Fall, 1997 No.3 National Network of Partnership Schools
District RecordProject in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan Helps Parents Understand Goals for Student Learning
The Parent Friendly Outcomes Project was submitted to the Network’s Sharing Best Practices by District Key Contact Gail Mitchell of Mt. Pleasant Public Schools, Michigan. The goal of the project is to create informational brochures that explain in parent-friendly language the learning objectives for each grade level. With this information, more parents should be able to support their children as learners. The Parent Friendly Outcomes Project was designed to help four Title I schools improve their partnership activities for Type 2—Communicating and Type 4—Learning at Home.
During the summer of 1996, teachers and administrators were invited to join grade level teams. Parent groups were also informed of the project. Each team included at least two classroom teachers, one parent, and one Title I teacher or administrator. The participating schools allocated money from their parent involvement funds to pay the 29 team members for their time.
Grade level teams reviewed all learning outcomes to determine if they were written in language understandable to most parents. Teams reached consensus on one of three decisions:
• the outcome was understandable to most parents as written
• the outcome needed alternative wording that would not change the original intent—suggest new wording
• the outcome was not understandable, but alternative wording might change the intent—keep original wording
All teachers and administrators were required to review and initial the suggested wording so that the integrity of the instructional outcomes was maintained. The district Curriculum Director also reviewed the outcomes. Grade level brochures explaining learning outcomes in parent-friendly language were produced and distributed at parent-teacher conferences in the fall.
Parents and Teachers Benefit
Ms. Mitchell reports that the response from parents has been very positive. She states, "a typical comment from parents has been ‘I didn’t know it was all written down what my child should know. I thought it was whatever was in the book.’" Teachers like the brochures as an easy way to give parents a yearly overview during conference time. Ms. Mitchell also notes that the district has received requests for information about the project from other districts in Michigan
An unexpected result from the Parent Friendly Outcomes Project was that teachers identified learning outcomes that were not taught at the agreed upon grade levels or were confusing in other ways. Ms. Mitchell reports that the district will address these issues with the district Curriculum Director and the Professional Study Committee. Also in the future, the project will be expanded to include more curriculum areas and grade levels.
Summary of a report from Gail Mitchell, Mt. Pleasant Public Schools, MI contributed to the 1996-97 Sharing Best Practices of the National Network of Partnership Schools at Johns Hopkins University.
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