The Many Faces of Parent Involvement

Lawrence Family Development Charter School takes its responsibility to disseminate best practices information very seriously. In the past few years we have been engaged in several successful projects to fulfill this important obligation. Our latest accomplishment is a recently concluded parental involvement study funded by the Massachusetts Department of Education Charter School Office.

During the 2003-2004 school year we published a 120-page parental involvement best practices manual entitled, “The Many Faces of Parent Involvement.” The focus of this publication is on successful parental involvement activities in use at six Massachusetts charter schools and the results of a survey we conducted with parents, teachers, and administrators from 25 charter schools. We believe the strategies highlighted in this manual can be easily replicated at other schools looking for ways to have a positive impact on their parent involvement programs.

Parental involvement should be an important element of every school’s efforts to improve their students’ academic achievement levels because engaged parents can impact their children’s development and learning in positive ways. Our school and the others featured in this manual are constantly working to reach out to families; and we encourage all parents to participate with their children’s schools in this effort. We hope the information contained in the manual will provide ideas and guidelines that can be used by all schools and parents interested in this topic.

On October 1, 2003, Lawrence Family Development Charter School facilitated a daylong statewide conference in Worcester, Massachusetts, open to all charter and traditional public school teachers, administrators and parent volunteers. Approximately 100 people attended from both sectors of the public education community. The conference offered a series of breakout sessions conducted by the six charter schools featured in “The Many Faces of Parent Involvement” manual. In addition to the breakout sessions, two distinguished guests spoke on the topic of parental involvement in general sessions. Holly Kreider, Ed.D., from the Harvard Family Research Project, presented on the topic of “Reframing Parent Involvement; Anne Greenbaum, MSW, Director of Boston Excels, discussed the family support approach used under the Community Schools model.

Please go to the links found below if you would like to download a copy of our “The Many Faces of Parent Involvement” manual.

Introduction (141k)
• A Personal Note from the Project Coordinator
• About Our School
• History of Our School
• About this Project
Why Charter Schools Can be Models for Parent Involvement
Survey and Dissemination
• About the Survey

Manual & Conference (150k)

The Family School Connection at the High School Level (637k)
Ain Grooms, Codman Academy Charter School

Collaborative Decision-Making: Parents in School Governance (452k) Deidre Allen & Kate Richarson, Hilltown Collaborative Charter School

Parents as Substitute Teachers in the Classroom (246k)
Carmen Schumann & Lissette Aquino,
Lawrence Family Development Charter School

Engaging Parents: Practical Ideas from the Business World (348k)
Mat Pilotte, Atlantis Charter School

Language & Culture: Multi-Cultural Challenges & Opportunities (2MB) Pam Killilea & Rosa Payes, Lowell Community Charter School

The Family Learning Contract: A Tool to Support (773k)
Parent Volunteerism & Parent Accountability
Felicia Smith & Christine Hardmon, Neighborhood House Charter School

Planning the Action (608k)
• What is Action Planning?
• Action Planning Guide
Project for School Innovation

Survey Results/Conclusions & Resources (7mb)