Pillar 5: Family and Community Involvement
For students to succeed, parents, caregivers, and family members have to feel welcome on the school campus and have a strong connection to the school. We need to see schools as neighborhood centers, deeply embedded in the fabric of family life and their communities.
Schools should be different and distinctive. Schools in South Gate, Boyle Heights, Koreatown, North Hollywood, Gardena, Northridge, and Venice should not be the same. How could they be?
Each school community should spell out the responsibilities and commitments of students, parents, teachers, and administrators. In addition, each school community should have a representative school-based body to drive the decisions facing each school. Schools should establish relationships with a broad range of partners including parent groups, local businesses, social service and arts organizations, health care, libraries, nearby parks and community-based organizations, universities, and others. Each has something to offer to students and families; better alignment of services can benefit everyone.
1. Get Families Involved in the Education of their Children
Parental, caregiver and family involvement in a student’s academic career is highly correlated with student engagement and success. Schools can do a great deal to help families feel engaged. They need to offer a “welcoming” process for new parents, caregivers and students to introduce them to the school and its staff and offer a wide range of opportunities for family involvement. Whether it is serving on the school’s governance board, helping out with tutoring, serving lunch, or simply reading with their own sons or daughters, parents should be educated on all the ways they can get involved in their schools. They must also stress the importance of education and provide support and discipline at home to ensure that students focus on their future. Communications between schools and families should be consistent and often. Organizations, such as Families in Schools, Parent Institute for Quality Education, Boyle Heights Learning Collaborative, Community Asset Development Re-defining Education (CADRE), OneLA, ACORN, the LA Parent’s Union, and other non-profit organizations who partner with schools have created models that work. We need to replicate these models.
2. Open Family Resource Centers at All Schools
Opening an active Family Resource Center in each LAUSD school would go a long way in creating links for families to an array of services – including healthcare, adult education and parenting classes, crisis intervention, job training, and family counseling – that are now disparate in most neighborhoods. In some cases, services could be co-located. The Family Resource Center at LAUSD’s K-12 Elizabeth Learning Center is a fine model to consider.
3. Education Programs for Families, with a Focus on Teaching English
Many parents struggle with their own low levels of education and would greatly benefit from training for themselves. English and other skill building classes should be offered to non-English speakers regularly at night through the Family Resource Center. Training programs could be led by non-profits or parents and could include problem-solving, budgeting, parenting skills, health, and nutrition.
4. Engage Colleges and Universities in the Success of Schools
Los Angeles is rich in institutions of higher education. We need to expand on the many partnerships that exist today between our colleges, universities and K-12 schools. Universities provide valuable services and resources to both educators and students on school sites. Universities can play an integral role in ongoing teacher professional development by participating in professional learning communities on actual school sites. Additionally, undergraduate and graduate students can serve as mentors, researchers and volunteers and learn about the social and educational needs of society while gaining “real-world” experience. Graduate student researchers and faculty can also evaluate the success of practices at schools, and colleges and universities can expand their outreach programs to bring high school students onto their campuses. While many of our colleges and universities are already providing support and resources to our K-12 public schools, we need to expand those efforts and tie them more and more individual school sites.
5. Create a “Commitment to School Excellence”
Across our entire region, many institutions share a common interest in the success of our young people. The Boston Compact, built thoughtfully and collaboratively in that city over time, provides a fine starting example of a community’s commitment to its schools; the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce has been developing a similar expression of community responsibility. We will invite key community institutions, including the school district, city and county governments, cultural institutions, higher education, business, labor, faith-based organizations, and major civic and nonprofit institutions to make organizational commitments on programs and resources to benefit our young people – including college programs, safety around schools, library hours, access to health care, apprenticeships, mentorships and so forth.
The Commitment for School Excellence also would include a customized compact for each school to sign that is explicit about expectations for students, parents, teachers, and administrators. Responsibilities defined by school sites would cover behavior, dress, days and hours of attendance, homework, and ongoing communication.
Schools should be different and distinctive. Schools in South Gate, Boyle Heights, Koreatown, North Hollywood, Gardena, Northridge, and Venice should not be the same. How could they be?
Each school community should spell out the responsibilities and commitments of students, parents, teachers, and administrators. In addition, each school community should have a representative school-based body to drive the decisions facing each school. Schools should establish relationships with a broad range of partners including parent groups, local businesses, social service and arts organizations, health care, libraries, nearby parks and community-based organizations, universities, and others. Each has something to offer to students and families; better alignment of services can benefit everyone.
Family and Community Involvement Initiatives:
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1. Get Families Involved in the Education of their Children
Parental, caregiver and family involvement in a student’s academic career is highly correlated with student engagement and success. Schools can do a great deal to help families feel engaged. They need to offer a “welcoming” process for new parents, caregivers and students to introduce them to the school and its staff and offer a wide range of opportunities for family involvement. Whether it is serving on the school’s governance board, helping out with tutoring, serving lunch, or simply reading with their own sons or daughters, parents should be educated on all the ways they can get involved in their schools. They must also stress the importance of education and provide support and discipline at home to ensure that students focus on their future. Communications between schools and families should be consistent and often. Organizations, such as Families in Schools, Parent Institute for Quality Education, Boyle Heights Learning Collaborative, Community Asset Development Re-defining Education (CADRE), OneLA, ACORN, the LA Parent’s Union, and other non-profit organizations who partner with schools have created models that work. We need to replicate these models.
2. Open Family Resource Centers at All Schools
Opening an active Family Resource Center in each LAUSD school would go a long way in creating links for families to an array of services – including healthcare, adult education and parenting classes, crisis intervention, job training, and family counseling – that are now disparate in most neighborhoods. In some cases, services could be co-located. The Family Resource Center at LAUSD’s K-12 Elizabeth Learning Center is a fine model to consider.
3. Education Programs for Families, with a Focus on Teaching English
Many parents struggle with their own low levels of education and would greatly benefit from training for themselves. English and other skill building classes should be offered to non-English speakers regularly at night through the Family Resource Center. Training programs could be led by non-profits or parents and could include problem-solving, budgeting, parenting skills, health, and nutrition.
4. Engage Colleges and Universities in the Success of Schools
Los Angeles is rich in institutions of higher education. We need to expand on the many partnerships that exist today between our colleges, universities and K-12 schools. Universities provide valuable services and resources to both educators and students on school sites. Universities can play an integral role in ongoing teacher professional development by participating in professional learning communities on actual school sites. Additionally, undergraduate and graduate students can serve as mentors, researchers and volunteers and learn about the social and educational needs of society while gaining “real-world” experience. Graduate student researchers and faculty can also evaluate the success of practices at schools, and colleges and universities can expand their outreach programs to bring high school students onto their campuses. While many of our colleges and universities are already providing support and resources to our K-12 public schools, we need to expand those efforts and tie them more and more individual school sites.
5. Create a “Commitment to School Excellence”
Across our entire region, many institutions share a common interest in the success of our young people. The Boston Compact, built thoughtfully and collaboratively in that city over time, provides a fine starting example of a community’s commitment to its schools; the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce has been developing a similar expression of community responsibility. We will invite key community institutions, including the school district, city and county governments, cultural institutions, higher education, business, labor, faith-based organizations, and major civic and nonprofit institutions to make organizational commitments on programs and resources to benefit our young people – including college programs, safety around schools, library hours, access to health care, apprenticeships, mentorships and so forth.
The Commitment for School Excellence also would include a customized compact for each school to sign that is explicit about expectations for students, parents, teachers, and administrators. Responsibilities defined by school sites would cover behavior, dress, days and hours of attendance, homework, and ongoing communication.
