It is in everyone’s best interest to have an educated and competent work force. Educators are working hard to increase the number of students who graduate from high school and who are ready for college or for career and technical education. Families and communities can help. The question is: How can educators, parents, and others work together through the middle grades and high school to increase students’ academic success?
Members of NNPS know that districts and schools must reach out to involve families and community members in ways that help students reach goals in school improvement plans. Many middle and high schools in NNPS are working with parents and the community to support, enhance, and enrich academic experiences that may lead to increased student success. The following are a few examples.
Reading
Administrators of Creek Bridge High School, Marion, SC, took a cue from a favorite children’s TV program, Reading Rainbow, and turned a student reading challenge into a video phenomenon. Using Scholastic’s Reading Counts program, the principal challenged students in grades 6-12 to read more and students responded. Library circulation and students’ reading test scores went up! Points were awarded for books read and tests passed, followed by a celebration for all participants and awards for top point earners. The three top readers produced videos reviewing their favorite books, which were shown at the Book Review Celebration for students and over 100 parents.
Vocabulary
In Word of the Week at Skyline High School in Idaho Falls, ID, word play took on a whole new meaning for students. In an effort to improve students’ verbal SAT scores, the school’s Action Team for Partnerships involved the entire community in a major vocabulary lesson, sponsored by local businesses. Each week, a new word was presented at the high school. Its spelling, pronunciation, part of speech, and usage were posted in every classroom. When students used the word correctly in a participating business, they received agreed-upon discounts. At the end of the year, a Word of the Week Quiz was given and students with top marks were awarded prizes.
Poetry
The team at Whitney M. Young School in Cleveland, OH, gave aspiring poets in grades 8-12 an opportunity to rhyme their way deeper into their parents’ hearts at the school’s Coffee House/Poetry Night. In an effort to improve students’ reading and writing skills, teachers taught a poetry unit in which students wrote original poems and shared them with an enthusiastic family audience. For the event, the media center was transformed into a coffee house reminiscent of the Beat Generation’s hangouts.
Social Studies
Sixth graders from Isaac Stevens Middle School in Pasco, WA took a cue from the Smithsonian and transformed the cafeteria into a virtual museum and Egyptian tomb, which was explored by over 300 parents on Amacca Museum Night. A unit about ancient Egypt came to life at as about 100 students managed 28 hands-on exhibits on hieroglyphics, pyramid math puzzles, clothing, burial customs, mummification, and more.
Multi-Subjects
At Adams Friendship Middle School in Friendship, WI, over 120 parents attended R U Smarter than a Middle Schooler? in math, science, health, and social studies. The game was organized so that large numbers of students and some parents could participate. With the help of 70 community partners, cash prizes and gift certificates for local businesses were awarded to winners. As in the TV game, parents were amazed at the advanced material that their children were learning.
Extra Academic Help
Sometimes, students need extra academic attention. E. Russell Hicks Middle School, in Hagerstown, MD, formed a partnership with the local Community College. In a productive school-community collaboration, students from HCC volunteered to tutor middle school students to help them improve their academic success.
Goal Setting
Young black males from middle and high schools in Virginia Beach dared to dream of greater academic and career success at a celebration for Martin Luther King’s birthday. Tallwood High School’s first African American Summit: Living the Dream focused on issues of race, peer pressure, goal-setting, and academic success. Among many activities throughout the day, a panel of community leaders discussed how they overcame many social and academic challenges to reach success in their fields. Students also attended other sessions on test preparation and course choices that would help them set goals for the future.
Research shows that families and communities contribute measurably to students’ learning and development at every school level. Most families need more information about adolescent development, secondary school organization, and community programs and services for teens. Middle and high schools in NNPS are taking the lead by developing creative ways to involve community partners and many families, including those who would not become involved on their own.
Read more about many of these and other activities in the 2008 edition of Promising Partnership Practices at www.partnershipschools.org in the section Success Stories.
Marsha D. Greenfeld
mgreenfeld@csos.jhu.edu