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| Time to Talk about School Site Councils School Beat: Strong Schools Need Strong School Site Councils by Don Krause, 2009-01-22 San Francisco’s school site councils, the legally mandated site-based governing bodies, could receive an unexpected gift, compliments of the worldwide financial collapse. The California Department of Education is under pressure to rein in spending, and state compliance officers are unlikely to cut any slack when the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) undergoes a monitoring of its moribund School Site Council (SSC) program next year. A negative assessment of site council compliance could underscore the need for reform.
An ailing SSC program in the spotlight could be a public relations gaffe for a new District administration intent on establishing its reputation as fiscally responsible, accountability-centered and parent-friendly. And while this might sound like bad news, such scrutiny could breathe new life into site councils that are often little more than rubber stamps for principals, especially if policymakers take the opportunity in repairing a failure of the insular Ackerman era.
SSC documentation, painstakingly provided by district officials in fulfilling recent public records requests, shows the vast majority of school communities without adequate representation. Although the value of the procedural requirements to lawfully constitute and conduct councils is often underestimated, more importantly, school principals too often fail to meaningfully engage their communities in the planning process. This is where the rubber meets the road and where quantitative compliance reviews cannot adequately address the performance of site councils and school leadership.
Measurement of site council performance is a tricky business. Recent SSC document analysis was made by three individuals (two District officials and the author of this article), reading thousands of pages from over one hundred schools in an attempt to gain insight on the District’s overall performance. Despite some variation in the three results, it was mutually agreed upon that there is a significant need for District SSC reform. What shape should this reform take?
The true barometer of an SSC is in its ability to positively impact academic achievement, even while many other factors come into play. The principal is the key player in openly recruiting candidates for SSC elections and making the council’s work authentic and integral to the academic plan or Balanced Scorecard, as it is now known. The work of the councils should be an important part of regular communication between the school leadership and the community in newsletters, at staff and community meetings and in the halls.
Properly constituted councils should have ten members at the elementary level, five staff and five community members, and twelve members at the secondary level, also evenly divided. (There are other specific legal requirements and variants beyond the scope of this overview.)
Principals and chairpersons must strive to ensure full participation by representatives and encourage the larger community to attend meetings, making sure to create bylaws, post agendas and to keep meeting minutes, sign-in sheets and election materials. But the real test and the true business of any council is its ability to openly and objectively discuss the issues at hand and to vote on and implement them. These qualitative aspects of site council performance are not easy to analyze. They derive from the character and policies of the primary decision-makers at our schools and at the central office and are typically reviewed best through the prism of retrospection.
An example of a recent failing of District policy is illustrated in its irresponsible intention to further dilute the already limited influence of parents. District officials want to solve the parent participation problem on most site councils by decreasing the minimum number of parent representatives necessary to vote on action items from the legally mandated amount of five (at the elementary level) to as little as one, citing the use of a quorum. (Most schools don’t have bylaws by which to employ a quorum). They intend to do this, ostensibly, to prevent a dearth of SSC parent participation from impeding the conduct of business.
This policy supplants State law which requires parity of staff and community and a minimum of ten members for adequate legal representation. The use of quorums, in this way, negates the very purpose of site councils, which is to give a legal voice to the stakeholders for the benefit of student outcome. The right way to solve this problem, rather than throwing in the towel, is for the District to support and promote their principals’ efforts to engage their school communities and create greater SSC participation, while simultaneously fulfilling the goals of the Balanced Scorecard of responsibility and accountability. In effect, parent participation via site council reform should be a major part of the District’s Strategic Plan.
For years, SFUSD delegated the job of the site council mandate to its school principals and turned a blind eye to any further District accountability. With principals left to do as they may, parent activists should take umbrage at such unmanaged authority in their children’s schools, where District supervisors rarely tread.
Varying only to the degree that a school principal welcomes community involvement, site councils are most often a formality in the bureaucratically arcane and boilerplate academic planning process, with parent input sidelined as advisory in nature. This is a far cry from the grassroots reform that was envisioned when education researchers first promoted school governance through site councils as the front line in education reform. In the late1970’s the legislature, citing this research, created school site councils as part of the School Improvement Program and, since then, repeatedly renewed it.
Thirty years later, most parents have little understanding or interest in site councils. Few have ever read an academic plan. This unfortunate state is the result of years of distrust of parents by school officials who did little to implement the law or, more importantly, to encourage parent participation; it is no secret the District resisted strong school site councils (read parents) challenging its authority. To disabuse parents of any notion of a power grab, they were benched to do yard duty and PTA bake sales.
Parent involvement via Site-Based Management (SBM) and its backbone of local councils has been extensively studied and is, in its theory, widely regarded to be a capable model of decentralizing reform. In practice, on the ground success requires staff and community committed to working collaboratively and versed in the language, principles and practices of the education establishment. Too often principals view parent involvement in school governance as a challenge to their professional judgment. Community members are often inadequately trained in the challenges they face and too quick to find fault when confronting difficult problems. Site councils can invigorate schools. But if parents want a voice, they must lobby for it.
San Francisco is decades behind some other Districts that have integrated parent involvement into the machinery of school government. In Chicago, local school councils have convincingly demonstrated that real reform must include authority to evaluate principals, who, as school leaders, are central figures in promoting or discouraging parent participation, particularly on the councils themselves. Recent attempts to strip Chicago parents of their hard earned authority have failed in the courts.
If grassroots action is an objective of the District, as alluded to in the yet to be explained Strategic Plan, perhaps the Superintendent will embrace site councils and rightly so, as he has promoted himself as a bottom-up manager. Yet the Plan makes no mention of them in its overly-generalized big-on-goals-low-on-details fifty-three page glossy brochure, a telling omission that does not bode well for parent involvement.
In lieu of District action, parent pressure via public records requests in conjunction with uniform complaints has given impetus to some district officials who realize they must provide fixes if the upcoming academic planning process is to pass muster. But swift transformation of site councils is unlikely given the hard work involved in creating and sustaining them.
An analogue of the parent-child relationship, school success hinges on creating partnerships between staff and community. We cannot expect our poorly funded schools to do the entire job of educating our children.
The endless discussions on education under-funding have belabored the point that any progress is going to have to come cheaply, if it comes at all. Ironically, the most cost- effective reform is through parent involvement. The District needs to fill in the blanks of its beautifully rendered, but mysteriously lacking call-to-arms that is the Strategic Plan with the letters SSC.
Don Krause is a past SSC member and current SSC activist, as well as being the father of two boys at Alamo and a former high school teacher. Beyond Chron.org  | | | |  | | | |  | | | Active Parents
Tips and Strategies
At this point, you should have a better idea of the important issues you consider as you work to promote Active Parents in your school community. Whether you are a parent or an interested individual, you can help to support education in your community by encouraging parent efforts to become involved in education. This section will provide tips and strategies for helping you do this in your community. However, as you read these strategies and make plans to put these ideas into action, remember these four things: There are no easy answers; no matter where you are, what resources you have - it's hard work. The most effective efforts are built on the most meaningful types of involvement. The resources of the whole are much more powerful than resources of the parts. A single well-planned effort that is tied directly to identified student needs is worth 1,000 different events.
Using These Strategies/Tips
Each of the strategies below has several parts: General Description: This section includes useful information to help you think about the situations in which you will use these strategies. Strategies to Try: These statements describe actions you can take to raise your Civic Index score. Resource Hints/Hotlinks: While the resources suggested do not include all possibilities, they will still provide additional information. Whenever we could, we've provided direct links to web-based, cost-free materials. Worksheet: When you have reviewed these strategies and their explanations, click here to download the Active Parents worksheet where you can reflect on which strategies will have the most benefit for your school community.
Strategy 1: Create and encourage communication between home and school
In today's world, where we have more ways to communicate than ever, we often lack the information we need to make good decisions. It's an amazing paradox. How can this happen? Many would say it's a matter of priorities. People don't put education first. However, this simple answer allows all of us to avoid the deeper issues that hold back parental involvement in education. Research has shown us that parents are often unfamiliar with how to interact with educational systems, so they don't do so. School staff assume the lack of parent participation is lack of interest. These notions interfere with positive and meaningful interactions between school staff and parents. Because we have learned that communication is a very important part of successful school-family projects, we need to support communication processes among all who are involved. For communication to be effective, both parents and school staff need to realize what issues limit communication and begin to find ways to interact that encourage information exchange.
Through the study of successful programs, we have learned that information between home and school should address the following communication levels: Access - reaching out to those who have information about practices, issues, and needs Supply - providing the information that is needed about your children or other education issues to those who need that information Expand - sharing information with others in order to develop partnership efforts to address issues that affect student achievement
Remember as you review this section that communication should go both ways. If you allow communication to be one-way, you will not get the most out of your efforts. When you put your ideas into action, remember to keep the communication two-way. Here are some things you can do:
Become informed about key issues related to the education of individual children as well as all the children in a school community
We've all heard it thousands of times: information is power. In order to help parents make good decisions for children and provide appropriate support for learning, parents need information. When establishing communication procedures, consider the following questions and how the answers can give parents the information they need: What are the school's goals and expectations for students? What is your school doing about making sure that each child learns the content included in the state standards? How does your school use data? What data are used? What role can you play in supporting efforts to see that the needs of all children are met? What resources and assistance programs are available for parents? What key questions should every parent ask at school conferences? What actions or strategies should parents use at home to help support their children's education?
Take time to talk to your own children each day and communicate with teachers so that you know what is actually happening in school. This way, you can ask questions about what took place that day. Encourage your children to value education and stress the importance of continuing their education.
Provide information to the school
Many times we forget that parents also have valuable information they can provide. Parents know their children in ways school staff cannot know. Sometimes a parent's view of a child can provide understanding that a teacher has never considered. Moreover, school staff need to know expectations and beliefs that parents have for their children's education. Do parents' expectations and goals for the school and the students match the school's expectations and goals? The key thing to think about when answering these questions is not whether there are differences, but what the differences are and why they exist. If a program is to be effective, these differences need to be identified and explained so that all involved understand the actions and beliefs of others. This shared knowledge and experience is an important part of the relationships needed for effective programs [Relationships are discussed in Strategy 2]. School staff needs to know the following information from the parent's viewpoint: The role you see for yourself in your child's education Your beliefs about how to best meet your child's needs Your feelings about your ability to help your child become successful in school Whether you have feelings of welcome or a lack of welcome when you attempt to become involved with school staff, district staff, community members, and your child in efforts to improve education
For more information: Share information with other parents and community individuals or groups who are interested in improving education.
Though the first two activities are direct and active efforts that a parent can undertake to support their children's education, this last activity expands their work. Parents are the most important factor in a child's life. However, the community also can have a great effect. For this strategy, parents are asked to widen their efforts to improve education - what can parents share with others in their community that will bring about improved education. Keep in mind that information is power. There also is a proverb that says shared power is more power. The more power a community has in support of education, the better the outcomes. Parents need to share information on the following topics with new members of the community, local businesses, school board members, service organizations, political groups, and anyone else who can support education in their community: What kind of education they want for children Barriers to parent participation in school improvement as well as things that make it easier Ways parents can contribute to successful school efforts
This strategy also is closely associated with ideas in Strategy 3.
For more information: Study circle guide encouraging discussion among schools and community members
Wulff, B. D. (2002). Helping Your Child Succeed: How Parents & Families Can Communicate Better with Teachers and School Staff. Pomfret, CT: Study Circles Resource Center.
Click here Explanation of parent's rights
NCLB Action Briefs: Parent's Right to Know. Public Education Network and National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education.
Click here
Strategy 2: Build cooperative parent-school connections
It is not uncommon for family members to feel that their lack of education, language, or other particular issues prevents them from supporting their children's education in a meaningful way. This feeling is made worse if they also have had negative experiences while in school themselves, or with previous parent-school interactions.
By studying successful programs, we have learned that when family members actively take part in supporting and staying informed about their children's education, they can play an important role in improving the education of not only their children, but the children of others. Moreover, formal education, language, or other issues that we commonly consider to be barriers to participation do not mean parents can't successfully support their children's education. Planners simply have to predict these types of needs and prepare for these needs. The key to involvement is to work in cooperation with school staff, other education groups, and community organizations to discover how parents can support their children. Here are some things you can do:
Encourage parents and school staff to work together to create hands-on/how-to workshops
As you plan these events, remember that neither the teachers nor the parents are likely to have had any training as to how to work with each other, yet everyone is surprised when the two groups find it difficult to establish a working relationship. However, when parents and school staff learn together, they soon understand more about the other's views and how to work with each other. Because these are joint activities, they serve two purposes: building relationships and encouraging new learning. Though these workshops can be held at the school, often parents are more comfortable if they are held away from the school in community facilities.
For more information: Guide to designing a workshop or training day
Guide to Planning a Training Day. Thomson Scientific.
Click here Guide for a planning workshop
Facilitating a Planning Workshop. Community Organizers Toolbox, Education Training Unit.
Click here
Establish a culture of trust
In the fast-paced lives we live, it is hard to slow down and give all those involved the time that is needed to process new information and get comfortable with new relationships. Getting a person interested isn't that difficult. However, moving most people to sustained action takes repeated interactions over an extended period of time. It takes time to build the relationships needed to encourage meaningful interactions among school staff, family, and community members. For truly cooperative interactions, all involved need the opportunity to form relationships. Relationships take time and repeated involvement. At the beginning of any project, include many events where participants are encouraged to interact and get to know one another as well as explore each other's viewpoints and beliefs. However, don't assume that if you do many relationship-building activities in the beginning, you don't have to worry about building relationships ever again. It is a process that has to be returned to periodically. This is true because your group membership may change and because the knowledge and experience of your group has changed. You need to revisit this often.
For more information: Strategies and description of important issues in building relationships
Ferguson, C. (2005) Organizing Family and Community Connections with Schools: How Do School Staff Build Meaningful Relationships With All Stakeholders, published by Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin, TX.
Click here
Building Successful Partnerships. National Parent Teacher Association.
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The Parent Involvement Schools of Excellence Certification. National Parent Teacher Association.
Click here
Use mentors/coaches for those who don't feel as comfortable with parent-school involvement efforts.
Sometimes, cultural values and previous experiences can create barriers to productive involvement that must be addressed before work can progress to meet the group's goals. Moreover, there are few schools where the demographics and experiences of the teaching staff mirror those of the community - simply put, schools staff, families in a community, and members of the community seldom share the same cultural or linguistic background. Commonly, a few parents and school staff will be comfortable moving back and forth between home and school. These individuals often become the membership of "school-wide" programs, when in reality, the programs might involve just a handful of participants. To increase the involvement of parents and school staff, ask those who are comfortable with this work to take an active role in helping others who feel less able or whose negative feelings prevent their participation. Find those in your community who are successful in their parent-school interactions and ask them to become mentors or coaches for those who haven't had this success. With the help of a mentor or coach, parents and school staff can gain confidence and the belief that they can serve a meaningful role in the education of the children in the community.
For more information: Suggestions for building trust with diverse populations
Brewster, C., & Railsback, J. (2003). Building Trust with Schools and Diverse Families. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory.
Click here Success stories about parent-school partnerships
(2005). Promising Partnership Practices. National Network of Partnership Schools.
Click here
Strategy 3: Become an advocate for education in your community
Though family and community members often feel they cannot have an effect on education since the school is in the driver's seat, research does not support this belief. The reality is that when family and community members actively take part in promoting a quality education for children, they too can have an important role in improving schools. Earlier in this section, we said that advocacy can take many forms. There is no one single method. The ideas about sharing information in Strategy 1 can be used in advocacy efforts.
As you begin to explore how parents can become involved in advocacy, remember that this includes actions a parent takes to involve others, to draw on available resources, to promote greater support for education, to support one child or all children, to increase knowledge about educating children or role in education, and more. The following strategies can help define how parents can be advocates:
Take on new responsibilities to support education.
Any parent can take on tasks to support education. However, as parents take on these roles, they need both information and training to do the work. If they are to be successful, give them the support they need to do the work. What can parents do? They can: Participate in activities that build leadership skills and encourage others to do the same. Though we tend to think that one person leads an effort, family, school, and community connections are more effective when those involved develop and practice shared leadership. Encourage school staff and families to create workshops where those representing all roles have the opportunity to learn effective strategies to help families support student learning.
For more information: Explanation of how parents can take responsibility for their children's education
Taking Responsibility: Using Public Engagement to Reform Our Public Schools. Washington, DC: Public Education Network. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory.
Click here
Reach out to the school and make yourself known as someone who cares.
If the teacher doesn't reach out to the parent, the parent needs to reach out to the teacher: call, e-mail, set an appointment or use any other method of contact. Parents who actively reach out to the school are much better informed about what is going on at school, so parents should be a presence. However, since school staff also have had bad experiences with family members, parents need to do this in a non-threatening, calm manner. Their aim should not be to criticize, but to help. To have the greatest effect, these efforts should: Link to student achievement goals and school standards Focus directly on student learning Ask for strategies that provide specific information on what is happening in the classroom and what is needed to support student learning Encourage the development of a school culture that includes everyone concerned in the work and support strategies that allow you to make meaningful contributions
For more information: Suggested strategies to improve parent-teacher communication
Let's Do Homework. Learning Partners. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
Click here List of actions parents can take to communicate that they care about their children's education
Ford, D. (1996). Good Parent-Teacher Relationships Benefits Children. New Mexico State University, College of Agriculture and Home Economics, CAHE News.
Click here
Give it the time it takes.
In the fast-paced lives we live, it is hard to slow down and give all those involved the time needed to process new information. As we stated earlier, getting a person interested isn't that difficult. However, moving most people to action takes repeated interactions over an extended period of time. As you work to increase parental involvement in your school community, remember: It takes time to build the relationships that are needed to encourage meaningful interactions among school staff, family, and community members. Sometimes, cultural values and previous experiences can create barriers to productive involvement. It is important to take the time to create shared cultural understandings in order to predict barriers to involvement. It also is important to take the time to explore the views of the school community on a given issue. Change comes more easily when everyone understands the viewpoints of all those involved. Change tends to gather momentum as the efforts move forward. You can encourage this momentum by taking the lead in raising support for new efforts.
For more information: | | | | Civic Index for Quality Public Education.
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Involvement Step by Step
Getting new parents to participate means finding out where they are on the involvement ladder, then creating opportunities that fit.
Written by Tim Sullivan
One of the fundamental strengths of a well-run parent group is the ability to identify just where parents are in terms of involvement and to reach out to those parents accordingly.
I call it the Parent Involvement Ladder, and the basic idea is that treating all parents the same way is a recipe for involvement frustration. For parents who have never volunteered or perhaps never even attended a school event, your “Meeting next Tuesday at 7 p.m.” flyer is unlikely to get them off the couch and skipping into school. Your goal with currently uninvolved parents is to simply get them to attend a school event.
In other words: If you’re throwing a spaghetti supper, you’d like them to eat pasta. That’s it. If they come to school and chow down, you’ve made strides in involvement. That’s a win. Parents have taken a step onto the first rung of the involvement ladder.
At PTO Today, we talk a lot about those first steps. Our School Family Nights program and our 2 Hour Power volunteer pledge program are both aimed squarely at turning the uninvolved into the somewhat involved.
But the real focus of this column is what then? While great family events with tons of kids and parents and teachers interacting positively at school are wonderful, we also want to move folks up the ladder. We’d like those spaghetti eaters to become occasional spaghetti cookers. Or occasional website helpers. Or occasional lunchroom monitors.
And we’d really like some of those occasional volunteers to eventually move up to leadership slots, perhaps helping lead the spaghetti supper committee or—egad!—maybe even taking over your elected spot someday.
This mid-fall time frame is the perfect time to think about just how your group plans to move folks up the ladder. Hopefully, you’ve already held one or two open family events or you have them on the calendar and are moving toward success. Now you need to put some good habits in place for taking the best advantage of those events.
The first step is making sure your family events are welcoming and fun. Sounds basic, but you shouldn’t underemphasize it. Parents will be much more open to connecting with your group if it gains a well-earned reputation for openness and spirit. Your events are the first impression many parents will have of your group.
The next steps are a bit more specific. Do you actively try to team a new volunteer with a veteran volunteer for most of your PTO jobs? While it’s often easiest to let two pals (especially if they’re both vets) run with an event or program, making an effort to pair new volunteers with experienced helpers can make a big difference.
It creates natural, safe slots for new members to step into, and it serves as a ready-made training ground for future leaders.
And where do you find these new volunteers? Among the pasta eaters, of course. That’s the next tip: Assign someone to keep track (formally or informally) of which moms and dads are attending your family events. Those that come out a few times and have a good time are your best prospects for new volunteers. When you need help, reach out to a few of those moms and dads personally with a very specific message and request. “So glad you’ve been able to make it out. Wondering if you might be able to help with the cleanup committee (or the ticket-takers, etc.) at XYZ event next month?”
Similarly, those parents who start helping out on a semiregular basis become great prospects for leadership positions next year. Identifying some of those potential leaders now, personally connecting with them, and easing them up these important next rungs is far more effective than waiting until April and placing a general “We need new officers” plea in your newsletter.
Long-term success comes from knowing where parents are on the ladder and effectively helping them take the next steps—even when some of those steps (like the ones you’ve already taken!) can be doozies.
Tim Sullivan is the founder of PTO Today.
26 Ways To Build Involvement
Getting more parents to participate is as easy as A, B, C when you follow this list of best practices.
Written by Craig Bystrynski
A is for Ask. If you want people to participate, you must ask. The number one reason people cite for not volunteering: "Nobody asked."
B is for Black Hole. People are afraid that if they volunteer, they'll be sucked into a black hole of time commitment from which they can't escape. Let them know up front that your group is not a black hole. Then, make sure you honor their time constraints.
C is for Communication. Use a variety of communication tools to make sure your message gets through. Flyers and e-mails are good for communicating a date and time. Use your newsletter and Web site to let people know about your accomplishments. Invite local media to activities involving kids.
D is for Diversity. Reach out to all parents in your school, not just the ones who are easy to reach. Sponsor multicultural events. Translate parent group materials, if necessary. Organize transportation for those who need it. Your school, your group, and the kids all will benefit tremendously from broad-based parent involvement.
E is for Examine. Look closely at your activities to decide what's working and what isn't. Don't just do something because "that's what we've always done." New ideas can create new excitement for your group.
F is for Fun—don't forget about it! Some special people will dedicate their time and energy to a group because it's the right thing to do. Many, many more will participate if it's fun. Make sure your group has fun. You'll build involvement and fight burnout, too.
G is for Gradual. Introduce parents to participation in the PTO gradually. Parents who participate in family events are the most likely to become volunteers. Those who volunteer occasionally are the most likely to take on more responsibility, such as organizing an event. And those organizers are the most likely to become interested in serving as board members. Moving people from step to step takes the stress out of finding future leaders.
H is for Hour, the length to which you should limit meetings. People worry about time commitments. You have better ways for them to spend their volunteer time than at meetings, so don't hold meetings that go on all night. Use your committees to do the detail work. Limit general meetings to one hour, and limit business to finalizing the work of the committees.
I is for Invitation. The best way to get parents involved is to extend a personal invitation. People are most likely to take part in any group when they know someone who already does. Don't just send flyers home, then wonder why nobody "signed up." Create situations in which you can communicate with people one on one.
J is for Just. Don't use this word to describe your group. You are doing important work. You should know it, and others should, too. So don't think of your organization as "just a PTO." If you do, you'll have a much harder time getting others involved.
K is for Kudos. Awards, compliments, a simple thank-you. Always let people know that you appreciate their help, whether they just organized a smashing fundraiser or spent an hour selling tickets at the carnival.
L is for Leadership. Being a leader means looking beyond today. Does your group have long-term goals? How will you get there? If you want to get parents excited, share your vision and give them something to work toward.
M is for Marketing. Sing the praises of your parent group. Make sure people know what you do. When you donate an item to the school, put a plaque or sticker on it that gives you credit. When you raise money, make sure people know what it was able to buy for their kids. A little basic marketing goes a long way toward building your reputation with parents—and encouraging parent involvement.
N is for New Parents—make a special effort to reach out to them. Parents new to the school need your help. You can provide them with information about the school, teachers, schedules, and more. Reach out to them early—and individually—to give them a positive feeling about the PTO.
O is for Organization. Make sure you have bylaws. Adopt sound financial practices. Obtain an Employer Identification Number from the IRS. Incorporate. Consider applying for tax-exempt status from the IRS. Take your group seriously and others will, too.
P is for Priorities. Make parent involvement, not fundraising, your priority. Run two or three major fundraisers a year. Then concentrate on activities that get parents connected to the school. The kids, teachers and administrators, and the PTO will all benefit.
Q is for Questionnaire. Don't just ask for your volunteers' time; ask for their talents. Use a questionnaire to discover parent interests. You'll find dedicated volunteers more easily if you match skills and talents to the jobs you need done.
R is for Research—share it with parents. Research shows that students with involved parents perform better in school, score better on standardized tests, have fewer behavioral problems, are less likely to use drugs and alcohol, and go to better colleges. Make sure you get the word out!
S is for School Family Nights. These are events that get parents and kids together for a night of fun and, perhaps, learning. These events are parent involvement. They get parents connected to the school more successfully than anything else you do. Don't think of family nights as extras, and don't make them fundraisers. Schedule at least two per semester. For free kits on a variety of family nights, check out PTO Today's School Family Nights.
T is for Training. Don't give anyone, officers or volunteers, a job they're not ready for. Make sure people know what is expected of them and have the resources and knowledge to do the job. If you don't, volunteers won't return.
U is for Unite. Whenever possible, seek to unite diverse groups. Work together with teachers and administrators, parents of varying ethnic and economic groups, people with a variety of views. Make the parent group a source of strength for the school.
V is for Visibility. Be visible at all events. Set up a table at open house, registration, and school activities. Assign a board member to walk around at parent group functions; she should introduce herself and make sure people are having fun. Put a welcoming face on the PTO.
W is for Welcome, the way you should make people feel. Have a greeter at meetings to welcome newcomers and make sure they feel comfortable. Use name tags so people who don't attend often won't feel left out. Make that first experience a positive one, so people will want to come back.
X is for X-factor. The x-factor in building a successful parent group is balance. You can run a good event or fundraiser without it. But to sustain a group over the long term, you must find balance: work and fun, PTO time and personal time, fundraising and involvement events.
Y is for Year. Plan out your activities for the entire year. Use your checkbook to create a budget, so you'll know how much money you need to raise. Balance your activities throughout the year so you won't burn out your volunteers or yourself. Take the pressure off with good planning.
Z is for Zero In—on building parent involvement!
PTO Today
Where Involvement Begins
Parent groups play a key role in making schools better. Unfortunately, the role often goes unappreciated.Written by Tim Sullivan This is our last issue of the school year, and I don’t want to miss the chance to say thank you for all you’ve done this year for your school–and for the kids and the families and the staff who make up your school community. Amid talk about this fundraiser or that one, a big family event, getting parents to your next meeting, who will step up to lead next year, and dozens of other common concerns, it’s easy to forget just how essential a role you play in the overall success of the school and vitality of the school community. Strip away all the many things you have to do as a parent group leader and it comes down to this: You are the ground troops of parent involvement. You’re on the front lines. You’re battling every day to create the atmosphere at your school that allows great teachers to excel at their jobs and great kids to excel at theirs. We can’t forget this, and we have to remind others just how important a role it is. If you’re leaving office shortly, you have to pass on this passion to your successor. (Rip out this page! Blanket permission granted to photocopy!) There’s a tendency to downplay the work of traditional parent-teacher groups like PTOs and PTAs. The implication is that common parent group activities such as bake sales–and, by extension, spaghetti suppers, movie nights, fall fairs, and the like–are just throwbacks to simpler days and need to be replaced by much more sophisticated-sounding “family-school partnerships”or “school councils”or “involvement compacts.” Dismissing the importance of those activities is short-sighted and wrong. It’s true that family game nights and Doughnuts with Dad and spring carnivals sound almost cute compared with high-stakes testing and No Child Left Behind. But a closer look reveals the real weight of your work. Research conclusively proves that more parent involvement at a school helps all the kids in that school do better on a wide variety of measures. Your work–as simple as it sometimes seems to outsiders–is the indispensable start of increased involvement. All the think tanks in the world can’t make your school more welcoming to parents. But your family events can. The communications you send home, your openness to new volunteers, your buddy system pairing experienced parents with newcomers, your involvement programs, your work to make sure teachers and principals and parents stay connected...these are all the building blocks of authentic, effective involvement, and they wouldn’t exist without your group’s work. So please take a bow. You’ve earned it. And know that your work affects your school and students even more than you can imagine. Tim Sullivan is the founder of PTO Today. www.ptotoday.com | |
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