Literature Review
When parents are engaged in the school community, student achievement, attitudes, and interest in learning improve. Additionally, research suggests that cultivating and sustaining these relationships enables the school to receive valuable feedback from the community. This review focuses on building sustainable business partnerships and fostering parental involvement.
Building Sustainable Business Partnerships
Current research suggests a shift in the approach to school reform from the school effectiveness era of reform, focused on the characteristics of high-functioning schools, to a more ecological approach, combining the internal characteristics of a school and its relationship to its environment (Beabout, 2010). This approach emphasizes that school leaders be more intentional about developing sustainable partnerships with external organizations while simultaneously performing their leadership functions within the internal environment. “Low-risk” relationships like business partnerships--relationships where the school is the passive recipient of services or resources--are beneficial to urban schools, but are unlikely to contribute directly to closing the racial achievement gap (Beabout, 2010). Even in cases where businesses fund staff development, these donations have little influence on instructional procedures. Still, schools which serve mainly low socio-economic status and minority students often rely on the kind of budgetary support that these relationships provide.
The benefits schools derive from external relationships, as outlined in Beabout (2010), include access to the community’s feedback, ideas, resources, and political networks. Of these benefits, meaningful community feedback is perhaps the most sought after. It is important that school leaders understand that whether or not relationships with external organizations are formalized, they exist. The most important of these external relationships are those intended to increase parental involvement (Beabout, 2010).
Fostering Parental Involvement
Research is clear about the correlation between parental involvement and student achievement. Langdon, Meyer, Redding, and Sheley (2004) tracked the academic growth of students in Illinois’ Solid Foundation program, which was designed to systematically foster discussion of learning--not just fundraising, discipline, or athletics--between schools and parents. Over the course of two years, the Solid Foundation schools demonstrated twice the academic growth as the control group. By involving parents in substantive ways, the schools boasted significantly more growth than the state of Illinois on average. Additional scholars (Harris & Goodall, 2008) agree that among the non-school factors of school achievement—namely socio-economic background, parents’ educational attainment, family structure, ethnicity, and parental engagement—it is parental involvement which is the most robustly connected to achievement. They explain that while parental attendance at school-wide events can help build school community, it does not affect student achievement unless it explicitly and directly makes connections to learning and academic behaviors outside the classroom (Harris & Goodall, 2008, p. 278). These scholars also note that middle class parents use “the vocabulary of teachers,” have supportive social networks, and have access to both transportation and childcare, making attendance at school events or conferences easier and more comfortable (p. 280). The Solid Foundation study reiterates this need to draw in parents who are not as likely to volunteer (Langdon, Meyer, Redding, & Sheley, p. 1).
To target less-involved parents, Akins High School (AHS) in the Austin Independent School District created a new position on their staff. The Parent Liaison Specialist (PLS) is tasked with building positive partnerships between the school and the community and empowering parents to support the development and academic success of students (B. Cherry, personal communication, July 18, 2011). At Akins, the PLS is responsible for services that range from assisting parents with rent to conducting GED classes. AHS’ implementation of the PLS position is unique to its needs, which highlights a primary characteristic of the position: while the PLS has great potential, the position is nebulous. The success of the PLS position relies on the creative problem-solving and initiative of the liaison herself (B. Cherry, personal communication, July 18, 2011).
As Cherry explained (personal communication, July 18, 2011), the selection of a liaison with the appropriate skills is key. The liaison must have strong interpersonal skills and little anxiety about meeting new people. She will experience rejection from many parents initially, and she will need to be emotionally resilient. Success in this role requires the ability to make decisions without direct supervision or constant direction; in the interview process, the principal may want to require candidates to develop and present their own plans and vision for the position. Finally, to fully execute this role, the parent liaison will need strong communication skills, proficiency in the languages spoken by parents, as well as basic proficiency with office technology (Cherry, 2011; Orozco, 2010; Zoppi, 206).
According to Cherry, a large part of maintaining the group’s message is maintaining communication. Parents need to know about meetings early enough to plan for transportation and childcare, and they need to know the agenda and its relevance to their children (Cherry, 2011). In addition, parents who cannot attend at the specific meeting times should have options for contributing, and information should be disseminated in a variety of ways, including email, text messages, callouts, or by going in person to apartment complexes and other public areas for meetings.
Finally, Cherry (personal communication, July 18, 2011) notes the value of using a school’s parent-teacher organization as a means of developing parent capacity. As Cherry explained, many parents in the schools she studied began as simple classroom volunteers, but increased their responsibilities and education to become more involved, some even obtaining teacher certification. As parents’ social capital and the level of organization of the group builds, so will the complexity of work completed by the parent-teacher group. If parents see that their contributions are valued and can connect them with tangible improvements in achievement, the group’s legitimacy and effectiveness will increase.
Building Sustainable Business Partnerships
Current research suggests a shift in the approach to school reform from the school effectiveness era of reform, focused on the characteristics of high-functioning schools, to a more ecological approach, combining the internal characteristics of a school and its relationship to its environment (Beabout, 2010). This approach emphasizes that school leaders be more intentional about developing sustainable partnerships with external organizations while simultaneously performing their leadership functions within the internal environment. “Low-risk” relationships like business partnerships--relationships where the school is the passive recipient of services or resources--are beneficial to urban schools, but are unlikely to contribute directly to closing the racial achievement gap (Beabout, 2010). Even in cases where businesses fund staff development, these donations have little influence on instructional procedures. Still, schools which serve mainly low socio-economic status and minority students often rely on the kind of budgetary support that these relationships provide.
The benefits schools derive from external relationships, as outlined in Beabout (2010), include access to the community’s feedback, ideas, resources, and political networks. Of these benefits, meaningful community feedback is perhaps the most sought after. It is important that school leaders understand that whether or not relationships with external organizations are formalized, they exist. The most important of these external relationships are those intended to increase parental involvement (Beabout, 2010).
Fostering Parental Involvement
Research is clear about the correlation between parental involvement and student achievement. Langdon, Meyer, Redding, and Sheley (2004) tracked the academic growth of students in Illinois’ Solid Foundation program, which was designed to systematically foster discussion of learning--not just fundraising, discipline, or athletics--between schools and parents. Over the course of two years, the Solid Foundation schools demonstrated twice the academic growth as the control group. By involving parents in substantive ways, the schools boasted significantly more growth than the state of Illinois on average. Additional scholars (Harris & Goodall, 2008) agree that among the non-school factors of school achievement—namely socio-economic background, parents’ educational attainment, family structure, ethnicity, and parental engagement—it is parental involvement which is the most robustly connected to achievement. They explain that while parental attendance at school-wide events can help build school community, it does not affect student achievement unless it explicitly and directly makes connections to learning and academic behaviors outside the classroom (Harris & Goodall, 2008, p. 278). These scholars also note that middle class parents use “the vocabulary of teachers,” have supportive social networks, and have access to both transportation and childcare, making attendance at school events or conferences easier and more comfortable (p. 280). The Solid Foundation study reiterates this need to draw in parents who are not as likely to volunteer (Langdon, Meyer, Redding, & Sheley, p. 1).
To target less-involved parents, Akins High School (AHS) in the Austin Independent School District created a new position on their staff. The Parent Liaison Specialist (PLS) is tasked with building positive partnerships between the school and the community and empowering parents to support the development and academic success of students (B. Cherry, personal communication, July 18, 2011). At Akins, the PLS is responsible for services that range from assisting parents with rent to conducting GED classes. AHS’ implementation of the PLS position is unique to its needs, which highlights a primary characteristic of the position: while the PLS has great potential, the position is nebulous. The success of the PLS position relies on the creative problem-solving and initiative of the liaison herself (B. Cherry, personal communication, July 18, 2011).
As Cherry explained (personal communication, July 18, 2011), the selection of a liaison with the appropriate skills is key. The liaison must have strong interpersonal skills and little anxiety about meeting new people. She will experience rejection from many parents initially, and she will need to be emotionally resilient. Success in this role requires the ability to make decisions without direct supervision or constant direction; in the interview process, the principal may want to require candidates to develop and present their own plans and vision for the position. Finally, to fully execute this role, the parent liaison will need strong communication skills, proficiency in the languages spoken by parents, as well as basic proficiency with office technology (Cherry, 2011; Orozco, 2010; Zoppi, 206).
According to Cherry, a large part of maintaining the group’s message is maintaining communication. Parents need to know about meetings early enough to plan for transportation and childcare, and they need to know the agenda and its relevance to their children (Cherry, 2011). In addition, parents who cannot attend at the specific meeting times should have options for contributing, and information should be disseminated in a variety of ways, including email, text messages, callouts, or by going in person to apartment complexes and other public areas for meetings.
Finally, Cherry (personal communication, July 18, 2011) notes the value of using a school’s parent-teacher organization as a means of developing parent capacity. As Cherry explained, many parents in the schools she studied began as simple classroom volunteers, but increased their responsibilities and education to become more involved, some even obtaining teacher certification. As parents’ social capital and the level of organization of the group builds, so will the complexity of work completed by the parent-teacher group. If parents see that their contributions are valued and can connect them with tangible improvements in achievement, the group’s legitimacy and effectiveness will increase.