Statewide Title I NetworkMay 17, 2012

Ruth Anne Landsverk, DPI Family-School Community Partnerships Coordinator 608-266-

9757 ruthanne.landsverk@dpi.wi.gov

Evaluating Family-School-Community Partnerships

WHY Evaluate Partnerships? “What gets measured, gets done.”To assess the effectiveness of present

efforts and policy (req’d for Title I schools)

To improve partnership efforts by reflecting on partnership goals and activities

To understand how partnerships support student learning and school goals

To sustain partnership programs

WHO should evaluate partnerships?Partnership Action TeamTitle I Advisory TeamSmall group of parents, teachers, an

administrator and other school staff (school counselor, school social worker, school psychologist/nurse)

Others: Representative of the School Improvement

TeamParent group leader/liaison

Three major areas to evaluate Implementation: What worked as

planned? What didn’t? Why not? How can we tweak it?

Outreach: How many families did you reach? How many new families participated?

Progress: How are families’ behaviors/attitudes changing? How has it improved student performance? How are staff practices changing?

Questions for Schools to Ask• Which activities are well-planned and

promote student success?• How many and which families feel

welcomed by the school?• How many and which families feel

comfortable talking with teachers and sharing ideas with the school?

• Are more families involved every year?• Which practices/programs need to

improve?

Tips for evaluating wellBegin with the end in mind. What do you

want to accomplish?Mark short and long-term goalsShare successes with partners, school staff,

parents, and communityAdjust early; don’t wait to improveInclude multiple viewpoints: students,

parents, school staff, community members

Examples of Simple Evaluations (short-term)• Attendance, sign-in sheets• Documenting policies and plans• Suggestion box results• Phone surveys• Website suggestions• Numbers of family contacts made by staff• Workshop evaluation forms• Anecdotal evidence

Simple evaluations CAN:Provide evidence that practice occurred

(compliance)Gauge attendance, satisfaction with an

eventIdentify which families are participating

Simple evaluations CANNOT indicate if behaviors changed or student learning increased.

Evaluating Long-Term Results: “Evidence of Effectiveness”

School data: Did the effort improve student attendance, behavior, tests or grades, grade progression, graduation?

Family satisfaction survey: improved school climate, increased parent knowledge?

Building community: # of community partners or volunteers, services and funds donated, use of website/facility/service.

Looking to Sustain Your Effort?Combine stories with evaluation data!Stories:Bring data to lifeShow how and why program was successful Move people to action.Use anecdotes, written survey or evaluation

comments, or parent/teacher observations to drive home your success.

National Network of Partnership Schools Evaluation Process

1. Form a Partnership Action Team2. Complete One-Year Action Plan:

Identify 3-4 school goals and design several activities to help reach goals

Identify how the team will measure results for each goal

3. Conduct End-of-Year Evaluation Lays groundwork for improvement next year

When Should Schools Evaluate?Start of School Year:Measuring Your Partnerships surveyDuring School YearAt each monthly team meeting take 10 mins.

to reflect on strengths and weaknesses of activity

Mid-YearHow is our team/staff working together?End of School YearDevote one full meeting to completing

Annual Evaluation of Activities

What are Title I School Districts required to evaluate? Annual review of parent involvement programs to:Content and effectiveness of parent involvement

policiesEffectiveness at improving the academic quality

of schools served under Title 1Identify barriers to parent involvement,

especially for parents who are economically disadvantaged, disabled, minority, or limited English/literacy.

Based on the results of the evaluation, design more effective strategies for parent involvement.

What must Title I Schools evaluate?

Involve parents, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of programs for parent involvement, including

The planning, review, and improvement of the school parent involvement policy and

The joint development of the schoolwide program plan.

Make Time/Take Time to Evaluate

School teams that make evaluation a priority report that they have:

Fewer obstacles to developing partnerships

More collegial supportHigher-quality partnership programsMore likelihood of using results to

improve plans and activities for next year.

School Story:Washington Elementary, OshkoshAction Team subcommittees reflect school

goals: student achievement, school safety & climate, and partnerships

Use data to identify gaps in student achievement and student behavior. Activities designed to involve families in closing the gaps

Annually evaluate and revise school family involvement policy

Survey families: family learning nights, CLC, and Gallup school perceptions survey

Washington Elementary, Oshkosh(cont’d)“Very helpful” evaluations combined with

action resulted in:20% gain from Fall to Spring in student

reading proficiencyHigh-80s% of students proficient or above

in WKCE scores at three gradesResulted in grant awards of $500,000: Spotlight School awardCLC 21st Century grantSchool of Recognition grant.

Other Wisconsin schools have evaluated:Middle school families on how to make

transition to middle school easierStaff & family attitudes toward schools/funding;

community focus groupsWhat parents need to help students apply or

prepare for post-high schoolWhat topics families need more information on

to help children learnFor sample surveys, visit DPI VISTA Google Page:

https://sites.google.com/a/dpi.wi.gov/dpi-vista-project/resources-1/surveys

Examples of EvaluationsDPI: Measuring Your Partnerships National Network of Partnership Schools Title I Family Involvement ToolkitNew Jersey Self-Evaluation Tool:

http://www.preventchildabusenj.org/njpirc/documents/parent_involvement_self_evaluation_toolkit.pdf

Connecticut Family-School Compact 10-Step Process: http://schoolparentcompact.org/pdf/Tool_10.pdf

Harvard Family Research Project: www.hfrp.org

Evaluation ResourcesStatewide Title I Network Parent Inv. Toolkit

http://dpi.wi.gov/titleone/parent_index.html

National Network of Partnership Schoolswww.partnershipschools.org

Harvard Family Research Project: http://www.hfrp.org/evaluation

NEA Family-School-Community Partnerships 2.0http://neapriorityschools.org/wp-content/

uploads/2011/11/Entire_PSC_Profiles_Interactive.pdf

USDE Evaluating Family Engagement Strategieshttp://www.nationalpirc.org/engagement_webinars/webinar-8/evaluating-family-egnagement-strategies.pdf

Group QuestionWhat successes and challenges do

districts or schools in your CESA face in evaluating family-school-community partnerships?

What ideas can your table come up with to address the challenges?

Share practices with each other and the group.