Strategies for Community Engagement in School Turnaround

Across the United States, school districts and State education agencies (SEAs) have turned their attention to the chronically lowest performing schools and drop out factories, investing resources and implementing a wide range of strategies in an effort to dramatically improve student achievement In many States, the focus on “turnaround schools” has been spurred by investments from the Federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) program, changes to State accountability systems and State initiatives to turn around lowperforming schools through Race to the Top and other Federal programs Many school districts also have undertaken turnaround as a core reform strategy

This report examines one key strategy for making school turnaround more effective: community engagement The purpose of community engagement is to ensure that school improvement is done with the community, not to the community It recognizes how integral schools are to their communities, and how much parents and communities have to offer as partners when fundamental change must occur in schools A school exists to educate the children of a community, and by embracing community engagement, political and educational leaders demonstrate their recognition that families and communities have an important say in what happens inside its doors To explore community engagement in action, the Reform Support Network (RSN) conducted studies between April and August of 2013 of 11 States and districts, urban and rural, engaged in the communities surrounding low-performing schools

The research yielded five primary lessons or takeaways:

1. Make engagement a priority and establish an infrastructure. In all cases, the first step was for State and district leaders to make community engagement a priority and set up an infrastructure to implement that commitment States like Montana and districts like Denver and Baltimore City have developed mission statements and plans for engagement, organized engagement offices, hired professional staff, established advisory groups and set aside resources to prepare parents and other community members to become turnaround advocates and leaders themselves

2. Communicate proactively in the community. When a State, district or school seeks to engage a community in pending reform, it finds ways to INFORM that community To do so, the turnaround initiatives profiled in these studies employed traditional and nontraditional communication tools and events: from mailings and newsletters to blogs and email, from open houses and workshopsto barbecues and picnics Marvel-Elaine School District in rural Arkansas, the Academy for Urban School Leadership in Chicago and the Tennessee Achievement School District, among others, offer varied examples of such strategies 

3. Listen to the community and respond to its feedback. Turnaround initiatives from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Denver, Colorado, chose to INQUIRE of their communities—through conversations, public forums, surveys and focus groups—in order to understand and address local issues and concerns Our research suggests that communication and engagement are more effective when the turnaround leadership listens to feedback from parents and the community and responds to their questions and concerns Community members are more likely to trust the initiative when they see their feedback incorporated into the turnaround work, and changes made as a result

4. Offer meaningful opportunities to participate. Across the studies, our research found evidence that schools, districts and States have provided meaningful ways to INVOLVE parents and community members in school improvement and support for student achievement Turnaround initiatives in Boston and Los Angeles set up classes to help parents develop skills to better support their children academically In Chicago, community partnerships that began as outreach to secure public backing for a school turnaround evolved into support to help students and families improve academic achievement, attendance and behavior

5. Turn community supporters into leaders and advocates. By thoughtfully informing, inquiring and involving families and community representatives, turnaround leaders and staff seek to INSPIRE more of them to share their knowledge and enthusiasm, persuade others and actively campaign for school turnaround This report recounts efforts in Denver and Louisiana, where community members, parents and educators sat on advisory groups that met regularly to review and take part in decision making about school improvement plans, budgets and progress reports (Pages 18-19) The initiatives reviewed in this report highlight different approaches for engaging parents and others in the work of turnaround Table 1 on page 5 offers a brief description of each turnaround initiative The Appendix includes a more detailed table of the 11 turnaround initiatives and their community engagement strategies