Creating The Profile

Data Collection

When considering data to be gathered in respect to family and community engagement, it is important to seek information and perceptions regarding the unique strengths and needs of all the partners such as families, community members, school staff, and students. Data collected should be disaggregated to reflect a continuum of families and prospective community partners.

According to Anne Henderson, currently at the Institute for Education & Social Policy at New York University, predictors of student achievement related to family engagement are not income or social status. Rather, Henderson and Mapp's 2002 research review, A New Wave of Evidence: the Impact of School, Family & Community Connections on Student Achievement points to specific types of partnership as being especially beneficial to children's academic success:

Involvement programs that link to learning improve student achievement. The more parent and community involvement activities focus on improving student learning, the more student learning improves. (To gather ideas for linking to learning, see this checklist from Beyond the Bake Sale.)
Speaking up for children protects and promotes their success. Children whose parents are advocates for them at school are more confident at school and take on and achieve more. The more families advocate for their children and support their children's progress, the longer their children stay in school and the better their children do.
All families can contribute to their children's success. Family involvement improves student success, regardless of race/ethnicity, class or parents' level of education. For involvement to happen, however, principals, teachers, and parents themselves must believe that all parents can contribute to their children's success in school.
Community organizing gets results. Engaging community members, businesses and organizations as partners in children's education can improve the learning community in many ways.

Recognizing the impact of existing family relationships and community partnerships on student learning is the first step of creating the profile. Collected data reflecting present practices should provide a foundation for developing additional supports. Schools should also identify areas of student need and begin focusing efforts toward strategies which involve family and community. Carefully selecting measures of evaluation for each strategy will clarify the findings. It is important that school leadership, staff, family and community members embrace a philosophy of shared responsibility for children’s learning. Another checklist, "How Family Friendly Is Your School" is available here.

Engaging Stakeholders

Every school employee, every child’s family, every child, and community members should be invited to share input through surveys, focus groups, interviews, etc. during the process of data collection and analysis. A variety of methods should be utilized to accommodate the diverse group of stakeholders. Family and community input should be embedded in all areas of school improvement, not just family/community engagement. The voice of all stakeholders in this process of engaging partners in children’s learning is critical. Helpful resources and tools for collection data from all stakeholders on attitudes, communication, volunteers, homework and more are provided in Beyond the Bake Sale. Click here.

Reflection/Analysis

The family, community and school engagement effort calls for a team approach. Representatives consisting of a variety of community partners, family members, school staff and students should, together, carefully analyze and reflect on data. A team approach requires that data be stated in terms families and community members understand, not educator jargon. This analysis will provide a baseline and should include:

information gathered from surveys, focus groups and interviews related to family and community connections to the school, and
other data presently available to the school and the community related to children birth to age 21.

Careful analysis of the student population, such as ethnic background, socio-economic status, mobility, English Language Learners (ELL) will inform the team. Many communities have completed a needs assessment or have information on services provided to families, efforts of service clubs or businesses. The agencies involved in such information gathering would be logical partners to include in the team.

In addition to the careful study of the community and the present efforts in partnering, the team would consider the literature indicating best practices. The National PTA has organized research into clear and simple steps to assess present practice and develop an action plan. This can be found in the booklet, National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs, An Implementation Guide for Schools and Communities, which is available for purchase at a minimal cost from the National PTA. A similar updated tool or framework for measuring family engagement practices can be found on the PTA web site, www.pta.org/Documents/National_Standards_Assessment_Guide.pdf.

Guiding Questions

What does research say about effective family and community engagement?
Why is it important to engage all families and community in support of education?
The National PTA has developed standards for family involvement. How is your school currently performing with families and communities in reference to these standards?
What current practices of the school reflect effective collaboration among families and community?
Do teachers, family, and community share common expectations regarding support for families? (example: building trusting relationships, linking families and community to school, developing leadership among family and community members).

Parent Engagement DATA
January 2011
Breaking New Ground: Data Systems Transform Family Engagement in Education
Heather B. Weiss, M. Elena Lopez, & Deborah R. Stark
http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/publications-series/pta-and-harvard-family-research-project-issue-briefs-family-engagement-policy-and-practice/breaking-new-ground-data-systems-transform-family-engagement-in-education
This brief describes how investments in student data systems are taking family engagement and student achievement to a whole new level. In addition to addressing areas where a student most needs improvement, the data can serve as a catalyst for home–school communication.

Reaching Out to Diverse Populations
www.sedl.org/pubs/family29/1.html

Strengthening Parents' Ability to Provide the Guidance and Support Than Matter Most in High School

www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/78/48/7848.pdf

Getting Parents “Ready” for Kindergarten: The Role of Early Childhood Education
www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/fine/
resources/research/kreider.html

The Transition to Kindergarten: A Review of Current Research and Promising Practices to Involve Families http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects
/fine/resources/research/bohan.html

Special Considerations for Middle and High Schools p.234- School, Family & Community Partnerships Handbook for Action, third edition, by J. L. Epstein et al, 2009. Corwin Press.
Special_Considerations_for_Middle_and_High_Schools.pdf

Concepts and Models of Family Involvement
www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/
fine/resources/case_study/intro.html

The "Missing Piece of the Proficiency Puzzle" (Kentucky Department of Education)

http://www.education.ky.gov/KDE/Instructional+Resources/Student+

and+Family+Support/Parents+and+Families/The+Missing+

Piece+of+the+Proficiency+

Puzzle.htm

Teacher /School/District Engagement with Families
March 2011
Successful Family Engagement in the Classroom: What teachers need to know and be able to do to engage families in raising student achievement
Lela Spielberg
http://hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/successful-family-engagement-in-the-classroom-what-teachers-need-to-know-and-be-able-to-do-to-engage-families-in-raising-student-achievement
The rubric provides districts, school leaders, and teachers with a clear picture of what effective family engagement looks like in the classroom through concrete descriptions of how teachers demonstrate strong family engagement through their conversations and daily practice.

Teaching the Teachers: Preparing Educators to Engage Families for Student Achievement.
May 2011
Margaret Caspe, M. Elena Lopez, Ashley Chu, & Heather B. Weiss http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/publications-series/pta-and-harvard-family-research-project-issue-briefs-family-engagement-policy-and-practice/teaching-the-teachers-preparing-educators-to-engage-families-for-student-achievement.
Harvard Family Research Project and the National PTA® have teamed up to bring you the third brief in our ground-breaking series about family engagement policy, highlighting the need for teacher education programs to prepare teachers to better work with families.

Focus on Effectiveness Classroom Examples - Middle School Homework Policies

www.netc.org/focus/examples/homewo.php

Have surveys and interviews of families, staff, and community been conducted?
Were the survey responses representative?
What types of services are being provided to support families?
In school?
In community?
The following are some specific questions to be considered for analysis.
- What is known about your FAMILIES?
  - % working
  - % single parents
  - % grandparents or other
  - % children & families living in poverty
  - % cultural, ethnic, racial, linguistic diversity
  - % mobility or homeless
- What is known about your COMMUNITY(IES)?
  - Economic factors (% agricultural, % professional, % industrial/technical, climate)
  - Social foundation (service clubs, community organizations)
  - Human services
  - Leadership
  - Inventory of community strengths/needs
  - Demographics

Parent Engagement Electronic Tool Kit
www.michigan.gov/documents/
MDE_Parent_Involvement_Part_1_12-16-04_111424_7.doc

To continue the continuous improvement process, click on:
Setting the Goals