Cover Story
Getting Help from Home

As you launch into a new school year, don't forget one of your most important resources for student success: parents!

Take a lesson from NEA members who know: Parents aren't just for permission slips anymore.

In theory, everybody acknowledges the critical link between parental involvement in school and student success. Practice is often a different story--but not at Ensley Elementary in Pensacola, Florida.

"Our heart is in our families," says Judy Miller, the NEA member who coordinates the Ensley Parent Resource Program.

"Our goal," adds Miller, an administrative clerk, "is to nurture strong family-school relationships that invite our children and parents to experience school together."

At the 650-student Ensley Elemen-tary, after-school classes teach parents the computer skills they can use to participate in their children's learning. Another set of classes, held monthly, train parents how to help students who score poorly on achievement tests.

And all parents are welcome at the school's Parent Resource Center, which lends books and learning aids.

Initiatives like these, says Miller, are successfully involving--in a positive way--over half the school's parents more than once during the school year. That impressive statistic helps explain why the Florida Department of Education and PTA last year named Ensley Elementary's parent involvement program as the state's best.

Could your school forge a parent connection as close as Ensley Elementary's?

Probably. Faculty and staff at Ensley face barriers to active parental involvement as high as any school's.

For starters, the school sits in Florida's Escambia County, one of the nation's poorest. Some 83 percent of Ensley students qualify for free and reduced lunch, and the local student turnover rate typically runs 47 percent a year.

Given realities as harsh as these, faculty and staff at Ensley Elementary understand that they need all the help they can get.

"We know the whole climate of the school depends on parents getting involved and buying in," says teacher Gail Husbands, who works closely with Miller.

A Family-Focused Approach
What's the best way to bring parents on board? You start, advises Ensley's Judy Miller, by finding out exactly what parents want.

And if you want to know what parents want, you just ask them. That's what they do at Ensley Elementary. Each year, an annual survey of Ensley parents becomes the foundation for an aggressive, multi-faceted outreach effort.

After analyzing parent survey responses, staff at Ensley slate and publicize a year's worth of monthly parental enrichment seminars on topics ranging from helping children cope with divorce to understanding truancy laws and state achievement requirements.

These seminars attract as many as 225 parents at a time. They're held both during the day and in the evenings--and are even videotaped for later checkout from the school's Parent Resource Center.

Last year, Ensley began free, on-site GED classes to encourage adults in the community to complete their high school educations. The classes, organized by a first grade teacher and the school's retired cafeteria manager, enrolled 21 parents, and the program's first graduate now also volunteers in the effort.

"If children know their parents value education, they'll value education too," says third grade teacher Sharon Williams.

Another initiative sparked by Ensley's annual parent surveys is the school's Dad's Club.

"The club began as a way to involve dads and non-custodial dads," says Miller. "We have so many children who suffer because they lack a positive male figure in their lives. And dads wanted their kids to know it's not just moms who care about school."

The club's 37 dads and granddads currently mentor kids, volunteer in classrooms, initiate school fundraisers, and host teacher appreciation events. They installed the school sprinkler system, replaced a ramshackle wire fence with a welcoming brick entranceway, and acquired billboard space to affirm that "Real Men are Real Dads."

The Ensley parent involvement program was originally funded by a variety of small grants and donations and relied on volunteers. Then the school board started noticing the impact of the program on student learning.

The result? Three years ago, the board approved the use of Title I funds to staff the Parent Resource Program, which now includes Miller's paid position, a part-time salaried parent, and a county-paid elementary resource teacher.

Arlene Costello, the president of Escambia's NEA local affiliate, credits the success of Ensley's parent involvement initiative to staff attitudes.

"We consider schools a community learning environment," says Costello. "Parents are welcome."

The local helps out by purchasing books for the Ensley Parent Resource Center and providing volunteers.

What's ahead for the Ensley program? Staff will provide childcare for GED courses, hire an after-school counselor, and set up a school-based immunization program.

Does getting help from home really make a difference?

"Our parents are our advocates," says Miller. "When we took the time to really focus on families, we created a win-win situation for the school, families, community, and, most importantly, the children."

--Michelle Y. Green

For more: Call Judy Miller at (850) 494-5616

Toolkit
The Ten Worst Ways To Make a School Parent-Friendly

Is your school helping parents feel welcome? Or is your school mindlessly following habits that are sure to turn parents off? If any of the practices below sound familiar, it's time to rethink how your school works.

1. During back-to-school night or parent conferences, insist that parents squeeze into tiny tot furniture.
2. Hold all meetings during the day.
3. Alternate from blitzing to boring communications.
4. Lock the doors, turn off the lights, and take the phone off the hook no later than 4 pm.
5. When parents show up at meetings, try to make them feel as out of place as possible.
6. Design a report card that reads like a legal notice.
7. Make absolutely certain teachers never introduce themselves until late in October.
8. Instruct secretaries never to welcome parents when they arrive at the office.
9. Post welcoming signs at your doors and offices: "Violators are subject to a $500 fine or six months in jail or both."
10. Open parent meetings by making it clear that you are much more intelligent than they can ever hope to be.

A Blueprint for Action

Do you and your school have a plan for getting the help you need from home and the community?

The National PTA is encouraging schools to consider a framework for thinking about school-family partnerships developed by Dr. Joyce Epstein at Johns Hopkins University.

NEA members across the nation are already translating this framework into practical, school-based initiatives, as the examples below make clear.

Parenting
Help all families establish home environments to support children as students.
"Our parent report card lists 19 items we suggest parents work on at home--limiting TV, encouraging cultural understanding, helping students with homework. Parents who check off seven or more items are commended in our newsletter."

--Jean Campbell-Kuhn
Galax, Virginia

Communicating
Design effective school-to-home and home-to-school communications about school and children's programs.
"Our home visit team includes teachers, a counselor, and a nurse who visit to discuss school programs. The focus is not on academic performance, so it's more relaxed."

--Patricia Lee
Tulsa, Oklahoma

Learning at Home
Provide information to families about how to help students with homework and other curriculum-related activities, decisions, and planning.
"Our family literacy program allows first graders to borrow books and cassettes to use at home. Even parents who don't have high literacy can participate in their child's education."

--Debra Carnes
Federal Way, Washington

Collaborating
Identify and integrate resources and services from the community to strengthen school programs, family practices, and student learning and development.
Our "St. Pete Reads" program trains parents and other community residents to help increase literacy among disadvantaged students."

--Elaine Davis
St. Petersburg, Florida

Volunteering
Recruit and organize parent help and support.
"For parents who volunteer regularly, I hold workshops on how to read and write with young children, as well as how to handle problems or answer young kids' questions."

--Becky Dixon
Bloomington, Indiana

Decision Making
Include parents in school decisions, developing parent leaders and representatives.
"As part of our Kids Vote program, political candidates speak on issues like the school budget. We ask families to write questions, and this gives kids a sense of real issues. One year, our work actually helped raise voter turnout 8 percent."

--Maggie Mahland
Windsor, Connecticut

For more information, contact Dr. Joyce Epstein at Jepstein@csos.jhu.edu or visit www.partnershipschools.org.

For the current PTA National Standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs, visit www.pta.org/programs/pfistand.htm.

Q & A
The Family Community Connection

Warlene Gary coordinates the NEA Family-School-Community Partnership Program. We asked her to talk about her partnership efforts.

How can schools cultivate good relationships with parents?
First, schools should send a message to parents that they are welcome. Second, schools need to understand the community they serve, make sure they are visible, and be willing to connect with families in nontraditional places, like the library and community center.

It also means involving parents in decision-making, listening to parents' concerns, being willing to make adjustments, and helping parents choose an appropriate educational program for their children.

What strategies really help increase family support for schools?
Simple steps make a difference, from greeting visitors and answering phones in a friendly, courteous way to offering orientation for new families.

Other ideas? Provide an area where visitors can easily find out about school policies, curriculum, and events. Invite parents to visit the classroom. Plan informal get-togethers.

And provide alternative methods of reaching parents who speak limited English so they, too, can participate.

Do minority parents have special concerns?
Minority parents often claim they feel treated differently because of their color, a lack of education, or how they talk or dress. Mispercep-tions result from a lack of cultural understanding and clear communication.

We need to put children in the center and then figure out what to do together.

What's NEA doing to support partnership efforts?
NEA provides family-school-community training for affiliates and parents on how to work together; coordinates a national family community network with key contacts in every state; and disseminates resources and funding information for special projects.

For more, neaui11@aol.com.