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

2. 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.

3. 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.

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

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

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

7. 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

8. 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…

9. 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

10. The Waterloo Region District School Board

11. 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)

12. 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)

13. Organizational path = -.08 Family path = .26
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
Emotional path = .21
Organizational path = -.08
Family path = .26
(SES = .47)

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

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

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

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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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.

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