Over 750 schools and 107 districts returned 2008 UPDATE surveys to renew their membership in NNPS and to report on progress and challenges in their partnership programs.1,2 The schools (about 2/3 elementary) and districts were from more than 30 states, D.C., and Canada. They served students and families who were economically, racially, culturally, geographically, and linguistically diverse. Districts ranged in size from 1 school to over 250 schools. Over 70% of schools and just about all districts received Title I funds. Members have worked with NNPS for from 1 to 12 years.
Data from Schools
Schools’ Action Teams for Partnerships (ATPs) selected a “portrait” that described their programs from just starting to excellent, with most reporting average or good programs. Elementary schools reported higher quality programs, but over 35% of middle and high school teams also had good or very good programs, with others in earlier stages of development. Schools are moving in the right direction. Data from 07 and 08 indicate that fewer schools were in planning and average stages and more had good to excellent programs.
About 80% of all schools had formed ATPs and wrote action plans for family and community involvement. On average, ATPs implemented many key components at an OK level, including conducting activities for all six types of involvement; evaluating activities, and reporting information to all families, the PTA/PTO, and the faculty.
The data also showed room for improvement. For example, only 42% of the schools’ ATPs met monthly to plan and evaluate their work, but regular monthly meetings are needed for a viable program. In addition, many schools, especially middle and high schools, need to increase outreach to involve all families, involve fathers, and improve program evaluations.
Principal Support. Most schools (96%) said principals were on the ATP and supported partnerships. In many schools (over 60%), active principals provided the team with meeting time, encouraged all teachers and staff to participate in involvement activities, and brought community partners to the school. Principals were least likely to allocate funds for partnerships. Compared to data from 07, more high schools reported “a lot” of support from their principals in 08.
District Support. School-based partnership programs benefited from support by district leaders. Schools in districts that also were NNPS members reported more district support for partnerships than did schools in non-member districts. For example, over 85% of schools in NNPS-member districts received information on best practices, compared to 64% in non-member districts. Over 75% of schools in member districts received help in evaluating their programs, compared to about 40% of schools in non- member districts.
Figure 1 shows that support from district leaders contributed to the quality of partnership programs over time. Schools with programs that improved in quality from 07 to 08 were more likely than schools with programs that declined to report that their district leaders provided funds, conducted workshops, met with the principal on partnerships, and helped the school evaluate their practices.
Solving Challenges. Most schools in NNPS are working to overcome challenges to help more families get involved in their children’s schooling. In 2008, ATPs were least likely to address the challenge of getting information from workshops and meetings to families who could not attend (see Meeting the Challenge column on p. 4). An on-going challenge in most schools is to implement activities that involve parents in ways that increase student achievement and success in school. It is encouraging that about 88% of ATPs provided information on an involvement activity to improve student outcomes (see details in the full UPDATE report2 and the Middle and High School Report on p. 5 of this issue.
Summary of School Data. The 2008 UPDATE data show that most schools in NNPS are working on key components of partnership programs, but many could improve the quality of their programs. ATPs need to meet monthly, organize committees to conduct more activities, sustain strong support from principals and others, and work with district leaders. Many schools need to increase activities to involve fathers and help teachers guide parents in monitoring and discussing homework to increase involvement that may link more directly to student achievement.
Data from Districts
District leaders were at all stages of program development in 2008. About 25% were in a planning year or just beginning; 50% had a good start or good program, and 25% had a very good or excellent program. Three years of data from 59 districts from 06, 07, and 08 revealed that district leaders were moving in the right direction with fewer in planning phases and more with good and very good programs.
Leadership Activities. District leaders for partnerships must assume two responsibilities – organize leadership at the district level and facilitate schools’ ATPs to conduct effective school-based programs. Figure 2 shows that most district leaders were conducting six key activities to organize their work on partnerships. They reviewed policy (86%), established a budget (78%), and shared best practices of partnerships across schools (78%). Most conducted training workshops for schools’ ATPs (60%) and other staff development various audiences (72%).
The data show that two strategies need attention from district leaders. Only 64% wrote leadership action plans, but all need to do so to schedule their work on partnerships. Just about half (51%) posted information about partnerships on the district website. This percentage has increased from 35% in 05 and 46% in 07, and should continue to grow as websites improve as a good way to communicate with educators and families on partnerships.
Facilitation of Schools. Most district leaders are facilitating some schools and they are increasing assistance over time. For example, more district leaders (68%) guided schools’ ATPs to write One-Year Action Plans for Partnerships in 08 than in 07 (59%). Also in that time, more district leaders for partnerships met with school principals, helped ATPs implement activities, conducted end-of-year celebrations to share best practices, and helped schools evaluate their programs. These actions contribute to the quality of schools’ partnership programs. New districts must start to work with their own “partnership schools” by providing team training and other assistance. Some veteran districts need to “scale up” the number of schools with ATPs that develop research-based partnership programs.
District leaders estimated how their schools are progressing. Of more than 2200 schools they assisted, district leaders said that about 55% of the schools were making good progress on partnerships; about 34% were making some progress; and about 11% were making a little progress in 2008. In all, district leaders estimated that over 352,670 families were involved in activities conducted by these schools in the 07-08 school year.
District Leaders’ Comments. Over 90% of the district leaders commented on their progress in 2008. They noted that they improved policies, conducted professional development, obtained funds, and increased interdepartmental collaborations, as in these comments:
District leaders listed their goals for the 08-09 school year to assist more schools, increase the number of staff working with schools on partnerships, write better Leadership Action Plans at the district level, increase outreach to diverse and underserved families, and improve partnership program evaluations at the district and school levels. These goals, written by district leaders, also reflect the results of analyses of the 2008 data on needed improvements in district leadership and program development.
Summary
The 2008 UPDATE data confirm prior reports that districts and schools in NNPS improve their programs if they continue to work on partnerships from year to year. District and school leaders build their expertise as they write plans, implement activities, and evaluate their work on family and community involvement.
NOTES:
1) 18 state departments of education and 43 organizations in NNPS also reported on their progress and challenges in 2008. New members are not required to send UPDATE until they have worked with NNPS for one year.
2) From: Epstein, J. L., Ganss, J., & Sheldon, S. (2009). 2008 District UPDATE Data. Baltimore, MD: Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships.
Hutchins, D. J., Sheldon, S. B., & Epstein, J. L (2009). 2008 School UPDATE Data. Baltimore, MD: Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships.
See the full reports on district and school data with demographic statistics and graphs on these and other topics are at www.partnershipschools.org in the section Research and Evaluations.