A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Finding #5.3

Teacher Collaboration. The exemplary schools created opportunities for teachers to learn and work together. Using these opportunities, teachers collaborated to develop and coordinate curriculum, to share and refine instructional strategies, to ease articulation across grade levels and from LEP student programs to mainstream programs, and to address the needs of individual students. Teacher collaboration at the exemplary schools ensured that LEP students had access to the same curriculum and were challenged to meet the same high standards as non-LEP students.

The process of thoughtfully designing and adapting school programs must be a collaborative one. Because change is a creative and time consuming endeavor, implementing innovations requires collaborative effort. However, in traditional schools, teachers often work in isolation. In many cases, teachers' sole opportunity for interaction and exchange of ideas with other teachers is during their half-hour lunch period. The isolation of teachers in American schools contrasts sharply with the professional environments of teachers in other countries. For example, in Japan teachers spend a good deal of their working day preparing and refining their lessons through a collaborative process with other teachers.⁷

Teachers at the exemplary sites in this study acknowledged that they were engaged in a collective effort and each school exhibited a commitment to teacher collaboration. All of the casestudy schools relied upon an open, collegial environment to develop their programs and to foster a sense of professionalism. At most sites, a portion of every teacher's day was spent working with fellow teachers; at a few sites, teachers regularly observed and were observed by other teachers. At all of the case study sites, teachers attributed much of their success in implementing dramatic changes to an atmosphere of collegiality and a shared vision, both of which came from collaborative teamwork.

The exemplary schools enabled teacher collaboration through the use of several strategies, including organizing the school into smaller units in which teachers regularly worked together. Team teaching, of course, facilitated the most intense teacher collaboration. (See Finding #5.1, Innovative Organization of Schooling, for a discussion of schools-within-schools and team teaching.)

Another strategy involved building time into teachers' daily schedules to allow for joint planning with other teachers. At the exemplary schools, staff recognized how much time it took to plan and implement innovations and the value of generating ideas through collaboration. Two of the elementary schools, Inter-American and Linda Vista, lengthened the school day four days a week in order to dismiss students early on the fifth day to allow time for joint planning. Linda Vista teachers also had a prep period each day that was made possible by flexible staffing arrangements; teachers frequently used this time to go into another teacher's class to observe the implementation of a new instructional strategy. In the same spirit, all classrooms were open for observation at all times. At Hollibrook Elementary, all students at the same grade level went to physical education at the same time, providing grade level teachers with time to collaborate.

The three exemplary middle schools had very similar structures that afforded teachers time for joint planning. Wiggs, Hanshaw, and Horace Mann all operated schools-within-a-school and teachers in each "family" or "house" had common planning time while their students were at physical education or elective classes. At Horace Mann, students attended elective classes outside of the family structure two days a week; on those days, family teachers had two contiguous periods of common planning time. Teachers at Wiggs had two non-teaching periods each day. One was used for conferences or for individual preparation and the other was used for collaboration within teams.

Benefits of Teacher Collaboration

Coordinated Curriculum. At the exemplary schools, teachers worked together to coordinate and align the curriculum and to plan thematic units. Their collaboration was directed towards creating a unified school where all children were challenged, held to high standards, and exposed to a common curriculum. At Hanshaw, Horace Mann, and Wiggs, teachers within the families (or houses) worked together to strengthen the academic program by making curricular connections between and among the core subjects (language arts, social studies, science, and mathematics) through themes and projects. Inter-American and Del Norte teachers met regularly to coordinate their curriculum and plan integrated, thematic units.

Shared Instructional Strategies. At many of the case study sites, teachers shared instructional strategies both formally and informally. The practice of peer observation at Linda Vista was one of the most powerful ways for teachers to share strategies and to ask their colleagues for feedback on their use of a strategy. Teachers at other sites discussed various instructional techniques and shared their knowledge on how they could be better implemented in the classroom.

Smooth Articulation. Smooth articulation from grade to grade and from classes designed for LEP students to mainstream classes required coordination among teachers. Schools tackled articulation in a number of ways--Linda Vista's ungraded wings and Hollibrook's continuum classes represented two ways of accomplishing articulation (see Finding #5.1 for information on these approaches). Other schools facilitated articulation through communication. Inter-American's third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers worked together to develop and link their goals, objectives, and outcomes. Coordination and alignment across grade levels was especially important to Inter-American's complex program with the dual goal of biliteracy and delivery of a full curriculum. At Del Norte, bilingual teachers worked together across grade levels to ensure articulated curriculum and the use of a coherent set of instructional strategies (i.e., cooperative learning). Bilingual and English-only teachers at the same grade level communicated to align curriculum so that students could easily transition from the bilingual to mainstream program.

Attention to Individual Students. Working with the same students allowed teacher teams to work together to address individual student issues. Attention to individual student needs is an important goal of the school-within-a-school approach to school organization. At the case study sites that had implemented this strategy, teacher teams met to discuss strategies for reaching individual students, including issues regarding the transition of LEP students into the mainstream. For example, the teams of teachers who staffed the LEP student families at Wiggs regularly discussed their students, including students' school progress and their family situations. Teachers were alert to signs of problems in any arena.

Finding #5.4

Professional Development.The exemplary schools systematically used professional development, designed and planned by teachers, to ensure that teachers could discover, learn and implement new developments in language development and acquisition for LEP students; curriculum and instructional techniques (for example, in Whole Language, constructivist approaches in math teaching, or cooperative learning); and school restructuring (for example, TQM, team decision-making, visioning, and other approaches developed by external partners).

"Staff development programs represent the substance of a long-range professional commitment to continue to grow intellectually, to gain new skills, and to refine the quality of one's performance." ⁸ Opportunities for such growth and reflection are essential to the development of thoughtful educators who can, in turn, nurture thoughtful students. Professional development takes many forms; it ranges from formal inservice programs to discussions among teachers during common planning periods. Teachers and site-based administrators took responsibility for shaping the professional development activities at the exemplary schools. They planned professional development activities in support of their long-range educational plan--their vision. Through a reflective process, teachers selected development activities that responded to the needs of their particular LEP student population and were at an appropriate level for the teachers involved. Box I-5.6 describes Del Norte's focused staff development activities.

Box I-5.6 Del Norte Staff Focus Professional Development Activities on Areas of Greatest Need At Del Norte Heights Elementary School, staff development is seen as an effective way to support the school's goals, and the principal and faculty have adopted a strategy that focuses staff development on improving specific aspects of the school's instructional program. Once an area is identified as needing improvement, faculty make a long-term commitment to developing their skills in that area. School staff analyze the school's results on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) in order to tailor their school focus, including staff development. In years past, Del Norte students had not performed well on the language arts sections of the TAAS. As a result, school staff focused on language arts, instituted the writing workshop process, engaged the students in literature-based studies, and intensively supported the language arts curriculum with schoolwide staff development activities. Schoolwide language arts scores on the TAAS increased dramatically. Staff next identified math as the focus for their staff development activities¾again chosen because it was identified as weakness. Staff use their early dismissal days during the year (see Section 2 on Uses of Time) to work with a math professor from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) on aligning the math curriculum across the grade levels and improving math instruction. The focus has been on using manipulatives and critical thinking skills as teachers introduce algebraic concepts. Next year, UTEP plans to assign 13 student teachers who have trained with the same math professor to work with Del Norte teachers. The teachers-in-training will do their student teaching at Del Norte and further support the math program.

While the idea that teachers plan their own professional development may not seem like a radical one, staff development at many schools is provided by the district in a top-down fashion and teachers have little say in the training they receive. This type of staff development is often unrelated to the pressing instructional issues at the school and occurs at the periphery of the school or classroom as a one-shot activity with little or no follow up. This episodic "professional development" has been largely ineffective in leveraging the change required to reform teaching and learning in the nation's schools.

In contrast, at most of the exemplary schools, long-term, teacher-driven professional development programs were among the key features that supported the dramatic shifts in the way teachers approached teaching and learning. At these schools, teacher collaboration and professional development went hand-in-hand as new ideas and strategies were implemented. Each case study school prioritized different aspects of their program for staff development, but all schools targeted language acquisition, bilingual teaching, sheltered English, or other strategies that specifically address LEP students' language development and access to core content.

A number of factors supported the implementation of effective professional development programs at the case study sites. The first, and most critical, was sufficient school autonomy and teacher empowerment to foster site-level planning capacity; schools with this capacity were reflective about their strengths and weaknesses and able to identify their needs and target specific areas for growth. In many cases, these sites pursued grants or partnerships to support their professional development efforts. At some sites, the district played an important role in supporting staff development and, in a couple cases, state professional development programs impacted the exemplary schools.

Finding #5.5

Inclusive School Decision Making. The exemplary schools developed school decision-making processes in which teachers shared responsibility with administrators for school operation, organization and approach to learning and language development. The exemplary schools also involved non-teaching staff, parents, and often members of the larger community in the school's decision-making processes, which helped the exemplary schools be responsive to student and community needs.

Inclusive and responsive governance structures were a key element of school restructuring at the exemplary sites. Each school designed its governance structures with the ultimate goal of improving its academic program. Decision-making processes were established that empowered teachers, parents, and often community members to set priorities in response to the needs of their students; to become involved in curriculum planning and development; to set an appropriate school schedule; to seek appropriate and needed professional development; and to allocate resources for the benefit of LEP and all students.

The restructuring of governance structures at the exemplary schools came at a time when states and districts all across the country were taking steps to devolve power over decision making to the school site level. School-level personnel were given increased responsibility for managing their own budgets, for making staffing decisions, for designing curriculum, for creating its own school climate, and for dealing with issues concerning student achievement. At the exemplary schools, this increased ownership allowed members of the school community to set priorities that were most appropriate for their students. Local flexibility was particularly important for schools as they developed programs to meet the complex needs of their LEP students. In return for this flexibility, districts and states have typically imposed stricter accountability measures, holding each school responsible for student achievement.⁹

Each of the eight exemplary schools had some form of site-based management. Schools' implementation of site-based management spanned a considerable range and responded to conditions at the districts housing the exemplary schools and at the school itself. At one end of the spectrum was Inter-American School, whose site-based management structure was mandated by Chicago Public School's devolution of power from a centralized bureaucracy to control of schools at the community level. Inter-American's governance structure involved teachers, administrators, and parents in a site governance committee with almost complete autonomy over decisions affecting all aspects of the school's operation. At another point along the continuum were schools where the principal shared decisions over the discretionary budget and some of the decision-making power with representative groups of teachers; Linda Vista, Horace Mann, and Hanshaw represented this form of management at the site. Between these extremes were the Texas schools--Del Norte, Hollibrook, and Wiggs--that were in various stages of implementing site-based management. Each of these schools had committees with some responsibility for school organization, budget, curriculum, and instructional issues. Box I-5.7 describes the governance structure at Del Norte.

Box I-5.7 Faculty and Parents Address Fiscal Trade-offs at Del Norte Del Norte Heights implemented the Texas site-based management system. The school's Campus Educational Improvement Committee--made up of faculty, the principal, and parents--had control over the school budget (with the exception of personnel expenditures), made substantive decisions about curriculum and instructional issues, and set schoolwide priorities. Faculty and parent involvement in decisions about the school budget afforded both parties the opportunity to participate in setting schoolwide priorities. The school's learning environment and program for LEP students were supported by the ability to make schoolwide decisions to fulfill the school's vision.

Finding #5.6

Parent Involvement. The exemplary schools valued parent involvement and developed a variety of innovative strategies to engage parents of LEP students in the education of their children.

According to a recent U.S. Department of Education report, "Thirty years of research shows that greater family involvement in children's learning is a critical link to achieving a high-quality education and a safe disciplined learning environment for every students." ¹⁰ Parent participation in the education of their children has been linked by research to increased reading ability, higher grades and attendance rates, more positive attitudes toward school, improved graduation rates, and higher rates of enrollment in higher education.¹¹

Each of the exemplary schools created environments designed to facilitate the involvement of parents in the education of their children. Despite years of research that argues for the importance of parent involvement, many schools are places where parents do not feel welcome. Many parents are reluctant to become involved with the schools because they have not had positive experiences with themselves and schools often exacerbate the reluctance of parents to have active positive relationships in their children's education by only involving parents when children are having problems. The exemplary schools developed strategies for involving parents as participants in their children's education.

Parents whose language and culture are different from those of school personnel face additional barriers to participation in school settings. Language differences can create powerful divisions between school staff and parents of LEP children. In addition, the view of education in different cultures often complicates home-school relationships. For example, staff at Linda Vista reported that one of the difficulties they faced in involving parents of their Southeast Asian students was that the parents' believed, based on their experience with schools in their home countries, that schooling is the province of school professionals and that the school will educate their children without interference from parents. In addition, many of our exemplary schools were in port of entry neighborhoods and parents of LEP students often faced severe economic hardships and worked long hours to establish an economic foothold in this country. Little time or energy remained for participation in school activities.

Examples of Parent Involvement

Exemplary Schools Communicated Better with Parents. The exemplary schools all found ways to communicate effectively with the parents of their students. Since language differences can cause problems with parental communication, each of the exemplary schools sent materials home in all of the languages spoken by their students and had office staff and/or support staff who spoke the languages of the parents and students. See Box I-5.8 for details of Linda Vista's approach to communicating with a multilingual parent population.

Box I-5.8 Linda Staff Communicate with Parents in Five Languages At Linda Vista School, materials were sent home to parents in English, Hmong, Lao, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The school's three community aides among them spoke each of these languages and were responsible for calling parents, making home visits, and translating at parent-teacher conferences. The aides effectively served as a communication bridge between the school and the parent community. The community aides were chosen carefully--they came from the school's community and two of the three were parents of former Linda Vista students.

Exemplary Schools Provided Many Opportunities for Parent Contact and Make It Easy. The exemplary schools made it easier for parents to become involved and provided meaningful ways for parents to be a part of the school's structure. A strategy that was effectively used by the exemplary schools was the establishment of a parent center--a place set aside especially for parents. Parent education programs were another strategy used by the exemplary schools to engage parents with the schools. Several of the exemplary schools offered English classes for parents as well as seminars on parenting and classes to help parents develop survival skills. Box I-5.9 describes the parental involvement strategies at Hollibrook Elementary School that combine a well-developed parent center with an effective parent education program.

Box I-5.9 Hollibrook's Parent Center Provides Home Base for Parents on Campus Hollibrook created a Parent Center--a room where parents could gather--to make parents feel more comfortable coming to their children's school. On the door to the center, a large sign read Bienvenidos al Centro de Padres/Welcome to the Parent Center. The room was equipped for formal parent meetings as well as for more informal get-togethers. The center served as a place for parents to meet, to work on projects for teachers, and to socialize. The Center was also the site for the school's Parent University program which provided ESL classes for parents of LEP students, as well as "parenting" seminars for all parents. The Parent Center created a welcoming environment for parents--particularly for the parents of LEP students.

Exemplary Schools Established a Home-School Liaison. Providing time for a member of the non-teaching school staff to become involved with parents is another strategy that was used by the exemplary schools to increase parent involvement without burdening teachers. The exemplary schools had counselors and parent liaisons who were responsible for making linkages to the parents of their students--particularly of their LEP students. Staff in these roles fulfilled a number of duties including coordinating the parent education program, working with parents on attendance issues, and translating for the parents as necessary. Box I-5.10 provides an example of the Del Norte counselor's efforts to increase parents' involvement in their children's' education.

Box I-5.10 Del Norte Pairs Mothers and Daughters with Latina Professionals from the Community Del Norte's counselor selected girls who were doing well in school, but who did not have a parent or other close relative who had been to college, and paired the girls and their mothers with Latina professionals from the community. The professional women spent time with the mothers and daughters in mentoring, supportive, information-sharing relationships. The program involved the students and their mothers in hopes of raising the aspirations of both so that the mothers could support their daughters prepare for college. The counselor reported that including the mother allowed the impact of the program to extend to other children in the family, as well. In some cases, the mothers had been inspired to return to school themselves.

Exemplary Schools Provided a Way for Parents to Be Involved in School Governance. Parents were encouraged to play meaningful roles at the exemplary schools. Involvement in school governance was one way of ensuring that parents have a role in the school. Many of the exemplary schools involve parents in school governance. See Box I-5.11 for an example of a school that has deeply involved parents in the governance of the school.

Box I-5.11 Parents Play Major Role in School Governance at Inter-American Inter-American School was founded by parents. Because of its history, school staff recognized the importance of parental contribution and involved parents in school governance in a very meaningful way. Inter-American parents served on two of the school's site governance committees. Six parent members made up the majority of the 11 members of the Local School Council, which was the school's governing body. The Council was responsible for hiring and evaluating the principal and controlled both the discretionary and categorical budgets. A Parent Advisory Committee served as the voice of the parents to both the school staff and the Local School Council. This committee provided policy input, supported volunteer activity, and raised funds for the school.

The exemplary schools employed many effective parent involvement strategies. The exemplary schools all focused on involving parents in meaningful ways with the education of their children. None of the schools believed that they had as much parental involvement as they would have liked, but they all recognized that an ongoing process is necessary and all were looking at additional ways of engaging the parents of their students, particularly the parents of their LEP students.

Finding #5.7

Integrated Services. Staff at the exemplary schools interpreted their role in the lives of their students to include ensuring that students' needs for health and social services were met. The exemplary schools provided a wide range of services on-site--from limited to comprehensive. Most schools augmented the services available on-site by establishing links with, and providing referrals to, community health or social service organizations.

There is a growing trend in the United States towards developing services that are family-centered and comprehensive. "Successful programs see the child in the context of family and the family in the context of its surroundings." School-linked services are being developed as an effective way to deliver comprehensive health and social services to families through a convenient and trusted institution, the school. This does not mean that schools assume responsibility for the full range of services needed by children; rather, schools are entering into partnerships with families and agencies to ensure that needed services are available. School-linked services are particularly needed in poor neighborhoods where family and community resources are limited.

The exemplary schools served primarily economically disadvantaged families and they varied in the extent to which they offered or arranged for nutrition, health services, counseling, social services, and other human services to families of students attending the school. At most study sites, school staff shared several fundamental beliefs. First, school staff talked knowledgeably about the circumstances of families of the students they served. They knew the occupations of parents, the housing arrangements (whether apartments or homes, how crowded they were, etc.), and the employment and immigration history of families. Second, staff at study sites recognized that inadequate food, clothing, health and dental care affected students' ability to learn in school. Third, families' needs for support were broadly defined. Schools conceived families' needs for physical assistance in the way of food, clothing, and health and dental care; for psychological services including individual, group, and family counseling; for prevention of harmful behaviors including substance abuse prevention and gang prevention; and for greater accessibility to social services such as Children's Protective Services and the Probation Department.

Three models of integrated services were seen at study sites providing such services: school-based models in which services were provided by school staff; comprehensive integrated services in which services were provided by school staff and contract providers on site; and a mixed model of school-based and off-site linkage with community agencies. Three approaches to the provision of integrated serves are described in the text boxes below: Box I-5.12 describes a strategy used with Wiggs' students; Box I-5.13 illustrates Graham and Parks' efforts to establish links with community agencies; and, finally, Box I-5.14 gives an overview of Hanshaw's comprehensive school-based clinic.

Box I-5.12 Wiggs' Advisory Period Helped to Address the Needs of the Whole Student Wiggs' school organizational structure included an advisory period in which all of the school's teaching staff met with small groups of students to provide academic and social support. The Advisory period was scheduled at the same time schoolwide and all teachers had an Advisory group. Because all teaching and specialist personnel were involved, the Advisory classes were kept smaller than regular classes--often as small as ten students to an adult. This advisory relationship teachers with the opportunity to get to know a small group of students in a non-instructional role. Staff reviewed students' non-educational needs and formulated strategies to help students get the health or counseling services they needed to succeed academically. Each teacher served as advocate, liaison, counselor, and advisor for the students in their Advisory class.

Box I-5.13 Graham and Parks Staff Established Links with the Community to Meet the Health and Social Service Needs of Recent Haitian Immigrants Graham and Parks provided a comprehensive set of family services to students, particularly for Haitian immigrant students and their families. The school had the traditional school nurse, psychologist, and counselor available, but augmented their staffing pattern with social workers and counselors who were qualified to work with Haitian, Creole-speaking families. Many Haitian immigrants had experienced violence, hunger, and trauma. Students often came to the US without their families and lived with guardians or other relatives. Students experienced loneliness, dislocation, and fear for loved ones left behind in Haiti. Graham and Parks had developed both school-based strategies and community linkages to meet the intensive need of Haitian immigrants for mental health and social services. Graham and Parks had a Student Support Team made up of the principal, parent liaison, assistant principal, nurse, school psychologist, teachers, and interns. The team met weekly, using a case study approach to help students referred by teachers. Grants allowed the school to hire a bilingual parent coordinator and district funds supported a Haitian resource room teacher and Haitian mediation specialist. The Haitian Creole-speaking mediation specialist offered short-term direct services and referrals to outside agencies when needed. In addition, the school referred children and families to counseling at the Cambridge Hospital program for Haitian refugees. The school consulted with Children's Protective Services on allegations of abuse and neglect, providing culturally sensitive outreach to immigrant families. Despite the number and extensiveness of mental health services available at Graham and Parks and from local providers, services were strained to keep up with demand from traumatized immigrants coming into the Boston area from Haiti. Teachers in the grade 5 through 8 bilingual classroom assisted students with specific problems, often transporting families to the doctor or psychologist as needed.

Three schools, Del Norte, Graham and Parks, and Hanshaw, provided or developed relations with providers for a wide range of family services. Hollibrook and Wiggs provided or arranged for a more limited range of services needed by students and parents. At Linda Vista, Inter-American, and Horace Mann, staff recognized the importance of fundamental family support, but did not arrange for services. Horace Mann was conducting a needs assessment for developing family support services during the time of the study research. As a city-wide magnet school, Inter-American had less of a community focus and was not a particularly convenient place for families to receive support services.

While the models and approaches to family services varied, it is clear that these schools embraced the families of their students and advocated for them in the community. The schools had policies that supported families and their role in nurturing children. Nurses and counselors were important members of the school support staff team and energetic advocates for children at Del Norte, Hollibrook, Graham and Parks, Horace Mann, and Wiggs. The schools varied in their outreach to community agencies and providers. Several study schools, notably Graham and Parks and Hanshaw, demonstrated a sophisticated grasp of health, mental health, and social services and the ability to work effectively with community providers and how to access funding streams. The most developed integrated services model among study sites was seen at Hanshaw Middle School (see Box I-5.14).

Box I-5.14 Hanshaw Students and Their Families Are Off to a "Healthy Start" Hanshaw Middle School had a California Healthy Start grant that supported a Family Resource Center on site. The Center offered medical, dental, and counseling services on site through contracts with community providers. Families in the neighborhood served by Hanshaw made use of the clinic. Virtually all the Resource Center staff were bilingual in Spanish and English. The Hanshaw Healthy Start program offered individual and group counseling, case management for families involved with more than one public agency, and referrals to community agencies. Group counseling, individual counseling, and conflict management were provided by a mental health clinician. Groups were formed to address grief issues, drug and alcohol abuse, gang issues, and self esteem. A probation officer was located at the school part time to monitor probation wards on campus. A bilingual Laotian college student made home visits to Laotian families to inform them about services available at the center and to learn about their need for services. The Healthy Start project was spearheaded by district staff in cooperation with Hanshaw staff. The district staff entered into cooperative agreements with county public service agencies and private medical providers to bring the wide range of health and social services onto the campus. Healthy Start used a holistic, family-centered approach in which an entire family was allowed to receive services, including siblings of Hanshaw students attending other schools. The Healthy Start program at Hanshaw reinforced the concept of school as resource for families and communities.

⁷ Elementary Schools Task Force, 1992; Stigler and Stevenson, 1991.

⁸ Caught in the Middle, 1992

⁹ Wohlstetter, et. al., 1994.

¹⁰ Strong Families ..., 1994.

¹¹ Epstein, 1987, 1991
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[5. School Culture and Structure that Support High Quality Learning Environments for LEP Students (part 1)]

[6. The Role of External Partners]