Starting Points
- Establish a team for identifying strengths and needs for the school in practices and policies that strengthen the voices of families in shared decision making at the school.
- Use the School Level Starting Points Family, School, and Community Partnerships Inventory to begin discussion related to how the school encourages collaboration between all parties involved in a child’s education, and plan for action steps.
- Use the Action Plan Template as part of your purposeful and informed planning for action steps that lead to a vision of family, school and community partnerships in your school community.
Shared Leadership
The focus is on families and school staff as equal partners in decisions that affect children and families and together inform, influence, and create policies, practices, and programs.
Schools that promote shared responsibility encourage collaboration between all parties involved in a child’s education. If families, students, teachers, school staff, and community members can speak their concerns, take part in decision-making processes, and meet openly to debate important questions, they will be sharing responsibility for student success.
There are two main goals for Shared Leadership
Strengthen the family’s voice in shared decision making:
Families must be full partners in making decisions on issues affecting their children both at school and within the community.
- Do families have a vote when decisions that touch their children are being made?
- What governance exists to discuss issues of equity, such as which children are eligible for the gifted program?
Build families’ social and political connections:
Every school should have a broad-based parent organization that offers families and school staff regular opportunities to discuss concerns with each other and with school leaders, public officials, and community leaders.
- In what ways do the school and parent group connect families to local officials?
- How do parties make sure the parent organization truly represents all families in both membership and its leadership?
Action Steps
What Parents and School Staff Can Do to Shared Leadership
GETTING STARTED
- Establish a team for identifying strengths and needs for the school in practices and policies that embrace effective family-school communication.
- Use the School Level Starting Points Family, School, and Community Partnerships Inventory to begin discussion related to how the school encourages collaboration between all parties involved in a child’s education, and plan for action steps.
- Use the Action Plan Template as part of your purposeful and informed planning for action steps that lead to a vision of family, school and community partnerships in your school community.
- Identify all the ways your school can include and consult parents in decisions that affect the school community.
- Make sure the parent group membership and leadership is reflective of the school community.
- Consider programs and activities that develop social and political connections.
WHAT PARENTS AND PARENT LEADERS CAN DO
- Reflect on the results of the Reflection/Assessment Rubric for Parent Leaders and School Staff: Shared Leadership with a team of stakeholders including parents, teachers, and administrators to identify strengths and needs for the school in practices and policies that support advocacy for every child.
- Working in partnership with the principal, identify ways that parent groups can support one or more goals of the school improvement plan.
- Host a forum for candidates running for public office; focus questions on issues that affect children, families, and education.
- Work with students, parents, teachers, school and community leaders, and businesses to develop a parent/family involvement policy that establishes the foundation for involvement programs in your community.
- Get to know your elected officials at all levels of government, as they influence public policy decisions related to children and education.
WHAT SCHOOL LEADERS AND STAFF CAN DO
- Reflect on the results of the Reflection/Assessment Rubric for Parent Leaders and School Staff: Shared Leadership with a team of stakeholders including parents, teachers, and administrators to identify strengths and needs for the school in practices and policies that support advocacy for every child.
- Conduct an annual survey and/or focus groups to get the input of parents on current and potential school programs and policies.
- At a parent group meeting, discuss the school’s scores on state tests and describe the school’s plans to improve.
- Sponsor a school accountability meeting at which school officials describe school programs, services, and performance data.
- Make sure the parents on the school improvement team represent the diverse population of the school.
- Invite parents to share concerns and ideas by having a suggestion box in the front office, and be personally accessible to all parents.
Resources and Tools
Quick Tips: Focus on Shared Leadership
Refer to these quick tips for practices, ideas, and references that promote family engagement practices with a clear focus on a shared responsibility for student success.
Reflection/Assessment Rubric for Parent Leaders and School Staff: Shared Leadership
Use this rubric to help evaluate how well your school partners with families and community to promote shared leadership and encourage collaboration between all parties involved in a child’s education. Think about where you see your school and/or district in the process and strategies used to encourage shared leadership by marking the box that most clearly matches what you are doing now. Reflect on the results as you plan and focus efforts on a shared responsibility for student success.