Ruth M. Yoon, Executive Director
Row
1: Lucille Ignacio, Jessica Resendis, and Oralia Garza de Cortes. Row
2: Kelsy Tanaka, Mark Sullano, Ruth Yoon (NNPS Key Contact), Maria Casillas,
and Don Ignacio. Row 3: Karen Massey, Susana Bonis, Alicia Sanchez, Mary
Louise Silva, and Erin Delaney.
Families In Schools (FIS) provides training, technical assistance, coaching, and support to help district leaders and school teams plan, implement, and evaluate effective programs of school, family, and community partnerships. The organization has built a strong reputation for high-quality professional assistance. FIS is a three-year Partnership Organization Award winner, especially for its work with LAUSD Local Districts B and F (see 2003 Partnership District Awards). FIS also works with other districts and schools in the L.A. area.
FIS leaders work with district Superintendents and the designated facilitators or coordinators of family and community involvement. The FIS leaders also make presentations to boards of education, to parent groups, to educators and the public via its website, and in interviews with the media. FIS meets at least bimonthly with district leaders for partnerships to help them refine leadership goals for partnerships each year, and meets monthly with district leaders to monitor and assist progress. FIS and its partners also write collaborative grants to fund components of their partnership programs.
A former LAUSD Local Superintendent wrote that FIS was a critical catalyst in helping her district implement family involvement initiatives linked to NNPS. FIS helped the district staff for partnerships focus their work on reaching specific goals for students and on connecting parent involvement to student achievement. This made it possible to link involvement to the schools Single School Plans.
All FIS programs are linked to student achievement. For example, Read with Me/Lea Conmigo and Reading Starts with Us provide literature to families and students through books that go home each week for parents and children to enjoy. Parents receive guidelines on how to read with their children in positive and helpful ways. G. O. T. (Going On To) College is an early college awareness program for fifth and sixth grade students and their parents. It helps them start to think about and plan for postsecondary education pathways and actions needed to realize students' dreams for college. Blueprints for Living features workshops for parents on basic values and real life situations that help them reinforce family values with their children. These activities affect the academic and social success of students.
Among many activities in 2003, FIS conducted a G.O.T. College conference for the parents, students, teachers, and district leaders who are conducting the program in their schools. A number of colleges and universities collaborated with FIS to organize and fund the conference, participate on panels, and provide transportation for families.
FIS is serious about evaluation. Results of Read with Me/Lea Conmigo showed that over 75% of parents read with their children at least four times a week, and about 30% read with their children at least 15 minutes per day. Students in the program outperformed similar students on tests of expressive and receptive vocabulary and concepts of print.
FIS is showing how an organization with a clear mission, talented staff, and attention to evaluation can use research-based materials and approaches from NNPS to assist district leaders and their schools to improve partnership programs over time. For more information, see FIS website - www.familiesinschools.org.
Any organization dedicated to parental involvement should join NNPS for three reasons. First, NNPS offers high quality professional development at fall and spring Leadership Development Conferences. FIS was able to base many workshops for schools and districts on the knowledge gained at these workshops. Having attended the sessions also gave us credibility in the communities we serve. Second, NNPS facilitates networking with other leaders at conferences, via the website, and with NNPS staff. Finally NNPS is at the forefront of research on partnerships and parent and family involvement. This information is essential as we work to improve our programs.
Also see Families In Schools' history of Partnership District Awards in 2001 and 2002 and examples of Promising Partnership Programs on the website, www.partnershipschools.org, in the section Success In the Spotlight.