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1 Family andCommunityInvolvementReaching Out to DiversePopulationsSouthwestEducationalDe velopmentLaboratoryii Southwest Educational DevelopmentLaboratory, 2000. This guide is produced inwhole or in part with funds from the Officeof Education Research and Improvement, Department of Education, under contract #RJ96006801. The content here-in does not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Education, anyother agency of the Government or any other source. You are welcome to reproduce Family and Community Involvementand may dis-tribute copies at no cost to recipients; please credit the Southwest EducationalDevelopment Laboratory as publisher.

2 SEDL is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and is committed to affording equal employmentopportunities to all individuals in all employment matters. Available in publication was written for SEDL by KSA-Plus Communications, Arlington,VA. Graphic Design by David Timmons, Austin, TX. The cover photo and thephotos on pages 6, 12, and 15 were taken by freelance photographer BretBrookshire, Austin, TX. The photos on pages i, 10, 17, and 21 were taken byfreelance photographer Pamela Porter, Las Cruces, job as an educator has grown more complex, morechallenging. It used to be that knowing about curriculum,student learning or assessments met the grade.

3 But increas-ingly educators are encouraged to become experts in parent andcommunity engagement, especially as schools come under morepublic scrutiny than ever before. Parent involvement has always been an important issue to educa-tors, but the way schools have responded varies widely. Some treatcommunity engagement as an afterthought, others take it moreseriously and develop comprehensive outreach plans. Now engag-ing parents and community members has grown just as critical to a school s success as lesson planning, classroom instruction and testing. Why Is Community Involvement Important Now?Schools across the country are growing more racially and ethnicallydiverse.

4 For years, minority populations were concentrated in bor-der states like California, New Mexico and Texas and in urbanareas like New York, Chicago and Boston. Changing demographicsrequire educators to not just think more critically about how toengage culturally and linguistically diverse communities in thedecisions affecting public schools, but act on these important communities is critical to improvingpublic education. School improvement efforts have more stayingpower when parents and community members understand to involve all community members in decisions affectingpublic education often results in apathy, distrust or Involvement = Student SuccessTeachers, principals and superintendents know that parents inter-est and involvement in their child s learning can have a profoundaffect on a child s success in school.

5 Studies show when parents andcommunity members are engaged in schools, students perform bet-ter, attendance increases and dropout rates are lower. Schools involve parents and community members in many help with homework, community members assist withschool events or make decisions with teachers and principals abouthow to improve student achievement. Some volunteer as a teacher saide or chaperone a field trip or collaborate with communitygroups to build support for a neighborhood school. The ChallengesEven though there are many positive outcomes associated with par-ent and community engagement, educators still struggle with howto involve parents in the issues affecting public schools especiallyparents from culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

6 Lessparent involvement is also likely in lower income neighborhoodsand in areas where parents have little formal education or speak alanguage other than English. For teachers and principals in thesecommunities, parent and community engagement becomes asource of frustration, even disappointment. Why is something that makes good sense so challenging to imple-ment in these communities? After all, it s not that parents don tcare about their children s future. Far from it. parents want to playa role in their child s learning. They want to work closely withteachers and principals. They want what s best for their child sfuture. So, why do educators have little success engaging these parents ?

7 Re-think Your ApproachThe answer, in part, may lie in how schools think about parentand community engagement. Too often, schools expect familiesand community members to get involved on their own. Manyschools are finding out the hard way that it s not enough to post an2occasional flier promoting meetings or events. Too often, thesefliers end up in a crumpled ball at the bottom of a student s back-pack. Or, school staff rely on parents to see the fliers when theyvisit the school when few parents rarely visit school in the firstplace. If a school uses the same old approach to involve familiesand community, it will get the same old lackluster results.

8 How Successful Schools Do ItSuccessfully involving parents in the decisions affecting your schoolrequires hard work, but the long-term results are well worth hard-to-reach parents and community members requiresstrengthening ties to community leaders, following through oncommitments, developing trust and building relationships. Itrequires a firmer grasp of the cultural and language barriers thatmay sidetrack educators good efforts, and building this culturalawareness into your efforts to engage parents and communitymembers. Does this mean educators now have to be cultural experts? Well, tosome degree yes. Schools that successfully engage parents andcommunity members are knowledgeable about cultural differencesand how those differences affect a community s perspective on edu-cation issues.

9 Sometimes, it s simply a matter of knowing who toturn to for help. Educators might enlist the help of culturalexpert a local minister or social services counselor, for example,who knows the community or communities in the This Guide for You?This handbook is designed for teachers, principals, superintendentsand other educators who want to begin to develop meaningful par-ent and community involvement in public education in culturallyand linguistically diverse communities. This guide is not meant tobe the definitive book on community engagement. Instead, thestrategies we ve outlined in this guide will help get you started. SEDL s ExpertiseSEDL has extensive experience working with public schools to fos-ter meaningful parent and community engagement.

10 What we ve3learned from this work and from interviewing organizers, parentsand community members is that obstacles to parent and commu-nity involvement can be overcome. Building greater participationrequires an understanding of how culture, socioeconomic statusand other factors influence parent and community must earn the trust of minority communities that have tradi-tionally felt shut out of the decisions affecting their children andtheir neighborhood ve talked with leaders from Hispanic, African-American, NativeAmerican and Asian communities to understand what keeps par-ents and others from participating in school activities. Their bestadvice is highlighted throughout this publication.