Capacity Building & Engagement

  • The Parent Teacher Home Visit (PTHV) initiative is in the process of getting memorandums of understanding (MOU’s) set up to initiate family visits with each CommPACT school that wants to do this. We will be working with the third grade at John Barry Elementary School in Meriden, the 6th grade at West Side Middle School in Waterbury, with bilingual student families at Bassick High School in Bridgeport and training is scheduled to begin in February at Robert J. O'Brien STEM Academy. CommPACT will provide support for the home visits, professional development training, the districts will provide data for assessments of impact on grades, attendance and behaviors and there will be a research study looking at impact and enhanced cultural understanding for the staff engaged.
  • Several parents and teachers from our CommPACT schools spoke as panelists at a January 9th state-wide Community Conversation sponsored by CEA. It included workshops, panels and speakers all looking at how to align community organizing, parent voices, policy makers and educational advocacy for early childhood education. Jocelyn Ault, CommPACT Family and Community Engagement Specialist, served on the day’s wrap up panel, looking at next steps.
  • Bassick Teacher, Vernon Thompson was a panelist and participated in the Community Schools workshop. This additional information will help support his work in helping Bassick High School move to a community school model, which is a focus of our CommPACT work this semester.
  • Jocelyn Ault has become engaged with the CT initiative of the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, known as AROS - http://www.reclaimourschools.org/. This initiative is supported by the CEA/NEA as well as by AFT-CT. They are meeting to increase collective impact of the many groups who are dedicated to making sure that quality education is available to all students. She is joining their community school workgroup.
  • Conversations have started to align all the Parent Teacher Home Visit programs across the state so we capitalize on the strengths of our cohorts, efficiencies of scale and shared learning. A research component focused on teachers’ perceptions (pre and post visits) will be an integral part of the visits.
  • CommPACT is continually capacity building and providing professional development across all the supported schools.We sponsored the attendance of a multi-talented team of 19 from our schools at the National Family and Community Engagement Conference in June. Last year’s group has made great strides in our schools and effectively brought back ideas they have implemented. This year’s conference is designed to support all those committed to high impact, evidence-based family and community engagement strategies. They will be exposed to best practices and in-depth exploration that links what we know works from research with successful approaches in a variety of school and community contexts.

SERC Library: The Key to Ensuring Equity for All Students

DVD’s

Building Culturally Responsive Relationships with Diverse Families of Children with Disabilities

 
Family-Teacher Partnerships in High Poverty Schools

Books

101 Ways to Create Real Family Engagement ~ Steven Constantino

176 Ways to Involve Parents ~ Betty Boult

All Kids Are Our Kids: What Communities Must do to Raise Caring and Responsible Children and Adolescents ~ Peter Benson

All Systems Go: The Change Imperative for Whole System Reform ~ Michael FullanBuilding

Parent Involvement Through the Arts: Activities and Projects that Enrich Classrooms and Schools ~ Michael Sikes

Building School and Community Partnerships Through Parent Involvement ~ Kay Springate & Dolores Stegelin

Building School-Community Partnerships: Collaboration for Student Success ~ Mavis Sanders

Creating the Opportunity to Learn: Moving from Research to Practice to Close the Achievement Gap A ~ Wade Boykin & Pedro Noguera

Creating Welcoming Schools: A Practical Guide to Home-School Partnerships with Diverse Families ~ JoBeth Allen

Culturally Proficient Education: An Asset-Based Response to Conditions of Poverty ~ Randall Lindsey

A Declaration to Readers’ Rights: Renewing Our Commitment to Students ~ Jo Ann Bass, Sheryl Dasinger, Laurie Elish-Piper, Mona Matthews & Victoria Risko

Developing Family and Community Involvement Skills through Case Studies and Field Experiences ~ Ronald Diss & Pamela Buckley

Educating Everybody’s Children: Diverse Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners ~ Robert Cole

Education for a Multicultural Society ~ Kolajo Afolabi & Candice Bocala

Engaging All Families: Creating a Positive School Culture by Putting Research into Practice ~ Steven Constantino

Every Child’s Right: Academic Talent Development by Choice, Not Chance ~ Lauren Sosniak & Nina Gabelko

Families, Schools, and Communities: Building Partnerships for Educating Children ~ Chandler Barbour & Nita Barbour

Family Reading Night ~ Darcy Hutchins, Marsha Greenfeld & Joyce Epstein

Handbook of Latinos and Education: Theory, Research, and Practice ~ Enrique Murillo Jr. & Sofia Villenas

Handbook of School-Family Partnerships ~ Sandra Christenson & Amy Reschly

Home, School and Community Partnerships ~ Larry Decker & Virginia Decker

How it’s Being Done: Urgent Lessons from Unexpected Schools ~ Karin Chenoweth

How to Involve All Parents in your Diverse Community ~ ASCD

Improving Schools through Community Engagement: A Practical Guide for Educators ~ Kathy Chadwick

Inclusive Education: Examining Equity on Five Continents ~ Alfredo Artiles & Elizabeth Kozleski

Involving Latino Families in Schools: Raising Student Achievement through Home-School Partnerships ~ Concha Gaitan

(Mis)Understanding Families: Learning from Real Families in Our Schools ~ Monica Marsh & Tammy Vorbeck

Mobilizing the Community to Help Students Succeed ~ Hugh Price

Motivating Black Males to Achieve in School and in Life ~ Baruti Kafele

Other Kinds of Families: Embracing Diversity in Schools ~ Tammy Vorbek & Monica Marsh

Parent-Friendly Early Learning: Tips and Strategies for Working Well with Families ~ Julie Powers

Partnering with Parents: Easy Programs to Involve Parents in the Early Learning Process ~ Bob Rockwell & Janet Kniepkamp

Partnership-2000 Schools Manual: Improving School-Family-Community Connections.
School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action ~ Joyce Epstein & Mavis Sanders

Preparing Educators to Engage Families: Case Studies using Ecological Systems Framework ~ Heather Weiss & Elena Lopez

Promising Practices Connecting Schools to Families of Children with Special Needs: A Volume in Family, School, Community, and Partnership Issues ~ Diana Hiatt-Michael

Reaching Out to Latino Families of English Language Learners ~ Maria Huerta

School, Family and Community Partnerships: Preparing Educators and Improving Schools ~ Joyce Epstein

School-Family Partnerships for Children’s Success ~ Evanthia Patrikakou & Roger Weissberg

Spotlight on Young Children and Families ~Derry Koralek