There are no financial interest to disclose.

Presenter Disclosures15th Annual Conference on Advancing

School Mental Health

Three Tiers for Family EngagementTrina W. Osher, Huff Osher Consulting, Inc.Tammy R. Stembridge, Cleveland Metropolitan School District

Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental HealthAlbuquerque, NMOctober 7, 2010

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• Humanware in Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD)• Definitions• The 3-Tier Model• How CMSD applied the

model• Lessons learned

Agenda

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• Humanware uses evidence-based programs and best practices to ensure that human resources in schools, families, and the community function together to improve conditions for learning and student achievement.

Humanware at this conference:– Cleveland Metropolitan

School Districts Efforts to Foster and Sustain School-Family-Community Collaboration and Effectively Support Student Well-Being: Conference Session IV

– Creating Positive Learning Conditions for Students who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender or Questioning: Conference Session X

– Poster Session

Humanware in Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD)

• A Family Engagement Task Force was formed to make recommendations about implementing a 3-tiered approach that would:– Make schools more family friendly and welcoming

to all parents;– Provide additional supports to groups of families;

and– Reach out to individual families and address the

barriers and challenges they face.

Humanware and Family Engagement

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Family Involvement with Schools

• Includes activities for parents that are organized by the school to support school programs and student learning. • Cleveland Metropolitan School District offers families

a number of ways to be involved with schools such as:– SPO monthly meetings at each school– Open House at schools– Parent Empowerment Conference– Volunteering

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• Includes all the things that parents do to help their children learn and do well in school and life. • School staff and parents share responsibility for

regular, two-way, and meaningful communication about each student’s learning in school and at home as well as their participation in other school activities on the school campus and in the community.

Family Engagement to Support Student Learning

How do Higher Performing Schools Engage Families and Community?

• Build trusting collaborative relationships among teachers, families, and community members• Recognize, respect, and address

families’ needs, as well as class and cultural difference• Embrace a philosophy of

partnership where power and responsibility are shared

(Henderson & Mapp, 2002)

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• What is the condition of the water?• What is the fish’s capacity

to live in this kind of water?• What happens when the

environment is toxic?• Re-engineer the

environment!

Will This Fish Thrive?

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What Affects Family Engagement to Promote Student Learning?

Family School

Capa

citie

s

Conditions

Increased Parent

Engagement in Student

Learning

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Information

Communication

Training

Individual

Behaviors & Skills Funding

Environments

Policies

Attitudes

Perceptions

BeliefsApproaches

Models

StrategiesServices

Systems

Programs

Organizational Cultures and

Behaviors

?

Some Conditions and Capacities that Help Shift the Gears.

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One Strategy Does Not Fit All Parents!

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3-Tier Model for Differentiating Strategies to Maximize Family Engagement.

Opportunities affordedto all families.

Additional supportsto boost some families.

Special efforts for a

few families.

Intensive: 3rd Tier

Selective: 2nd Tier

Universal: 1st Tier

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• Create a welcoming environment• Solicit family input• Provide an orientation• Establish ongoing

communication• Sponsor social activities• AND ----

Universal Strategies for ALL Families: 1st tier.

Some Examples

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• Provided an Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) workshop series for parents to provide strategies, tips, and testing resources.• Reach to Succeed in Math

workshop conducted to teach parents how to help their child at home.

1st tier Cleveland

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Some Examples

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• Connect families with each other• Offer families education

and training• Translate materials• Solicit family input• Recruit family members to

serve on advisory groups• AND ---

Selective Strategies to BOOST Some Families: 2nd tier.

Some Examples

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• The Family Liaison provided packets of the handouts from the OGT workshop to parents who could not attend. • The Math workshop was also

conducted at the Community Center to accommodate the parents who could not come to the school.

2nd tier in Cleveland

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Some Examples

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• Tailor approaches to each family• Repair relationships

between the student and their family• Hire Family Liaisons to

work with families 1:1• AND ---

Intensive Strategies for Hard to REACH Families: 3rd tier.

Some Examples

• School staff conducted door to door home visits to the parents who did not respond to the workshops or packets of handouts. Tutoring support was offered to the parents and students.• Family Liaison made phone calls to

reach more parents. Parents were informed about the resources available to help their child with math.

3rd tier in Cleveland

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Some Examples

When there was cooperation between

principal, teachers and parents, things went well.

Lessons Learned

• Support from building principals, teachers, and family engagement supervisors is ESSENTIAL• Personal qualities that help– Perseverance– Believing the work is important– Earning trust from parents• Put experienced Family Liaisons in

supervisory positions• Atmosphere must be inviting

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Parents must feel secure enough to

question a principal or teacher if they have a

concern.

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• As a parent:– Would I feel welcome in my school?– Would I feel the principal and teachers really cared

about my child?– Would I feel my input about the school climate and

programs was valued?– Would it be easy for me to talk with teachers about

my child? • As a parent would I feel the school believed I was

doing all I could to support my child’s learning?

The ULTIMATE Questions!

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3-Tier Approach to Family Engagement-Planning Guide

Name of the event or activity.

Purpose or objective of the event or activity.This should be a concise sentence that tells the single most important reasons for holding the event or activity.Outcomes of the event or activity. This should be a short list of specific things parents know or will be able to do as a result of participating in the event or activity. You might want to put them in priority order.

Tier 1 Example Tier 2 Example Tier 3 Example

How will the outcomes be achieved?

Where will the event or activity be held?

Who is the intended audience for this event or activity?What materials will be provided?

What, if any, special accommodations will be provided?How will you know if and when the outcomes have been achieved?

Choose your Activity

•What do you want parents to know or do as a result of this activity?•What are the different groups of families you are

trying to reach?• How are you going to get this information or skills

training to each of these groups?

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Tammy Stembridge, MSMDirector, Family and Community Engagement1380 East Sixth Street, Room 135Cleveland, Ohio 44114Office: (216) 858-0117

Trina W. Osher, M.A. PresidentHuff Osher Consulting, Inc.8025 Glenside DriveTakoma Park, MD 20912tosher3@comcast.net

Contact Information