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October 2006 Dear Readers: We’re back! After an extended break, NCSE-News is once again online with all the features you have come to expect from the · July – As part of the Colorado Association of School Resource Officers’ Annual Conference we met with attendees to discuss truancy reduction and present information on truancy research and school attendance policies. · August – A team of NCSE staff trained educators, juvenile justice workers and judges in · September – Hosted the 2nd Annual
· Ongoing – Provide resource & referral information and technical assistance to support school engagement; sponsor TRAIN (online database to track the progress of youth receiving school attendance services) and host the Truancy listserv.
This “welcome back” edition focuses on afterschool programs and parental involvement and offers an expanded list of conferences. This month’s Hot Topic includes a summary of research reviewed by the Promising Practices Network and the Resources and Research section highlights NATIONAL BULLYING AWARENESS PREVENTION WEEK and recent documents published by NCSE.
As always, your emails and suggestions are welcome. Please contact me at info@schoolengagement.org.
Sincerely, Judith Martinez, NCSE Director
Attendees of the 2006 Summit for Leaders in School Engagement strategize on the “Triple A” schools report card.
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Mentoring as a Strategy for Involving Parents of Middle and High School Students Often, just as the complexities of adolescence begin to seriously hinder the school success of pre-teens and teens, the gap between school personnel dedicated to fostering school/home connections, and the number of students to be served, widens dramatically. In secondary schools with large populations, it is no longer feasible to get to know students and their parents to the degree possible in neighborhood elementary schools. Parents, unable to meet with guidance counselors or teachers, are discouraged. School personnel, interested and willing, are overwhelmed with the numbers of students they serve. Adolescents are less pleased having parents visibly involved at school. Mentoring programs act as a bridge between home and school in secondary schools and foster the “school-family-community collaboration” advocated by Judith Martinez in her article, Parental Involvement: Key to School Success. The following examples of how mentoring programs can foster school involvement with parents are framed utilizing Joyce Epstein’s Types of Parental Involvement. The examples are based upon experience with community-based and school-based mentoring programs for middle and high school students who are at risk of not graduating and whose parents are very concerned about their children’s education and development. Fostering Parental Involvement · Communication – Meeting with the family in their home is an essential element of student participation in mentoring. When staff members come to the family, challenges with school schedules conflicting with work, lack of transportation and the discomfort many parents experience coming into a school vanish. Parents are delighted to be consulted about something they can see will benefit their child. Program coordinators listen while parents tell about their child’s personality, strengths, and weaknesses. Parents often learn something new while the child talks about their interests and their dreams for the future. In the comfort of their own home, parents commonly pour out other concerns and frustrations, often building up over years, about their child’s school experience. They express gratitude at having a school-based partner assist them with worries about school. Program coordinator, parent and student plan and hold ongoing discussions as the process of making and supporting a student/mentor match continues. · School Decision-Making and Advocacy – After learning about the program and getting to know the prospective volunteer mentor, the parent decides whether or not the child will participate in the program or be paired with that particular mentor. In the case of community-based mentoring with an individual program of activities for each child, the parent has input about, and control over, the nature of the activities and helps the community volunteer create a plan of meaningful experiences for the student. Parents who are satisfied with the program often act as advocates of the program to other parents seeking help with teens. They help plan group activities. They have a voice in evaluating the program and planning improvements. They feel free to contact the program coordinator to advocate for their child. · Learning at Home – Mentors in both school-based and community-based programs teach students how to create an environment for study at home – how to study, how to use a library or computer for research – and serve as role models for the parents' role in learning at home. Program coordinators meet with parents, as a group, to assist them in understanding how to help their child with school work or how to navigate home/school communication regarding their child’s courses. They will even accompany reticent or ESL parents to a teacher conference. A call to parents when a child misses a mentoring session sometimes reveals issues for which the family needs a referral to social services. · Volunteering – Parents engaged with mentoring program coordinators over several months, outside of school, develop good relationships and are eager to volunteer, when they are able, at school. Career nights, picnics, college fairs and awards parties for improved school performance make ideal occasions to bring families into schools where they enjoy seeing their child receiving recognition or making new discoveries. Like all volunteers, parents gain confidence volunteering in small ways first. Some parents even become mentors. Interacting with school staff, informally, can encourage parent/teacher conferences. Mentoring programs provide a natural access to parents of secondary school students and build relationships which result in a team effort for the family, the school or program provider, and the wider community to assist families with school and other important issues during a student’s turbulent years.
Reference: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
Gale Siess is Director of Volunteer Programs for Communities in Schools of the
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Children Succeeding in School: Learning more about afterschool programming and family engagement.
The Promising Practices Network (PPN) provided this list of research summaries on topics that impact school success. Demographic Differences in
Learning From Small-Scale Experimental Evaluations of After School Programs. Reality Check 2006: How Black and Hispanic Families Rate Their Schools. Research brief at Harvard Family Research Project website.
The Family Environment and Adolescent Well-being: Exposure to Positive and Negative Family Influences. Research brief at Child Trends website.
The Racial Gap in Parental Education.
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The Tiger Woods Foundation supports programs dealing with education, youth development, parenting, and family health and welfare. Organizations must be tax-exempt under Section 501(c)3 and not a 509(a) private foundation. Deadline: Deadline: Applications must be postmarked by November 24, 2006. Youth Leaders for Literacy is an initiative of the National Education Association (NEA) and Youth Service America (YSA) to help youth plan and implement reading-related service projects. NEA will award 20 grants of
Sea World/Busch Gardens/Fuji Film Environmental Excellence Awards Deadline: November 30, 2006
White House Office of Faith-Based and Community This is a good time of the year to review the White House Grants Catalog to identify opportunities that your organization may be eligible to compete for next fiscal year. The Grants Catalog provides some basic information about the Federal grants process. It also lists over 170 programs that may interest your organization. Grants programs are organized into general categories ranging from programs for elders and the homeless to those that serve at-risk youth and people making the transition from welfare to work.
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NATIONAL BULLYING PREVENTION AWARENESS WEEK IS OCTOBER 22-28. Sponsored by the (1) Promote the website above as a bullying prevention (3) Read "Bullying Fast Facts" (4) Let the public hear the message, "Bullying is never okay. What can you do to stop it?"
2006 NCSE Summit for Leaders in School Engagement This is the presentation that was given as part of the opening session of the Second Annual NCSE Summit for Leaders in School Engagement, held in
What Research Says About Family-School-Community Partnerships This document, prepared by NCSE, offers a review of relevant research on Family-School-Community partnerships based on Epstein's model of "Six Types of Involvement." The Colorado Dept. of Education Prevention Initiatives utilizes this model to help schools take a comprehensive approach to meaningful parent and community involvement. Also featured are examples of activities and approaches implemented in
Tools for Latino Family Outreach: Supporting Student Success in the Middle Grades and Beyond
It Takes a Parent: Transforming Education in the Wake of the No Child Left Behind Act Return to the Index of this Issue
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Virginia Juvenile Justice Association (VJJA) 2006 Juvenile Justice Fall Institute
Location: Crowne Plaza Ravinia Hotel, This conference will feature keynotes by Wendy Craig, James Garbarino, and international experts in the field of bullying prevention and intervention. More highlights: 21+ workshops offered by leading practitioners, and opportunities to network with bullying prevention specialists and researchers.
Anatomy of Success: Real Strategies for Closing Gaps and Raising Achievement Dates: November 3-5 This year’s conference will focus on closing the achievement gap. It will provide practical information and tools for those who want to set up a local process for reaching agreement about standards for student work, build a broader infrastructure for professional development, and engage their communities in pre-K-16. Professional Development Institute: Closing the Achievement Gap Harvard Family Research Project Location: The institute will give school, district, and community leaders strategies for tackling the achievement gap and fostering learning for all children. Find out more about the institute and register at the link above or by calling HGSE Programs in Professional Education at 1-800-545-1849. Southwestern Regional Fatherhood & Families Institute The Arizona Fathers & Families Coalition, Inc. The Arizona Fathers & Families Coalition, Inc. has been actively involved in a series of events locally, statewide and nationally, including a series of Institutes on Responsible Fatherhood and Child Well-Being in This institute will focus on culturally appropriate practices to work with diverse Latino Fathers & Communities and addresses African-American Healthy Marriage Initiatives.
Conference Focuses on Positive Youth Development
This conference is being conducted in collaboration with the
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NCSE is an initiative of the
Colorado Foundation for Families and Children  |
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