Collaborating with Families: Family-School-Community Partnerships in Afterschool Programs

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Collaborating with Families Family-School-Commun
ity Partnerships in Afterschool Programs

• Michelle Swanger-Gagne, PhD, NCSP
• University of Rochester Medical Center
• The Institute for the Family
• Lisa Hiley, PhD
• EnCompass Resources for Learning

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Introduction Partnership

• I. EnCompass Resources for Learning
• MISSION EnCompass, an organization focused on
  evidence-based educational services and support,
  improves academic outcomes for students of all
  ages who struggle to learn.
• Non-profit founded in 2006
• Provides innovative educational services for
  struggling learners and their families
• Programs in elementary and secondary schools, as
  well as off-site tutoring services, serving over
  1,500 students each year.
• Academic Support Tutoring (Secondary)
• Extended Learning Programs (Elementary and
  Secondary)
• Summer Enrichment (Elementary)
• II. Institute for the Family at the University of
  Rochester Medical Centers Psychiatry Department
• The IFF provides connecting framework for
  research, clinical services, and training all
  with the goal of helping families cope with
  illness, loss, reduce family violence, and
  improve outcomes for children.
• Comprised of three services 1) The Wynne Center
  for Family Research, 2) The Family Therapy
  Training Program, 3)
  Family Therapy Services

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Review of Literature
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Why it is important to partner with families?

• There are numerous settings in which children
  learn
• Children spend an estimated 91 of their time
  between birth to the age of 18 outside of school
  (Usdan, 1990) once in school, they spend an
  estimated 70 of their time outside of school
  (Clark, 1990).
• Families provide the single most important
  influence on a childs development, where schools
  provide the second most important influence.
• Families provide unique contributions to
  childrens academic, behavioral, and
  socioemotional outcomes.
• The interface of families and schools provide
  children, families, and educators with favorable
  outcomes.

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Theoretical Support for involving families

• Providing indirect support and assistance to
  families increases the likelihood these families
  can directly mediate their childs behavior and
  development more efficiently than can direct
  services aimed toward the child (Dunst, Trivette
  Deal, 1998).
• Familys strengths, needs, and priorities along
  with the needs of their children guide the
  provision of local resources and services (Dunst,
  1985 Rappaport, 1981).
• Family-centered services strengthen the familys
  capacity to meet their needs and the needs of
  their child (Dunst, 1985 Rappaport, 1981).
• Families are their childs first and best
  advocate.

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Partnership-Oriented Perspective

• Families and educators are unique, co-equal
  partners and contributors, to a childs learning.
• An extension of family-centered principles
  wherein educators or other support personnel
  contribute to the childs learning and
  development.
• Underlying principles
• No fault approach (i.e., shared ownership)
• Nondeficit approach (i.e., strengths-based)
• Facilitates empowerment
• Facilitates an ecological approach (i.e.,
  emphasis on the mesosystem)
• (Christenson Hirsch, 1998)

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Research on child outcomes

• Parent-professional partnerships are predictive
  of
• increased academic performance (higher grades and
  test scores)
• increased homework completion rates
• better work habits
• more consistent school attendance
• reduced drop-out rates
• school completion or increased graduation rates
  and higher postsecondary education enrollment
• socioemotional benefits (better social skills and
  reduced conduct problems
• decrease in negative behaviors such as alcohol
  and drug use and violence
• increase in positive attitudes (especially
  towards learning) and behaviors

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Research Findings

• In the presence of effective family-school
  partnerships, parents have been shown to
• demonstrate greater understanding of the work of
  schools and positive attitudes about school
  (Epstein, 1986)
• report increased contacts and communication with
  educators, and a desire for more involvement
  (Hoover-Dempsey Sandler, 1997)
• improve their communication with their children,
  report improved parent-child relationships, and
  develop effective parenting skills (Becher,
  1984) and
• become more involved in learning activities at
  home (Epstein, 1995).

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Research Findings

• In the presence of effective family-school
• partnerships, schools have been shown to
• receive higher effectiveness ratings, and
• implement more successful school programs.
• Have better reputations of schools within the
  community
• Better performance of school programs that
  involve parents versus identical programs that do
  not include parents.
• (Christenson Sheridan, 2001)
• It can be hypothesized that extended learning
  programs show similar effects from partnering
  with families.

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Various levels of family involvement in education
programs (Epstein)

• TYPE 1 PARENTING (assist and educate)
• TYPE 2 COMMUNICATION (communicate with family
  about school programs and student progress.
  Home-school communication)
• TYPE 3 VOLUNTEERING or INVOLVEMENT
• TYPE 4 LEARNING AT HOME (connect home activities
  to school or curriculum activities) or
  CONNECTIONS AND ENGAGEMENT
• TYPE 5 DECISION-MAKING (PARTNERSHIP AND
  COLLABORATION)
• TYPE 6--COLLABORATING WITH THE COMMUNITY

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Family-School CollaborationA Systems
Approach Understanding Terms
Specific Purpose Shared Outcome Goal
General PurposeGeneral Outcome Goal
OUTCOME EXPECTATION
Family/School Collaboration
Family/School Partnerships
Family Engagement
Family/School Connections
Family/School Communication
High IntensityLow Frequency
Less IntenseHigh Frequency
INTENSITY
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Actions

• Engaged Partnerships
• Empower both families and schools and community
  partners
• Are bi-directional
• Are ongoing, mutual, reciprocal
• Are coordinated interventions across settings
• Send congruent messages across settings
• Require shared information and resources
• Require open communication and dialogue
• Promote collaboration and joint decision making
  in planning for the child Collaborative
  Planning

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Partnerships at various levels

• Partnerships with University Medical Center and
  Non-profit organization
• Partnerships between organization and educational
  system
• Partnerships between organization and family
  systems
• For all forms and levels of partnerships-a
  partnership oriented framework or collaborative
  framework can be used.

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EnCompass Strategies for Family-School-Community
Partnership
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Eco-Map of School-Family-Community Partnerships
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School Strategies

• Supporting Documents
• Rochester Afterschool Model
• Rochester City School District Strategic Plan
• School-based programming and integration
• Regular contact and meetings with school and
  district leadership
• Sharing reports and progress (program student)

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Organizational Strategies

• Revised Application
• Edited Logic Model
• Organizational Position Statement
• Leadership strategic planning
• Identification of key staff for professional
  learning across program areas
• Data capture and management of activities

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Staff Professional Learning Strategies

• Professional Learning Presentations
• Site-based consultation
• Mentoring and Technical Assistance

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Family Events Communication Strategies

• Family-Student-Community Showcases
• Newsletters
• Family Involvement Coordinators
• Learner Summaries / Progress Notes
• Family Program Surveys of satisfaction,
  experience and relevance

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Other Possible Strategies

• Training on a general partnership model with the
  aim to shift employees' framework of how to work
  with families.
• Increasing family engagement in decision making
  process.
• Share curriculum activities with families so they
  can reinforce the learning at home. Gain input on
  curriculum from families.
• Tie in two-way communication tools such as,
  two-way postcard

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Additional Strategies, Challenges Opportunities
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Summary

• Family involvement and engagement is crucial to
  impact a childs academic functioning.
• A family-centered and family-partnership oriented
  philosophy can help engage parents.
• Family-educator partnerships can be developed
  through a collaborative model
• Each family is different and therefore
  professionals must be flexible and sensitive to
  families needs.

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Challenges and Opportunities

• Accessing resources
• Capacity within organization
• Need for mindful practice
• Coordinating conversation(s)
• Reinforcing relevance to leadership, staff,
  stakeholders
• On-going embedded nature of commitment at
  organizational and programmatic levels

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Looking Ahead Next Steps for our Partnership

• Continued collaborative partnership promoting
  positive and two-way communication
• Recognizing individual and organization
  motivation for change
• Commitment to professional learning
• Setting realistic expectations of what we can do
  and should do.

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Scenario

• Youre agency/program are identifying family
  engagement and partnership as a priority area for
  the upcoming year what are the steps you will
  take to ensure success?