Superintendent Payzant presents Family and Community Engagement Plan

The purpose of this memorandum is to present to the School Committee recommendations for a systemwide and school-based strategic approach to improve the quality of family and community engagement and foster student academic achievement. Here I present a general vision of what we should strive to accomplish in the next three-to-five years as well as a more specific start-up plan for the next fiscal year (FY 03) based on available resources and our long-term goals.

BACKGROUND

I.   School Committee Family and Community Engagement Task Force

In June 2000, the Boston School Committee's Family and Community Engagement Task Force, co-chaired by School Committee Member Marchelle Raynor and Karen Mapp, President of the Institute for Responsive Education, presented its report and recommendations to the Boston School Committee. The Task Force presented its four highest priority recommendations. They are as follows:

• The Superintendent, principals and headmasters must state strongly and publicly that family engagement is a BPS priority, and schools will be held accountable for establishing strong partnerships with families.
• The role of the Parent Information Centers should be re-examined.
• The Superintendent and Leadership Team must examine the structure of the Parent Support Services Team. A neutral facilitator should be named to undertake this task and develop a strategic plan for change.
• Principals and teachers must develop a family engagement plan for their school/classroom and set family engagement objectives against which they will be evaluated.

During the last school year, the following progress was made:

• Reinforced family and community engagement as one of the six essentials of whole-school improvement.
• Required schools to include in their whole-school improvement plans strategies for engaging families and communities as partners to foster student achievement.
• Established family and community engagement as one of the four performance evaluation goals of principals and headmasters.
• Appointed an internal work group to look at the role of Parent Information Centers and the Parent Support Services Team.

II.   Reinvention of BPS Central and School-Based Support for Families Memorandum

This memorandum, presented to the Boston School Committee in November 2001, synthesized my thinking about family and community engagement and the importance of redesigning central and school-based support for families. It was a catalyst for spirited discussion, public comment and debate during School Committee meetings in December and January.

III.   Family and Community Engagement Work Group

I convened this Work Group, which included some members from the original Task Force, BPS staff and parent representatives to make recommendations on implementation issues. The group completed its report in February. The report addresses the following five areas:

1. Leadership
   Option 1.   Create a new position of Deputy Superintendent for Family and Community Engagement reporting directly to the Superintendent to oversee all family and community engagement work and resources and serve as the Superintendent's primary liaison with organizations, advocates and groups concerned with parent and community engagement.
   
   Option 2.   Create a newly defined position of Team Leader for Family and Community Engagement, reporting directly to the Superintendent, sitting on the Leadership Team and reflecting the kinds of responsibilities suggested for the deputy role.
   
   Option 3.   Create a newly defined position of Team Leader for Family and Community Engagement similar to Option 2 but reporting to one of the Deputy Superintendents for Clusters and School Leaders.





2. Family Resource Centers
   
   • Create five Family Resource Centers, including the MCPC and the Title I Center.
   • Reallocate funds within Parent Support Services to ensure that the Family Resource Centers provide a new level of service to Boston Public Schools families.
   • Transform Family Resource Centers into a hub for information, communication, recruitment, training, and system access for current and future Boston Public Schools families with a focus on outstanding customer service.
   • Provide Family Resource Centers with a staff of one director, five family resource specialists, a receptionist and one secretary.
     • Specialists should have bilingual, special education, and general education expertise and advocate for children and their families.
   • Rewrite and repost all Parent Information Center positions to reflect the new mission and direction.
   • Engage parents, community members, and district staff in the hiring process.
   • Provide extensive, ongoing training focused on high quality customer service, improving teaching and learning, and effective parent and community engagement.
   • Redefine the work year and work hours of all center employees to ensure that the centers are open a minimum of 8 hours per day, 5 days per week, and 12 months per year, to include at least 2 nights per week, allowing working parents access. This will require all Family Resource Center staff to be management employees.
   • Create Community Advisory Boards in all Family Resource Centers to deepen connections to the communities they serve, bring new resources to bear to support the work of the centers, and strengthen the partnership between the Boston Public Schools, families and the community.
   • Establish reporting lines for the Centers' Directors with either the Team Leader or Deputy for Family and Community Engagement.





3. The Multilingual Communications and Placement Center
   
   • Continue to serve families and students whose native language is not English in a separate full service resource center. This center would provide information, support, assessment services and placement (school assignment) at the MCPC site for all students and families who need assistance in their native language.





4. Title I Parent Resource Center
   
   • Maintain the Title I Parent Resource Center with a focus on helping parents learn how to work with their children to improve academic achievement.





5. District Level Recommendations
   The Team Leader or Deputy for Family and Community Engagement should:
   • Perform a comprehensive audit of existing school-based programs and parent centers that support family and community engagement. The audit should identify particular high need areas (in specific schools and citywide), and those areas must be prioritized.
   • Develop a comprehensive plan with clearly defined benchmarks and accountability measures.
   • Identify best practices for engaging parents and families in ways that support student learning, and develop a dissemination strategy to share those practices citywide.
   • Develop a strategy for training principals and teachers, so that every school is able to build partnerships with families and community that support student learning.
   • Develop a strategy for expanding the number and improving the quality of school-based family centers. Specifically, BPS must develop a plan for phasing in family centers in all middle and high schools where possible.
   • Develop a strategy for ensuring consistent parent and community feedback about the quality of each school and the quality of district services for parents and families. This information should be made public, and be a component of the evaluations of district and school-based personnel.
   • Oversee all resources used to support parent and community engagement in Boston schools (this includes the portions of the Annenberg and Carnegie grants, as well as Title I, GSP and other funds). In the event key resources are controlled by external organizations, whenever possible the Team Leader or Deputy should represent the Superintendent when planning or resource allocation decisions are made.
   • Re-conceptualize the role of parent liaisons, and also train and support liaisons hired to work in Boston Public Schools.
   • Resource to the extent possible, district family and community engagement efforts with GSP funds in order to demonstrate the district's commitment to family and community engagement, and institutionalize this work.
   • Develop for each Family Resource Center an electronic portfolio of every school in the city (including teaching and learning reports, whole-school improvement plans, contact information, etc.). There should be substantially more information available regarding the specific schools in the zone the Family Resource Center serves.
   • Relocate the existing North Zone Parent Information Center from 26 Court Street to a site more accessible to parents and families.

SUPERINTENDENT'S PROPOSED THREE-TO-FIVE YEAR PLAN

It is clear from the Family and Community Engagement Task Force Report and the testimony from parents on which the Task Force based its recommendations that Boston Public Schools' parents and educators share a common belief - the district's and each school's standards-based reform initiatives must focus on improved academic achievement for all students. BPS families want the central office and the individual schools to provide comprehensive assistance for them so that they can help their children improve their achievement. The BPS strategies for supporting parents from all of Boston's diverse constituencies must be aligned with the strategies for improving teaching and learning in every school and for every student. There should be BPS accountability for improving support services for families so that they and educators can work collaboratively to improve student achievement. The Family and Community Work Group Recommendations outlined above are consistent with those of the Task Force. The strategic question is:

How can the Boston School Committee best implement its policy to engage families in their children's education by reinventing support structures and services that will help families support their children's learning?

I.   Goal
Based on the Task Force and Work Group findings and recommendations, I believe that the goal, to be phased in over the next three-to-five years, should be to:

Create and implement a central BPS structure to provide district and school-based services that will improve the quality of family and community engagement and foster student academic achievement.

• Change the functions of the Parent Information Centers to focus on becoming clearinghouses for information to families, providers of family education and training, and supporters of school-based Parent Councils and family engagement efforts.
• Make the Department of Implementation responsible for providing parents and families with information and counseling about the school assignment process, registering students and assigning them to schools.
• Consolidate Boston Public Schools budgeted funds that are now allocated to the Department of Implementation, parent organizations, the Parent Support Services Team, parent advisory councils, and Parent Information Centers to help fund the new structure and services.

II.   Implementation Objectives

A.   Create up to four new Family Resource Centers and a redesigned Title I Parent Resource Center to replace the current Parent Information Centers and provide services to families and schools.

Family and student needs will determine the range of services provided by the new centers. Centers will have a major role in working with schools on family engagement plans. Funding will be available to begin hiring part-time parent liaisons in every school beginning in September 2002. This also will help schools plan for their own family centers as space and resources become available. Over time, the new centers can become one-stop shops for families and educators, offering a wide range of services including, but not limited to:

• Training for principals and teachers as they develop and implement school-based family engagement efforts and learn how to work with parents as partners.
• Integrating Health Services work, e.g., immunizations, nutrition, etc.
• Creating Guidance Support areas for families during peak college search and application periods and providing assistance with financial aid applications.
• Conducting workshops or distributing information to help families understand how to help students improve academic skills, get help when needed, meet classroom expectations, and perform well on assessments.
• Providing guidance to families on how to assist students learning at home, at school, and in the community.
• Providing help for families who are having difficulty getting access to services for students.
• Adding Family Literacy Programs where families can learn how to work with their children on literacy and math.
• Developing a strong re-entry process for students who have left school by dropping out or who have poor attendance.
• Providing more specialized support for families who are homeless.
• Developing "Mediation Programs" where families can work with trained mediators on issues they may have with schools.
• Developing more effective ways for disseminating clear, timely information to families.

Funding for the new centers would come in part from BPS dollars currently allocated to the current Parent Information Centers, Department of Implementation, Title I Parent Resource Center, Multilingual Communication and Placement Center, as well as the Citywide Parents Council, Special Needs PAC, Master PAC and Title I PAC. The BPS would assume full responsibility and accountability for providing information and support services to families. This in no way precludes the parent groups from continuing to function as community-based advocacy organizations.

B. Assign full responsibility for overseeing the student assignment process to the Department of Implementation beginning July 1, 2002.
The Department of Implementation should:

• Assume total responsibility for the student assignment process.
• Implement a more user-friendly process for registering children in schools. Family Resource Centers will be the first point of contact parents have with the BPS. For that reason, it is a logical place to provide the services associated with the school assignment process. Registration should be a positive experience and expose parents to services that will help them support their children's learning.
• Develop a cost-effective plan to implement the complete student assignment process, based on the use of technology, strong customer service values, and effective communication.
• Explore the use of new technologies over time to get information to families about the student assignment process, choosing schools, and registering children.

C.   Establish a district-wide and school-based process for collaborating with external networks and community-based parent advocacy organizations.

• State the School Committee's and the district's commitment to family and community engagement and school accountability for establishing effective practices that support parents as they help their children learn and engage with schools as partners in meaningful ways.
• Promote district-wide and school-based strategies that are responsive and accountable to external networks and community-based parent advocacy organizations that want to collaborate with the BPS.
• Provide central office supports for parents to supplement what the Family Resource Centers will provide. The current position of Ombudsperson has been very effective in giving families access to a person who reports to me and can help resolve problems that have not been addressed to their satisfaction elsewhere in the school district. A second Ombudsperson should be appointed when resources become available who would hear and help resolve the concerns of families who are having difficulty accessing services.
• Address district level systemic issues with advocacy groups through the Team Leader for Family and Community Engagement with involvement of deputies and me as appropriate.
• Work through June 2002 with a consultant who will provide the district with a comprehensive report and recommendations on how we can collaborate with the many constituents and constituent groups who are involved with public education in Boston. This report will provide additional guidance for effective ways to meet this objective.
• Allocate resources in ways that the BPS can be responsible and accountable for their use. Using district funds to staff advocacy groups does not result in this accountability. We want to collaborate with advocacy groups as independent agents, even though we are not providing them with direct funding.

D.   Develop and implement specific strategies for improving family engagement in every school.

• Provide training opportunities for parents, assist in creating and maintaining school-based parent councils, and support parent liaisons who are working at the schools.
• Identify best practices from other districts.
• Use what we have learned from our own work with school-based parent liaisons as part of the Boston Annenberg Challenge and Boston Plan for Excellence initiatives.
• Form new partnerships with organizations in Boston that will offer opportunities for supporting school-based strategies for family engagement.

E.   Develop and implement a central organizational structure to support students, families and the schools.

• Bring academic and other services for students and families together in seamless and cost effective ways.
  • The current structure provides three deputies for clusters and school leaders, which means that each has responsibility for three clusters and about forty schools. There is one deputy for teaching and learning and one chief operating officer. They both have a broad span of control and many direct reports. As superintendent, I have more direct reports than most organization experts recommend. The perception in Boston Public Schools is that those who report directly to the superintendent have functions that are more important and have greater status than those who report elsewhere. This cannot be the reality if a CEO is going to provide high quality leadership.
• Continue during the months ahead to consider changes in the overall central organizational structure of the Boston Public Schools
• Search for and select a Team Leader for Family and Community Engagement and have that person initially report to the Superintendent.

III. FY 2003 Plan

A.   Goal
Create new Family Resource Centers and a redesigned Title I Parent Resource Center to replace the current Parent Information Centers and provide services to families and schools.

B. Implementation Objectives

1. Staff new Family Resource Centers.
   • Eliminate current positions assigned to the Parent Information Centers and create new positions consistent with the recommendations in this report, taking into account the availability of resources.
   • Post the following new budgeted positions for FY 2003:
     • District Team Leader for Family and Community Engagement
     • Center Directors
     • Core Staff
2. Complete implementation plans for three Family Resource Centers and one Title I Parent Resource Center, Summer 2002.
   • East Zone Center at Campbell Resource Center
   • West Zone Center at the Barron Center site
   • Multilingual Center and services for the North Zone at the Madison Park Complex
     • Discontinue a separate North Zone Center beyond July 2002. For FY 2003, Madison Park will house the Multilingual Center and provide services for the North Zone. The addition of other centers and satellite centers will be reviewed based on need and resource availability.
   • Title 1 Parent Resource Center at Latin Academy will not be a full service center but will focus on the development and implementation of high quality workshops and programs to support families and educators working as partners.
3. Focus the work of the Family Resource Centers on four key activities during this first year of implementation as follows:
   • Provide training to principals/headmasters and teachers as they develop and implement school-based family engagement efforts and learn how to work with parents as partners.
   • Conduct workshops and distribute information to help families understand how to help students improve academic skills, get help when needed, meet classroom expectations, and perform well on assessments.
   • Provide help for families who are having difficulty getting access to services.
   • House and conduct the student registration process. (The Title I Center will not participate in student registration.)
4. Transfer the responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the student assignment process to the Department of Implementation beginning in the Summer 2002.

At the end of the first year, each Center and the Team Leader for Family and Community Engagement will assess the implementation of the focus areas and make recommendations for needed changes and the expansion of services the Centers provide. The superintendent will present to the School Committee a report of the first year's implementation in Summer 2003.

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