their internal
barriers to learning. (http://www.ascd.org/publications/class_lead/200311/henley.html
Research on Teacher Expectations and Student Performance
An interesting piece on student performance as affected by teacher
expectations is available as part of the Northwest Regional Education
Lab's "School Improvement Research Series". Reflecting one of the
community school conditions for learning -- schools must have a core instructional
program that includes high expectations for students -- this analysis identifies
critical components of effective schools, and how they create high expectations
for students. (http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/4/cu7.html)
Afterschool Research
Safe, Supervised Opportunities Afterschool, Findings Show
In a time when state budget deficits and the economic downturn have
left many afterschool programs struggling to keep their doors open, eight
out of ten voters agree that afterschool programs are an absolute necessity.
The annual National Voters Poll, released October 29, 2003 by the Afterschool
Alliance, examines public views on issues around afterschool funding and programming.
(http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/poll_2003_oct.cfm
Quantitative Analysis of Out-of-School Time Effectiveness
With NCLB's requirement that schools provide supplementary education
services to students who fall short of academic achievement goals, out of
school time (OST) programming is under increased pressure to align with the
academic program of the school day. Researchers at McREL did a quantitative
analysis of 56 different rigorous studies done since 1984 to determine the
impact of after school and summer programs on low scoring or at-risk students.
Findings showed that these programs have a small, but statistically significant,
impact on student achievement. While early elementary students seemed to benefit
more from strategies that aimed to improve reading, older students seemed
to benefit more from programs that aimed to improve math. The study also found
that programs do not need to focus exclusively on academics to positively
impact student achievement.
See (http://www.mcrel.org/newsroom/OSTsynthesis.asp).
OST Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned about Effective Policies and Practices for Out-of-School
Time Programming is a compilation of lessons gleaned at learning events sponsored
by the American Youth Policy Forum. This piece is good reading for community
school advocates working to address challenges like implementation, going-to-scale,
the roles of state and local entities, funding, sustainability, the role of
intermediaries and advocates, and public policy. (http://www.aypf.org/pdf/LessonsLearnedOSTPrograms.pdf)
Harvard Family Research Project OST Listings
A bibliography of all out-of-school time program evaluations currently
being tracked by the Harvard Family Research Project can now be found online.
Nearly 200 programs have been included in the bibliography, categorized by
"program type." These include, among others, academic/enrichment,
cultural/heritage, community/family involvement, health, literacy, science/technology/mathematics.
(http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/afterschool/bibliograpy/index.html
Noteworthy Resources
New Source for Information on Theme High Schools
THiSNET is a comprehensive information network designed to promote
understanding, research and development of theme high schools across the country,
managed by the Institute for Educational Leadership. The central feature of
THiSNET is an online database of high schools structured around particular
curricula, instructional models, or orientations. Theme high schools that
use the community as a focus for learning are included here. The website is
funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. For more information, please
visit http://www.THiSNET.org
Federal Resource on Health in Schools
The US National Library of Medicine's MEDLINEplus online database
presents information related to health in schools. Community schools will
find many themed topics, of interest including bullying in schools, packing
nutritious school lunches, managing asthma, and the importance of sleep for
student learning. (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/schoolhealth.html
Mental Health Training Tool A new Leadership Training module developed
by the Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA, "Addressing Barriers
to Learning: A Comprehensive Approach To Mental Health in Schools" takes
a systems approach to enhancing mental health in schools. Focusing on how
schools can provide a comprehensive, integrated approach to addressing barriers
to student learning and promoting healthy development, this is a great tool
for community schools. (http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/dbsimple2.asp?primary=1300&number=9993
Guiding Principles for Principal Professional Development
"e-Lead" (http://www.e-lead.org/),
a free website resource dedicated to providing states and districts with guidance
about and information on the professional development of school principals,
was launched through the partnership of the Laboratory for Student Success
and the Institute for Educational Leadership. The website houses a searchable
database of existing quality programs. To date there are few model programs
with a tangible focus on the importance of meeting student's non-academic
needs and the role of family and community in student learning. If your community
schools initiative is doing work in the professional development arena, please
let us know through ccs@iel.org.
Tips For Parents
NCLB School Report Cards
Parent Leadership Associates has developed a tool to help parents
understand the additional information available to them as a result of NCLB.
"8 tips on reading your school's report card" helps parents determine
how they can use this data to become more effective advocates for children.
The 4-page guide is available at
Parents Tip Sheet
The impact of parent involvement on student academic achievement
has been noted time and again; indeed, 93% of Americans cited lack of home
or parental support as the main cause of why children fail to learn (http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0309pol.htm).
Parent Leadership Associates, in an effort to assist parents in improving
student achievement, have added "12 Things Parents Should Know and Expect"
to the parent leadership resources on their website. This 4-page tip sheet
describes what to expect from educators when partnering to building two-way
accountability and improve the quality of education for all students.
(http://www.plassociates.org/twelve.html)
Kudos Warlene!
Congratulations for Warlene Gary, Ms. Warlene Gary has been appointed
the first CEO for the National PTA, the largest volunteer child advocacy association
in the nation. In her new role, she will draw from her more than two decades
of advocacy for children and families, including her involvement as a member
of the Steering Committee for the Coalition for Community Schools. We congratulate
you Warlene! (http://www.pta.org/aboutpta/pressroom/pr031014.asp)
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Additional Information
Check out http://www.communityschools.org/