Relationships: The Role of a Home School Coordinator in a Small School System 1.1 2007/07/03 10:43:59.652 GMT-5 2007/07/03 11:57:21.370 GMT-5 Anne Louise Unruh unruhal@lcps.k12.va.us National Council of Professors National Council of Professors of Educational Administration gary.martin@nau.edu Anne Louise Unruh unruhal@lcps.k12.va.us school partnerships The goal of my lesson is to define and clearly implement the role of a home school coordinator in a small school district. My emphasis is in four areas: communication, home visits, the school environment, and professional development. This is a position that has great potential for improving parental involvement among two of our elementary schools and hopefully incorporating another school next year. There is a need to more clearly define the role and document its effectiveness. The person who is currently in this position does not have an education background but does have a social work degree. The goal of my lesson is to define and clearly implement the role of a home school coordinator in a small school district. My emphasis is in four areas: communication, home visits, the school environment, and professional development. This is a position that has great potential for improving parental involvement among two of our elementary schools and hopefully incorporating another school next year. There is a need to more clearly define the role and document its effectiveness. The person who is currently in this position does not have an education background but does have a social work degree. Developing an Action Plan for the Home School Coordinator: Over the past two years our school system has had the privilege of having home school coordinator position. This position was funded by our Title 1 program in an effort to improve parental involvement within the two Title 1 schools in our county. Although the funding may be eliminated, the position will remain for at least another year. This provides the motivation to define the role more clearly in an effort to gain school board recognition of the importance of the position. In its first year of existence, this position was undefined. A clear role in regards to responsibilities of the coordinator had not yet been defined. The task of molding this home school coordinator position into a job that would truly meet the needs of our Title 1 schools was passed on to me as I entered the position of director of instruction. Upon beginning this task, it became clear that the expectations of the school and the coordinator differed. It is now apparent that more specific goals are needed in order for our schools to gain success with parental involvement. In an effort to evaluate the coordinator in the position, I examined four components: communication, home visits, relating to the school environment, and professional development. These areas encompass the role of the coordinator and clearly define the expectations to the teachers and the community in which this person serves. Communication Our home school coordinator established several modes of communication that seemed effective with parents, teachers, and his supervisor. After meeting with each principal, the coordinator and I discussed what the needs were at each school along with a few necessary components for documentation as it relates to parental involvement in the Title 1 programs. Each school prioritized a list of families who needed to be contacted by phone and through home visits. The criteria consisted of attendance record, progress, and information that needed to be relayed to the home about concerns the school had about the student’s progress. The coordinator gathered all the demographic information from the office and made phone contact first with the parent. After a conversation introducing himself and his role, the coordinator set up a time for a home visit. There were times when a parent opted to just talk on the phone. Once the coordinator was able to enter the home, his main purpose was to establish a relationship with the parent and the student in an effort to build trust. He would explain his role as not being one of administrative or social work but one of a liaison with the school. He wanted to encourage and invite the parents to visit the school and become involved in their child’s educational career. As research shows, parental involvement is at the top of the list for improving student achievement. The coordinator kept records on the number of home visits made each week and the number of phone calls per week. After each visit, he took notes on the visit so that he could relay any relevant information back to the school. The coordinator would always leave information about the school such as upcoming events with the parent in an effort to establish the invitation to enter the building. On occasion, the coordinator would deliver work or books to the home for the parents to work with their child at home. The school system has adopted a community program called “books for babies”. Sometimes during the visit by the coordinator, he would notice there were younger siblings and would present the family with a small book and a few coupons which could be used in the community. Those items have been donated by organizations within our county. Home Visits The most difficult task for the coordinator was setting a goal for the number of families to physically visit. Establishing a schedule, contacting parents, meeting with teachers and administrators, and reserving a county car were some of the components of the visit that made it successful. The documentation kept on each visit was vital to the school. Once the visit took place, the coordinator reported back to the school and left notes for the teacher and administrator. If needed there was another meeting to clarify any information that was obtained. The challenges were often finding the home and the events of the actual visit. Entering someone’s home with little or no prior knowledge or established relationships, can be an ominous challenge The coordinator often remained at the door until the parent or he felt comfortable entering the house. During this school year, our coordinator has not encountered any unsafe environments, but he does remain cautious about his visits. At the end of the each month, he entered his contacts and any documentation into a chart and emailed those to me as well as to the individual schools. I scheduled a meeting with him and we discussed each visit and what the needs of the parents and the school were in order to get the parents to the school. If the parents would not go to the school, the coordinator respected that and reported it to me and the school. As long as they were willing to communicate with him that opened a door that had not previously been opened. The School Environment This component of the coordinator’s position was as important as the home visits because it built a strong relationship between the student and the coordinator and also the teacher and the coordinator. He spent time in the classroom observing instruction and the routines of the classroom. This gave him as accurate picture of how specific students are achieving as well as their behavior patterns. When he conferenced with the teacher, he gathered more information and felt more confident discussing the needs for the student as opposed to writing comments on a report. The most important part was that the coordinator can relay specific information to parents about what he observed in the classroom. He built a relationship with the student as well. His experience, as shared with me was that once he has made the home visit and the student realized that he was not there as an administrator, the coordinator built a level of trust with the student. When they met in the classroom, the student realized that the coordinator was there to help him. Also he noted to me that the teacher, knowing he visited the home, seemed more comfortable talking about the student and began to contact those parents more than he/she would normally. It took time to go into classrooms, observe, talk to the teacher and the student, and then relay that information to the home. It was vital that the coordinator prioritized the list of targeted students and make the teacher aware that his schedule may not permit him to be in the classroom as often as the teacher preferred. Professional Development The home school coordinator has been an active participant in many staff development activities throughout the school year. He has participated in school wide professional retreats where data and school improvement goals are analyzed and goals for the new school year were written. The coordinator has also assisted with parent workshops and participated in read aloud activities with parents and students. Through these activities he has gained knowledge that has been important in providing information to parents. I requested that the coordinator receive training in technology not only to make his job more efficient but also to understand how technology is integrated into the curriculum. Conclusion As I reflected on this past school year and the various tasks the home school coordinator completed at each of the schools, I realized that although there has been some improvement over the first year, it will be important to have a more defined plan for him this coming school year. That plan needs to be designed in collaboration with the schools involved. This summer I plan to meet with the coordinator and the principals to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the program and to develop a specific plan with achievable goals. The areas of communication, home visits, school environment and professional development will be the framework for the action plan. I believe by having a more defined role, the elementary schools will gain more appreciation for the home school coordinator position and ultimately parental involvement will begin to improve. The improvement, as a result of this plan, may take more than one year but the change in effectiveness may be noticed quickly since the position has been there for two years. The data and needs assessment gathered will show how effective the program is for Louisa County Public Schools.