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

"Parent, family, and community involvement is natural in this environment."

--Middle School Teacher

"It is a common thing in Lamoni to involve parents and community."

-- Parent

Every informant with whom we spoke about the Lamoni schools cites the small size of the community and the schools as a crucial factor in the involvement of parents and in the perceived success of the school system. Parents and community members are able and consistently do maintain relationships and communication channels with school staff outside of the school campus: at the stores, at church, at family gatherings, and frequently just by calling up a teacher at home to simply chat about their child's progress. Conversely, teachers at the middle school are particularly active in telephoning parents and community members about their children, about their perspective on the middle school program, and to request participation in school-organized activities.

The context in which initial consideration of the establishment of a middle school was considered was the concern of a number of parents about the social interactions between children in seventh and eight grades and students in higher grades as they all shared the facility and organization of the high school.

A citizen's task force was formed to examine the alternatives. This group incorporated community members and school district assistance. Researchers attended conferences and meetings to investigate the various ideas, and sought out reports from other schools in the region that had gone to the middle school structure or tried others of the alternatives that the task force was considering. The task force reported to a community meeting at which a lively debate occurred. After a long meeting, there appears to have been general agreement of the course of action, to restructure to a middle school.

The implementation of the middle school concept since establishment of the school seems to have emphasized instructional and curricular integration and innovation. The process has been less focused and less consistently innovative in structures and programs for personal development, such as the teacher-advisory groups. All our informants note that the nature of communication in Lamoni is such that students receive the personal attention they need. If there are problems or when children need more than the school or family can provide, referrals are made to other community services.

Lessons

1. Parent, family and community involvement is part of the instructional philosophy and operational program.

   This integrated view of parent and community involvement is partly due to the "middle school approach" as it is understood in the school and the community, and partly due to the size of the community in which the school is situated.

2. The school retains the responsibility to initiate and maintain effective school/family and community relations and involvement.

   The community will let the schools know when they don't seem to be doing enough in this regard, and will reward the system with support when they are.

3. Operational principles are necessary to make restructuring with parent involvement happen.

   We discovered six "understood" principles of school restructuring:

   • The core of restructuring is instruction and curriculum;

   • Those conducting restructuring must work as a team;

   • Adequate resources and school structures allow the team to implement restructuring;

   • Restructuring involves a willingness and ability to experiment;

   • Schools must clarify that students are learning "the basics" in new ways, with new forms of instruction;

   • Pursue formal and informal communication with parents and families to get their opinions about the course of school change.

[Beck Middle School (Georgetown, South Carolina)]

[Shelburne School District (Shelburne, Vermont)]