Resource Guide for the Standards and Rubric for School Improvement

Home



Give Us Your Feedback



Standard One:
School and District Leadership



Standard Two:
Curriculum, Instruction, And Professional Development



Standard Three:
Classroom And School Assessments



Standard Four:
School Culture, Climate, And Communication

4.1 Shared Philosophy of Culture of Excellence
4.2 Facilities Conducive to Learning
4.3 Proactive School Discipline Procedures
4.4 Safety and Crisis Plans
4.5 Positive Relationships with Students
4.6 Student Achievement Highly Valued
4.7 Healthy School Culture
4.8 Culture of Respect, Trust, Communication, and Collaboration
4.9 Benefits of Change
4.10 Active Partners
4.11 Additional Academic Assistance for Students



ADE Calendar of Events



Best Practices Academies

4.10 Active Partners

All members of the school community are active partners in governance, and support and participate in schoolwide improvement efforts.

Families and schools often need complementary community resources to create a strong web of healthy opportunities and support to help students become competent, caring, ethical, and healthy adults. Links with other members of the community, including youth-serving organizations, faith-based organizations, parks and recreation departments, local law enforcement agencies, health and social services, and businesses are valuable for all schools, but especially for schools whose families have few outside resources or whose neighborhoods have high rates of violence and crime.

Learning First Alliance,
Every Child Learning: Safe and Supportive Schools

Suggested Evidence
  • Records of teacher/parent contact
  • Records of parent/teacher conferences
  • Report cards
Level of Performance: Exceeds Standards
  • Programs that promote contact between teachers and families regarding student learning are developed and implemented. Families are consistently involved in developing or coordinating these efforts.
  • The school provides programs (e.g., open house, curriculum fair) for families to experience instructional and curricular programs in six to nine subject areas.
  • The school works with students, families, and the community to facilitate school transitions in a systematic and planned manner.

Related Resources

Tools
NEW! Dialogue Guide for Facilitators   
Dialogue Guides are models for conducting interactive discussions across stakeholders in states and districts. These packages make new use of dependable and publicly available information. Each Guide circulates a common set of source materials and suggested procedures for involving various audiences. In this manner, stakeholders (families, practitioners, professional associations, professors, policymakers, legislators) all over the country can begin interacting in new ways around implementation issues.


Publication Date: May 2005
Publisher: IDEA, NASDSE, US Office of Special Education

NEW! Presenter's Guide: Response to Intervention and SLD Identification   
This presenter’s guide is intended to support the PowerPoint slides by offering
· Suggested background readings;
· Talking points relative to each slide;
· Suggested activities to enhance learning opportunities for participants;
· Tips to facilitate the professional growth experience; and
· Suggested readings for extension
Publication Date: July 2007
Publisher: IDEA, NASDSE, US Office of Special Education

Acronym Finder   
Acronym Finder has over 60,000 entries in its data base.
Publication Date: 1988-2008
Publisher: The Acronym Finder

An Action Guide for Community and Parent Leaders   
This guide identifies ten major provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act seen to be most important for community engagement in order to help parents and community members assess where to focus their efforts within their own schools and districts.
Publisher: Public Education Network

College Is Within Reach: Helping Parents Support the Achievement of their Middle and High School Students   
Part of a PEN initiative to build capacity among parents and teachers to help prepare students for rigorous academic standards, this site describes a workshop to help parents know what their children are expected to learn, how they are evaluated, and how they can help their children define goals.
Publisher: Public Educational Network

Helping Every Student Succeed: Schools and Communities Working Together   
This article describes how community-wide study circles in which large numbers of community members simultaneously meeting in small groups can be used to discuss how all students in the community can succeed academically and develop specific actions to meet those goals.
Publication Date: 2002
Publisher: Study Circles Resource Center, Topsfield Foundation, Inc.

Sample Parent Communication Log   
This tool provides a sample parent communication log. Remember to keep an individual log for each student, contact parents immediately if you have concerns about their child, and make sure to list the reason for contacting that parent.
Publication Date: 2003
Publisher: Education World


Articles
NEW! What Content-Area Teachers Should Know About Adolescent Literacy   
This report suggests methods for improving adolescent learners reading and writings skills in the classroom.
Author: Kris Anstrom and Trenace Richardson Tanya Shuy Rebecca J. Moak and Mary A. Campbell Peggy McCardle a
Publication Date: 2007
Publisher: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

NEW! Meeting Challenges Through Communities of Practice: New Eyes, Facilitating Community   
There are a number of key strategies that are fundamental to the Communities of Practice approach. The strategies in this article can assist Communities of Practice leaders and facilitators in building a strong foundation and enhancing stakeholder participation.
Author: Joanne Cashman, Patrice Linehan and Mariola Rosser
Publication Date: July 2007
Publisher: IDEA Partnership and NASDSE

Beyond Islands of Excellence: What Districts Can Do to Improve Instruction and Achievement in All Schools   
Profiling five districts that have promoted improvement across their entire school systems, this report examines their motivation to begin reform, guiding strategies, role of professional development in their efforts, the impact of various stakeholders on these efforts, and distribution of leadership among stakeholders to facilitate improvement.
Publication Date: 2003, March
Publisher: Learning First Alliance

Co-Constructing Family Involvement   
In order to discuss the co-construction of home-school partnerships to support children’s learning and development, the authors of this article point out 5 constructs that can serve children from kindergarten through high school.
Author: M. Elena Lopez, Holly Kreider, and Margaret Caspe
Publication Date: 2005
Publisher: Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP)

Creating An Appetite for Change   
This policy brief reports the experiences of leaders involved in three long-term community-wide educational reform projects intended to improve the educational performance of all students, and particularly those seen to be affected by poverty or race. It also discusses the role of motivation to collaborate, organizational issues involving higher education, how success is measured, issues of scale, and advice for others.
Publication Date: 2000, May
Publisher: Leader’s Perspectives on Promoting K-16 Reform through Community Collaboration

CSR Schools improve Student Achievement: Evidence from the Meta-analysis   
This report is an analysis of the findings from more than 230 studies on student achievement effects in U.S. schools using any one of 29 nationally disseminated and externally developed comprehensive school reform models. It also addresses whether CSR models make a difference, what biases in the literature exist, which model-characteristics or contextual factors have the greatest effect on student achievement, and which models have the strongest research evidence of effectiveness.
Publication Date: 2003, February
Publisher: National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform

Family Involvement in Middle and High School Students' Education   
The brief discusses the latest research on effective involvement, including the research studies that link family involvement during the middle and high school years to outcomes and programs that have been evaluated to show what works.

Author: Holly Kreider, Margaret Caspe, Susan Kennedy, and Heather Weiss
Publication Date: 2007
Publisher: Harvard Family Research Project

Helping Your Child Learn History   
By showing interest in their children’s education, families can spark enthusiasm in them and lead them to a very important understanding—that learning can be enjoyable as well as rewarding and is well worth the effort required. This booklet provides activities to increase interest in and knowledge of history.
Author: John McGrath
Publication Date: 2004, June
Publisher: U.S. Department of Education

Homework Requires Teamwork— Between Teachers and Parents   
Evidence is strong that homework improves student achievement, especially when coupled with strong parental support. Both teachers and parents should remember to place appropriate emphasis on the importance of homework.
Author: Dr. Robert C. Hanna
Publication Date: 2001
Publisher: Mackinac Center for Public Policy

Lessons From Family-Strengthening Interventions: Learning From Evidence-Based Practice   
This brief is a review of interventions that have been rigorously evaluated through experimental studies and offers educators, service providers, and evaluators recommendations for creating successful programs and evaluations.
Author: Margaret Caspe and M. Elena Lopez
Publication Date: 2006
Publisher: Harvard Family Research Project

Parent Involvement in Education   
This article researches what types of parent involvement have positive effects on student achievement.
Author: Kathleen Cotton and Karen Reed Wikelund
Publication Date: 2001
Publisher: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory

Reading Next: A Vision for Action and Research in Middle and High School Literacy   
The authors outline 15 key elements of an effective literacy intervention, and call on public and private stakeholders to invest in the literacy of middle and high school students today, while simultaneously building the knowledge base.
Author: Gina Biancarosa and Catherine Snow
Publication Date: 2004
Publisher: Alliance for Excellent Education

The Home and School Team   
This article provides strategies and resources parents can use to understand the types of assessments that are used in schools.
Author: Roberta Furger
Publication Date: 2002
Publisher: Edutopia

Working With the Public on Big Decisions   
This book describes how school leaders are incorporating more participatory strategies into decision making in order to avoid conflict and build support. Organizing small groups from a broad base of community members and asking participants to take action on their recommendations are suggested.
Author: Matt Leighninger
Publication Date: 2003, November


Useful Links
NEW! RTI Response to Intervention Glossary   
This is a list of terms and acronyms used when discussing RtI, Response to Intervention.
Publication Date: 2007
Publisher: IDEA Partnership, NASDSE, & US Office of Special Education

Acronyms in Education   
This is a list, arranged alphabetically, defining education acronyms
Author: Schools Moving Up
Publication Date: 1995-2007
Publisher: WestEd

GreatSchools.Net   
GreatSchools.net provides individual and comparison data on public, private, and charter schools to help track school performance.

Homework Tips for Parents   
Homework has been a part of students' lives since the beginning of formal schooling in the United States. However, the practice has sometimes been accepted and other times rejected, both by educators and parents. This document presents research concerning homework, and gives examples of how parents can express positive attitudes about the value of success in school to their children.
Publication Date: 2003, May
Publisher: U.S. Department of Education

Leave No Parent Behind   
Project Appleseed seeks to create partnerships with state departments of education, nonprofit groups, and corporate partners whose business, philanthropic, and educational objectives can be met through a Leave No Parent Behind Partnership!
Publisher: Project Appleseed

National Parent Information Network   
The National Parent Information Network provides many resources for parents, including tutoring help, student loans, homework activities, and scholarships.

Parents as Teachers National Center   
The Parents as Teachers National Center provides a program designed to enhance child development and achievement through parent education.

Tool Kit for Hispanic Families   
This toolkit provides information on what to expect from schools, teachers and children. It also provides ways to help your child through school, what resources are available, and what your family and community can do to help in the learning process.
Publication Date: 2005
Publisher: U.S. Department of Education




©2005 WestEd. All rights reserved.

Empowered by EdGateway



Arizona Department of Education SchoolsMovingUp