Priority Products & Services May 2011

Family Engagement and Middle Grades Transitions: The Role of Afterschool Programs Charles Smith, Barb Hillaker, Gina McGovern, Angelina Garner Youth Next, University of Virginia, October 18, 2012

Youth Program Quality Assessment

Charge from Michigan DOE:

Build an intervention for 270 afterschool programs to support middle grades transitions through family engagement.

•  Here’s why: – AS programs have staff dedicated to family

engagement and are focused on transitions – AS programs recruit and serve at-risk kids – AS program models incorporate school

performance data, school staff, community based organizations, families

Inta

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1. School Advocacy and Alignment

2. Academic Socialization

3. School-Community Connections

Core Processes

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1. School Advocacy and Alignment •  AS staff support family monitoring/advocacy during

school day •  AS staff access grades, behavior, and attendance and

monitor/advocate •  Curriculum and prof. dev. communication between

school-day and AS teachers for expanded learning

2. Academic Socialization •  Build knowledge of careers and education pathways and

set short term goals/plans •  21st Century skills assessment: youth self-assess;

teachers and family identify strengths •  Youth-led conferences on plans and performance

3. School & Community Connections •  AS staff support communication between school staff

and families for networking, parent voice and parent education

•  AS staff support communication including school sports, school clubs, community clubs and other opportunities

•  More frequent monitoring and advocacy

•  Greater family knowledge of school performance

•  More time on academic content during AS

•  Youth skill assessment •  Plans for education

pathways and careers •  Youth-led conference

presentation

•  Communication between parents, teachers and AS staff

•  Networking events for HS activities

Outputs Core Processes

Design Principles

•  Rooted in positive youth development1 •  Provides for experiential support & substitution2 •  Impacts multiple levels of systems3 •  Identifies outcomes •  Feasible in 21st Century Community Learning Centers •  Specifies core experiences and surface procedures4

•  Validated by: –  Literature review5

–  Client review and context fit –  Stakeholder demand –  Data & information

Design Principle: Feasibility & Context Fit Prevalence of Aligned Practices6

Core Practices Program Quality Scorecard Indicators

1. School Advocacy and Alignment AS staff support family monitoring/advocacy during school day

57% 97% 96%

Three-way communication AS well informed about child's learning successes and challenges in school AS helped family get to know the school and school day teachers better

AS staff access grades, behavior, and attendance and monitor/advocate

56% Receive student progress reports from school-day teachers during the current year

Curriculum and PD communication between school-day and AS teachers for expanded learning

91% 67%

AS knows academic content of school day on a week-to-week basis AS discusses linkages with school day and/or progress of students

2. Academic Socialization

32% 45%

Students will work on group projects over 5+ sessions Task complexity increases over time

3. School & Community Connections AS staff support communication between school staff and families for networking, parent voice and parent education

51% 13%

AS and Family discuss child's progress in the program each semester Family recruited to participate in and/or lead sessions at the afterschool program

AS staff support communication including school sports, school clubs, community clubs and other opportunities

48% 32%

Community service, service learning or civic participation Community-led sessions or field trips

Design Principle: Specify Core Experiences Core Youth Experiences

1. School Advocacy and Alignment •  Increased talk about school expectations and performance •  Increased advocacy /monitoring experience during school •  Increased active-participatory time-on-content

2.  Academic Socialization •  21st Century skill concepts and self-assessment •  Goal thinking about careers and district pathways •  Baseline goal discussion and youth-led conference7 with

parents 3.  School & Community Connections

•  Exposure/selection of sports/clubs for high school8

Design Principle: Stakeholder Demand Focus on Family Engagement in Program Improvement Plans

•  30% of plans focused on family engagement •  Examples:

–  Afterschool Program will establish monthly newsletter to better inform parents and community.

–  Staff will communicate positive feedback to parents via phone (weekly or monthly).

–  Ask parents to volunteer or to speak at afterschool session. –  Continue to seek community sponsors for our monthly family nights to

highlight both our program and the assistance that individuals, companies, businesses, and clubs give to us. Engage parents through community involvement opportunities and fun hands-on family events.

–  Survey Parents. Meet with staff. Meet with PTO. Organize and planning parent involvement opportunities.

–  Update webpage regularly. Each class create and direct a youtube or website video.

Design Principle: Identify Outcomes

•  Its complicated – where and how do effects occur – Jingle Jangle Jungle – Proximal effects… Non-cognitive? – Transfer – Compliers / Needers

•  Three Other Hypothetical Effect Pathways

Youth  T1  

Parent  Family  Se4ng  

AS  Staff  

A8erschool  Se4ng  

School    Staff  

Youth  T2  

School  Se4ng  

Influences on School Success - Main Effects

Youth  T1  

Parent  

Family  Se4ng  

AS  Staff  

A8erschool  Se4ng  

School    Staff  

Youth  T2  

School  Se(ng  

Academic Advocacy – Moderation Effect10

Youth  T1  

Parent  Family  Se4ng  

AS  Staff  

A,erschool  Se(ng  

School    Staff  

Youth  T2  

School  Se4ng  

Academic Socialization – Reciprocal Effect9

Youth  T1  

Parents  Family  Se4ng  

AS  Staff  

A,erschool  Se(ng  

School    Staff  

Youth  T2  

School  Se4ng  

School Community – Cross Level Effect

1. School Advocacy and Alignment EX: Nashville - Data Systems

2. Academic Socialization EX: Chicago - Skills Assessment EX: Careers Curricula

3. School-Community Connections

Work Samples

Nashville Data Systems

NAZA External

Database

MNPS Data Warehouse

DATA

NAZA Program

Class Roster

(Web Form) MNPS

Chancery SMS

SMS Program

Management (MNPS/NAZA)

Part of the SMS where afterschool programs are set up and students are enrolled into the programs • Information on Program Provider, Location, Staff, Funding, etc • Dual entry of student information not required by program providers

Roster Information

Attendance Info

Operational System where all student information is entered by schools i.e.: • Student Demographics • Contact Information • Grades • Behavior Info • School staff have access to afterschool program enrollment info for individual students

System that gathers data from many data systems (can be internal or external to district) and is used by NAZA for: • Reporting • Data Analysis • Performance Measurement • Impact Measurement

Role Based Security

Needed data is exported outside MNPS firewall • Buffer to protect MNPS data • Direct linkage of external users to MNPS systems is not required • Only data required by NAZA and program staff is sent • Participation data is received and sent back to data warehouse to be made available in the MNPS data warehouse within 24 hours • Basic reporting for programs (i.e. ADA, attendance submission verification) available directly from NAZA database

Internet page designed for site staff to take attendance for the classes they are assigned • Program instructors only see the rosters for students they teach • Program Instructors view directory information for students • Participation data is collected and sent to the external database

Owned by School System Owned by Metro Government

DOMAIN 3 = EXCEEDS STANDARD/ EXPECTATION

Self Control Can suppress own reaction and remedy difficult individuals or situations with a calm and non-defensive manner. Keeps personal matters from interfering and maintains top performance.

Information Management

Can identify, acquire, and analyze information across disciplines to solve a problem. Can extract and understand information from charts and graphs. Recognizes information most relevant to a situation. Can organize information effectively. Seeks opportunities to learn new information.

FUNDAMENTALS §  Appearance §  Timeliness §  Oratory/ Speaking WORK ETHIC/ CHARACTER §  Attitude §  Accountability/ Integrity §  Self Control §  Ambition/ Initiative PROBLEM SOLVING §  Supervision §  Procedure/ Rule Following §  Problem Solving Approach §  Information Management INTERPERSONAL §  Verbal Communication §  Active Listening §  Feedback §  Teamwork COMPUTER §  Computer Literacy

21st Century Skills Assessment11

Career Education – Examples of Curriculum12

•  Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) –  Grades 4-12 –  http://www.avid.org

•  Citizen Schools –  Grades 6-8 –  http://www.citizenschools.org/

•  GEAR UP –  Middle and high school –  http://www2.ed.gov/programs/gearup/index.html

•  Talent Search –  Middle and high school –  http://www2.ed.gov/programs/triotalent/index.html

Works Cited 1.  Eccles, J. S., & Gootman, J. A. (2002). Community programs to promote youth development. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

2.  Crosnoe, R., Cavanagh, S.E., (2010). Families with Children and Adolescents: A Review, Critique, and Future Agenda. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(3), 594-611.

3.  Smith, C., Akiva, T., Sugar, S., Lo, Y. J., Frank, K. A., Peck, S. C., Cortina, K. S., & Devaney, T. (2012). Continuous quality improvement in afterschool settings: Impact findings from the Youth Program Quality Intervention study. Washington, DC: The Forum for Youth Investment.             

4.  Brown, A., & Campione, J. (1996). Psychological theory and the design of innovative learning environments: On procedures, principles, and systems. In L. Schauble & R. Glaser (Eds.), Innovations in learning: New environments for education (pp. 289-325). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

5.  Syntheses on Parent Engagement for Middle School Youth: D’Angelo, A., Rich, L., & Kohm, A. (2012). School engagement among parents of middle school youth. Chapin Hall Issue Brief. University of Chicago; Dearing, E., Kreider, H., Simpkins, S., & Weiss, H.B. (2006). Family involvement in school and low-income children’s literacy: Longitudinal associations between and within families. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98 (4), 653-664; Epstein, J. L. (1987). Toward a theory of family-school connections: Teacher practices and parent involvement. In K. Hurrelmann, F. X. Kaufmann, & F. Lasel (Eds.), Social intervention: Potential and constraints (pp. 121–136). New York: Walter de Gruyter; Hill, N.E., & Tyson, D.F. (2009) Parental involvement in middle school: A meta-analytic assessment of the strategies that promote achievement. Developmental Psychology, 45 (3), 740-763; Kreider, H.,Caspe, M., Kennedy, S., Weiss, Hl, (2007). Family Involvement in Middle and High School Student’s Education. Family Involvement Makes a Difference. Harvard Family Research Project. Retrieved Oct 8, 2012 from http://www.hfrp.org/family-involvement/publications-resources/family-involvement-in-middle-and-high-school-students-education; Office of Head Start. (2012). Markers of progress: Using the Head Start Parent, Family and Community Engagement Framework in Your Program. National Center on Parent, Family and Community Engagement. Administration for Children Youth and Families. Retrieved September 12, 2012 from eclk; Seginer, R. (2009). Parents educational involvement: A developmental ecology perspective. Parenting: Science and Practice 6(1), pp. 1-48.

6.  Smith, C., Akiva, T., Sugar, S., & Hallman, H. (2012). Development and Early Validation Evidence for the Leading Indicators Framework for Continuous Improvement in Afterschool Settings: Analysis of Oklahoma Data. Technical Appendix to the Oklahoma 21st Century Community Learning Centers Statewide Evaluation. Washington DC: Forum for Youth Investment.

7.  Youth-led conferences

8.  Peck, Roser, Zarrett & Eccles. (2008). Exploring the roles of extracurricular activity quantity and quality in the educational resilience of vulnerable adolescents: Variable and pattern centered approaches. Journal of Social Issues, 64 (1), pp. 125-155)

9.  Linimon, A., & Joslyn, M. (2002). Trickle up political socialization: The impact of Kids Voting USA on voter turnout in Kansas. State Politics Quarterly, 2(1), 24-36.

10.  Stormshak, E., Connell,, A., Veronneau, M., Myers, M., Dishion, T., Kavanaugh, K., & Caruthers, A. (2011). An ecological approach to promoting early adolescent mental health and social adaptation: Family-centered intervention in public middle schools. Child Development, 82(1), 209-225.

11.  Employability Assessment Profile. Chicago Public Schools.

12.  Evaluations of Career/Post-secondary Pathways Interventions: Cahalan, M., Silva, T., et al. (2004). Implementation of the Talent Search Program, Past and Present: Final Report from Phase I of the National Evaluation. Report prepared by Mathematica Policy Research for the US Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Service. Washington, DC: US Department of Education; Fabiano, L., Pearson, L. et al. (2006, December). Preparing Student in the Middle Grades to Succeed in High School: Findings from Phase IV of the Citizen Schools Evaluation, Washington, DC: Policy Studies Associates; Hooker, S. & Brand, B. (2009). Success at Every Step: How 23 Programs Support Youth on the Path to College and Beyond. Washington, DC: American Youth Policy Forum; Watt, K.M., Powell, C.A., and Mediola, I.D. (2003, July). “Implications of One Comprehensive School Reform Model for Secondary School Students Underrepresented in Higher Education.” Journal of Education for Students Placed At Risk. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc; US Department of Education. (2008). Early Outcomes of the GEAR UP Program: Final Report. Rockville, MD: Policy and Program Studies Services, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development.

13.  Peck, S. C. (2007). TEMPEST in a gallimaufry: Applying multilevel systems theory to person-in-context research. Journal of Personality, 75, 1127-1156.

Contact:

Charles Smith charles@cypq.org www.cypq.org See the full report for the Youth Program

Quality Intervention Study at www.cypq.org/ypqi