Tier I Family Engagement Carrie McCarthy, Family and Community Partnership Coordinator Berlin Area School District

About Me Carrie McCarthy, MSW Hired in 2014 as the Family and Community Partnership Coordinator and Tier II/III for the BASD as part of the School Climate Transformation Grant 1997 Graduate UW-Madison 2007 Graduate University of Illinois at Chicago (MSW) 3 Children in the BASD Ages 6, 9, 12

Berlin Area School District 1633 Students in a rural setting 55% Free and Reduced Lunch Highly Transient Population (30% Transfer into and out of district in a typical year) 1 Elementary, 1 Middle, 1 High School

BASD Racial Demographics

PBIS Fidelity by Building Tier III Fidelity Tier II Fidelity Tier I Fidelity Clay Elementary Achieved 2013 Middle School Achieved 2016 High School In progress Clay Elementary Achieved 2015 Clay Elementary Beginning Middle School Beginning

Why Focus on Family Engagement? “We have 50 years of research showing that what families do matters. Whether it’s loving school, college access, good attendance, or academic success, family engagement has positive correlations with all sorts of indicators.” – Dr. Karen Mapp

Deficit-Based language about families Johnny can’t possibly learn because he comes from “that” family. We have family education events but the families who need to attend never do. I just don’t understand why Susie’s parents can’t come in for a parent teacher conference, don’t they know she struggling? They don’t even want to help. The PTO’s purpose is to fundraise, we don’t need to change our family events because a PTO parent requests it. I got into teaching for kids, not for families.

Asset-Based language regarding families All families want their children to succeed in school and life. Families do the best with the tools they’ve been given. Parents are their child’s first, and most important, teacher. Parents are the true experts on their children…schools are the experts in academic instruction. We as a school/district must look for areas of strength within the child and family to help leverage the school-home connection and foster positive relationships in order for the child to succeed.

PBIS & Family Engagement Just as your interactions with and systems for students should be positive, safe, predictable and consistent…so should your interactions with families.

Where to begin on this journey? 1. Assess the district and its individual parts Look for areas of strength and areas for growth Look at all points where families and staff intersect (don’t forget the secretaries, custodial staff, food service staff!) Who has good relationships with families and who might struggle? Why?

Where to begin on this journey? 2. Assess the family communication mechanisms at all levels. How are the district and school communicating with families? Is this communication done in multiple formats (in person, phone, email, paper, web, social media) Is it culturally responsive and done in multiple languages if necessary? Is building or district communication consistent even down to the classroom level?

Where to begin on this journey? 3. Assess families’ ability to give feedback and participate in the school community. Is there a forum for family feedback and response to this communication? Do families know what it is? Do families use this forum? When families give feedback is it responded to? Is this response equitable regardless of the family’s socioeconomic status, preferred language or culture? Do all staff actively look for opportunities to partner with all families and actively seek out families who might be less involved?

Where to begin on this journey? 4. Assess the climate and beliefs surrounding families. Are all families truly valued in your district/school? Are there family or parent groups in your district/school? What are the family or parent group roles in the school? Fundraising vs. actionable feedback and authentic engagement. What are your teachers’ opinions of family role in their child’s education?

Where to begin on this journey? 5. Look for ways to engage families from the beginning in your PBIS implementation. Are there systems already in place for helping parents to understand the purpose for PBIS so they don’t have to come to another meeting? Have you solicited parents from a number of different cultural groups to participate in PBIS planning? Have you considered scheduling PBIS meetings at convenient times for families or using technology to facilitate their participation? Have you given parents tools to implement PBIS principles at home?

BASD’s Family Engagement Journey 2014 Multiple parent events, with low attendance Inactive or non-existent PTO structure Low attendance at Middle and High School Parent Teacher Conferences Lack of consistent parent communication throughout the district Low participation in or a lack of parent groups at all buildings

BASD’s Journey – Family Communication Hired Family and Community Partnership Coordinator position as a person of contact for parent communication but also trained and leverage other staff (school secretaries/food service etc…) to understand families as the “customer” and focus on service. Focus on positive communication with families Communication style guide, communications committee and protocol for all forms of family communication. Signage in more than one language Increased the amount of parent communication.

BASD’s Journey – Family Communication Clay Lamberton Elementary regularly sends home positive notes and “Cougar Paws” with specific praise statements for student behavior Berlin Middle School has a policy to not call home about negative behavior prior to making a positive phone call home with specific praise statements for student behavior. The teachers also regularly send home positive praise notes. Berlin High School also sends positive notes home from teachers and staff.

BASD’s Journey - PBIS Implementation Working on involving families in PBIS implementation. Set up systems to solicit regular and consistent feedback from families about PBIS and school climate. Created printed and online materials to further educate families about PBIS and the school/district. Elementary PTO purpose changed from purely fundraising to act as a forum for family voice and choice in school.

BASD’s Journey – Fostering Positive Beliefs Created the family engagement protocol to combat deficit-based beliefs/communication about families. Gives actionable steps related to these beliefs. Helps to create family engagement consistency throughout the district.