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Back to Principal's Office Chapter 2: Write The Compact In a 1995 Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll, 98 percent of parents indicated their willingness to sign a "contract" or a compact stating the mutual responsibilities of the school, the parents, and the student.
Parents, teachers, schools, and communities all want to know more about how they can help students succeed in school and in life. The compact can help achieve this aim to learn more in order to do more. Research confirms what many parents and educational experts identify as critical for school improvement and student success:
Shared responsibility for student learning and high achievementAn effective partnership recognizes that a team can accomplish together what each partner could not accomplish alone. That's why it is important for a family-school partnership to connect learning at school and learning at home. In addition, it is just as important that schools and families recognize and actively work to eliminate the obstacles that prevent or disrupt learning, such as drugs, violence, and inadequate educational technology. An effective partnership for learning works to:
Signal Hill School agrees to offer a rigorous and challenging academic program and, more specifically, an accelerated math and science program. The school also agrees to provide extended learning opportunities and to assign meaningful homework, with an emphasis on writing in all content areas. Signal Hill parents agree to monitor homework completion and to send students to school prepared to learn and on time. Parents also agree to support learning at home by reading with their children every night. Shared responsibility for effective, frequent communication between school and homeEffective schools recognize that positive attitudes lead to positive communication. First, there has to be mutual agreement that parents and teachers need to communicate. Parents often feel that educators talk down to them or speak in educational jargon they do not understand. And teachers often feel that parents need to talk more about education with their children. Maintaining effective, frequent communication among families, schools, and students in a language everyone can understand is essential to building partnerships. The Signal Hill Elementary School compact illustrates the shared responsibility to communicate effectively and frequently between home and school:
Shared responsibility for building capacity through volunteering and training Building capacity means helping school staff, teachers, and families develop the skills, motivation, and opportunities to work together to improve student learning. Few teachers ever receive formal training in working with families. Similarly, research shows that many parents want to help their children learn but are not sure what to do. Training and time spent engaged these are the ingredients that build and strengthen partnerships on behalf of children's learning. Communities too are rich in untapped resources that can benefit children. When families and community members volunteer their time and talent in the schools, both schools and students increase their capacity to do more and to do it better. Using the framework of shared responsibilityIn a recent survey, 79 percent of parents reported that they want to learn more about how to be involved in their children's learning. Seventy-seven percent of parents said they believed teachers could learn more about involving them in their children's learning. The compact is an opportunity for all partners to accept the responsibility for helping children learn. Based on the compact framework, the matrix that follows offers some examples of what you can include in your compact. Notice how the commitments of each partner complement and build on one another. The compact will help all partners work together in a coordinated effort to improve student learning. Think about how you will get students involved in the compact. The sample items in the framework may give you some ideas. Making students full partners in the compact sends a strong message to them about the importance of education and their responsibility to be active participants in learning. See Appendix B for more information about how the community can join the compact. Following the matrix is Activity Sheet B: Make Your Commitment. Use this activity sheet to record the shared responsibilities of the compact partners. While your compact team may use some of the sample commitments in the matrix, your school's compact will contain shared responsibilities that reflect the unique requirements and goals of the school. The National PTA Standards for Parent/Family Involvement ProgramsThe National PTA has developed a set of standards for Parent/Family Involvement Programs, which may be useful to your compact team as you think about the framework of shared responsibilities. Families and schools each have a part to play in meeting these standards.Standard I: Communicating -- Communication between home and school is regular, two-way, and meaningful. Standard II: Parenting -- Parenting skills are promoted and supported. Standard III: Student learning -- Parents play an integral role in assisting student learning. Standard IV: Volunteering -- Parents are welcome in the school, and their support and assistance are sought. Standard V: School decision making and advocacy -- Parents are full partners in the decisions that affect children and families. Standard VI: Collaborating with community -- Community resources are used to strengthen schools, families, and student learning. Downloaded at http://www.schoolhousedoor.com |
