Parent Involvement at the Secondary School Level: Creating The Parent Advisory Board 1.1 2007/06/29 13:04:08.596 GMT-5 2007/07/02 14:17:11.514 GMT-5 Stacey L. Timmons stimmons@culpeperschools.org National Council of Professors National Council of Professors of Educational Administration gary.martin@nau.edu Stacey L. Timmons stimmons@culpeperschools.org parent involvement school partnership The goal of this module is to provide educational administrators with a practical approach to parent involvement. Parental involvement in the educational process peaks at the elementary school level and suffers a dramatic decline in secondary schools. The information contained in this paper is one example of how parent involvement was increased at the secondary level. Prior to implementation of my parent involvement program there was virtually no parent involvement in the school. As a result of this program, parent involvement began and increased each year. Development Process As a newly appointed assistant principal of a middle school one of my first major projects was to search for an avenue to revitalize a Parent Teacher Organization that was in existence only on paper. The principal and I were both new to the building which left us with no first hand institutional knowledge. After speaking with teachers at the school it appeared that the PTO gradually faded into the background under previous administrations until it was all but forgotten. The school has a diverse population and the socioeconomic base spans from the very poor to the wealthy. The school serves grades six through eight and has an approximate student population of six hundred. Approximately twenty five to thirty percent of the students were black and approximately the same percentages were served free or reduced lunch. The background information serves no other purpose than to illustrate that successful parent programs can be implemented in any school regardless of the population. As I began thinking about how to organize a parent program I wanted to create and organization that would be more than a parent fundraising organization. I envisioned a board of parents that act as a governing body to advise school administration on school policy and procedure. In addition I also saw the board as an avenue to recruit and retain parent volunteers, and sponsor and plan activities that would encourage involvement of other parents in the educational process. With these goals in mind I created the “School Parent Advisory Board”. One of the most important considerations was to choose a name for the board that would elicit the appropriate mind set of the board members and one that would communicate the intent of the board. After selecting a name for the board I began the process of recruiting board members. I initially contacted parents that were know to have been active in their children’s’ education at the elementary level. After meeting initial members of the board and explaining the goal and intent of the board it was important that those initial members sell the idea and recruit other parents. The sell to the original members was not difficult due to the fact they saw the opportunity to be active in their children’s education and to have a voice in school policy and procedure. Upon obtaining five to six initial members we worked together to begin recruiting other parents to serve on the board. As a board we decided to set up a Parent Advisory Board booth on the school fee day, back to school night, and other school events to recruit members for the PAB. As we began our first meetings as a board, it was decided that the PAB would meet one night each month. Initial Phase During our initial meetings I took on the role as facilitator and also developed and agenda for each meeting. While my final goal was to eventually turn the role of facilitator to the parents, it was crucial that I began by leading the group to set the example of how the meeting should be run and to illustrate the types of items that should be discussed and included on the agenda. It is important to run the meeting as you would with any other formal meeting so that it is efficient and effective. Parents are as busy as school personnel and are likely to attend if they know the time they spend will be worth while and concise. As a board we discussed various topics that included arrival and dismissal procedures, homework and grading, dress code, and teacher communication with parents. Yes, these can be controversial topics but keep in mind that by discussing them up front and building a base of support and k knowledge school initiatives encounter less resistance and more acceptance quickly due to the parent support that it gained up front. It is vital as an administrator to go into the meeting with a desired outcome in mind so that you can lead the parents in an appropriate direction. Expansion of the Board During the next phase of implementation, we required that one teacher representative from the school attend each meeting. We alternated the duty between the three team leaders of the building. It was not only important for the parents to see teachers as leaders but for teachers to see parents as leaders of the school and a vital asset to them and the school. At this point I also requested that a PAB member attend d the school leadership team meetings after school once a week so that they could see our process of school decision making in operation. While a representative rarely attended due to work obligations it was none the less important because at a minimum parents realized that they were welcome in the school and it also served to de mystify the school decision making process to a greater extent. Development of Board Leadership As the PAB moved into its second and third years of existence I began preparing the board for taking on a more active role in facilitating the meetings, preparing agenda items, and creating an organizational structure. The board needed to take on a life of its own in order to survive through changes in school administration. It would have been easier to continue to function as the leader of the board; however, to be effective and have a chance at longevity the parents must take over the leadership of the board. Administration must take a step back and act as more of a member and less of a group leader to cause the dynamics of the group to shift. I began this process by asking that the group appoint a lead parent by consensus. The group had no trouble with this task and allowed the process to move forward quickly. This parent was now the point of contact for the group members and the administration. Agenda items were sent to this parent and she began preparing the agenda and co-leading the meeting with me. As time went on the parent was able to take on the sole responsibility of leading the meeting. It is important that administration stay in close contact with the facilitating parent so that lines of communication remain open. Formal Organization of the Board As the group entered into its next phase of evolution and the group bean to grow it became apparent that more structure and organization was needed so that the group could continue to function effectively. I lead the members to the thought that they must begin to organize in some formal manner and to do so that some procedures and organizational structure must be formalized and written. The group was proud of its work so far and agreed that there was a need for more formal structure and organization in order to survive as a viable and productive parent component. The PAB developed a formal organizational manual that included goals, procedures for operating, purpose of the organization, history of the organization, and policy statements. The administrative team met with the board during the development of the manual in order to provide support and school input in the manual. The manual of operation provided a core advisory board and associate members so that the smaller original board could still function as an advisory board to the schools administrative team while still accommodating a larger number of parents. Educational Benefits The PAB’s growth also allowed them to take on more roles and assist with involving parents in the educational process. The board began to host curriculum nights for math and reading to inform parents on how to best assist their children with learning concepts taught at school. No longer were many parents clueless on what was happening at school instead they were well versed in various instructional methods and parts of the curriculum. The curriculum nights increased parent contact and while there is not definite statistics to back up the fact that students better understood material it stands to reason that better learning was occurring. Summary While parent involvement did increase due to the creation of the Parent Advisory Board and positive results were seen, the level participation was not to level that I would have like to have seen. Since the creation of this board I along with many parents have moved on, however the PAB is still in existence and doing well. The current administration continues to work with board on school operations and to increase parent involvement in the school and membership in the Parent Advisory Board. In creating an avenue or vehicle for parent involvement the administrator must use a process that will guide him or her to the ultimate goal that he or she wishes to achieve through the parent involvement. The exact process that one must follow is an unknown until the goal of the parent involvement is identified. While the process that is identified in the body is specific to the Parent Advisory Board it does contain some of the essential components of any parental involvement plan. The questions below are meant to assist you in the development of a foundation to a successful parent involvement program. Development Activities What is your philosophy of parent involvement? Why is parent involvement a goal of your school? What do you envision as the purpose and goal of the parent involvement program? What resources do you have and what resources are you willing to commit to your program? How do measure the success of the parent involvement program? Conclusion and Administrative Role After answering the questions and the actual implementation of your parent advisory program it is of vital importance to continually assess the effectiveness of the program. In creating a viable program, it is a necessity that the program be designed so that it has longevity and will survive changes in administration and parents. As with the any program, the success of a parental involvement program is measured by the success of the students. As school leaders we are charged with developing a successful school program, which includes parental involvement. It is the responsibility of school administrative staff to lead the parental involvement program by setting the stage and expectations for faculty and staff members. While administrative staff may need to lead the process in the initial phases, leadership of the board should be shifted to the board as the growth of the board dictates. As leadership shifts to the board, administrative staff should stay actively involved and continue to facilitate board growth and development. As stated before, a parental involvement program should be able to sustain changes in school and parental leadership to be an effective tool for the school program.