E-Class DirectionsOur mini E-Class has two parts. Part one is to watch the following Ted.Talk video and post your answers to the three questions below. When possible, please respond to classmates' answers, either in your own post or to the person directly. Part two asks you to read the Kania and Kramer article and then email me your responses. We'll be discussing Collective Impact again in Session Five as we delve a little deeper into parent/community involvement!
Part One
Please watch the following Ted.Talk
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school.html
Supplemental information:
http://www.826national.org
http://www.onceuponaschool.org
Please post your answers to the following questions:
1) Dave Eggers mentions "a trust gap" as the reason why the tutoring center wasn't an instant success. What "trust gaps" currently exist between schools and the larger community? How can school leaders address them? Connections to Chapter Two (Build Trust) in Why School Communication Matters?
2) Dave Eggers takes us through his action plan for creating and expanding 826 Valencia. What lessons did you learn about involving the community from his experience? What elements about the design appealed to both students and community members?
3) Think about creating a "transformative partnership" with your school and the larger community. What need(s) would you want to address? What beginning steps might you take, as a school leader?
Please read the following article (on Tasktream)
* Collective Impact - Kania and Kramer
Supplemental Information (on Taskstream)
* Strive Report 2011
* NYT Article on Cincinnati Schools
Please email me your responses to the following questions:
1) Which of the Five Conditions of Collective Success do you think would be most difficult to address as a leader in your school context? Why?
2) How might you imagine/design a "collective approach to improving student achievement" for your school? What are some of the main factors needed to implement such an approach?
1) I think the current trust gaps between the schools and the larger community is the demand for more one on one attention with the students. Earlier this school year, my school in conjunction with our local school board member held a math forum. This forum allowed the parents in the community to ask the elementary, middle, and high school principal questions about the math programs which are being implemented. The majority of the questions were either driven from dissatisfaction about the "advanced opportunities" the schools were using for gifted students, or the lack off attention the SPED population was receiving. I think that our community does not trust we are doing enough to close the gap between SPED and Gen Ed. and we are not doing enough to accelerate students and interest them in the STEM fields at a young age. I believe by implementing a variety of research based experiences, open to all students, we can eliminate the trust issue from the SPED and gifted students. In Chapter 2 Covey states "trust means confidence". In our case, the lack of trust means that the community is not confident we have the ability to service this special group of students. As an administrator, I would push something like "interactive homework" in my school. Parents of SPED students would be more involved with the work the students are bringing home, and begin to trust the school more, parents of gifted students would have the ability to take the information we are covering in class and extend it to the level they would like to see their son or daughter at.
ReplyDelete2) The first thing that I learned from his action plan, was that although it may have been a great idea with great intentions, trust takes time. It wasn't until 826 Valencia began involving the schools and allowing the teachers and community to determine what they needed and wanted the tutors to do, did the tutoring center begin to fill up. Eggers stated in his talk that the community liked that this was not a non-profit buried on the 30th floor of an office building. 826 Valencia was at street level, open to the public, interested the public because they were selling Pirate supplies, and they were looking for nothing in return from the community. The appeal to the students was the attention of an adult in the field. Many of the students did not have parents that were able to sit down and work on homework with them, but when they stepped into 826 Valencia, they had the attention of an actual writer. In addition to the attention, the tutoring center offered intrinsic rewards to the students, the feeling of being done with your homework at 5:30pm and having the rest of the night to play and have a good time with your friends. Also, they were motivated by the feeling of being prepared for the next day at school and the possibility of working on a book that would actually be published and not just stuck into their backpack and eventually lost.
3) As a school leader, I would like to transform the way our community looks at the grading process. Many people invested in my school look at a grade as a reward, and not the education that produced that grade. At the end of every quarter, parents e-mail asking how students can bring their grade up, and I would like to shift that thinking to, what can my student do to understand this material better, regardless of the grade. I believe the first steps in this process would be to use research to guide a parent night where we show parents that the critical understanding will drive good grades. I want to show parents that a student who has mastered the material and earned a A-, is better off than another student with an A, who has forgotten the information because they crammed and took 4 retakes to achieve that goal. I believe this would be a very hard thing to do in a society driven by grades and test scores, but small steps could be taken.
I totally agree with your # 3 comment John. I actually just read an article in a Parents magazine (this is what my life has become) about parents micromanaging their children and being too hands on. I think, at times, we see this when it comes to grades and re-takes. Often, the students are not the ones advocating for the re-take, but the parents are. In the parents eyes, if their child doesn't get that A, then it will hinder their future. We know better than this but it's hard to get the parents to see our perspective. More important than the grade would be encouraging students to do well the first time. They have to have an intrinsic motivation to do well and not rely on their parents or a re-take to improve things.
DeleteYou are so right Jon. Students need to know the material and grades shouldn't matter so much but, that is a hard sell. It is so competitive to get into the "good" colleges and many parents do pressure their kids (and teachers) to get good grades. As a mom of two high school children I really had to take a deep breath and realize that grades are not everything. My kids have lots of options, including college, even if they do not get straight As, but, many of my friends really believe that the good grades their children get is a reflection of their good parenting. While you are so right about #3, you are up against a culture here in Loudoun where a LOT of students have more than a 4.0 GPA.... SO CRAZY!!
DeleteI believe that a trust gap of some kind exists in all schools in some way for some parents. As populations shift as do administrators and teachers building that trust is difficult to do. It would be hard to pinpoint what all the trust gaps are as they will be individual to all students/parents/teachers. My personal trust gap with my administrators is different from some of my colleagues. As the demographics in many schools change how we communicate with the community has to change as well. I believe our biggest trust gap revolves around our ever-changing population as well as continuity in administration. This is difficult to address but we need to look at increasing ways to show respect to our families. Showing respect can be shown in small ways i.e. alerting them to meetings in a timely manner, providing information in their native language and arranging times to meet and programs that fit their schedules are just a few small changes.
ReplyDeleteBy bringing a local well-respected educator to run the program he instantly gained trust with many in the community both teachers and parents. When you do not have that tie-in to the community and are just a “pirate store” building trust is difficult and time consuming. Once the community realizes and trusts you are committed to supporting them attitudes begin to change. The appeal may initially be the pirate store but in the end it is the commitment to supporting the students and through them the families. I really was impressed by how he related that when students had homework done by the time they went home, students were happy so families were happy, then communities were happy and in the long run the city was happy.
At this time if I had my wish list I would like to create more afterschool opportunities fro students to be outside or engaged in some type of physical activity. So many of our students go home and watch TV or video games even though there are many parks just not enough adults willing to maintain their safety. Also many of these students do not have the opportunity to participate in organized sports because of barriers like cost, getting to practices and games and parental support. As a school leader I might try working with local sport clubs and coaches for guidance.
1. I believe that there are several trust gaps present between schools and communities. One of those trust gaps is that the schools are not in touch with the cultural differences that are present among our students. Parents and community members won't trust that we are doing what is best for students if they don't feel that we truly know them and understand the whole child. I believe another trust gap that is present is that parents and community members may not feel that schools are doing enough to educate students. In this society, we recognize that all students learn differently and have different capabilities. Parents and community members want to know what schools are doing to foster those differences and ensure that we are meeting all students needs, no matter what their cognitive ability. From students identified as special education to students identified as Gifted and Talented to all students in between, parents and community members want to know that ALL students are being reached and pushed to their highest potential and they may not feel that schools can guarantee that. In the Build Trust chapter of WSCM, the author gives an example of Starbucks and how they get patrons to trust that their coffee is the best and worth the cost. The author notes that while high trust brings enormous benefits, a lack of trust comes at a big cost. The success of Starbucks comes from engaging customers in its vision. Schools have to do the same thing. They have to have a strong vision, work towards that vision and engage the community in believing in the vision and helping to meet it. This will build trust. In order to build trust, school leaders can ensure that the school staff is on the same page and understand what the school vision is and how important it is. They can also communicate the school vision with the community, ensuring everyone understands what is being worked towards. Finally, they can show the parents and community that their children are receiving what they need within the school setting by ensure differentiation in the classroom, encouraging teachers to participate in professional development opportunities to improve their teaching practices and inviting parents and community members in to the school so they can see for themselves what is happening in the school. Finally, school leaders have to be willing to face the difficult cases head on and work with parents and community members to ensure that they are building trust when it seems to be lacking.
ReplyDelete2. I would say the most important lesson, which I knew but is easy to forget, is that community buy-in/involvement is not automatic. It takes time and a lot of work to encourage the community to even consider becoming involved in a school or, in this case, a tutoring center. Trust has to be gained and a worthwhile plan has to be provided in order for the community to feel that their involvement (time, money, etc.) will be worthwhile. In my opinion, one of the biggest appealing aspects for the student in regards to 826 Valencia is that it didn't stand out as a tutoring location. While they were able to go there and receive the help they needed, their peers who didn't attend and even community members had no idea that they were walking in to a tutoring center. These students were able to maintain their pride and build their academic confidence without people necessarily knowing what they were doing. Of course, this may have changed a bit once the location became more popular, but at that point, everyone had bought in to it and were accepting of and thankful for the work that was being done there. For the community, I'd say it was the opportunity to volunteer on their terms. If they were only available 2 hours a week, it was accepted and they were thanked for their time. There was no pressure to maintain a specific schedule or a certain number of hours. To me, this would be more inviting and I would want to give more time knowing that it was on my terms.
Sorry...I ran out of room. Here is my answer to # 3.
DeleteI would want to address the growing population of students identified as special education and building a support system for these students so they can make progress and feel a sense of pride in what they are doing. Often times, many students with IEPs are only slightly below grade level or exhibiting weaknesses in one academic area. However, these student feel a stigma placed on them by other students and often the community and we do not see the progress that they are really capable of. Other students require much more assistance in the classroom in order to make progress towards their academic goals. Regardless of the needs of the students, as a school leader, I would want to work with the teachers, school staff, students, parents and community to reduce the stigma that these students feel and increase the success they see.
1. My work with the community would be ensuring that they understand that students with disabilities do deserve to attend school and to participate in the same classes as students who do not have disabilities. Often parents want the students separated because they feel their non-disabled students will be held back by those identified with disabilities. This is not the case and it is important that the school leader work with community to prove it using data, etc.
2. For the students, I would work to encourage more collaboration among them. I would like to see students working together, helping each other in and out of the classroom to be successful. This would take encouragement from teachers, other staff, parents and community members, but it can be done. Our students are a valuable resource for each other and that should be recognized.
1. I feel there are trust gaps in each school, but they are there for various reasons. We have a trust gap due to the fact that our school is new and parents don't know quite what to expect. Trust gaps might exist elsewhere due to cultural reasons; perhaps this is a carry-over from their home countries. In order to bridge these gaps, school leaders need to get out into the community and be visible to the parents. Don't always make them come to school; it might not be possible for some families. Door to door visits for some of the school's families would also help bridge the gap.
ReplyDelete2. From the video, I learned that it is important to tap your well-known and well-trusted community resources. As soon as a respected educator was brought back from Mexico, there was an instant increase in participation. There was a closing in the "trust gap." I learned that there are many untapped community resources available that just need to be discovered. Retired teachers might be willing to come back and volunteer. Senior centers are another resource that could be utilized.
With regards to the physical design of the program, I feel the fact that it didn't look like "Kids Who Need Help Come Here" was one of the reasons it was a success. Each center had a theme relating to the area it was located which made it inviting to both the students and the community. The design of the actual program worked because it paired up professionals with students who needed help with a subject that many parents don't feel comfortable helping with at home. It was also free, which made it available to everyone; normally one-on-one tutoring is only available to parents who can pay.
3. As a leader, I would like to address after-school tutoring sessions for all students, available to community centers in the various neighborhoods. By eliminating the need for transportation from school, perhaps more students would be able to attend and receive help. I feel this would be beneficial, especially in apartment complexes that house low-income students. My first steps would be to approach the various HOAs regarding the use of their buildings (even if it is only 2 or 3 days a week), putting the word out to gather tutors from the community, and seek out grants to cover the cost of items such as supplies, snacks, and rewards.
Great ideas in your #3. You work in my cluster and you are so right. This is a need.
Delete1. I think the types of trust gaps that exist depend on the school. At my school, I believe the trust gap that exists is mostly cultural. Many of the parents that live in our community have come to the United States illegally. I believe they are worried that they may get into legal trouble just by entering the school. We have spent many hours speaking with parents that their immigration status makes no difference to us. I think by communicating better with these families, we can help to alleviate some of the angst they may feel. This means visiting them when they are unable to come to us. We have a "Welcome Wagon" that we send out to new families, but I think that we need to expand this to all families in general. Whenever we send home any documents, we always try to have them translated in Spanish. Hopefully by opening up new lines of communication we can build a stronger sense of community.
ReplyDelete2. I think one of the biggest things that Dave Eggers did was bringing in someone that was familiar. This made the community feel at ease, and therefore, trust to send their kids to 826 Valencia. Also, by making the volunteer opportunities readily available, all sorts of people were able to donate their time to work with the students. He also makes mention of it being right it the heart of the community and not on the 30th floor of an office building. By making it appear to be something other than school, students started to come on their own free accord and by offering help to everyone, not just the students who need it, it made all students feel welcome.
3. The biggest need I would like to address at our school is active parental involvement. We have parents that volunteer their time, but as a whole, it is minimal. I think a lot of the times, we as teachers try to change how the parents do their job. By embracing their culture and allowing them to have a voice, I think we could make this happen. I feel in turn, this would help guide them become more active in both school functions and at a district-wide level. To get this started, I think we could go back to having our International Night where families came to the school and showed off their culture and traditions. I also think that giving the community more of a say in school matters will help to empower them and open up their communication even more.
In response to your #3, don't forget to honor the work parents are already doing at home. If their kids come to school regularly, on time, well dressed, and mostly well behaved, they are ready to learn and lot of work was already done at home to help you out. But you are right, seeing parents in the school building would help students bridge that home-school connection.
DeleteI like everyone's comments. We all seem to have similar comments:)
ReplyDelete1) I believe a trust gap occurs when communication is not clear or ambiguous. It can occur over a period or time, or immediately when a policy is released that is misunderstood or not popular with the community. We had many parents upset with our retake policy 1st semester. Parents were very vocal about finding the policy not fair - a student with a 71 on an assessment could not retake an assessment, but a student with a 69 could, and could earn a 100 on the 2nd chance. Parents had several meetings expressing there disappointment with the policy, and the feel in the building with parents and visitors become very tense, Parents were frustrated and emailed teachers, but teachers hands were tied, We looked at the policy in ILT, SALT meetings, CLT meetings came up with a better plan to present to the parents. Once parents saw that the new policy was fair and had better communicated the new policy, we closed our trust gap. I like Jon's idea of hosting a math night. What has come to light in the Leesburg area (found from my focus group meeting with parents) is not all feeder elementary schools are on the same page with teaching the new math students to all students. I know the standards aren't so new anymore, but some students are struggling in middle school math because back in 3rd grade the new standards weren't taught. A Math Night would help build a relationship in the community with parents and the 3 levels of math.
2) I agree with Brendan - I feel that Dave Eggers, when his "tutoring center" wasn't immediately filled with students eager to learn - he turned to people who could help advertise and get the students in. Hosting a program that is developmentally appropriate for all students is hard to do and was a great program to learn about. I especially liked the fact that the center was at street level - not in an office building (30th floor). But the most important factor was one-on-one help. I have watched Mathnasium recently enter into the Leesburg community - and they did it very slowly, sending flyers out to schools, giving math teachers a care package in the local area, and most recently the president/owner attended the latest PTA meeting. She is building trust with the staff, students and parents at my school at a remarkable pace:)
3) I would like to reach all parents, not just the stay at home moms. I was surprised to learn that every other PTA meeting was held at 9:30 in the morning. That, to me, indicates the make up of the PTA:) I would like to see a more diverse group of parents involved in our PTA. We have extremely high and consistent attendance at our school events - musicals, fun nights, PEP nights, information nights. But I believe we have few parents involved in policy making in our school. One mother on our PTA is dedicated to improving the music program - so everything she talks abut/concentrates on is music. So I would like to see more parents and a more diverse group of parents involved in the decision making of our school. Not that I disagree with the women that are on the board - I met with them the other day for my focus group. I have taught at lest of each of their children. I told them that they have high achieving kids that are FUN to teach:) I asked them to put themselves in parents' shoes that have children not so high achieving - but are struggling in school. They looked sad, and told me they aren't doing enough for all students. We have traded ideas and made some progress at addressing some of the needs that came to light in that meeting. I have received emails from 2 of the parents on the PTA thanking me for talking with them:)
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ReplyDelete1. Building that trust between schools and the surrounding community takes time. With the pressure of high-stakes testing, today's community families (particularly in my school) are both heavily involved in their children's schools and very vocal about what is being taught to their children. Many times these families even question their child's teacher's expertise and his/her ability to differentiate their instruction. Clearly, the notion of a "trust gap" is very real in these schools, and each school needs a leader, or set of leaders, to be cognizant of its presence. In order to eliminate these gaps, I believe school leaders need to engage their community members to volunteer at their schools. Encourage parents and other family members to help with copying, be a classroom "room parent", or even sign up to be a substitute teacher. By allowing these family members into the schools, the external stakeholders can see how qualified these teachers are and can even develop a true understanding of what it is like to be an educator. In addition, school leaders can encourage open communication with internal and external stakeholders. This will not only increase the dialogue between the internal and external stakeholders, but hopefully build that trust that is so important when collaborating with a community.
ReplyDelete2. Eggers' early struggles can be a lesson for all inspiring leaders. Despite all of his good intentions, Eggers and his tutors could not gain the trust from the surrounding community. However, over time, he was able to build the relationship with his local families and schools by making the connections with the schools. These relationships take time, but if you approach your community in the right way (through schools, or in this case, as a grass roots tutoring center), then the students and their families will be on board with your vision.
In addition to gaining the trust of the community, Eggers understood that sometimes a tutoring center can come with a certain stigma. In order to avoid this, he created an appealing environment that engaged both San Francisco's eclectic interests and the interests of the attending students. By having a tutoring center "on the main level," he expressed to the community that he was a local center focusing on helping children, not promoting a national organization's agenda.
3. Parental involvement is key to a student's success. Whether it is at home or in school, students can learn a lot from how adults value education. Therefore, I would like to encourage more parental involvement in my school. This can come in a variety of ways. As I mentioned before, having parents volunteer in schools as copy parents or substitute teachers can show students the importance of education. In addition, I would like to hold parent workshops, or educational nights, to inform our external stakeholders the strategies and innovative lessons that our educators teach to their children. These simple actions can really build the trust of our learning community, which can help foster an effective partnership.
1. “Trust gaps” are in every school. The notion of trust comes out or is shown in different ways at each school. At Woodgrove High School, there is a lot of trust put in athletics and fine arts programs. On a Friday night, the gyms are packed with sports fans across many generations. Parents volunteer and support these programs without must resistance. It could be they are reliving their dreams through their children or they really are invested in these programs.
ReplyDeleteOn a different topic we are having a “trust gap” issue among staff. This year we have implemented an equity team that presents at each staff meeting and provides examples on relationship building among staff and students. The equity team is working with cultural competency expert Gary Howard. The thought is that we focus on building relationships among staff this year and next year we roll into advisory focusing on relationship building with students. At our last equity team meeting, it became apparent that we weren’t all on the same page and there was a loss of trust. As stated earlier, we are a fairly new high school opened doors in 2010 and have had 3 principals in 3 years and now are currently in our 2nd year w/ current principal. Over the course of those 3 years there was a lot of damage and mistrust. Folks were feeling lost and not ready to take on advisories and be leaders in their department because they couldn’t see the vision. Folks felt the current programs or things we were doing weren’t working 100% and we needed to continue to get the kinks out rather than implement another program of advisory. At this recent meeting, principal didn’t attend and it was clear the equity team needed his trust and confidence in the new program.
2. I agree with Jenna’s comments of: “I would say the most important lesson, which I knew but is easy to forget, is that community buy-in/involvement is not automatic. It takes time and a lot of work to encourage the community to even consider becoming involved in a school or, in this case, a tutoring center. Trust has to be gained and a worthwhile plan has to be provided in order for the community to feel that their involvement (time, money, etc.) will be worthwhile.” I feel in western Loudoun County we have a lot of untapped community resources. Community organizations graciously donate funds gift cards, provide food and shelter, give scholarship opportunities, and are an open place for folks to feel safe and welcome. I’m sure community organizations do many other things behind the scenes perhaps through our parent liaison. An initiative, I would like to see community organization do is provide tutoring or an after school activity club for kids to go while their parents work. In addressing the elements of designed that appealed to community and students is the “undercoverness” of his tutoring center. Students came there perhaps not having any expectations and just wanting an extra hand or maybe someone to show TLC and nurture. I like the idea of no stigma. I think a lot of times society says “you are dumb if you go to a tutor” or “my child could be just like ______ if I could afford a weekly tutor.” It almost seemed to me that 826 Valencia opened up on a whim with publishing company of expert writers and the tutoring center housed in one building just made sense. However, I agree w/ Jon’s comment I’m sure the evolution took lots of time and patience.
Interesting how much trust is put into sports. It is such a different perspective from an elementary school. However, I guess after considering your comments that it is similar to the trust and involvement I see at functions such as BINGO night and family fun night. Interesting observation!
DeleteIt wouldn't allow me to publish response to #3. Too many characters.
ReplyDelete3. In thinking about the idea of implementing advisory next year, I feel as though teachers and administrators are taxed with everything they have to do. I would like to see perhaps with a lot of guidance and boundaries and criteria set perhaps having a community member be an advisor to advisees. It might be ideal if there was a retired principal or teacher who would be interested in volunteering. Something to think about is advisory isn’t going away, but the volunteer could say nah I’m done and then as a school leader we’d need to pick up the pieces. As stated earlier, I’d like a community organization to provide tutoring or an after school activity club for kids to go while their parents work. In thinking through this more, maybe it was just on Tues and Thurs nights after school in the cafeteria there are folks there who can help with specific subjects. School leaders would need to feel out parents’ feelings on having someone from community help their son or daughter out. If perhaps, the community organization was a religious organization what does the boundaries look like. If the tutoring was housed at the school, what would the screening look like for volunteers?
1. Our school does a very nice job responding to parents. Our principal creates trust by knowing most student’s names and parent’s names. She is also very good at responding to concerns in a timely manner. She is always willing to meet with parents and encourages teachers to make phone calls, send emails, and communicate with parents as often as possible for positive reasons just as much as for concerns.
ReplyDeleteHowever, a trust gap exists at our school for many reasons. First and foremost there is a divide among the staff members regarding support for our administration. The reason for this divide is a lack of transparency. While our administration has the best intentions in mind for students and staff, important incentives, programs, or changes at our school are often miscommunicated or misinterpreted. A great example of this would be when we changed the evaluation system last year. In addition, parents or community members are not on any of the school committees, so they often are left out of important decision making, which affects their children. They tend to find out about changes and new programs after they have already been put in place and are caught off guard. In addition, there is a lack of translation at events at our school. We have a very large Spanish speaking population and while we have 2 translators for phone calls, IEP meetings, and 1-on-1 conferences, we lack translators for PTO meetings, back to school nights, school programs, etc.
Leaders in our school can address these issues simply by being more transparent and providing interpreters at school functions. Inviting parents to be on committees and holding focus groups or more informational meetings, with interpreters, would increase the level of trust throughout the community.
2. When considering how to involve the community in a program such as 826 Valencia, you need to create trust. Dave Eggers involved the community by creating a store front that was inviting to members. In addition, more importantly he reached out to local schools and brought in an expert who had already built trust in the community. He made sure to have volunteers who were experts in the area of reading and writing and made tutoring seem fun. The tutoring space was warm and inviting, and 1-on-1 assistance was provided to ensure that student questions were answered. This programmed worked in a similar way to a collective impact program. Many people on different levels were involved, with the same goal in mind. Experts were consulted to make improvements to the program and most importantly the service was free for all students. I learned how important it is to build trust. Without trust it doesn’t matter how wonderful your idea is, it will not be successful.
The overall design appealed to both the community and students because it was warm and inviting. The building was located right in the center of the community and easily accessible by families. Children were made to feel important and their work was never criticized. From the outside, the tutoring center did not look like a tutoring center, but a specialty shop selling pirated related trinkets. It became a talking point in the community because it served 3 purposes. A store with pirate related things, a tutoring center, and a writing/publishing center. Community members could volunteer to help students and students felt respected and learned how to take pride in their work.
3. To create a transformative partnership in our school each individual would need to be treated as if on the same playing field. The administration would need to respect and recognize the strengths of everyone involved. The community itself would need to be treated as a stakeholder far more then they currently are. In addition, everyone would have to have a common goal and a common way to measure the success related to that goal.
ReplyDeleteIf I were the school leader one of the first steps that I feel would need to be taken is to create a community wide vision for our school. This would require the use of regular meetings and focus groups to gather ideas regarding what different stakeholders view as important in a vision. Since our school lacks a clear vision and mission, we have no common goal that everyone is striving to meet. Following the creation of a school vision teams and committees would be formed to figure out a plan to meet that vision. Programs would be put in place to ensure that the vision is being considered throughout the school. There would need to be regular meetings to discuss different programs put into place and decide how effective these programs are to meeting our vision. I think that this is the first and most important step to creating a transformative partnership with the school, parents, greater community, and students.
In reading over the previous posts, there are so many examples of trust gaps in schools - some are common among schools and other unique to individual communities. Our society seems to foster this caustic environment of lack of trust in our schools - media, government, etc. focus on what is wrong rather than what is being done well. Recent initiatives like giving schools grades based on performance perpetuates this distrust and questioning of everything from the expertise of teachers to the quality of the curriculum.
ReplyDeleteMy take away from Eggers on how to overcome this gap and build trust is that communication is the key. In Egger's situation, he brought in his colleague from Mexico who bridged the communication barrier, letting the community know what 826 Valencia had to offer. Additionally, the organization listened to the needs of the community (relying on the experts - the teachers) for guidance as to what was needed. Schools need to start celebrating their success and communicating the many good things that happen in schools. We also need to be honest about our needs, reaching out to the community for help and using the resources that are available to us.
One message from Eggars talk that hit home with me is that needs of schools must be identified and outside partnerships must be fostered. In this case, Eggers group reached out to the school. This may not always be the case - school staff needs to foster the relationships that lead to partnerships. Inviting the community in to the school and being honest with needs of students/teachers will go a long way. The amazing thing about Valencia was what Eggers said - it was school but it didn't feel like school. Students embraced the help and felt empowered when their skills were recognized. Because the organization was flexible to the needs of teachers, teachers were able to "mold" the services that were provided.
A first step in creating transformative partnerships is to do a needs assessment of your school. Where would students/staff benefit from extra help and then doing an assessment of community resources.
1) I think a “trust gap” exists when your mission is unclear. If the community doesn’t know what you are working towards and how you plan to get there, they won’t be able to support you in ways that they could if all parties were clearly informed. I think a trust gap that currently exists, at least in my context, is that we do not tap into our community resources. If one of our goals is to focus more in the integration of science and technology then we are not using the “tech corridor” of businesses that we live in to our best advantage. Let kids see what these skills can mean in the real world in terms of future careers and let them have some hands on experience. If we as a school don’t make that priority public, then those business partnerships will never happen. School leaders can address this issue by being very clear and deliberate in their communication: let your mission be known, lay out the steps of how you hope to get there, and specifically ask for support.
ReplyDelete2) Most appealing to kids was that the tutoring center had no stigma attached. It was a cool place the kids wanted to be – not a place they had to go. It was focused on enrichment as well as homework help and remediation. Most appealing to community members is that it was an easy place to volunteer. No matter how often or infrequently, whatever time a person can give was considered valuable. Making volunteering easy and manageable will bring in more volunteers. That was the most important lesson I took from this video – make it easy for people to volunteer and they will step up.
3)I would want to address participation in the arts or athletics. We have a very academically focused community who often shy away from allowing their kids to participate in such activities. I think the hardest thing to find, but the most important, would be a core group of supporters who would commit to being in the project for the long haul. I would look for not only time and knowledge commitment, but also monetary support. It could not have been cheap to set up any of the tutoring centers ad it certainly didn’t happen overnight, or even over the course of a month or two.
1. In WSCM’s Chapter 2, Build Trust, the authors identify four benchmarks parents use to measure whether or not a school is trustworthy. Those benchmarks are respect, personal regard for others, competence, and integrity. For 826 Valencia, their “trust gap” came in part from competence. Offering something for free almost always means not as good as something you would pay for. For example, I once acquired a beautiful wooden chest for free. I kept thinking, “No way this is free. I am going to open it and find out that a small animal died in it and it stinks.” But no, it turned out to be in great condition and I was so happy it was free. For 826 Valencia parents, they had to find out they program was competent before they sent their precious children there.
ReplyDelete“Trust gaps” exist in schools as well. There is a little trust built up front through communication that teachers are licensed and that schools are safe, however, if a teacher is disrespectful, trust can diminish quickly. And if competence or integrity are questioned, then you are looking a huge pitfall.
2. As far as Dave Eggers’ plan to expand 826 Valencia, one of the big lessons to learn is to make the program your own. The program needs to reflect the interests of your community. Then build trust by communicating and partnering with all stakeholders. Using Kramer and Kania’s Collective Impact model is a great way to bring a community together for a common cause.
Part of why 826 Valencia is so successful is because of the huge number of volunteers they had available to them. Free one-to-one tutors? Really? That alone is a huge success. Knowing your child can benefit from a real person who can listen to and help your child with specific attention is amazing! Volunteers do it because what is rewarding gets done, and parents keep coming because they see their kids really benefiting. Huge trust building!!
3. Before creating a “transformative partnership” a school leader would need to begin with a vision. What are the needs of the school? Then there would need to be a survey as to what community partners are available to assist with the need. A program like 826 Valencia has a need in our community. We have four Title I schools full of children that could greatly benefit from a free tutoring program. What I don’t know is what companies and community members would want to help. With no help – no program. Finding out who is out there is first big step a school leader would need to take.
1. I definitely believe that trust gaps exist between home and the parents as well as the greater community. It can be as small as when a teacher calls home about a student's actions that day and the parent doesn't believe them to even great concerns. I recently went to a community event on preschools in Ashburn. One of the parents that spoke said that she chose to send her child to a very expensive private school because on a school rating website, her local school was only rated a 4 when most LCPS schools are rated at least a 7. This to me is a prime example of a trust gap. I feel that social media and school ranking websites increase the trust gaps between the community and the schools. I think that there are several ways that school leaders to improve this problem. I think its important to become actively involved in the community that you serve. I feel that a school leader should seek out parents to get their input and act with integrity and honesty. When I was a special education teacher, I made a point of calling every parent of a student on my caseload the first week of school to say something positive about their child. I wanted my first interaction with this parent to be positive so that we could start building trust. While I realize that this may not be feasible as a principal of a school (although I have heard of an LCPS high school principal who goes to visit every incoming freshman's family the summer before they start at his school), I think it illustrates the importance of building trust and starting off on a positive note.
ReplyDelete2. I thought that they 826 Valencia project was fascinating and a great idea to involve the community in the education of our students. I took away several interesting points that would be beneficial for schools today. One was the fact that there was no stigma tied to tutoring which made more likely that students would attend. So often we call tutoring at schools "SOL Remediation" or "Homework Club" which may have a negative connotation to it for the students. I also liked how it inspired the students to complete their homework in a quiet place without distractions (i.e., TV or computer) and then they had time to play outside or spend time with their family. Eggers argued that this increased the overall happiness in the community. I think that this is an important point because I often hear from parents about the struggles that occur at home about homework. Finally, I thought how important it was how the program made it easy to volunteer and would take any help whenever it was available. We often talk about increasing parent/community involvement and I think sometimes we aren't as open to options that could work as we need to be.
3. The area where I work in the county is largely high achieving and full of parents that advocate for their children. However, there are always a few students in every school that are struggling that have minimal support at home and whose parents have little communication with the school. I would love to have some after school activities, perhaps academic, social, and/or sports related in nature, where these student could get more of the one-on-one attention that they need. I was struck by Eggers comment that 35-40 hours of one on one attention can lead to a grade level improvement in a student. I know that at the middle school where I work there are plenty of opportunities for clubs, tutoring and individual work with teachers along with transportation provided by activity buses. I would like to see something similar in the elementary schools along with involvement by community members and/or parents like 826 Valencia. I think it would be important to encourage the students with little parental involvement to participate but also those who have significant parent involvement to decrease the stigma that Eggers was speaking about.
In #1, that is not a rumor. I went with Dr. Brewer on 35 home visits this past summer to welcome 35 rising freshman and their families to "Titan" territory. What was great, was that most families knew he was coming at some point over the summer and were so excited to see him. I am going to volunteer with him again this summer as well.
Delete1) Dave Eggers mentions "a trust gap" as the reason why the tutoring center wasn't an instant success. What "trust gaps" currently exist between schools and the larger community? How can school leaders address them? Connections to Chapter Two (Build Trust) in Why School Communication Matters?
ReplyDeleteThe English as a second language learners have a disadvantage when entering the public schools. Parents are unable to speak English and feel more lost when getting involved with their child’s education. The trust gap between parents and teachers is something I have noticed occurring more and more. We can invite more parents into the school and have interpreters available during school sponsored events. School leaders serve as go between with the staff and parents. They should be able to incorporate ideas to grow the relationship between the staff and parents.
2) Dave Eggers takes us through his action plan for creating and expanding 826 Valencia. What lessons did you learn about involving the community from his experience? What elements about the design appealed to both students and community members?
This was an amazing video and story about how to get involved with both the children and the community. It takes the idea of learning/school and makes it into a fun learning environment that students feel comfortable in. They want to attend the store/tutoring and feel as people care. It gives the students a feeling of acceptance. It provides a place for those students who would not get the help needed. It would be interesting to see a place open around here incorporating the same ideas as 826 Valencia.
3) Think about creating a "transformative partnership" with your school and the larger community. What need(s) would you want to address? What beginning steps might you take, as a school leader?
Our school community is diverse and we have the same issues as most schools. Our ELL population is significant and there is a disconnection between these families and the school curriculum. Parents are unable to help their children with their homework because they do not understand the English language both reading and writing. This is also a problem with communication between school and home. Parents feel intimidated and don’t initiate involvement in the school because they don’t’ feel they have the skills to.
Many schools in the area have night classes that are open to parents of LCPS who do not understand English. This is true when I taught at a title1 school. We had several teachers that taught English as a second language in the evening. This helped with parents getting more involved with the schools. We currently hold a homework club for the economically challenged students. We go into their community and work for 1 hour each week with these students on homework and studying. This is the only opportunity for students to extra help.
Trust gaps clearly exist for many different reasons as already expressed above. At my school, the gap that exists seemingly stems from the fact that we’re an independent school. That alone, unfortunately, separates the school because of the preconception that the school is well funded and that no other donation, whether of time, energy, money, or services is needed. However, that is far from the truth in many ways. We still have diverse needs across the student population and many students who would benefit from outside mentors, etc. But who would want to donate to that “rich, white private school” that “doesn’t need anything else because parents just buy it all”? For an independent school to further develop trust across its stakeholders, there needs to be a connection with the community because often the school and neighborhood in which the school is situated is the common thread for the students and families because the student body comes from all over the Northern VA vicinity instead of a neighborhood or set of streets zoned to attend the school. It’s imperative for the school to have the trust of the families as well as the local community since it is bringing in so many “outsiders.” Just today I learned about the agreements our school has with local law enforcement and emergency crews to use our facilities as training locations for various drills. Allowing public emergency responders to train on our campus is an easy way our school fosters a relationship with the community, which in turn, ensures that our facilities are safe, secure, drug-free, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe moment of the tutoring center’s design that resonated with what I experience at my school was that students didn’t feel they were stigmatized by seeking support with their learning. By creating a fluid workspace where adults modeled academic behaviors, students entered 826 Valencia, unworried about their reputation, therefore, allowing them to leave empowered for the next day, week, and presumably from the video, for life because they received the one-on-one attention so integral for their motivation no matter what level of performance they initially displayed. It’s all in the marketing, right? If there’s a negative connotation association with a product or vendor, failure is likely, but if you market a product without some stigma, chances for success are higher. If I could change one thing about my school’s day-to-day operation, I would rename the last block of the school day. The last class ends at 2:30pm, which starts an hour of, per our schedule, “extra help.” Well, what this sounds like, and what students treat it as, is an hour of time where you go to a teacher for a class you missed or in which you aren’t doing well. What the school intended this time to be for (according to my mentor when I accepted the position two years ago) is a dedicated hour of time “during the school day” to spend on studies before athletics are allowed to begin. However, there’s no enforcement of this time because it isn’t viewed as part of the day (students are dismissed at 2:30pm). What’s worse, in my opinion, is that the 2:30-3:30 time is called “extra help.” I wouldn’t be too inclined to use that time either because I remember my high schooling as a space where you came to learn from your teacher during the class time, you worked extremely hard on your assignments and tried to understand on your own, and you were working on gaining independence in order to be prepared for college. “Extra help” is for kids that are dumb, slow, and lazy. Right? Right. So who wants to be seen going to teachers then?! The number of students that make good use of that time is very low, and those that I do see in the afternoons are usually making up a quiz from being absent or perhaps checking on an assignment. I’ve heard students explaining to visitors/applicants that extra help is a great opportunity to reach teachers about concerns, questions, etc. I just wish we called it something more appealing or positive in nature. I’d be interested to see how the time is used if it were incorporated in a different manner than “extra help” at the end of the school day.
DeleteI would be interested in creating partnerships in the community that allowed students more applicable experience and use of these “21st century skills” with which we are supposedly equipping them. If students had a better sense of what they needed to be able to do, there might be a little more buy-in when we have them work on related skills in class assignments/projects. Additionally, this might validate the role the teachers serve because, as another contributor to the “trust gap”, there’s a palpable line that seems to say to students/parents that teachers don’t really know much, or, as many have said in conferences, that teachers are keeping the kids from certain colleges because the kids aren’t getting all As on their transcripts. As partnerships develop, I think more cross-curricular coursework could enter our schools. In our research course, I studied cases and proposed a plan for implementing at least projects if not full courses that called for teachers of different content to instruct lessons together, balancing the skills of their expertise. The outcomes of such instruction showed high levels of achievement for students because of the decompartmentalizing of their learning, more contact time with content, greater application of skills, and two educators at their disposal, which as a side effect, increased the respect of the students toward the teachers because they saw the teachers as a team (instead of potentially disliking certain teachers because the students associate the teachers with a content that may not be a strength). One of the studies I read during that process was similar to the story Dave Eggers relayed about the essay contest students entered in hopes of having their work selected and published. In both instances, the students were motivated by an external audience and worked to new levels, which truly was transformative. I think there are untapped opportunities within our schools for cross-content courses or even community driven courses like the middle school that actually provided classroom space for the volunteer tutors to be in the school building.
Delete1) Trust is a huge issue in schools right now. There are numerous reasons why there might be trust gap between the school and the community. If the community feels unwelcome or uninformed, they may feel disconnected with the school, which can turn into a lack of trust. A school leader can make or break a school-community relationship. The leader needs to be transparent, consistent, open, honesty, professional etc. in order to build trust within a community. Having a “cold” or closed door feeling doesn’t help to bring the community together; it adds a wedge between the two parties. A difference in opinion can also create a trust gap. Meaning, if the community wishes the school would do one thing and the school decides to do another, the community can interpret the decision, as “the school doesn’t listen to us’, “we don’t matter, our opinion doesn’t count”, types of attitude which again, can cause a trusting issue.
ReplyDeleteAnother issue that can cause a trust gap is when a school only involves the community when they need money. The community can view this in a negative manner that does not help blossom the relationship. Schools should be communicating all the time with the community by including them in different school functions. Events should be announced to inform the community if they wish to attend, even gives them notice that traffic or parking might be a bare. These simple acts of communication can make a world of difference.
The presence of personally going to an establishment to create an open form or communication from the school leader holds great value the school-community relationship. It shows that the school is taking the time out of their day to personally address the community members and this also builds trust.
2) I LOVED the idea of having a really cool “store front” for a place of learning! The creativity that went into the “store” was really amazing! I think that the environment was a place to stimulate inventiveness and add a “non-school” feeling to the tutoring center. Once the centers were fully running it was a great way to bring the community together, support the community and allow people to give back to the community. I liked that he used his own personal connections to reach out to the community to draw attention to the center. He then was able to use the community connections to grow the center (this he literally didn’t have to do much work since word of mouth travels fast!). I was inspired that he thought outside the box and stated using the writing community to be the first set of volunteers; meaning they were capable to offer services during regular business hours because their schedules were flexible. As the business/volunteers grew, he was able to help the volunteers work at their convenience as long as they could offer a two-hour block once a week. This really helps to bring the community together because there wasn’t a feeling of I can’t volunteer because of a work schedule. This opened up doors for all members of the community to be involved and help the children.
I think the students and adults loved the center because it was different and didn’t feel like a school. The students had so much to look at and see how your imagination can run away with you. I bet the kids used the “store” in many of their lessons to create writing pieces or solve math equations! I think the parents liked the laid back feel of the “store” and could easily walk around and explore while their child was learning. They might even buy a product or two! Having field trips at the center also helped to bring the community together and enhance learning. Just by holding field trips there opens the door for students and families who never heard of the center, to come and experience what they had to offer. It was great to see that the center reached ALL learners on a one-on-one setting!
Me again! This wouldn't fit!!
Delete3) At my school I feel that we have little parental involvement. The majority of our parents appear uninterested in their child’s academics or the larger events. It is often difficult to get parents in for a simple conference or even reach them via phone or email. I think this has caused a huge disconnect in the school-community relationship. As a future leader I think the first steps I would take is to offer all the parents a time to visit the school and discuss their feelings about the community. I would do this by offering a set date and time (two days one a morning session and another in the evening) that parents could come to just talk with my leadership team and other parents (like a round table). My hope would be that possibly parents who aren’t the PTO parents would attend to voice their ideas. I know everyone won’t join us but if we could reach those who aren’t always in the school would be a great first step. I would try to hold these meetings once or twice a quarter throughout the school year to continually stay connected to the community to increase communication.
Another communication effort I would make would be to use the phone system. We have the capability of send out important messages using the phone system but it isn’t used at all!! I would have a call go to parents inviting them to school functions (we know they don’t read all the papers that go home, but they might listen to a message or text!) or alerting them that report cards or conferences are coming up. This is a fast and inexpensive way to reach parents quickly.
One idea I would also do is to have an open-house just for the community. This would be a day to come experience some time at our school during the normal school day. I would make myself available to tour the school, answer questions, and provide materials etc. on this day. My intentions would be to increase awareness and to open our doors to the community in a casual setting. I feel that if people can “see” what is happening the relationship can grow and a great deal of trust can be formed.
826 Valencia wasn't an immediate success, because of what Dave Eggers described as “a trust gap”. The trust gap was between the store/tutoring center and the community. People didn't understand what was going on inside Valencia. They had no reason to believe the signs for free tutoring. These same kinds of trust gaps occur exist between schools and the larger community. Schools are continuously asking for more money and taxpayers look back at their own educational experiences and can’t imagine a need for more. It always amazes me when people say things like we did just fine with a blackboard and chalk, what more could they possibly need. One of the best ways to eliminate the “trust gap” is communication. Leaders need to communicate what is happening in the schools. They need to open the doors and let the community in. When people start to see and understand all that is actually happening in the schools, they will become more supportive of the school system on the whole.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jenna, when she states that the most important lesson is that community buy-in/involvement is not automatic and takes time. One of the things that really worked at Valencia is having the community and students work side by side. It became a great place for all students and community members to get work done. There was no negative connotation associated with the place. Of course, this type of community involvement takes time but in the end it is worth it. It becomes a win-win for all involved.
Creating a partnership with the community it very important and as a leader, I would address the need for more one-on-one support for our struggling readers. I think the first step is looking at programs that already exist and deterring what would work in our environment and what could be improved upon. We have a lot of very educated parents, many of whom stay home during the day. I would like to encourage them to volunteer as tutors during the school day. Not only would this benefit our struggling readers but it could benefit our school as a whole. The more parents are involved the more they are willing to add to the school with time and money.