What The Annual MetLife Survey Of The American Teacher Says About Parent Engagement

The annual MetLife Survey of The American Teacher just came out. Here are a few findings related to parent engagement:

More than seven in 10 educators identify addressing the individual needs of diverse learners (83% of principals; 78% of teachers) and engaging parents and the community in improving education for students (72% of principals; 73% of teachers) as challenging or very challenging for school leaders.

Principals in schools with at least two-thirds low-income students are more likely than those with one-third or fewer to say that engaging parents and the community in improving the education of students (86% vs. 46%) is very challenging or challenging.

Engaging parents and the community in improving students’ education and maintaining an adequate supply of effective teachers are greater in secondary and high-needs schools. Principals are more likely to say that it is very challenging or challenging for a school’s leaders to engage parents and the community in improving the education of students when they are from secondary schools (82% vs. 68% of elementary school principals); urban schools (82% vs. 63% from suburban schools and 71% from rural schools); schools with two-thirds or more low-income students (86% vs. 46% from schools with one third or fewer low-income students); schools with two-thirds or more minority students (86% vs. 63% from schools with one-third or fewer minority students); and schools where most students are not performing at or above grade level in English language arts and math (83% vs. 66% from schools with all or most students performing at or above grade level).

Here’s a section they call “From The Survey Archives”:

The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher has examined several aspects of the challenge of engaging parents and the community over the years. The 2011 survey noted that “parent and community engagement has increased but remains a challenge for many schools,” and ratings of parent engagement were highest for elementary school and generally were lower at each subsequent school level, from middle to high school. Nine in 10 teachers and eight in 10 parents agreed that their/their child’s school helps all parents understand what they can do at home to support a student’s success in school. Many teachers and
parents believed that lack of parent engagement is widespread:

 One-third of teachers and nearly half of parents said that most or many parents take too little interest in their children’s education.

 One-third of teachers and four in 10 parents said that most or many parents fail to motivate their children to learn in school.

 Four in 10 teachers and parents said that most or many parents leave their children alone too much after school.

The 2011 survey also noted that schools with high parent engagement perform better on a range of measures. For example, parents and teachers in schools with high parent engagement were more optimistic than those in schools with low engagement that student achievement will be better in five years. In addition, teachers in schools with high parent engagement were more than twice as likely as those in schools with low parent engagement to say they are very satisfied in their job.

In 2008, lack of parental support topped the list of problems that teachers said may interfere with learning for a quarter or more of their students. Half of teachers overall and nearly two-thirds of teachers in urban schools reported that lack of parental support is a problem for at least a quarter of their students.

” Partnerships for Learning: Community Support for Youth Success”

Partnerships for Learning: Community Support for Youth Success is a new report from The Harvard Family Research Project.

Here’s how they describe it:

There is strong evidence that, when schools partner with families and community-based organizations, these partnerships for learning improve children’s development and school success. They provide a seamless web of supports designed to ensure positive learning experiences for children and youth.

In this paper, we draw on the experiences of national organizations and a set of community schools that have built these learning partnerships, and examine seven key elements that we find to be essential in building them. Our paper serves as a guide to school districts and their partners as they consider whether and how to implement a partnerships for learning model. It also informs those who have already established these partnerships and wish to reflect on how to maximize partnership—and student—success.

Not My Criteria For “Parent Power” — What’s Yours?

A “school reform” group called the Center For Education Reform has come up with a misnamed “Parent Power Index” to rate states on how much they support “Parent Power.”

Their criteria seems to include school choice, evaluating teachers by student test scores, and support for online learning, among other things.

My criteria might include parent involvement in school activities and number of home visits done by teachers and school staff.

What else do you think should be included?

“Researchers Weigh In on the Parent Trigger”

National Education Policy Center has published an important report on the parent trigger. Here’s an excerpt from their announcement:

the National Education Policy Center asked a group of researchers to describe what we currently know about the parent trigger. The result is a policy memo titled, Missing the Target? The Parent Trigger as a Strategy for Parental Engagement and School Reform, authored by professors from the University of Illinois, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and CU Boulder.

The authors raise several concerns about the parent trigger. They warn that the trigger focuses on changing school governance rather than improving students’ opportunities to learn. The evidence to date suggests that turning public schools over to charter operators or replacing school staff is not likely to lead to better student outcomes. But research has clearly established that students learn more when they have access to quality instructional materials and well-prepared teachers. The authors also caution that while the parent trigger offers a superficial appeal to democratic processes by “letting parents decide,” it ultimately thwarts continued, sustained community and parental involvement.

I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning Why The Parent Trigger Isn’t Good For Parents, Kids Or Schools.

“The Power of Family-School-Community Partnerships”

The Power of Family School Community Partnerships: A Training Resource Manual is a pretty big packet, including a PowerPoint, from the NEA Priority Schools Campaign. Here’s how they describe it:

Drawing upon decades of research, the Manual provides simple, but provocative, strategies for uncovering what gets in the way of partnering and outlines clear paths for creating partnerships that support student and school success. The Power of Knowledge, Communication, Partnerships, Culture, Families and Communities in Academics, and Capitalizing on Resources are all roads which lead to effective collaboration, communication, and mutual respect—all essential elements for sustaining a web of support around priority schools and all schools.

New “Brief” On Family Engagement From WestEd

WestEd has just published a short “brief” on family engagement.

I’d say its list of suggestions is not very strong. However, I do think its analysis of dividing family engagement into three kinds is useful. They describe them as:

* Random efforts are offered in piecemeal,
without a systematic, intentional goal or design.
These efforts are typically organized around activities
that attract parents to the campus.

* compliance–driven activities are
broad in scope and aim to attract families to the campus,
but they also serve to meet the compliance demands
and responsibilities required by funding sources and by
state and local education agencies.

* Student–Centered family engagement, the third and
most effective category, is strategic, research–based,
and data–driven, demonstrating a deep understanding of
the community the school serves. Within this category,
the school’s efforts to engage families aim to focus on
individual students’ learning and performance needs.

“Four Ways to Increase Parental Efficacy”

“Four Ways to Increase Parental Efficacy” is from The Family Linkages Project.

It’s short, to the point, and helpful. It’s suggestions include:

Promote successful personal experiences for family members.

Help family members learn from others and each other.

Always offer encouragement,

Focus on emotional well-being and stress reduction.

I’m adding it to The Best Sources Of Parent Engagement Advice For Teachers.

Thanks to Steve Constantino for the tip.

“Research-based practices forge strong family and community partnerships”

Research-based practices forge strong family and community partnerships is a new report from the organization Leaning Forward.

It’s in their newsletter, Tools For Learning Schools.

I wouldn’t say there’s anything particularly new in it to people with family engagement, but it does provide some good summaries, particularly on Joyce Epstein’s work.

“Teaching Cases on Family Engagement: Early Learning (Ages 0–8)”

Teaching Cases on Family Engagement: Early Learning (Ages 0–8) is from The Harvard Family Research Project.

It seems like a strange name for a report, but it’s basically a list of links to a number of case histories the Project has done over the past several years. Here is how they describe it:

Teaching cases can be valuable tools in preparing early childhood educators to engage effectively with families. Because the case method presents a story in practice, it offers education students and educators an active learning opportunity. The teaching cases highlighted in this handout involve real-world situations and consider the perspectives of various stakeholders, including early childhood program and elementary school staff, parents, children, and community members. Through case-based discussion, educators can enhance their critical thinking and problem-solving skills and consider multiple perspectives.

This handout provides a detailed list of HFRP’s teaching cases on family involvement, focusing on the earlier years of a child’s learning and development. The teaching cases are sorted by topic, gender, ethnicity, and age-group of the students discussed; however, the lessons in all of these cases will likely apply to a wide variety of contexts.

ABOUT HFRP’S TEACHING CASE SERIES
Harvard Family Research Project’s (HFRP) research-based case studies reflect critical dilemmas in family–school–community relations, especially among low-income and culturally diverse families. As such, the case method is a useful strategy for helping educators learn to communicate and build relationships with families whose backgrounds may differ from their own.

“Parents Describe Why and How They are Engaged in Their Children’s Learning”

Steve Constantino, who is a “must-follow” on Twitter for anyone interested in parent engagement, sent a tweet today about a Karen Mapp-written study titled Having Their Say: Parents Describe Why and How They are Engaged in Their Children’s Learning.

Here’s an excerpt:

According to the parents, when school personnel initiate and engage in practices that welcome parents to the school, honor their contributions, and connect them to the school community through an emphasis on the children, these practices then cultivate and sustain respectful, caring, and meaningful relationships between parents and school staff. While many schools place the emphasis on the programming portion of their family involvement initiative, the data from this case study reveals that when parents have caring and trustful relationships with school staff, these relationships enhance their desire to be involved and influence how they participate in their children’s educational development.

As I posted yesterday, Karen will be co-leading an upcoming Webinar on parent engagement.

Report On “Families and Expanded Learning Opportunities”

The Harvard Family Research Project has just published a report titled Families and Expanded Learning Opportunities: Working Together to Support Children’s Learning.

This is how they describe it:

Families play an important role as the primary bridge between the multiple learning settings where their children learn and grow. For this reason, there is an increasing need for expanded learning opportunities (ELOs), including afterschool and other out-of-school time programs, to engage families in more meaningful ways to better support children’s learning and development.

In Families and Expanded Learning Opportunities: Working Together to Support Children’s Learning, the second brief in our series with the National Conference of State Legislatures, we explore the ways that families and ELOs must work as equal partners in order to ensure ELOs are contributing to children’s learning in meaningful ways. These include:

* Understanding children’s learning needs
* Ensuring that program goals and activities align with children’s larger learning goals
* Facilitating communication with other settings where children learn to better coordinate learning supports (e.g., tutors,
books, and other learning materials)
* Sharing key data and results regarding children’s learning progress

This brief discusses these elements in more detail, supported by evidence from recent research.

“Beyond school councils: Engaging parents to help their children succeed at school”

Beyond school councils: Engaging parents to help their children succeed at school is a very good report from an organization called People For Education. It’s located in Ontario, Canada.

I’m adding it to The Best Overviews Of Parent Engagement.

People For Education also publishes multilingual materials useful for parents. Though some of them are unique to Ontario, others can be used elsewhere. I’m adding them to The Best Ideas On How Parents Can Help Their Kids Succeed Academically. Here’s a sample in English.

What The “MetLife Survey of the American Teacher” Learned About Parent Engagement

The annual “MetLife Survey of the American Teacher” was released today. You can read all about it at my main blog, but I thought I’d share an excerpt from their summary that relates to parent involvement/engagement:

And levels of parent engagement have increased:

Levels of engagement between parents and schools have seen marked improvement over past surveys.
Two-thirds of students (64 percent) report that they talk about things that happen at school with their
parents every day, compared to 40 percent who reported speaking with their parents this frequently in
1988, the first time the survey asked this question. There was also a threefold increase in the number of
students who report that their parents visit their school at least once a month – up from 16 percent in 1988
to 46 percent today.

These numbers echo what parents report. Fewer parents now than 25 years ago believe that there is
widespread parental disengagement with their children’s school and education in general. Since the first
time the survey series addressed this issue in 1987, there were significant declines in the proportion of
teachers and parents reporting that most or many parents take too little interest in their children’s
education, fail to motivate their children so they want to learn, or leave their children alone too much after
school.

Virtually all teachers (91 percent) and eight in ten parents (80 percent) believe that their schools help all parents understand what they can do at home to support student success, and 83 percent of students agree that their teachers and parents work together to help them succeed. The survey also found that teachers with high job satisfaction are more likely than those with lower job satisfaction to agree that their schools help parents better understand what they can do to help children learn (95 percent vs. 87 percent).