Engaging Parents, Raising Achievement Kirstie Andrew-Power March 7 th 2008

“As all the best schools know, you cannot raise standards and close achievement gaps without focusing on all the needs of every single child and tackling every obstacle to their learning.” Ed Balls, July 2007

The Children’s Plan Building brighter futures

“Some children and young people, often from disadvantaged backgrounds, are still underachieving. While many of our teachers and schools are amongst the best in the world, there is still too much variation in quality, and as a result children are not achieving all of which they are capable.” The Children’s Plan, DCSF 2008

The Campaign Supported schools in developing a wide range of projects directly aimed at engaging parents in learning Sourced good and best practice Encouraged developing practice and innovations Shared and replicated successful strategies, which schools personalise for their needs/contexts Raised the profile of the potential impact of this agenda on achievement

Access to large scale data sets Qualitative case study data – 30 cases and 103 school case studies Using this data the research team were able to plot trends and changes in performance and to connect these patterns The research team looked particularly at the data related to those parents considered ‘hard to reach’ The research

“Parental engagement in ‘supporting learning in the home’ remains the single most positive influence on student achievement” Harris Goodall 2007 “Almost every school that demonstrates academic success in high poverty contexts has succeeded through the support, involvement and partnerships between schools, families and the community.” Chadwick 2004 “The most important influence on a person’s level of self- esteem is their parents” Emler 2001

“Parents’ influence on student learning outcomes is greater than the school influence” This is particularly true of ‘hard to reach parents’

to move beyond information giving To move beyond involvement in the life of the school To effective engagement to impact on what happens at home

“ Schools who raise student achievement are making the jump from informing to engaging parents.” Warwick University / SSAT research July 2007

“… there is a consistent relationship between increasing parental engagement (particularly of hard to reach parents) and improved attendance, behaviour and student achievement.” Harris & Goodall 2007 There is a positive trend in achievement and value added in EPRA schools, particularly those schools in the most challenging circumstances

Support and guidance for parents to help their children learn in different subjects (extension activities) Two way communication (not just written) Involvement in decision making (about learning) Off site events (parent and student support) Personalising provision for parents as learners (up-skilling) Intelligent reporting (“ireporting”) and use of mobile technology Enhancing pastoral care, support and training Extended school provision- school as part of the community Listening to parents- focus groups Using parents skills and abilities within school Literacy and numeracy classes for parents Understanding the way ‘hard to reach’ parents feel about the school and responding differently Research feedback to all …

Parents who are viewed as ‘hard to reach’ often see the school a ‘hard to reach’ Parents need to be seen as part of the solution, they need to know they matter

The EPRA campaign and project work in schools has been an important catalyst for innovation and change in schools It is a powerful platform for enhancing and extending the work on parental engagement and raising achievement

Parental engagement must be a priority – rather than a bolt-on extra Communication with parents should be two way Sustaining the engagement of parents as well as reaching those parents who are less engaged, should be built into forward planning Engaging ‘hard to reach’ parents has a significant impact on raising achievement and a positive affect on behaviour in schools Parental engagement is powerful (but often underutilised) means of raising achievement in schools Professor Alma Harris 2007

The Alder Grange experience Parent Information Booklet Reporting iReporting Parents Gateway “You said, we did” Impact analysis It continues …