A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

III. Ensuring that All Children Have the Opportunity to Learn to Read

Speaker:
Mary Russo, Director, Annenberg Boston Foundation and Past Principal of the Mason School, Boston, Massachusetts

Ellie Topolovac, Superintendent of Schools, and Director, Books and Beyond, Solana Beach, California

Moderator:
Alan Ginsburg, Director, Planning and Evaluation Service, Office of the Under Secretary, U. S. Department of Education

Abstract:
To be effective, schools with greater numbers of children at risk for reading difficulties must have extra resources. The recent National Research Council (NRC) report summarizes research that suggests that family and community support to education through greater involvement is associated with increased student performance in reading. To meet the goal of preventing reading difficulties, the NRC report recommends increasing family-child and other learning-partner interactions before and while the child is in school. If families read to and with their children, if parents themselves read and encourage their children to read, if they keep a variety of reading materials in the home, if they have high expectations for their children’s reading achievement, if they help teach their children to read and respond to their children’s interests in books, their children will be better readers than those from families who do not participate in these activities.

This workshop will discuss ways to implement the Family/School Compact requirements for Title I, with a specific emphasis on a Compact for Literacy. A Compact for Literacy is a written agreement among families, teachers, students, tutors and other learning partners from the community that describes how all partners can help improve the reading and other language skills of children from kindergarten through third grade, including those with disabilities and with limited English proficiency. Participants will have an opportunity to discuss ways state education agencies, local education agencies, and schools can encourage the development of and support for home-school Compacts for Literacy with families and other community partners to improve the achievement of children. Participants will also have an opportunity to comment on drafts of the Compact for Literacy Guide and School-Home Links (reading activities teachers can provide to families for increased family involvement in reading).

Notes

Materials:

Compact for Learning Action Handbook Draft Compact for Literacy Draft School-Home Links Literacy Kit Excerpts from Draft Compact for Literacy

Introduction (Alan Ginsburg):

• The Compact for Learning is a prototype for the Compact for Literacy.

• Three decades of research show how important family involvement is but teachers and parents don't know how to proceed.

• Mary Russo is the new head of the Boston Annenberg Challenge. While at the Mason School in Boston, she developed and used much of the Compact for Literacy.

• Ellie Topolovac works with the America Reads Challenge and with Books and Beyond, and is also a school superintendent.

• Susan Thompson-Hoffman has worked on the Read/Write/Now initiative and put together the draft Compact for Literacy materials you see here.

• The Partnership for Family Involvement (PFIE) began in 1994 and now has about 4,000 members. Corporations who are PFIE members may be interested in supporting Compact for Literacy activities.

Exercise (Ellie Topolovac):

• Asks workshop participants to reflect on their childhood and remember what "turned you on to reading."

• Asks workshop participants to share their stories. Various examples of what led people to enjoy reading are presented.

• Lesson: we don't know what touches the lives of children.

• The best schools are the ones that have school-home partnerships, and the Compact for Literacy is a framework that allows each school to make a compact that meets its needs.

Discussion of Research (Alan Ginsburg):

• Many people don't believe in family involvement, but it is a win-win situation.

• Research shows the benefits of family involvement:

  • Henderson and Burla show that factors important to school success are home environment, high expectations, belief that hard work matters more than ability, and becoming involved in school. These factors explain more than income or parents' education.

  • NAEP data show that three factors account for 80 percent of the difference in scores: absenteeism, reading, and TV watching.

  • Other studies also show these results.

  • In the Prospects study, Title I kids were less likely to complete their homework. However, homework must be meaningful. The School-Home Links presented with the Compact for Literacy are based on the NAS standards.

• Why isn't family involvement more common? Parents need support to make this happen.

• Title I compacts are agreements between families, schools, students, and often the community to share responsibility for children's success.

• Research has shown that schools with family-school compacts have higher student learning (especially for reading), even controlling for other factors (through hierarchical linear modeling).

• What is the process of developing a compact? What is the outcome? It should be more than just a piece of paper.

• The Compact for Learning kit was developed to help improve the process. It is based on ideas of continuous improvement. It is a set of tools to help schools ask the right questions. It contains activity sheets to take you through the steps of, taking stock, writing the compact, etc.

• Since the Compact for Learning was released last spring, elementary schools have asked for a kit aimed at early grades and focusing on reading. The Compact for Literacy was developed in response.

• The kit is research-based and practical. It contains School-Home Links (about 100 per grade) based on NAS research. It also includes a set of tools to help evaluate and improve the compact.

Mason School Experience with the Compact for Literacy (Mary Russo):

• What are School-Home Links?

  • Not a standalone model, developed in concert with a Compact for Learning that spells out the responsibilities of each group,

  • 400 to 500 1-page activity sheets (not all are done yet),

  • Focus on reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills,

  • Aligned with the NAS report,

  • For kindergarten through third grade,

  • Designed to be linked to the classroom,

  • One per day, and when children brings the completed forms to school the next day, they themselves log them in.

• Shows examples of kindergarten link: simple, designed to be used interactively, etc.

• Why were the links developed?

  • Many urban school students have risk factors.

  • Question of how to bring all resources into the picture.

  • Define a role that parents can play in the "core mission" of the school and in preparing their children for high-stakes state curriculum standards.

• Book Links were developed at the Mason School as a way to put books into the hands of children.

  • Once per week students bring a book home to read,

  • Have activity that goes along with book,

  • Books are owned by the school.

• The Mason School also runs family literacy workshops.

  • Parents come with students on the first day of school.

  • Teachers explain the School-Home Links and the Book Links.

  • Parents requested workshops on 4 topics: practices for teaching reading and writing, how is progress measured, what are other things families can do at home, and what do standards mean in a concrete way.

  • Why is this valuable?

    • It is a strategy for engaging parents in the core mission of the school, a mission that needs everyone's help.

    • There are many problems in inner-city areas.

    • It is a visible sign of shared responsibility and support.

    • It allows schools to communicate that parents can enhance and increase the resources children bring to learning and expand the learning day outside of school.

    • The coherence of the Book Links and the School-Home Links shows parents what literacy is all about and shows what is happening at the school every day.

  • Does it work?

    • Mason school has high-risk kids, yet 92 percent of parents attend parent-teacher conferences. They come because communication between parents and the school has become routine.

    • Students are in the upper third of Boston kids for reading.

    • The school has won awards.

    • Progress is the work of a team that includes parents.

Sources of Support (Ellie Topolovac):

• States, districts, schools, and teachers each have a role to play for change to occur.

• Think about what each of these groups can do to facilitate change.

• The draft compact on page 5 shows a process by which groups can identify what they are doing well and not well.

• What does your community look like?

Exercise (Susan Thompson-Hoffman):

• Tables in session have been organized by level of participant: state level, district level, and school level.

• Asks each table to discuss two questions and come up with two top priorities: what can you do to see the Compact for Literacy move into action, and how can the federal government support you in making the Compact for Literacy a reality.

• Table 1 - District

  • Federal role: Ensure materials get to the right people. Mail directly to Title I coordinator, ensure no backlog at 1-800-USA-LEARN.

  • Response: Not adequate resources to send to 100,000 schools. Will be on the Internet. Is downloading from the Internet a reasonable alternative? (Yes.) ED is also working with the Comprehensive Technical Assistance Centers to facilitate distribution.

  • Federal role: Make the materials available in translation for non-English speaking families.

  • Response: It may be possible for ED to facilitate sharing of translations done independently by schools and districts.

  • District role: The district can help ensure quality and accountability.

• Table 2 - State

  • State role: Can ensure that state standards are aligned with the findings of the NAS report.

  • State role: Can do inservice training to help folks understand how to develop Compacts for Literacy.

  • State role: Can encourage Compacts to be included in school improvement plans.

• Table 3 - School

  • School role: For 30 minutes per night for reading, one book is not enough. To deal with this demand, libraries will have to be restructured.

    Response: Mary Russo reports that at the Mason school they have libraries in every classroom and take donations of books.

• Table 4 - School

  • School role: Can take information back and share it with the school board and newspapers, etc.

  • School role: Can ensure that Title I and special education teachers have the most training to teach reading at the school.

• Table 5 - Technical Assistance Providers

  • TA role: Can use Comprehensive Technical Assistance Centers to disseminate information about the Compact for Literacy.

  • TA role: Can help find non-federal folks to do translations of materials.

  • TA role: Can provide assistance with continuous improvement.

  • TA role: Can encourage users to utilize materials other than books, such as magazines, puzzles, etc., to support development of a literacy environment in the home.

• Table 6 - State

  • State role: Can raise awareness of research findings and related resources.

  • State role: Can pilot Compacts for Literacy in school using as an incentive extra school improvement dollars and then disseminate results to other schools within the state.

  • Federal role: Can try to get materials into the hands of folks who can do the most with them.

Wrap-Up (Alan Ginsburg):

• The federal government can assist with evaluation efforts.

• Questions for participants: does more need to be added on adult literacy, and is the range of skills at the right level?

• A completed version is due in January, and in the mean time we are open for suggestions and examples.

• The website will aid with distribution, and may also assist with translation issues.