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| Row 1: Shirley Moutry, Jane Grinde (NNPS Key Contact), and Ruth Anne Landsverk (NNPS Key Contact). Row 2: John Philips, Marianne Erhardt, Teri Dary, Kari Nelson, Megan O'Connell, Stephanie Hogue, Cynthia DiCamelli, Steve Kretzmann, Jill Haglund, and Mary Peters. |
The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has been a partner in National Network of Partnership Schools at Johns Hopkins for more than nine years and won Partnership State Awards in 2001 and 2003. Leadership has been sustained and strengthened with the support of Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent, and Richard Grobschmidt, Assistant State Superintendent for the Division of Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning, where the program is located.
The Family-School-Community Partnership (FSCP) team continually improves its work with districts and schools. The program's leaders serve on many state committees and as act as liaisons to several departments and special projects (e.g., the Superintendent's Parent Leadership Corps, VISTA, Rural Education Advisory, No Child Left Behind, Supplemental Education Services, and others.) The leaders conduct an annual family-school-community partnership conference with other DPI departments, the state PIRC, and state PTA. Funding for FSCP comes from various grants that have family and community involvement components, ensuring the connections of the state leaders with colleagues in several departments. The FSCP team is regularly consulted by staff in many departments for ideas and tools to improve family involvement in children's learning.
The leaders have developed many materials, awareness sessions, and training activities using the NNPS Handbook and other sources to guide districts and schools to improve their work with families and communities. One innovative project guides about 20 VISTA members and a VISTA leader to help schools improve goal-linked partnership programs to increase student achievement and success. The VISTAs' schools connect with the Wisconsin and NNPS networks for on-going guidance. In 2005, measures were made to learn if the VISTAs facilitated and sustained the ATPs at each school and if the schools were completing the activities in their One-Year Action Plans. Additional performance measures will be made next year to see how well the schools improve their programs.
Looking ahead, the Wisconsin leaders want to offer more intensive team training for schools' Action Teams for Partnerships. They also will continue to partner with EOCA (Early and On-Going Collaborations and Assistance/U.S.Department of Education Office of Special Education), a statewide effort to improve student learning and behavior through staff and family collaboration.
Wisconsin's leaders use NNPS evaluations (e.g., UPDATE surveys) to review and reflect on their own programs and to guide districts and schools. They also conduct e-mail surveys of schools and evaluate their own conferences and training activities. Their reflections and responsive actions pay off. See two Partnership School Award winners from Wausau and Oshkosh - schools that have benefited from FSCP guidance and support.
Every year, Wisconsin's leaders strengthen connections of state policies, funded programs, and school, family, and community partnerships in more districts and schools. The state has one of the most active and sustained leadership programs on school, family, and community partnerships.
To learn more about the DPI's work on partnerships, visit www.dpi.state.wi.us/dpi/dltcl/bbfcsp/index.html. Also see Wisconsin DPI's history of Partnership State Awards in 2001 and 2003 and examples of Promising Partnership Programs on the website, www.partnershipschools.org, in the section In the Spotlight.