District Administration - May 2009 - (Page 18)

Parental Engagement Pays Off Kulling, a co-chair of the Core Team. The NNPS also includes schools like Jane H. Bryan Elementary in the Hampton (Va.) Schools. After below-average test scores over several years kept the school from attaining adequate yearly progress goals, administrators set a goal in 20072008 to have 70 percent of students in grades 3-5 pass the language arts section. They engaged parents, along with school bus drivers, crossing guards and custodians, who teamed with teachers and administrators in “Bryan Reads Together,” a program in which students and adults read the same books and discuss them together in a celebratory exercise. It worked—76 percent of targeted students passed the test last year, and the program is continuing this year, reports LaKitta Hicks-White, parent involvement facilitator at the school. “The activity was intended for parents to read with their children at home in the evening,” she says. Parents and guardians read aloud to youngsters not yet able to read. Bridging Cultural Differences Given the nation’s growing minority populations and expanding cultural differences, one Pennsylvania district is opening its doors to parents who wouldn’t normally get involved. In the North Penn (Pa.) School District, where 71 languages are spoken, Linda Abram, family and communication specialist in the district’s office of school and community engagement, credits Superintendent Bob Hassler with directing the district’s parental engagement efforts, including creating her position. “Without strong support from leadership, these efforts are often not realized or implemented,” Abram asserts. While the district does not track students’ religions, it estimates that Muslims represent 5 percent of an increasingly diverse student body, and when administrators realized that their parents often were not involved in school activities because they were unfamiliar with the U.S. education system, they planned an outreach activity to the Bengali, Guja18 May 2009 In Lowndes County Schools, students dress up as distinguised historical figures as part of “Biography Blitz,” a program that administrators and parents helped devise to help boost test scores. rati and Hindi Islamic communities at a local mosque one Saturday in 2007. With the help of a translator familiar with the languages the families spoke (among 71 languages spoken in the district), district officials explained policies and procedures mentary School, an NNPS school in the Lowndes County (Ga.) Schools, administrators and parents on the school’s Action Team for Partnership devised a “Biography Blitz” last year as part of an effort to boost standardized test scores. Looking “Without strong support from leadership, these efforts are often not realized or implemented.” —Linda Abram, family and communication specialist in the office of school and community engagement, North Penn (Pa.) School District on matters such as student absences on religious holidays (they are considered excused absences), early dismissals for weather-related reasons, and parent phone chains to inform parents of activities and schedule changes. “We had families there with their children. They were asking us questions and we were asking them questions. It was a real give-and-take,” says Abram. To honor Muslim customs, she adds, district officials removed their shoes before entering the mosque, and men and women used separate doors. At Knapp Elementary School, the NNPS school closest to the mosque, parent participation in teacher conferences has increased from 43 percent in the last school year to 91 percent this year as a result of those engagement efforts, Abram reports. She adds that more Muslim families are attending school events and volunteering. The district plans to bring middle and high school staff to a Muslim “Community Day” in September. Reading and Attendance Other avenues for parental involvement are through reading. At Lake Park Ele- for ways to get students to read more nonfiction books, they challenged all students to read historical biographies between September and February and make presentations about their favorite books at a culminating celebratory event at a “White House Tea” just before Presidents’ Day. At the tea, hosted by the school, students dressed as distinguished historical figures made their presentations as parents enjoyed finger sandwiches, biscotti, and tea served in china cups. The school’s Action Team for Partnership donated refreshments and decorations for the tea. Further, Lake Park staff put on their version of American Idol with teachers dressed as judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, who critiqued other teachers’ performances of The Lion King and The Little Mermaid. “Our test scores have been going up consistently,” reports Teresa Parkerson, Lake Park’s academic coach, although she acknowledges she cannot relate the success directly to the Biography Blitz. Nonfiction books are now read widely, like fiction books have always been with the students, she adds. The school is repeating the program District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - May 2009

District Administration - May 2009
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
Facilities
Supervisor’s Opinion
Community Relations
Technology and Learning
Human Resources
Technology
Profile
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
Problem Solution
New Products
Product Focus
Tech Disruptions

District Administration - May 2009