March 2013 Action Research Progress

Our school in located within a residential treatment center for youth with a wide variety of mental health issues. Many of our students suffer from test anxiety which can have a substantial negative effect on student performance on standardized exams. Fortunately, our school has adjusted the school schedule to include one hour of tutoring class per day to assist students with their academic performance. I am utilizing this opportunity to attempt to reduce student anxiety with the goal of maximizing performance on standardized exams. Thanks to the suggestion of a colleague, I am utilizing a free software program called Google Forms for data collection and analysis. Our science department has administered anxiety surveys in which students respond to a series of statements using a scale of 1 to 5. A response of 1 means never, and 5 means always. The surveys were submitted digitally and uploaded to a spreadsheet for data analysis. I will evaluate the data and place the students into categories based on their current levels of anxiety. I did not let the students know the survey was about anxiety because of concern that it would lead to skewed results. The tutoring class began in January of 2013. I will conduct periodic student surveys to monitor student progress and attitudes about the tutoring class and to identify possible changes to the tutoring program to reduce anxiety and improve student achievement on standardized exams. I will also survey teachers to assess their perceptions of the benefits and areas of need of the tutoring program. I am unsure how to document the number of hours I have spent implementing this project. I tutor students for 5 hours per week, and I have spent several hours researching and developing surveys.

School Community Relations Presentation

School Community Relations Week 2

Week 2 Assignment, Part 1: Gathering Data

To complete Part 1 of this assignment, answer the questions provided.

Current Reality: Identify a current student issue or need that interferes with academic achievement at your school. Cite data that supports the need. This could be data that relates to academic achievement, student attendance, discipline, or other sources. Look at trends of data and disaggregated data, where available.

Our school is located within a residential treatment facility. Students come from all over the country as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. In most cases parents live very far from our campus. Many of our students do not have their biological parents as their guardians; therefore, in loco parentis (individuals or organizations act in the best interest of the students) must be applied. There is very little parental involvement at our school. Our students consistently perform well below the state average for a wide variety of reasons, but parental involvement is one issue we can definitely improve upon. We must provide frequent and effective communication in order to utilize this valuable resource; the family.

Vision: How will the family-school-community partnership that you are proposing resolve the issue by meeting the demonstrated need, and how will it support student achievement?

The partnership that I am proposing will help resolve the issue by making dramatic upgrades to the current school website so that is has a great deal more campus specific information, is regularly updated, easy to navigate, and provides user friendly options for communication between the school and students’ families. A welcome letter will also be provided to the families of students when they register with our school. The letter will give background information about the school including contact information, it will encourage parents to participate in regular communication with the school, and it will include a questionnaire which parents may fill out as they see fit. This will support student achievement by opening lines of communication between the school and the families, and by letting the family members know that the school appreciates them, wants to keep them informed, and values their involvement in the education of their students.

Week 2 Assignment, Part 2: Initial Partnership Proposal

The first step in establishing either a new family-school-community partnership, or strengthening an existing one, is to clearly articulate your idea. While your idea will probably evolve as stakeholders contribute their perspectives, you will use this assignment to solidify your initial concept.

To complete this assignment, fill out the chart.

Describe the need for the new or improved school-community partnership. Summarize the strategies/ activities you are recommending.

The need for improved communication  between our school and community is apparent. Many parents receive almost no communication from the school outside of grade reports, and parents generally only contact the school when where is a problem. Our school should utilize a website to communicate with students’ parents and the rest of the community. Currently, our school does not even have its own site, and the district website has very few updates throughout the year. Parents can be one of the most effective resources when it comes to improving student learning and achievement, and it would be a tremendous missed opportunity not to include them in the education of our students. The strategies/activities that I am recommending are: Creating a campus specific website to use as a forum for communication within the community including faculty, parents, and other community members Updating the website at least once a month with announcements relevant to the educational community Including a community resource section with information on ways to help students succeed and school volunteer opportunities, community resources for families. Adding a principal’s blog Adding an email form for parents to easily contact the school at any time. Providing all parents with a welcome letter explaining the school and including an optional survey, contact information, and information regarding the school website and ways to access it without home internet service.

Reference the research that supports the strategies/ activities you are recommending.

In 2005, Ferrara & Ferrara found parent involvement promotes increases graduation rates, decreases grade retention, ensures greater parent and student satisfaction with schools, contributes to fewer discipline reports, increases motivation and better self-esteem, and enhances academic scores. All of these components play vital roles in student learning and achievement. Based on Epstein’s 6 types of involvement, we need to improve communicating (talking purposefully with families about school programs and student progress) (1997). Ferrara & Ferrara go on to explain that the use of the Internet by parents, regardless of their economic standing, is increasing because the cost of technology is becoming less expensive and more easily available and that parents are making technology purchases a higher priority (2005). In addition, parental involvement is more likely to happen when parents receive timely information from teachers concerning class content, academic progress, and ideas for working with their children at home (Epstein, 1994).  The school website can be utilized as a quick and effective means of communicating between the school and the student’s families especially in our unique situation where families are often hundreds of miles away. References Epstein, J.L. (1994). Theory to practice: School and family partnerships lead to school improvement and student success. In C. Fagnano & B. Werber (Eds.), School, family and community interactions: A view from the firing lines (pp. 39-52). Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Epstein, J.L., Coates, L., Salinas, K.C., Sanders, M.G., & Simon, B.S. (1997).  Epstein’s six types of involvement.  In School, family, and community partnerships:  Your handbook for action.  Thousand Oaks, CA:  Corwin Press. Ferrara, M. M., & Ferrara, P. J. (2005). Parents as Partners. Clearing House, 79(2), 77-81. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Compose three or more measurable goals for the school-community partnership.

At least one parent of each student will receive a welcome letter from the school giving background and contact information. A committee will update the school’s web page with announcements and information at least once a month and as necessary to keep community members up-to-date. Two-way communication between the school and parents including email, blog comments, and phone calls will increase from the previous year. Student achievement on standardized exams and in the classroom will increase.

How will the school-community partnership increase student achievement?

Creating and maintaining a school website as an inviting and convenient forum for effective communication between the school and student families, will increase parental involvement. This in turn, should increase student achievement because it will help parents to help their students, and it will provide the opportunity for the school to get ideas from the parents on ways to improve educational strategies. The more parties collaborating and participating in the education of the students, the more successful the students will be.

Identify the school-community partnership’s stakeholders.

This school-community partnership’s stakeholders include: parents and family members, students, teachers, administrators, and community members.

What are the steps to approval and implementation of the partnership? What are possible sources of funding?

There is a district website currently in place. The school board, district administrators and local administrators need to be in communication for the development of websites for individual campuses, and money would need to be set aside for website development and upkeep. This would most likely come from the technology budget. A welcome letter and survey must be created and distributed to parents as their students are enrolled. Administrators will need to communicate with faculty members to discuss what they will be expected to contribute to this resource for improved community-school relations.

What resources are required for the partnership?

Technology Specialist to develop, maintain and update the website Guidelines outlined by the administration which clearly state the requirements of teacher contributions to the site. Trainings to familiarize parents with the website and to help them locate free public access locations

How will you market your school-community partnership idea?

This school-community partnership website will be promoted to the community using an introductory letter and survey, phone calls, emails, during parent conferences, and reminder letters will be sent with report cards.

How will you evaluate your partnership’s outcomes?

The partnership will be evaluated using monthly parent and faculty surveys, analyzing website statistics, and monitoring student performance using periodic benchmark assessments.