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NYCpublic.org’s
Parent Engagement Lab:
a parent-‐centered process to yield mul8ple ideas for genuine parent
engagement in NYC schools
November 2013
NYCpublic.org used the following slideshow as part of its Talking Transi+on presenta8on (11/21/13).
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A project of the Fund for the City of New York, NYCpublic seeks to connect parents: ! to the issues they care about, ! to other parents who share their concerns, ! to ways of taking ac8on, ! and to resources and organiza8ons that can make
their ac8ons even more powerful.
Table of Contents
5-‐8 Overview
9 Why a Parent Engagement Lab?
10-‐19 The PEL Process: Step-‐by-‐Step
18-‐20 Research Basis and Reac8on
22-‐53 Compendium of Ideas Generated at the PEL
54-‐57 About NYCpublic.org
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“The idea was that if you give parents be9er results, be9er service — 311 sorts of things — and more choice, then you don’t need poli+cs, they don’t need par+cipa+on, they don’t need to be involved because they’ll get what they want as a consumer,” Jim Liebman [former Chief of Accountability, NYCDOE] said. “And I think that’s true for some things, but it turns out that public educa+on is something that parents really, deeply want to be involved in.” -‐-‐ Gotham Schools, 11/20/13
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What might “real” parent engagement look like in NYC’s public
schools?
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parents from all boroughs abended
160 “solu8ons” were generated
4 mayoral campaigns sent candidates or staff
4 mayoral campaigns sent candidates or staff
parents from all boroughs abended
160 “solu8ons” were generated
Three Goals of the Day
! Model a new process for parent engagement
! Re-‐envision parent engagement in NYC public schools
! Present parents’ solu8ons to mayoral candidates
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Why a Parent Engagement Lab? ! The Parent Engagement Lab is NYCpublic’s version of the charrebe.
! The charrebe, a structured brainstorming protocol with roots in architecture, invites full par8cipa8on and collabora8on between diverse stakeholders.
! Parent Engagement Labs support parents as they move from iden8fying challenges to building solu8ons (together).
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Step 1: A panel of experts spoke to par8cipants about the current state of parent engagement in NYC and beyond.
Lisa Donlan, CEC 1 President How has mayoral control impacted parents’ access to power and input into decision making?
Kim Sweet, Execu8ve Director of Advocates for Children Under mayoral control law, what powers are legally accorded to parents?
Fran Huckaby, Professor of Educa8on at TCU How are parents organizing & engaging across the country to improve schools?
NYC SCHOOL GOVERNANCEparent, teacher and community involvement structure
CPACChancellor’s Parent Advisory Council
DLTDistrict Leadership Team
SLTSchool Leadership Team
Parent (Teacher) Association
UFT Chapter Leader
CCELLCitywide Council English
Launguage Learners
CCSECitywide Council on
Special Education
CDSCommunity District
Superintendent
CDECCommunity District Education Council
Title One DPAC
Title One PAC
DFADistrict Family
Advocate
Principal
PCParent Coordinator
CCHSCitywide Council on
High Schools
Presidents CouncilUFT DRUFT District Rep
MAYOR
Chancellor
DOE Department Of
Education
DFACE Division of Family And
Community Engagement
PEPPanel on
Educational Policy
CIT
YW
IDE
CO
MM
UN
ITY
SCH
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Step 2: In breakout groups, par8cipants iden8fied the impacts of the current parent-‐engagement model.
200 post-‐its captured over 200 “impacts.” 11
Par8cipants noted impacts anywhere that parents interact with the school system.
! at the school level (e.g., language barriers make it hard to have in-‐depth conversa8ons about their child’s progress, or to par8cipate in the PTA)
! at the district level (e.g., parents are not consulted for key district decisions like what kinds of new schools are needed or where to site them)
! at the central level (e.g., parents are seen as a group to be managed and policies are rolled out without parents’ input)
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Step 3: Groups brainstormed solu8ons that addressed the challenges iden8fied in the first session and suggested ways forward for the next mayor.
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Some of the ideas that emerged
The mayor could adopt the following approaches to his new job:
! See himself as working in service of the schools and not as someone who must control them;
! Create policies that come from a variety of stakeholders, educators, parents, administrators, community members, and experts in the field;
! Appoint an educator to the posi8on of Chancellor.
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Step 4: Breakout groups each selected one idea to flesh out and worked with a graphic designer to
illustrate and clarify their idea.
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Step 5: Breakout groups present “big ideas” to mayoral candidates or their representa8ves.
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Step 6: Every post-‐it and drawing was collected. Documenta8on of parents’ collabora8on ensures
con8nued life for their ideas.
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“…what is needed to improve schools is an ac+ve ci+zenry, invested in solving educa+onal problems through public
delibera+on.”
-‐ Kenneth Howe and David Meens, Democracy LeJ Behind, 2012
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There is a research-‐base for this method of engagement.
The feedback on the process was very posi8ve, as well.
“This was a really authen+c process where ideas and input came from the ground up from parents who are out there every day. [This is] a wonderful start...and the type of dialogue that needs to happen throughout the city and that I think will be really helpful … to all of the candidates.”
Jan Atwell City Council Educa8on Policy Analyst
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We promised that we would share the day’s outcomes with the next
mayor.
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COMPENDIUM
Answers to the ques8on “What might ‘real’ parent engagement look
like under the next mayor?”
All ideas* generated during the NYCpublic.org Parent Engagement Lab
(charrebe)
December 2012
*These have been sorted and categorized. • 21
Create structures that priori8ze/privilege parent engagement.
Category 1
! Strengthen the current structure to meaningfully include parents
or work to change the structure.
! “Accountability” should include how well a school or the system invites and listens to parents’ voices.
! Publish a “report card” for parent engagement at each school determined by authen8c parent surveys and input.
! Create a citywide leadership team where all cons8tuents (parents, students, teachers, principals, advocates) weigh in on policy issues.
! Establish regular “town mee8ngs” where the mayor just listens to issues. He or she can start the next mee8ng by recoun8ng what he or she heard and what his or her progress is on each issue.
! Establish office hours where reps or the mayor hears from parents.
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! Create a truly inclusive system that mandates real parent and community input in decisions at the school, district, or city level.
! Provide for (parent involvement) as a line in each school’s budget to pay for trainers and technical assistance (same as DYCD and other agencies that provide services through CBOs).
! Create a parent feedback system that is not abached to the Progress Report.
! Each school could create a shared project with teachers and parents (this could be about any issue in the school, like how to create less waste at lunch) with the goal of fostering communica8on and collabora8on.
! Each cabinet member is given the task to meet with 100 parents, each year, to discuss and debate policies.
! Create real/meaningful volunteer roles for parents and provide training support.
! Train school personnel on the rights of children and parents, respect and friendliness.
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Take steps to guarantee that parents on
School Leadership Teams (SLTs) have a real voice in school level decisions.
Category 2
! Implement the enforcement of legislated avenues for parent input.
! Ensure real well-‐func8oning SLTs. ! Give SLTs members comprehensive training so they understand the poten8al of their role and can make meaningful contribu8ons.
! Principals should not chair SLTs. ! Add evalua8on of power sharing on SLT to the Quality Review.
! Comprehensive Educa8on Plans (CEPs) should be streamlined and re-‐evaluated, and should play a role in school/principal evalua8ons.
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Take a close look at PTAs across the city and
find ways to strengthen them all.
Category 3
! Help PTAs get a sense of how well they are func8oning in rela8on to other PTAs.
! Offer those that are struggling or whoever wants it opportuni8es for support.
! Ins8tute Peer-‐to-‐Peer exchange between PTAs where they share: ! Agendas ! Outreach ! Fundraisers ! Newslebers ! How to run mee8ngs
! New PTA presidents are mentored by seasoned PTA presidents:
! Check to see that PTA Presidents Councils are func8oning. ! Presidents Councils should let parents know their rights. ! Empower PTAs to func8on as key partners in school community.
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Re-‐examine the role of Parent
Coordinator.
Category 4
! Parent coordinators should not report to the principal (conflict of interest).
! The parent coordinator’s focus should be on uni8ng and suppor8ng parents.
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Restructure so that elected bodies (Community Educa8on Councils and the Panel on Educa8onal Policy) act as checks and balances for the Mayor/
Chancellor.
Category 5
! Give Community Educa8on Councils (CECs) authen8c authority to impact decision making.
! Give CECs approval over co-‐loca8ons and opening/closing/trunca8ng schools.
! Elect CEC reps directly by all parents using cumula8ve vo8ng. ! Empower CECs to roll call vote on Panel for Educa8onal Policy (PEP)
policies. ! Allow CECs to create job descrip8ons and supervise, inform, train
and evaluate parent coordinators with input from PTAs. ! Re-‐make the PEP so that parent representa8ves are the majority
and all members serve fixed terms. ! Put parents on the PEP -‐-‐ should be like the School Leadership
Team (SLT), where #Educators= #Parents ! Change supervision of Presidents Council to include PTA execu8ve
board. ! Give PEP appointees independence to not rubber stamp. ! Give up mayoral majority on the PEP.
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Return power to superintendents.
Category 6
! Let superintendents back in schools, supervising principals.
! Superintendent reports to the Community Educa8on Council (CEC).
! Make the community superintendents the place where the buck stops for policy, budget, and complaints.
! Air complaints in public monthly mee8ngs.
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Mayoral control -‐-‐ consider giving it up.
Category 7
! Allow parents to create a survey to assess mayoral control
! Give power back to stakeholders and support the sunset of mayoral control
! Run schools with an elected school board just as the districts in NY state do
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Define a new role for City Council
and other elected officials.
Category 8
! Give more elected power for checks and balances (City Council)
! Use local elected officials community-‐based exper8se and invite them to influence policies
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Create ways for parents to get answers
and follow up.
Category 9
! Create ombudspeople who can listen to complaints and direct parents to actual solu8ons. They should follow up (carry a caseload) too.
! Make ads and post them everywhere in various languages to no8fy parents of a hotline site where parents can go with their problems.
! Contact info should be posted clearly in each school office.
! Set up an anonymous hotline where parents can ask or tell their problems without fear of retribu8on.
! Require schools to post: name, address, phone # of troubleshoo8ng offices in mul8ple languages.
! Create a “road map” for where parents can go with their concerns.
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Create more independent, parent-‐
led support.
Category 10
! Have Title I parent involvement money go to organiza8ons controlled by parents, not the Department of Educa8on.
! Contract with mul8ple outside organiza8ons with parent-‐advocacy exper8se.
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Use charrebes, or convenings like them,
to solicit real input.
Category 11
! Mandate cross-‐district communica8ons and mee8ngs, for Community Educa8on Councils, School Leadership Teams, PTA.
! Solicit input from parents in a real way and use this to make policy. ! Create a system of roundtables to invite input and allow that input to
influence policy. ! Use networks to connect parents – create facilitated discussions. ! Ins8tute Chancellor mee8ngs with parents in every district, with
translators, and report back to parents on result of concerns – may break into small groups with deputy chancellors and report back to group.
! Invest resources in winning the par8cipa8on of many, many stakeholders. ! Have frequent events, maybe monthly even, that involve parents within a
district, within a community, to have their voices heard on the issues that concern them.
! Use highly inclusive, par8cipatory models like the charrebe to rethink school placements, closures, and new school development.
! Treat new school placement and development as something whose success depends on early/deep Community Educa8on Council/community input in the design phase.
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Opening doors at the top will invite open doors in schools too.
Category 12
! Inspire/make principals truly open their doors to all parents.
! Give parents greater access to their children’s classrooms so that they are able to observe how their children’s school is run.
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Make it possible for parents who do not speak English as a first language to truly engage with their
schools and the system.
Category 13
! Have translators/dual language support so everyone is heard equally. (Just try and incorporate us!)
! Conduct mee8ngs in the first language of parents and translate for English speakers.
! Create “transla8on squads.” Students get credit and are trained to be interpreters at all events and mee8ngs (similar to “mouse squads”).
! Give grants to Community-‐Based Organiza8ons (CBOs) for them to offer transla8on/interpreta8on services in schools.
! Work with parents who are bilingual and offer workshops. ! Hire staff (teachers, admin, etc.) who speak the languages of
the community. ! The Department of Educa8on (DOE) needs to make training
school leaders truly inclusive (in terms of language and culture).
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Explore/create policies that will make
the system more equitable.
Category 14
! Put integra8on back on the table as a priority. ! Create schools in all neighborhoods that parents would feel proud
to send their kids to. ! Ask communi8es about what school they might want to see in their
neighborhood and then request proposals that can meet this need. ! Look at special needs as a diversity and treat it as a civil rights issue. ! Provide adequate resources to children with disabili8es, making
parents sign off as a legi8mate part of the process. ! Parents evaluate Individualized Educa8on Plan (IEP) process/
service.s ! Parents of children with special needs receive training that explains
their rights. ! Leadership/parent development should include working across
cultural differences. ! Make provisions for “Parent duty” (like the Family Leave Act). ! Require all employers in NYC to provide 8me for parents to
par8cipate in children’s schools. (Can be a voucher system.)
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Create new web tools/social media
outreach.
Category 15
! Create/sponsor web-‐based tools for parent educa8on and involvement for each school.
! Create local wikis/blogs. ! Create websites that allow parents to have a voice. Department of Educa8on staff should monitor these and respond to ques8ons and concerns.
! Fund tools that allow parents to connect remotely via blogs, community forums; share best prac8ces from all schools.
! Provide innova8ve and concrete ways for parents to connect (for example, a group for kindergarten parents across the city).
! No8fy and encourage all parents of their op8ons for engagement in decision-‐making.
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NYCpublic.org’s projects enable public school parents to:
! learn about educa8on policy issues ! connect and collaborate with other parents across geographical, economic, social, and ethnic divides
! maximize the reach of parent-‐led campaigns through a variety of online and offline tools
! build solu8ons and take ac8on!
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What is NYCpublic.org up to right now?
We are:
! Building an online playorm that allows parents to learn, organize, and take ac8on,
! Collabora8ng with CEC 1 to do a Parent Engagement Lab (PEL) focused on
a new school space in their district, and ! Designing “Parents Welcome Here.” Essen8ally a school-‐based Parent
Engagement Lab, Parents Welcome Here has parents and school staff come together to tackle a challenge, such as what to do about food waste in the cafeteria. This common cause promotes community-‐building and a sense of allyship.
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NYCpublic is proud to have received grants and
dona8ons from:
Gale Brewer (during her tenor as a City Councilperson) Elance Estelle Harris Four & Twenty Blackbirds Renee Rosenberg Maizie and Sue Schaffner We are especially thankful to Jack and Helen Gorelick for their recent giz, to our fiscal sponsor, Fund for the City of New York, and to Talking Transi8on for providing us an inspira8onal space to share this report. We invite you to add your name to this list.
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