Evaluate Systems & Structures That Support School Communities

Inflexion April 19, 2023

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Black woman holds and reviews a clipboard with a bar graph document on it.

When schools, families, and community groups work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school more.

– Southwest Educational Development Laboratory

INTRO

During a Crowdsource on March 16, 2023, Carlos Hernandez (Director of Community Schools, Family and Community Engagement at Anaheim Union School District) and Araceli Huerta (Community School Coordinator at Sycamore Junior High School) shared strategies for effectively engaging parents and family members. Topics of discussion included both site-level strategies to include families in your school community and district-level approaches to building systems that center family perspectives when making decisions.

OBJECTIVES

Reflect on your school/district’s current structures & systems for family and community engagement

Compare your school/district’s current status with those shared by AUHSD

Brainstorm/begin planning how you can start moving your school/district toward more authentic family and community engagement

RESOURCES

PDF: Systems & Structures That Support FACE

CROWDSOURCE VIDEO CLIP: F A C E Systems & Structures

Activity

Watch the brief Crowdsource clip and review AUHSD’s example Family And Community Engagement (FACE) Systems & Structures

Reflect on your school’s current FACE Systems & Structures

Brainstorm/begin planning how you can create more authentic connections with and supports for your greater school community

REFLECTION

Reflect on your school/district’s current structures & systems for family and community engagement:
- What’s working well/well-implemented/established?
- What are areas of concern?
- Who in the community have you already partnered with? Who can you reach out to?
- What barriers do you foresee there being in expanding and strengthening your school’s/district’s F.A.C.E.?

Use the AUHSD’s example systems & structures as a guideline to compare with your school/district:
- Which areas are robust?
- Which areas need more work/support?
- What accounts for the strengths, differences, gaps, etc?

TIPS

Watch the video for more detailed explanations of the F.A.C.E. Systems & Structures presented by AUHSD

While using examples for comparison can help you begin brainstorming, remember that each school and community is different and your plans need to account for what works for your school community

Categories: Protocols

Tags: 21st Century Leadership, Effective Leadership, Family and Community Engagement, Inclusive Leadership, Inclusive Practices, Intentional Community Engagement, Leadership Activities, School Leaders

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Through its work with Inflexion, MUHSD is seeing strong results in student outcomes and in closing the opportunity gap for underserved students. California School Dashboard data show College/Career Indicator scores for African American, Hispanic, English Learners, students with disabilities, students who are homeless, and students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged are 16 to 29 points higher than the state average.

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INTRO

OBJECTIVES

RESOURCES

Activity

REFLECTION

TIPS

Related Articles

Responses