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“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly”

Langston Hughes

What creates a Priority School?

• Fewer Resources; • Lower Standard and expectations.• Low Level curriculum;• Least qualified/experienced teachers.

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Community Bridging StrategiesAmong low income families, parents often seek to overcome negative neighborhood conditions that threaten their children’s lives through “community bridging strategies” that link students to mainstream institutions (e.g. libraries, museums) and expand their web of peers and supportive adults.

Jarrett,R.L. (1999). Successful parenting in high-risk neighborhoods. The Future of children, 9(2),45-50

Current efforts to engage families• Data workshops to help families/community members

understand how data is used to improve achievement;

• Data provided in plain language and connected to concepts in daily life;

• Workshops conducted that help families understand what’s going on in the classroom;

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Adapted from A New Wave of Evidence (Henderson and Mapp, 2002)

Current efforts to engage families (2)• Student work displayed in prominent places throughout the

school and families provided information on what high quality work looks like;

• Family learning activities added to newsletters, organized family literacy /math nights;

• Student achievement data used to develop programs for families; strengthened family-school compacts to focus on grade level academic goals;

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Adapted from A New Wave of Evidence (Henderson and Mapp, 2002)

Current efforts to engage families (3)• Families included on school improvement teams and provided

in-put into the planning process and welcomed in grade level planning meetings;

• Assisted families in understanding requirements for high school/advanced placement courses/job requirements/career/college planning;

• Implement family/community reforms to improve schools.

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Adapted from A New Wave of Evidence (Henderson and Mapp, 2002)

US Teens online

• 2.9 hrs a day• 5 hrs a day TV/Computer• Minority youth one-half day consuming media

content

Source: Northwestern University

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ROLES FAMILIES PLAY• Families SUPPORT children.

• Families LEARN to help children learn.

• Families TEACH.

• Families make DECISIONS and advocate for children.

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“We now understand that new roles for families and broader community must include decision making, school governance and supportive home learning activities. Thus, we aspire to family engagement that goes beyond involvement.”

NEA Community Support for C.A.R.E.

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“Parents, you’ve got to DEMAND more from your children, their schools and yourselves” Rudy Crew, Only Connect: The Way to Save Our Schools

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“America’s future will be determined by the home and the school. The child becomes largely what he is taught; hence we must watch what we teach, and how we live .” Jane Addams

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