1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Forming Community-Based Organizations/ School Partnerships

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Strengthening Latino Parental Involvement by Forming Community-Based Organizations/ School Partnerships Jorge P. Osterling, Ph.D. George Mason University Fairfax, VA

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Session Objectives  Participants will engage in a Freirean participatory dialogue about the alternative ways bilingual educators can develop partnerships between community-based organizations and schools in order to strengthen parental involvement.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Participatory Dialogue Problem-Posing and Critical Thinking

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Our Tool for Today’s Dialogue: Freire’s Educational Model Three stages of educational process Listening Participatory Dialogue Praxis/action

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Overview Changing Times – New Challenges  Empowering Parents: Expanding Beyond Traditional Parental Involvement Activities  School Culture: Barrier for Change or Bridge for Improvement.  Broadening American school’s community partnerships: Engaging people from all cultures and walks of life.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Overview Changing Times – New Challenges  Involving parents and members of the larger community in the school's decision-making processes.  The Latino Population in the United States.  How do you form community-based organizations and school partnerships which strengthen Latino parental involvement?

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE School Culture Barrier or Bridge?  When schools seek to improve while adapting to the new demographics, it is necessary to focus on the values, beliefs, and norms of both the school and the community. (Sarason, 1982; Deal and Peterson, 1990 ).

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE School Culture Barrier or Bridge? (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 1992).  The culture of the school can be described as the existence of an interplay between three factors: –The attitudes and beliefs of persons both inside the school and in the external environment, –The cultural norms of the school, and –The relationships between persons in the school.  Each of these factors may present barriers to change or serve as a bridge to long-lasting implementation of school improvement.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Community-based Organizations CBOs  CBOs represent a natural, yet largely untapped, source of leadership for community-based efforts to: –Support English Language Learners. –Strengthen Latino parental involvement. Cf. Carolyn Temple Adger (2000). School/ Community Partnerships to Support Language Minority Students. CREDE

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Building Bridges with CBOs

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Changing Times New Challenges  During the latter part of the 20 th Century major demographic changes have taken place throughout the United States.  As a result, traditional parent associations have been less able to play their traditional role.  Need to engage more members of the larger community in the school's decision-making processes.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Changing Times New Challenges  Minority parents often find it difficult to guide their children through the American educational process: –Many parents do not understand the process; –Communication problems with teachers and administrators due to cultural, linguistic barriers. –Many schools lack parental outreach programs to combat these difficulties.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE CBO – School Partnerships  CBOs already have a variety of relationships with the children and parents in their neighborhoods (i.e., the core constituency of public schools).  Many already collaborate with local schools in after-school activities.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE CBO -- School Partnerships  CBOs’ neighborhood focus enables them to relate to, know, and thus be more responsive to the needs of local or special populations than mainstream institutions.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Latino CBO School Partnerships  Existing Latino CBOs can be invited into partnerships with local schools.  When schools partner with these local organizations, it can be a catalyst to developing parental involvement.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Latino CBOs  In our communities there are Latino CBOs and community leaders who with very limited resources play a pivotal role in meeting unmet needs and pushing for quality services.  Many are not yet involved with our schools.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Latino CBOs  There are also groups that no one considers at all (on either school or Latino parent side) that are NOT pushing for quality services and that do not see themselves as resources. Many of them may be informal.  A men’s soccer group, a women’s quilting group, a group that teaches national dances to kids … all of these operating in the REAL Latino world)

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Latino CBOs  It is just as essential to find them and help them see how they can be resources

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Empowerment  An intentional, ongoing process centered in the local community, involving mutual respect, critical reflection, caring, and group participation, through which people lacking an equal share of resources gain greater access to and control over those resources. cited in D.D. Perkings & Zimmerman, 1995, p. 570, and by Rappaport, 1999).

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Expanding Beyond Traditional Parental Involvement Activities  Schools must give all parents – including those from culturally and linguistically diverse groups-- the power to become involved in the schools their children attend.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Latino Population The United States Latinos now number 37 million (Census, 2003) During the 1995 – 2050 period, the percentage of Latino residents age 5-24 is projected to increase by 222 percent.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE A Word of Caution  Latinos are: –An unusually diverse community; –Share a common language, –But, there are many differences: Socioeconomic and academic backgrounds; Culture and ethnicity; Nationality

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Latino High School Completion Rate  In 2000, the Latino high school completion rate was 64.1 % [1972, was 56.2%].  Trend has been fairly similar over the past three decades.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Angela Valenzuela’s Subtractive Schooling  Subtractive schooling is a process by which schools "subtract resources" from U.S.- Mexican youth.  Mexican-born students academically outperform students from families with a longer history in this country.  Valenzuela, Angela.(1999). Subtractive schooling: U.S./Mexican youth and the politics of caring. Albany: State University of New York Press.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Angela Valenzuela’s Subtractive Schooling  The decline in the academic achievement of Mexican-descent students across the generations is a perplexing phenomena that contradicts the pattern of upward academic mobility thought to be characteristic of other student groups in the United States.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Many Latinos Excel Academically  Many Latino students are doing very well in school, and go on to complete college.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Is it possible to reverse the trend of Latino failure? Sí, se puede! UFW Slogan, 1960s

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE How can American Schools Successfully meet the needs its Latino students? There is No Silver Bullet!!! Schools Need a High Level of Community, Family, and Parental Involvement

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Building Bridges with CBOs

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Parent Involvement School - Families  People have different views of what parent involvement is.  There are also differences in the perceived roles of teachers and parents.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Parental Involvement Different Views & Goals  Parents participating in formal school activities/ events;  Parents serving as classroom aides or working on fund-raising projects.  Parents also participate in decision-making bodies, in school governance, in creating programs to help teachers and administrators meet needs.  Parents being involved at home in informal activities: –Creating a learning environment; –Reading and listening to children read;  Instilling cultural values;  Sending them to school well fed, clean, and rested. Cf. Sribner, Young, and Pedroza (1999).

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Exploring Cultural Experiences Diverse Schools and Classrooms  Educators should explore their own cultural experiences, values, and attitudes as they relate to child rearing practices in school.  Educators should learn as much as possible from parents about their cultural experiences, values, and attitudes (i.e., image of authority figures, views about schools, etc.).

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Is this a Cultural Issue?  Latino parents tend to separate the school system and home and treat them as different domains:  The role of schools is to instill knowledge and teach their children.  The role of parents is to provide nurturance, and teach morals, respect and good behavior,

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Empowerment in Carpinteria Concha Delgado-Gaitan’s Center for Research on Effective Schooling for Disadvantaged Children  Schools, knowingly or unknowingly, often assume that Latino parents know how to interact with school personnel.  However, because they come from very different educational traditions, most of these parents do not. As a result, they feel powerless to participate in the school.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Empowerment in Carpinteria Concha Delgado-Gaitan’s Center for Research on Effective Schooling for Disadvantaged Children  When Latino parents are "empowered" with the knowledge of how to work cooperatively with school personnel to resolve issues pertaining to their children, they become more active in the school.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE st Century Challenge Giving Meaningful Voices to All Parents

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Partnering with CBOs An Option or an Alternative?  Traditional, bureaucratic, parent involvement mechanisms established by school systems.  Latino CBOs.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Successful Partnerships Issues School Environment Creating a friendly, welcoming environment School Culture Valuing home and community culture Teachers as Cultural-Brokers Overcoming Misperceptions and Stereotypes Overcoming Linguistic & Cultural Barriers Disconnect between home, community, and school Parents Educational Level and Previous Experience

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Best Practices  Establishing community networks and partnerships with other CBOs and agencies already serving Latino families.  Building trust and personal relationships;  When publications are translated, making sure they are culturally acceptable. Attention to literacy is important.

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Participatory Dialogue Brainstorming Strengthening Latino Parent Leadership Through Partnerships

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Theme One: Community Involvement  How can community leaders and faith- based organizations: –Inform and educate parents about the educational opportunities available for every child? –Encourage their local officials to take advantage of all federal, state, and local educational opportunities?

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Theme Two: Developing Partnerships Community  Where can schools look for CBOs and informal groups?  How can they engage them?  How what the CBO is already doing can be of benefit to the school and children?

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Theme Three: Developing Policies  How can State Educational Agencies (SEAs) develop policies that encourage and enable their school districts (LEAs) and schools to promote successful school- community partnerships that are responsive to the diverse populations they serve?

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Theme Four: Reciprocal Partnerships  How can SEAs and LEAs establish true partnerships in which both the leadership of CBOs and school personnel learn from each other and find ways in which they can mutually support their efforts of educating all children?

1/31/2003 Osterling NABE Thank you! Thank you for this rich opportunity to explore new ways to strengthen Latino parent leadership through the development of community-based/ school partnerships. Jorge P. Osterling