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National Network of Partnership Schools Launches District Leadership Campaign
Districts
in NNPS want to know: How can we organize more effective, goal-oriented
partnership programs at the district level and in all of our schools?
Alert: NNPS to Conduct One Leadership Development
Conference Each Fall
NNPS
is changing its conference schedule to conduct one Leadership Development
Conference each fall, starting October 18-19, 2005. Instead of a spring
conference, NNPS will conduct a District Leadership Institute for district
facilitators in the start-up phase of program development. The change
is in response to NNPS research and exemplary practice by NNPS award
winners indicating that strong district leadership is crucial for the
work and progress of schools' Action Teams for Partnerships.
Issues and Insights—We Pay
Attention to What We Measure: Time to Evaluate Partnership Programs
One of the big questions NNPS members ask is: How can we evaluate our partnership program?
Meeting the Challenge—Using
a Balanced Approach to Improve Student Performance on Achievement Tests
As
NCLB heads into its fourth year, the pressure on schools to raise the
percentage of students scoring at or above proficient on standardized
achievement tests continues to grow. Conducting information workshops
for parents about achievement tests and test-taking strategies is helpful,
but should not replace efforts to help create home environments that
support the development of academic skills. Schools need to plan a balanced
approach to improving student performance on achievement tests—one
that informs parents about the tests their children take and
helps prepare families to support the development of knowledge and skills
in their children.
Research Brief—Three NNPS High
Schools Develop Community Partnerships to Improve High School Programs
and Increase Student Success
NNPS
researcher Mavis Sanders and former postdoctoral fellow Karla Lewis
conducted a study of school-community involvement in three NNPS high
schools in urban, suburban, and rural communities. The researchers wanted
to learn why educational leaders in demographically different high schools
with successful partnership programs chose to dedicate time, energy,
and resources to integrate community involvement in their school improvement
efforts.
Leadership Line—Create Awareness:
How Districts Promote Their Partnership Programs
It
was summer 2003. A new superintendent arrived to the Naperville Community
School District 203 in Naperville, IL. The burning question: How would
the NNPS district facilitator and her team convince this new leader
to embrace the district's existing partnership program?
Maryland PIRC and NNPS Collaborate to Improve
Partnerships Statewide
The Family Works, a program of the Family Services Agency, in Gaithersburg, MD received a three-year federal grant to serve as Maryland's Parent Information Resource Center (PIRC). The PIRC provides a comprehensive statewide system of information, training, and technical assistance to increase the number of families and school systems receiving information about Maryland's accountability system and the requirements for family involvement in the No Child Left Behind Act.
Research Brief—Effects
of Partnership Program Implementation on Parent Involvement in Schools
For
the National Network of Partnership Schools, the UPDATE surveys
serve two purposes: (1) they help us keep our contact information for
members up-to-date, and (2) they provide valuable data that allow us
to identify important processes and outcomes of school, family, and
community partnership programs. We recently completed a study using
UPDATE data from 565 elementary schools that examined which
school processes affect program implementation and the extent to which
high quality implementation is associated with parent involvement at
school.
Harvard Newsletter: Evaluation of Family Involvement Programs
Harvard
Family Research Project's Winter 2004/2005 issue of The Evaluation
Exchange focuses on evaluating programs that promote families'
involvement in children's learning and development. The issue compiles
information on family support and involvement programs and addresses
the challenges of evaluating family programs, including the need for
conceptual clarity, methodological rigor, accountability, and contextual
responsiveness. In an interview, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn reflects on breakthrough
findings and new directions for research, evaluation, and practice in
family-focused interventions. The issue also includes examples of ongoing
evaluations of parent leadership programs. The full issue is available
online at: http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/eval/issue28.
Middle and High School Report—Plan
to Help Incoming Freshmen and their Parents Transition to High School
Freshmen
have fears coming into high school: lockers, dances, peer pressure,
getting lost, grades, work load, lunch seating, social status, and others.
Parents have these concerns and more. Spring is a good time to plan
how to welcome incoming freshmen families so they can ease their teens'
mounting anxiety.
Elementary School Report—Partners
Bridge the Gap: Addressing Diversity
NNPS
schools creatively address student and family language, gender, class,
race, and ethnicity differences in positive ways. Many Action Teams
for Partnerships (ATPs) support cultural differences by implementing
activities and programs that reinforce instruction and the common values
of respect and acceptance. Drawing upon practices from the six types
of family and community involvement, the schools mentioned below assisted
students and their families by bridging the gaps of language and cultural
differences.