Family Engagement & Involvement

Studies document that, regardless of the economic, ethnic, or cultural background, an adult engaged in a child's education is a major factor in determining a child's success in school. Family involvement also contributes to other positive outcomes, such as better school attendance, improved homework completion rates, decreased violence and substance abuse, and higher graduation rates.

Family engagement programs that are well structured result in consistent family participation, rather than attendance at a onetime event, such as a parent-teacher conference or an annual back-to-school night. Families must be engaged in substantive tasks, such as school restructuring and setting higher learning standards.

Barriers to family involvement, such as no time off from work allowed, scheduling conflicts, lack of transportation, lack of child care, and language and cultural differences, must be removed.

An Army of Advocates

Even before the financial crisis of 2008, many of our children were attending inadequately funded and over-crowded schools.  These days, local budgets are stressed like never before and city and town leaders are faced with impossible choices for public education, public health, and public safety.  

Silent Auctions, Spring Fairs, and the like are great community-building events that also raise money to shore up some budget shortfalls, but they can only go so far.  Raising funds to cover operational and capital expenses (like teacher salaries, essential technologies, new school buildings, and important curricular offerings), requires decisions that are made at the state and federal level of government.  To effect the change at that level requires an army of advocates.

PTA has been training advocates longer than anyone - over 100 years!  They have the tools necessary to amplify our voice at the local, state, and federal level.  There are many opportunities to increase your advocacy skills, including: 

• State PTA-sponsored workshops and conferences offered at various times throughout the year;
• E-learning online at www.pta.org;
• DVDs to take you through the steps of identifying a problem and putting together a plan;
• Scheduled conference calls and webinars, based on your interest areas
 

Join the PTA movement.  Get connected to opportunities to advocate for what you are most passionate about.  Whether it's public education funding, healthy food choices in school cafeterias, increased arts education programming, or something else altogether, PTA offers many options to become a better advocate for your child and for all children.  Download Statewide Cranberry PTA Membership Form.

Title I

A high quality basic education is essential to student competency and schools should be held accountable for ensuring that all children succeed.

The intent of ESEA/NCLB is to help children of low-income families receive a high-quality education equal to their economically-advantaged peers. Concern remains, however, about the law relying too heavily on testing as the primary measure of accountability, without looking at other important indicators that help assess school performance, such as equity of resources, physical infrastructure, class size, instructional methods, and parent involvement.

It is imperative that parents know exactly why their child's school is failing, what the state is doing about it, and what parents' options are - all in a very clear and understandable manner. The law in its current form does not give explicit instructions to the state or local education agency (SEA or LEA) regarding how and when the parents should be involved. Moreover, there is no unified, consistent method for an LEA to keep their parents notified of how their child's school is doing and what actions the school is taking to become proficient under the current law.

Leading researchers, expert practitioners, and advocates define family engagement in education as: a shared responsibility of families and schools for student success, in which schools and community-based organizations are committed to reaching out to engage families in meaningful ways and families are committed to actively supporting their children's learning and development. This shared responsibility is continuous from birth through young adulthood and reinforces learning that takes place in the home, school, and community.

Parent involvement policies, improved targeting resources to students and schools most in need, and increased authorization of funds for Title I programs must be strengthened.

Student Achievement

Rising problems with poor nutrition and physical inactivity - and the resulting weight and health problems - weaken student academic achievement. This can cost school districts millions of dollars each year.

As schools search for solutions to meet performance outcomes and minimize budget cuts, it is critical that they don't further aggravate problems of poor nutrition and inactive lifestyles, thus undermining their overall goal of providing a high-quality education for all students.

Instead, providing healthful food options and increasing students' physical activity can help schools meet academic performance goals and improve the financial bottom line for schools and communities.

The "A" Word

Much of the current debate surrounding education reform forsakes a pedagogical agenda and the political morass obscures the merits of a free and appropriate public education.

Meanwhile, our economic climate has yet to stabilize and the fate of our children's education dangles precipitously. One million Massachusetts public school children cannot wait for the political dust to settle, they need us to speak up for their needs - now.

National education policy has typically been crafted around the expectation that schools alone can offset the full impact of low socioeconomic status on learning. Schools can (and have) ameliorated some of the impact of social and economic disadvantage on achievement. Improving our schools, therefore, continues to be a vitally important strategy for promoting upward mobility and for working toward educational excellence and equity. The difference now is that we all recognize that schools can't do this work alone.

Partnering with families and communities is integral to children's success in school - and in life. We need to support children's learning everywhere our children learn: at home, in preschool programs, in school, in before- and after-school opportunities, in recreation programs throughout the year including summer, and in faith-based and community sponsored opportunities.

Advocacy on this issue can take many forms. Certainly decision-makers at every level need to hear from an engaged constituency. Advocacy is like an ever-flowing river - one that you may step into at any place and at any time. And whether you choose to dip your toe in at the edge of the calm shore or wade all the way into the deep, your presence has changed the course. We won't gain ground if we choose to omit our voice in the schools, in Town or city government, or the Statehouse. It's important to learn the vocabulary - - and to create our own.

To Local Parent Leaders

Having been a PTA President at Harrington Elementary School for three years, I know how hard local leaders have worked all year; I also know they will be working all summer to plan for the 2010-2011 school year!  As hard as it can be, I urge local leaders to take advantage of precious, unscheduled time in July and August - - it is as vital for adults as it is for our children.

Following this post, I take a (brief) hiatus for the month of July.  A new round of posts resumes in August.

Happy summer - safe travels.

Early Childhood Education

Early childhood education is highly cost-effective, generating savings of as much as $7 for each dollar invested. More resources are needed to ensure that those children who qualify can attend Head Start programs. Currently, only half of all eligible children are enrolled in a program. Cuts in the program result directly in the number of children who participate in Head Start.

Given the positive effects of high-quality preschool programs, and the focus on closing gaps in readiness and proficiency, all children should have access to such experiences before kindergarten.

Teacher Quality

Over the next decade, an estimated 2 million new teachers will need to be hired to accommodate record-high student enrollments, a high rate of projected teacher retirements, and local efforts to reduce class size. Meanwhile, schools are implementing comprehensive reform initiatives requiring teachers to focus on increasing student achievement.

Research has shown that all students benefit from having high-quality teachers. Yet, the more challenging student populations are disproportionately taught by less experienced educators. To meet the needs of today's students, teachers need to be qualified, diverse, and well prepared.

Teacher development programs must be designed to strengthen professional excellence in teaching techniques, academic knowledge, human understanding, critical thinking technology use, and parent, family, and community involvement.

Have lunch with First Lady Michelle Obama and you’ll never look at broccoli the same way again.

The following appeared as a Guest Commentary in the March 25, 2010 edition of the Lexington Minuteman.  (Photo of First Lady Michelle Obama by Mary Ann Stewart).

I was one of three members of the Massachusetts Parent Teacher Association who attended the National PTA Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, DC, March 9-11. We lobbied the Massachusetts congressional delegation to promote family engagement standards in the reauthorization of Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, and Child Nutrition Act.

Mrs. Obama was keynote speaker at lunch on Wednesday. Her topic was the national childhood obesity crisis and her new initiative, Let's Move, which promotes child nutrition and physical activity.

Listening to her brought back memories from my childhood.

I walked to and from school every day, ran around at recess and gym, and played in the neighborhood for hours after school until dinner. Most days, my family had dinner together. Children ate what parents served. We had dessert only on special occasions.

But times have changed. And now I'm a parent of three children. My husband and I both work. We try to find balance, but the economy and pace of the world has us stressed and challenged. I'm the first to acknowledge that convenience and necessity have won out over healthy habits at times.

In response to testing demands, schools have narrowed curriculum and reduced or eliminated recess and gym. The typical lunch is heavy with calories and fat. Children spend more time sitting in front of TV, playing video games, or surfing the 'net - sedentary habits exposing them to 40,000 advertisements each year, many for unhealthy foods and drinks. Here in Lexington, our record is probably better than most, but could stand improving. Our school cafeterias serve healthier meals, but over the years we have reduced students' gym and recess time.

Fittingly, if the governor signs the bill that the state legislature passed in January, we will not see unhealthy foods and sugary drinks in our public schools. Foods and beverages that do not meet nutrition standards and are not part of federal meal programs would be banned. The law would eliminate fried foods. It would encourage local farm-to-school programs that could double the amount of fresh vegetables children get in school. It would provide continuing education for school nurses and require instruction in nutrition and exercise in schools.

Studies show that proper nutrition and exercise improves school attendance, learning, behavior, and productivity. Thousands of children in Massachusetts depend on federal child nutrition programs to provide up to one-half of their nutrient intake per day. The funding for school meals go directly to the schools - not to students - and provide the support for these programs. School meal reimbursements have fallen far behind costs and are inadequate to maintain the high-quality nutrition standards established in law. Regulations governing school meals programs should reflect current science and health trends to better address the health and wellness needs of all children.

The 2007 Nutrition Act required schools to develop a wellness policy. That was a good start. Along with nutrition education, we need more opportunities for physical activity at every grade level and opportunities to engage families in the policy-making process.

My trip to Washington impressed upon me the need for more funding for school nutrition and meal programs. Mrs. Obama's goal of reducing childhood obesity within a generation is ambitious, requiring school support and broad family and community support. There is wisdom in these initiatives; please express your support.

Mary Ann Stewart is a member of Lexington's School Committee. In April she becomes the 34th State President of the Massachusetts PTA. The opinions expressed here are her own and do not reflect those of the Lexington Public School Department or of the School Committee.

Chapter 70 - Time for Reform

Chapter 70 is a complicated formula created before the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 (MERA). The formula was intended to achieve both adequate and equitable funding for all of the states' school districts through a combination of increased local funding and state aid; all districts had reached their foundation budgets by fiscal year 2000 (FY00) and a few tweaks were made in 2007. The foundation budget measures the minimum spending level necessary to provide an adequate education in each district based on enrollment, pupil characteristics, and the regional labor market.

But, what is adequate for students?  Today there are greater numbers of students who are not English language proficient and who require special education services.

While there is still legitimate (and considerable) debate about the adequacy of the foundation budget, bringing all districts to foundation spending was a significant achievement. No state, however, has seen public education funded appropriately since FY02, when that budget was built following 9/11 in 2001 and so much federal funding came out of education and other areas and went into defense and homeland security.

In Massachusetts, we had seen modest increases in public education funding in FY07, FY08, and FY09 despite cuts in other areas. This year's budget (FY10) was built with a $5 billion structural deficit. No money means cuts to programs. Terrible cuts. Many human services that people look to government to provide, like roads & bridges, parks & recreation, schools & libraries, and public safety have been cut.

According to Mass Budget and Policy Center, The budget being worked on now, FY11, continues budget cuts from the prior two years and recommends further cuts in several areas. Education/Chapter 70 was spared last year and it is level funded this year. In addition, it relies on continued significant federal assistance and on other temporary revenues, including a modest withdrawal from the state stabilization fund.

Many school districts will not meet their Foundation Budget previously determined to be the minimum amount needed to meet the constitutional obligation to provide an adequate education to students in those districts. This would likely constitute a violation of the state's constitutional obligation to ensure that every school district has the resources needed to provide access to an adequate education. While the state could adjust local and state contributions in several different ways to ensure that every district will spend the Foundation Budget amount, it can not, constitutionally, fail to ensure that every district can spend at the Foundation Budget level that is the minimum needed to provide an adequate education to the students in that district.

Last year, the cut was made not to Chapter 70, but to the Circuit Breaker Reimbursement, thereby side-stepping the constitutional violation. However, no one really knows the true cost of providing each student an "adequate education"; the new achievement gap legislation passed last month includes an adequacy study to determine the amount, so stay tuned.

ELL

I spent the first ten years of my life growing up in the soft coal-mining region of the rural Allegheny Mountains of southeastern Pennsylvania.  Even as a young child I was aware that my town was small and secluded.  The one exception was the annual Cambria County Fair for about ten days before each Labor Day, when we would experience thousands of visitors to our town.

Many of my classmates worked on rural family farms.  I knew kids who participated in 4-H, who spent the whole year preparing for their Fair events and were so proud to share their projects with us at the start of school year each August.  

One of my uncles raced trotters each year.  Trotters are horses harnessed for racing - and I had dreams of caring for Uncle Tony's horses at a nearby barn where he kept them.  I enjoyed walking through the animal exhibits, wondering in amazement at the handmade textiles - quilts, blankets, and shawls - and sampling the blue-ribbon jams, and pies!  

I looked forward to riding the most popular rides on the fairway each year.  My neighbor and best friend at the time, Twyla Williams, got me interested in the stock car races.  Our houses were adjacent to the fairgrounds so at night we could hear the racing engines and enthusiastic crowds; we lay quilts on the grass in the yard to watch firework displays.

In the exhibition barns, I noted many speaking with wonderful accents.  Friends of my family had grandparents who were first generation immigrants from Italy and Poland and Germany.  All of the children I knew spoke English, though I realize it may not have been their first language.

More than 35% of people whose first language is not English live in my Town today -- and this is the case in many cities and towns. Many are limited English proficient.

It is extremely difficult for children to do well in school who do not understand what their teachers are explaining.  Language instructional programs, especially in public schools, should involve parents in planning, implementation, and evaluation.

While bilingual education programs are not part of the English Language Learner construct in Massachusetts, such programs guarantee limited English proficient (LEP) students access to educational opportunities. These programs allow LEP students to acquire a full command of the English language, and employ students' native languages to help them master challenging academic standards in all subject areas.

Strengthening this area is one key to closing gaps in proficiency for English language learners.