Community Engagement for Leader Development
A
program that focuses community
members, particularly parents, on
developing a strong knowledge base
relative to various school functions
in order to increase the potential
involvement of informed
parent/community leaders.
Links
to Content:
Demonstration Site:
North
Kingstown School District
Target Population:
Parents and community members
Need and Intent:
To establish an integrated and seamless program to develop the
capacity of parents and community members to more effectively
serve the needs of children and become leaders in the school
community. The intent was to create a community engagement initiative,
but with a particular focus on parent leadership to engage the
many interested and vocal parents in the district who may not
have had a comprehensive knowledge of the school system or the
information they need to be effective advocates. The goal was
to develop these parents’ leadership skills in order to
get them involved not just in the improvement of their own children’s
schools, but in that of the district as a whole. This initiative
was seen as a way to start changing the culture of the district,
especially to raise the level of appreciation and understanding
of how hard the schools and teachers work. Deeper involvement
of community members helps to especially clear up misconceptions
about the district’s actions. Informed parents who run
for school committee create a more informed committee.
“We are always looking for new ideas
and we WILL listen to you.
This is what we're trying to say to our parents.”
– Barbara Fitzsimmons, Director of Curriculum
Background:
Superintendent Halley has always prioritized developing
parent leaders and bringing them along a leadership continuum
in order to get good, solid input from them. He wants to make
sure parents feel that they have a role in the district’s
decisions and that they have the support to take on more formal
leadership roles. Dr. Halley has written a document entitled
“Building
Parent Involvement: Staff Development for Parents” that
describes his view of the continuum of parent involvement from
parent as learner to parent as leader.
Implementation Process:
The district’s plan for developing parent and community
leaders involved a three-step process.
(Click
here to read the district’s report.)
1) District Focus Groups:
GOAL – To involve parents and other community leaders
in the development of strategies needed to move the district
forward while simultaneously developing the knowledge/information
base that participants need to become leaders in the district.
PROCESS – A series of sessions with different groups including
parents, teachers, students, community members and business
leaders facilitated by an outside consultant.
The
facilitator used a script and led the groups through the
RI
Department of Education’s seven priorities (referred
to as "seven strategies" in the script and below).
INDICATORS OF QUALITY – The level of attendance and the
quality of participation in moving toward solutions rather than
just listing problems.
2) District Educational Summit:
GOAL – To familiarize a broader group of parents and community
leaders with the seven key district improvement strategies and
to encourage their contributions to the development of objectives
to achieve the strategies and fulfill the district’s mission
statement.
PROCESS – The educational summit was a full-day meeting
held in December 2005 that asked for input from the participants
on moving forward in the three areas defined as priorities by
the focus groups.
Click
here to see the summit agenda. To draw participants, letters
were sent home, ads were placed in the newspaper and outreach
was done through the chamber of commerce.
INDICATORS OF QUALITY – Development and acceptance of
the district strategic plan including strategies to move forward.
3) District Forums:
GOAL – To provide a deeper level of understanding of several
key departments and department head roles and to seek input
on improved communications. Parents from the focus groups and
the summit had asked for more time to talk about specific concerns.
PROCESS – Meetings were held for parents on the following
topics: special education, curriculum, wellness, modernization
(for schools that need upgrading), school starting time (met
with transportation department), and communications.
INDICATORS OF QUALITY – Continuing involvement of the
parents and community leaders. Some of the groups continued
to meet and presented recommendations to the school committee.
The group who met on wellness worked together to write a health
and wellness policy.
The
school starting time group led to the formation of a formal
committee on the subject. The Curriculum Director held a
meeting to go over questions, misconceptions, etc. relative
to curriculum and instruction. The parents felt comfortable
making suggestions and everyone left the meeting feeling that
their voice had been heard. After all of the meetings, the district
has found that parents are now more willing to come to school
district staff to clarify issues and concerns. Open communication
has improved.
Click
here to read the parent feedback from the forum on curriculum.
Tips for Implementation:
- It would have been better to hold the educational summit
earlier in the year or in January for better attendance. December
is often a hard time for parent and community involvement.
- Include the students in the process because it is very helpful
for the parents and the district to understand their perspective.
- The district made a particular effort to invite vocal parents,
including those who write to the local paper and those who
raise issues at school committee meetings.
- It is best to have separate focus groups for students,
teachers and parents, and have the groups facilitated by an
outside consultant rather than an administrator to ensure
a higher level of comfort and trust.
Case Study:
For the past 10 years, every school in the district
has had a
school
advisory committee made up of approximately 4-5 parents,
teachers and the principal that meet monthly. The activities
of the Community Engagement initiative provided the means to
reach out to a larger parent/community population - and increase
their leadership skills. Since these efforts to increase parent
involvement and leadership, the district believes that there
are many more informed parents.
Program Components and Materials:
Contact for More Information:
Name: James Halley
Job Title: Superintendent
Role in Project: Initiator
Phone: (401) 268-6400
E-mail: James_Halley@nksd.net
Address: 100 Fairway Drive, North Kingstown, RI 02852