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

Implementing Schoolwide Projects - May 1994

Key Features of Successful Schoolwide Projects

Parent and Community Involvement

Realizing the importance of parent involvement in education, many schools recruit and encourage parents to become partners in learning. More than an invitation to volunteer in the classroom must be provided, however. To obtain significant increases in parent involvement, schoolwide projects actively engage parents in planning and learning and target school-parent programs to the needs of the community and families. Although each school determines its own particular needs, some basic elements are common to most successful parent-school relationships. Parents are not merely volunteers; they are strongly encouraged to participate in school activities and to form organizations. Cooperation between parents and teachers enables the schoolwide project to maximize instructional time for students, fosters a team effort, and relieves some of the oversight responsibilities carried by busy teachers.

Successful schoolwide projects follow a philosophy that school is a place where parents as well as children can learn and that entire families should use school facilities to meet their needs. Richmond Elementary School in Salem, Oregon, designed "Together with Families," a partnership program that received national recognition for its comprehensive approach to cementing school and home relationships. Parents take various leadership roles within the school and the community, offering parenting courses and meeting in neighborhood homes to learn how to foster children's learning in school and at home. At many schools, teachers or parent liaisons visit parents at home to provide information on child development and parenting, or keep parents with limited English proficiency informed about their children's progress. "Home-school coordinators"--full-time liaisons who cultivate relationships with parents--supply guidance, provide resource materials for younger siblings, and develop outreach programs. A coordinator or social worker may help parents who have limited English proficiency by providing newsletters and conducting meetings in their native language. In addition, many schools offer ESL classes and General Education Diploma (GED) preparation courses for adults; family resource centers or libraries that contain helpful material; and evening classes that teach practical skills, such as sewing and computer use. Some teachers videotape classroom events for parents, to broaden their understanding of the program; one school provided transportation for families living in areas without public transportation so that parents could attend parent conferences or other special events at the school. Schoolwide project planners say the efforts improve student attendance and achievement, enable all parents to participate in school activities, and increase a sense of school ownership among family members.

Parent outreach by the most successful schoolwide projects often extends beyond education to social services, with schools playing an active role to develop the "sound mind, sound body" of students and families through health classes for parents and coordination with state-funded community health clinics. Some schools also provide parent volunteers with minimal compensation or coupons that can be redeemed for food, clothing, or household items.

School volunteer programs and partnerships with local businesses and community groups also are essential to the success of a schoolwide project, providing goods and services that enable schools to maximize resources. Retired senior citizens serve as surrogate grandparents, helping students with homework during tutoring sessions. Local bookstores and television stations offer nontraditional classes, such as film making or cuneiform writing. At one school, U.S. Navy workers used materials donated by a local hardware store to renovate the playground.
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