“CONNECTIVITY IN PRACTICE” The Value of New Connections – Listening, Doing and Learning a New Way! A C.A.F.E. DIALOGUE LED BY: IDEA Partnership, Georgia Department of Education (State Personnel Development Grant) and Meriwether County School District in cooperation with the National Dropout Prevention Network on Disabilities

INVESTING IN A DIALOGUE… A National, State and Local Community Of Practice on Dropout Prevention Ignited a Shared Meaning Among Stakeholders that Propelled into an Action Leading to Increased Graduation Rates, Particularly Among Students with Disabilities, at a Rural High School in South Georgia

CONNECTIVITY IN PRACT ICE TAKING IT TO THE STREETS! Moving from Creating SHARED MEANING to Jump Starting it into SHARED ACTION

Reaching a SHARED MEANING Reaching a SHARED MEANING

How Does Poverty in Rural Georgia Impact a Stakeholder Team? Almost one million of the 1.6 million students in Georgia Public Schools qualify for Title I Free and Reduced Lunch Programs Almost 60 % of students receiving IDEA services also qualify for Title l services

Equalization of Access and Influence? WHO GETS to Have IT?

RESEARCH CONFIRMS….. ACHIEVEMENT A direct correlation between families engaged in their child’s education to higher ACHIEVEMENT “A lack of communication between families and schools --- and, the family feeling ‘unwelcomed’ are the triggers that predict future dropout” Study by The National Dropout Prevention Clearinghouse, Network, Clemson Univ. and Communities in School 2010 Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College, Harvard Family Research Project

C.A.F.E. Circles of Adults Focusing on Education A team of educators, family members and community participants agreeing to collaborate to solve problems that curb achievement results. What Makes this Unique? Nontraditional parents embedded into the process to impact the work

Parent Leaders to Lead the Wa y Georgia learned that training leaders among the parents of the children being targeted for improvement would bring about a connection with other parents

95 Georgia parent mentors and 85 administrators leading family engagement initiatives and activities embedded in school districts work on IDEA indicators, particularly parent satisfaction (indicator 8) More than half of the Parent Mentors are in Districts in Persistent Poverty

“Determine Your Fate: GRADUATE!” Georgia Department of Education State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG) includes parents of the students, particularly with disabilities, who could dropout or did dropout

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Facilitation for Results

Next Steps Through the Dialogue process different perspectives from all members of the team are heard A long-term Vision is developed as well as a six-month goal and an immediate action plan

How to Scaffold to Reach Families Zone of Proximal Communication Families in Both Generational and Situational Poverty Language Registers Perception History/Story Socio- economics Cod Culture Competency ACCESS EDUCATION

just do it! Brain Storming Road Blocks Creating Consensus / No C rO s S T a Lk Asking the Right Questions MAPPING/PATHS

Welcome to MHS One Team One Dream! Make It Happen!

The Impact Of A Dropout Earn 1 million less in their lifetime 8 times more likely to go to prison $1.1 billion is the economic impact to west central Georgia The nation spends $9,800 to educate a child in school compared to $23,000 for a inmate By 2020 the nation will have a 14 million shortage of workers with a post secondary education