Part 1: Productive internal district relationships Within - district & District - School Relationships (Effect size on changes in math and language achievement =.21) (Leithwood, 2011)

From Strong Districts and Their Leadership … Roles of system leaders are interconnected, work is undertaken collaboratively in the service of a widely shared set of purposes. Communication among staff is frequent and cordial. School staffs often participate in system decisions, are in frequent contact with supervisory officers for support and assistance.

Strong Districts (cont.) Supervisory officers are in schools frequently and know most school staff members by name. Networks and PLCs are well established at both school and system levels and have become the established way of solving problems and taking care of other business.

Good relationships…. A ubiquitous quality of effective leadership -- Leadership research from 1940s to 1960s: all about tasks and relationships Leadership research from 1940s to 1960s: all about tasks and relationships More recently: Leader member exchange theory (LMX), Transformational leadership theory More recently: Leader member exchange theory (LMX), Transformational leadership theory

Social Resources: A Key to developing good relationships Perceiving emotions Managing emotions Acting in an emotionally appropriate way (Ontario Leadership Framework)

Perceiving Emotions Able to recognize own emotional responses and their effects on others Able to discern the emotional responses of others

Managing emotions Understand reasons for own emotional responses and reflect on consequences Able to persuade others to be more reflective about their own “intuitive” emotional responses and their consequences

Acting in an emotionally appropriate way Able to control which emotions guide their actions Able to assist others to act on emotions most likely to serve their interests in addition…

Kafetsios et al, 2014 Evidence indicates that leaders’ moods or displays of emotion are contagious. They “rub off” on those around them. Positive leader emotions have a significant influence on both the mood and the performance of their colleagues

The Waterloo Region District School Board

Judging the “quality” of relationships Complete the Work relationships Assessment Form for yourself in confidence (Appendix C) Which of the 7 characteristics do you and your colleagues find easiest and most difficult to develop? (Tallia et al, 2006)

Part 2: Productive Relationships with Parents from “Characteristics of High Performing School Systems In Ontario” Effect size on change in language and math achievement over 5 years =.26 to.37 (Leithwood, 2011)

Total Effects on math and language achievement (LSA data) (Leithwood, Patten & Jantzi,2010) Of the total of 43% explained variation as a whole… Rational path =.26 Rational path =.26 Emotional path =.21 Emotional path =.21 Organizational path = -.08 Organizational path = -.08 Family path =.26 Family path =.26 (SES =.47)

Of the 26% variation explained by the Family path…. Computer at home =.34 Computer at home =.34 Adult help at home = -.16 Adult help at home = -.16 What else is there?

At least these three things (e.g., Jeynes, 2005) Parent expectations for child’s success at school Parent expectations for child’s success at school Parents’ social and intellectual capital related to schooling Parents’ social and intellectual capital related to schooling Forms of communication between parents and children in the home Forms of communication between parents and children in the home

so…the Ontario Directors’ Parent Engagement Project Origins and initial assumptions Origins and initial assumptions Design and participants Design and participants Development of project Development of project Intervention strategies Intervention strategies Evidence Evidence

The districts Superior Greenstone District School Board Waterloo Region District School Board Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est

7 Lessons for districts… Engaging parents is hard and different work for school staffs Plan for lots of time at the outset to build trust A handful of meetings with parents won’t do the job

Lessons… The duration of engagement is less important than the intensity and focus of engagement Expect the implementation process to be dynamic and to demand considerable flexibility on the part of staff

Lessons… Engaging the parents of secondary school students is very different than engaging the parents of elementary school students First Nations parents are highly motivated to increase their capacities to help their children be successful at school.

Digging Deeper The Waterloo Region District School Board’s Parent Engagement Case Study