Family Engagement Evidence for the SIP: Did We Do It and Did It Work? August 2016 Beth Vaade & Bo McCready, MMSD Research & Program Evaluation Office

We will focus on four major topics: 1.How do strategies, end of year targets, implementation metrics, and outcome metrics connect? 2.What makes a good metric? 3.What are some common metrics to use for family engagement? 4.How can we use climate survey data effectively to measure family engagement? Today’s Session

Strategies, Targets, Implementation, and Success Within each focus area, the SIP includes Strategies, End of Year Targets, Evidence of Implementation, and Evidence of Success For each row, the strategy, end of year target, evidence of implementation, and evidence of success should connect

What are Strategies? Strategies are adult actions we take in pursuit of a goal (the “End of Year Target”) If strategies are implemented successfully, we would expect to achieve our goals overall and for focus groups Strong strategies are based on a review of your students’ and school’s needs In short, Strategies answer the question: “What are we going to do?”

What are End of Year Targets? End of Year Targets represented the desired state by the end of the year if our strategy succeeds If we reach our end of year target, we can say the strategy is a success In short, End of Year Targets answer the question: “Where do we want to be?”

What is Evidence of Implementation? Evidence of Implementation is how we know we pursued the strategy we laid out Typically, Evidence of Implementation is how we measure the adult actions taken in pursuit of a strategy/goal In short, Evidence of Implementation answers the question: “Did we do it?”

What is Evidence of Success? Evidence of Success is how we know our strategy led to real, measurable results Typically, Evidence of Success is how we measure the student, parent, or staff outcomes that occurred as a result of the strategy In short, Evidence of Success answers the question: “Did it work?”

Strategies, Targets, Implementation, and Success Recap What are we going to do? Where do we want to be? Did we do it? Did it work?

How Improvement Looks ExpectationsReality

What makes a good metric? Good metrics are: Measurable Results of our actions Impactful Specific Varied

Good metrics are: Measurable Metrics are measurable when we know the tools or resources we can use to track progress Strong example: Attendance at PD sessions (use a sign-in sheet to track progress) Weak example: Meeting agendas (what are you measuring?)

Good metrics are: Results of our actions Metrics are results of our actions when we can connect them directly to our strategies and they are within our locus of control Strong example: African-American parent percent positive responses in Relationships (direct result of our actions) Weak example: Percent of students receiving free/reduced lunch (probably not within our control)

Good metrics are: Impactful Metrics are impactful when they measure something where change would lead to meaningful improvement Strong example: Percent of parents who agree they feel welcome at the school (strong foundation for future collaboration) Weak example: Calendar of events created (okay, but how about event attendance?)

Good metrics are: Specific Metrics are specific when someone outside the school could imagine how reporting on that metric would look Strong example: 90% of teachers will use Gradebook for at least 10 assignments per grading period (very clear) Weak example: Climate survey (what part of the climate survey?)

Good metrics are: Varied Metrics are varied when they do not always use the same tools or approaches Variety within strategies may not be possible, but variety across a focus area is ideal Strong example: Percent of positive student responses in Teaching & Learning; percent of students with a parent attending conferences; summary of findings from parent focus groups (uses different resources and methods) Weak example: Meeting notes, meeting agendas, meeting attendance (what else could be possible?)

Activity: Review Your Family Engagement Metrics Get together with a person or team from another school Take turns working together through each school’s Family Engagement strategies section Use the worksheet (available at mmsd.org/research) to review each of your draft SIP metrics from Evidence of Implementation and Evidence of Success based on these five standards

What are common Family Engagement metrics? We focus on five common metrics used within MMSD: IC Gradebook use Parent-teacher conference attendance Event attendance PD Exit Slips Climate survey results

Metric: IC Gradebook Use Gradebook use can be monitored via the Data Dashboard (on the “Reports” tab, click “MS and HS Gradebook Monitor” under the “Principals” header The Gradebook Monitor tool shows the number of total assignments and graded assignments per course section and term Filters can be used to show only sections below certain thresholds (e.g. fewer than 6 graded assignments). The report defaults to nine assignments entered and nine assignments graded per quarter, which aligns to historical expectations for use of the IC Gradebook for communicating with our families. Secondary staff are expected to use gradebooks within Infinite Campus regularly so families are informed of students’ progress.

Metric: Parent-teacher conference attendance Parent-teacher conference attendance can be monitored via the Data Dashboard (on the “Principal” tab, click “Conferences” under the “Dept Monitor Dashboards” header The Conferences tools allow schools to monitor conference attendance by homeroom and demographic group (shown at left), with districtwide attendance rates presented for reference Parent-teacher conferences are one of the most important venues through which we engage families

Metric: Event attendance Parent and staff attendance rates at school events are useful ways to measure the extent of participation in engagement activities To track event attendance effectively, consider: Using a sign-in sheet Having a staff member designated to record attendance Including key details like date, time, topic, and location as part of the forms or tools you use Monitoring demographics of attendees

Metric: PD exit slips Exit slips from professional development activities can be useful evidence of both implementation and success, showing that staff participated in professional learning and that they found it useful Effective exit slips: Are short and simple Pose questions directly related to the activity Do not include open-ended questions if there is no plan to compile or analyze the feedback provided Are collected and recorded as soon as possible (electronic versions can assist with this) Are used to inform future activities

Metric: Climate survey results MMSD’s climate survey is the most robust existing source of data to measure family engagement Before making plans to collect new data to track family engagement, consider whether existing climate survey data can give you what you need Climate survey data is: Available annually via the Data Dashboard and mmsd.org/climate Usable by dimension and question Filterable by demographic group Connect to Strategic Framework Milestones and SIP Goals

Focus on Climate Survey Data Climate Survey data can be used at the dimension level Relationships Teaching and Learning Safety Institutional Environment School Improvement Family Engagement (parents only) Although Family Engagement is the most obvious dimension to use for Family Engagement evidence, your strategies might have an effect in other dimensions as well

Focus on Climate Survey Data Climate Survey data can be used at the question level Family Engagement dimension questions are: Other potentially useful parent survey questions from Relationships are: Question How often do you meet in person with teachers at your child's school? How confident are you that you can help your child develop good friendships? How often do you help your child understand the content he or she is learning in school? How often do you help your child engage in activities which are educational outside the home? How confident are you in your ability to make sure your child's school meets your child's learning needs? In the past year, how often have you visited your child's school? How often do you and your child talk when he or she is having a problem with others? How confident are you in your ability to support your child's learning at home? To what extent do you know how your child is doing socially at school? How confident are you in your ability to help your child deal with his or her emotions appropriately? To what extent do you think your child enjoys going to school? How motivating are the classroom lessons at your child's school? How well do administrators at your child's school create a school environment that helps children learn? Question I am welcome at my child's school. The school provides opportunities for parent involvement. Overall, I am comfortable contacting my child's teacher(s). How easy is it to contact school staff? The school culture values diversity. The school culture values equity.

Activity: Review Metrics and Climate Survey Get together with the same individuals/teams as the last activity Revisit your Family Engagement Evidence of Implementation and Evidence of Success along with the list of parent climate survey questions and consider: Are there any climate survey dimensions or questions that connect well to your strategies? Can existing climate survey dimensions or questions replace any plans you had for new data collection? If needed, how could you rewrite your evidence?