Leadership magazine Sept/Oct 2014 V 44 No 1 | Page 13

showed 57 percent of parents with children
in public schools were not yet aware of the
new LCFF. While this percentage has certainly improved – thanks to outreach efforts
by school leaders, PTAs and other community groups – it’s still a major call to action.
For LCFF to succeed, all parents should be
aware of the new law and the importance of
participating in the LCAP.
In March, PTA partnered with Education
Trust West on a more detailed survey of our
members. This research further showed that
once parents learned more about the LCFF
and LCAP, their support increased for its
stated objectives, and – significantly – they
indicated a greater willingness to be part of
the process.
We are careful to remind all education
stakeholders and the public that simply adding a new requirement in state law for more
parent engagement is not enough. We can’t
simply pull a switch and cause greater levels of engagement. It takes hard work – and
that work starts with getting the word out
to make all parents aware of the new opportunity and the importance of the LCFF and
LCAP.

Family engagement is an investment
There are no shortcuts to raising student
achievement or to building successful parent engagement. Each takes an investment
of time and resources and ongoing commitment by school districts, educators, parents
and community partners working together.
Authentic engagement is much more than
a one-time check-box on a form. It’s about
building a culture at every school where
parents and family members feel welcomed,
respected and appreciated – a culture where
information is freely shared, and input is
sought and genuinely considered.
Remember, too, that investments in parent engagement are highly cost effective.
Creating parent resource centers, hiring
parent liaisons, providing interpreters and
translation, offering parent leadership training such as through PTA’s School Smarts
parent engagement program – most of these
activities cost very little and make a huge
positive impact.
Many school districts are already doing
excellent work to engage parents.

For instance, Pomona Unified School
District in Los Angeles County took a model
approach to engaging parents and community members by hosting a mix of traditional
stakeholder educational workshops as well
as sessions where school administrators,
district staff, principals and teachers learned
alongside parents about the new LCFF and
LCAP.
Pomona USD partnered with the state and
council PTA to engage more than 70 parent

leaders in “learning conversations” that focused on understanding the effectiveness
of existing district programs, understanding the LCAP through different issue lenses
such as student health and achievement and
arts education, and most of all, focusing on
the power of relationships and understanding each other’s roles through open dialogue
and feedback.
Many districts have similarly held dozens
of meetings, shared information in multiple
languages at school sites across the district,
promoted multiple ways for parents to engage, and been responsive to parent and
community input in their initial plans. But
there is also much more that all districts
can do to make this the standard of practice
across the state.

Parent and family engagement is local
A vital premise of the new LCFF is that
decisions affecting student success are best
made by those closest to the classroom. The
PTA National Standards for Family-School
Partnerships Assessment Guide (see sidebar,
page 14) provides an excellent, research-

Parent and family engagement
for student success starts at home

E

ngaged parents make a difference in ensuring that their children enjoy overall success in school.
More than 30 years of research indicates as much. It tells us that students
with involved parents are more likely
to attend school regularly, perform
better in school, earn higher grades,
pass their classes, develop better social skills and go on to post-secondary education.
This successful strategy is based on
a shared understanding in the school
community that parents are a child’s
first teachers and key resources in
their child’s education and growth.
As important stakeholders, engaged
parents are involved in all aspects of
their child’s education. Whether it’s
reading together, monitoring homework at the kitchen table, talking to
teachers about their child’s progress
or taking an active part in school governance and decision-making, parents make a difference.
Administrators play a lead role in
making information, training and
support available to all parents to help
them support their children at home.

based framework to guide every school district’s LCAP. We recommend that every plan
seek to address each of the standards and
that the various indicators help all stakeholders in the district to better understand
the standards.
What is the best way to measure progress
toward the standards? In the spirit of local
control, we encourage that question to be
part of every district’s conversation around
the LCAP. As part of local plans, each district, with parent input, should determine
how it will build stronger family-school
partnerships and measure progress toward
each of the standards and indicators based
on the priorities and needs of its community.
The success of collaborative efforts often
hinges on how early discussions begin
among parents and school leaders. The ear-

September/October 2014

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