Maria Theresa Schaeffer, Family, School, and Community Involvement Specialist; Nancy S. Grasmick, State Superintendent of Schools
Carol Ann Baglin, Stephanie Shauck, Deborah Metzger, Linda Bazerjian, Richard Steinke, Valerie Ashton-Holmes, Nancy Grasmick (State Superintendent), Maria Teresa Schaeffer (NNPS Key Contact), and Barbara Scherr. Not Pictured: JoAnne Carter, Sarah Hall, and Darla Strouse.
Maryland, a "charter" member of the National Network of Partnership Schools, has been strengthening leadership and programs of school, family, and community partnerships for six years. The State Superintendent's strong support for school, family, and community partnerships has enabled several leaders to advance the state's effort to increase productive partnerships in school systems and schools. To date, several school districts and over 300 schools have joined the Maryland and National Networks of Partnership Schools. A new state policy requires all school systems and schools to develop long-term programs of partnerships, and the state's Strategic Plan prominently calls for family and community involvement.
The state's leadership team for partnerships includes representatives from Student and School Services, Special Education and Early Intervention, Corporate and Foundation Partnerships, Library Development, and the Office of the Superintendent. This group meets at least three times a year to share interdepartmental activities on partnerships. The state also collaborated with major business partners, including Comcast Cablevision for a campaign to support family involvement, and McDonald's Family Friendly School Grants to offer $500-$2000 awards to middle schools to improve their partnership programs. Maryland's State Superintendent is advised by a Family Focus Council, which includes representatives from the state PTA, local schools, businesses, and organizations.
All schools in the state must have a School Improvement Team and School Improvement Plan. These basic structures make it relatively easy for schools to create an "action arm" (Action Team for Partnerships) that plans and implements family and community involvement activities linked to school improvement goals, such as improving reading or math achievement, attendance, or other indicators of student success.
One major leadership activity in 2002 was the 5th annual state conference on school, family, and community partnerships, cosponsored by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), the state PTA, and The Family Works. It was attended by over 900 educators and parents from across the state. Over 40 concurrent sessions enabled educators and parents from schools, school systems, and organizations to share ideas and information on their best practices of family and community involvement to improve schools and to increase student success.
Excellent state programs must continually improve. Maryland's leaders identified two challenges to address next year. First, state leaders would like to improve communications with Family Involvement Liaisons in each school system. These professionals could help all schools in their systems develop their partnership programs. Second, the state would like to conduct systematic evaluations of the progress on family and community involvement in all schools and school systems.
Maryland's leaders wrote: "Maryland well understands that parent/family involvement is essential to improving students' attitudes, attendance, and achievement. . . . The National Network of Partnership Schools at Johns Hopkins University. . . has proven invaluable in offering expert technical assistance, identifying needed funding sources, reviewing documents, offering insightful feedback, and sharing other states' effective programs and practices. Knowing that Network staff are one phone call away has given us the confidence to launch innovative programs and to sustain successful ones."
Also see Howard County (MD) School System's Partnership District Award in 2002, below, and Maryland's examples of Promising Partnership Programs on the website, www.partnershipschools.org, in the section Success In the Spotlight.