Kristen Huy

EDAD 566

Daniel Choi

6/30/17

Baseline Report

In order to better understand the current parent engagement at my school as well as the

existing goals to increase participation I looked at Helix Charter High Schools Local Control and

Accountability Plan. The results are organized below:

Parent/ LOCAL DATA FINDINGS IMPLICATIONS

Community MEASURES/ OF DATA ADDITIONAL
Engagement Goal DATA DATA NEEDED

Efforts to seek Parent PTSA, Family First Data states Not clear in terms of How much did the
Input through parent improvement but PTSA PTSA numbers
training, learning gives no hard increase? What
opportunities, and numbers in regards Small increase in were the previous
education workshops parent input
to the PTSA years numbers?

Increased the
number of
parents/guardians
attending parent
training, learning
opportunities, and
workshops and
meetings from 845
to 900
Complete revision and Parent Compact Not completed Not a priority Why was this not
alignment of Parent completed?
Compact

Promotion of Parental Data states that Not clear What were the
Involvement there have been an additional
increase in opportunities
opportunities available? How
campus wide for many people
parental participated? What
involvement but were the
does not state what participation rates
those opportunities the previous year?
are or the numbers
of parents involved
 Increase school School website Increase school Goal met
website/information website/information
visitation visitation

Increase LCAP survey LCAP Survey Low income Numbers of

participation participation went participants on the
from 22% to 30%, LCAP survey have
English Learner from increased across the
18% to 25%, Parent board
Family from 82 to
150, students from 119
to 300, staff from 86
to 115, community
members from 4 to 20
Increase Active parent Attendance records Increase Active parent Goal met What were the
groups (PTA, PTO, groups (PTA, PTO, attendance rates?
PTSA, ect.) at school PTSA, ect.) at school Were new groups
site site developed?

Increase Number of parent Increased There have been an How can we get ALL
Parent/Guardian use of accounts on Canvas Parent/Guardian use of increase of parent parents to have a
Canvas Canvas from 34.9% accounts, but we still parent account?
parent observer have a long way to go
accounts to 50%
Increased staff to Data shows goal was Goal was met How was this
parent/guardian met of Increased staff measured? The
outreach from a school to parent/guardian numbers seem odd to
wide average of 48 by outreach from a school me.
teachers to 575 by wide average of 48 by
GLTs by 10% teachers to 575 by
GLTs by 10%
Extend opportunities Extend opportunities Goal was met What were the
for and increase for and increase opportunities? What
parent/guardian parent/guardian opportunities were
involvement in our involvement in our added? I understand
decision making decision making they are opportunities
bodies on campus- 50 bodies on campus- 55 but what was the
opportunities, increase opportunities, increase participation in each?
10%, track record & 10%
invitation
Increase resource base Increase resource base Goal was met What is meant by
allowing utilization of allowing utilization of resource base? What
Parent Resource Parent Resource is the resource base
Services from 30 to 50 Services from 30 to 50 for?

While doing this assignment I realized that although my school has a lot of goals for increasing

parental involvement, there is not a lot of clarity in the objectives and/or the results. There is a lot of

ambiguity in the LCAP that I would need to request more information on. If you ask around my school

what our biggest downfall is almost every person on faculty would answer parental involvement. This
saddens me and makes me feel that more time and thought should have gone into creating and measuring

these goals.

After analyzing this data I have chosen three measurable goals that I would like to add or change

to the LCAP. The first goal is to look more closely at the parents and community members who attend the

events in place and see what we are doing that has brought them into the school. The second is to further

analyze the barriers that keep most of our parents away from the school and look at what we can improve

upon. The third goal would be to implement new programs such as a family resource center, homework

that involves parents, and teachers reaching out to parents more.

Goal #1: Who is currently attending the existing programs in place for parents and

community members? What are we doing right? The biggest area that we have parental involvement

at Helix is during registration. We have over 90% of parents come over the summer to meet with

counselors, grade level principals, and support staff to register their child. This is an excellent turnout and

I was very pleased to see the numbers of this event so high. Unfortunately this event was the only one

where the participation was over half. What are we doing right here? We are making this event mandatory

for students and parents to attend and there are many resources and staff members present to assist parents

in all sections of their childs education. I believe we should take this opportunity to expand the

registration process to include some of the educational sessions for parents and emphasize the importance

and benefits of volunteering at the school and being part of the community.

In looking at the rest I the activities that Helix offers I noticed some patterns as to the scattered

participation. In programs like the PTSA, Family First Thursdays, and the Community Board participants

almost all of them are White. This is troublesome because most of the students that we serve are

minorities and are not represented at all. With this being said, I would like to increase the presence of

parents and community members on campus, mainly those of color.

During this registration process I believe we can better address our goals of:
 a. Efforts to seek Parent Input through parent training, learning opportunities, and

education workshops by advertising these events and talking about what programs

parents would like to see added for parents and the outside community. We can give a

survey to parents that come to registration on what programs they would be interested

in and receive contact information to contact them when they are happening.

b. Promotion of Parental Involvement by advertising classes and opportunities that are

available to become involved in the school. We could set clearer standards for what

the percent increase we would like to see in each program, something not clearly

noted in the LCAP.

c. Increase Active parent groups (PTA, PTO, PTSA, ect.) at school site by recruiting

parent to these different groups. This could be advertised and part of registration and I

believe we could easily get more people involved, once they realize what each

program does and offers. We should also set a goal of increasing these groups by 10%

or so each year.

Goal #2: What is keeping parents away from Helix Charter High School? There are many

barriers that can be preventing parents and community members from connecting with Helix

Charter, particularly those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged. For two thirds of parents

who are not involved it is lack of time (Bridgeland, 2008). There are also demographic barriers

such as transportation problems, lack of child care or elderly care, or not speaking English which

can keep these important people away. Based off of parents and community members own

experiences in school, low SES parents and community members can also face psychological

barriers due to racism, poor educational experiences, and ones own lack of confidence in their

abilities (Velsor & Orozco, 2007). The school itself could also be the reason why there is lack of
parent involvement. Velsor & Oroxco also argue that low SES schools encourage less

involvement than high SES schools and do not do as good of a job communicating. Lastly, if

teachers perceive lack of involvement as lack of interest then parents will naturally feel

unwelcome in the school.

When asking colleagues about the issue of community involvement at Helix I was met

with a lot of frustration. Most faculty members are satisfied with the programs we offer for

parents and the community and believe that since we communicate what is available that the

blame should be put on them for not attending. A lot of faculty also noted that the community

and parents in particular dont seem to care. This was an assumption that was brought up by

several colleagues and a terrible one at that. Studies show that socioeconomic status does not

directly correlate with how much a parent cares about their childs education (Sattler, 2014).

If parents are unable to be present at the school, we can still work with families and the

community to increase certain goals. The LCAP goals that we can address in this section would

be:

a. Increased staff to parent/guardian outreach from a school wide average of 48 by

teachers to 575 by GLTs by 10%. Although this goal was met I am unsure how

this was measured and am unsure of the accuracy of the measurement. I would like to

come up with a formal reporting system where everyone in the school records where

and when they contacted parents. I believe that we need to reach out more to the

parents and outside community and in order to do that we need accurate records.

b. Increase Parent/Guardian use of Canvas by signing every parent up at registration. If

parents cannot be present on campus at least they can be aware of their childrens
 grades and assignments through their parent portals. I believe we should sign every

parent up and make that a goal for the upcoming years.

Goal #3: What programs can we add that engage more parents and community

members? There are many different options to create more opportunities for parent and

community involvement at Helix. The first thing I believe our school needs to do better is

understanding the community in which we serve. As Soon Hong discusses in A Cord of Three

Strands, if we have more parent volunteers around school they serve as a bridge connecting the

students and the teachers. I believe there is currently a large disconnect between the staff and the

students and we need to identify cultural differences to better understand our students and their

families, and having parent mentors would be an excellent second step. Secondly I believe that

the school needs to do a better job of reaching out to parents. Most parents seem to agree that

teachers should be in charge of getting parents involved while in another study, teacher

perception of good communication with parents focused on parents reaching out (Velsor &

Orozco, 2007). While both parties are waiting for the other to make the first move opportunities

to close the education gap are closing.

In order to better understand how parents in my school felt about parent and community

involvement involvement at Helix, I decided to reach out to my summer school students parents

to ask what resources they utilized as a parent and what resources they would benefit the most

from adding to Helix. As I mentioned it is important to get feedback about current

implementation and ask the community and parents what they would like to see participation

look like in the future. Of the 28% of parents that responded to the survey (given to students as a

homework assignment) the results are shown in the table below.

Do you feel connected with Helix? 69% answered no
Have you participated in
- PTSA? - 4%
- Helix Charter Board Meetings? - 0%
- Helix High School Foundation? - 0%
- Judging Senior Board? - 0%
- Summer Registration? - 70%
- English Learners Advisory Committee? - 0%
- Spring Fling?
- Parent Shadow Day? - 35%
- Back to School Night? - 17%
- Other? - 39%
- 1 parent:HIMA
Do you have a Canvas Parent Portal? 74% of parents say that they do have a portal and check it an average of 2
How many times a week do you check it? times weekly
Which activities would you be interested in if they were
available at Helix?
- Home Visits - 0%
- Teachers reaching out more - 52%
- Administration reaching out more - 9%
- Homework meant to be worked on with - 26%
parents
- Hiring a Family Liaison & Family Service - 21%
Coordinate to work with families and the
school
- Creating a Family Resource Center - 13%
- Other: _______________________ - No other suggestions

Based on the survey most parents would like to see teachers reach out more to them. This

was not surprising since research said this is a common trend. I do feel like most teachers I work

with can reach out more and be better with building parental relationships before there is

something negative to report. Building the parent relationships, just like class report, can save a

lot of time and energy if something bad does occur down the line. Parents would also like to see

homework given that is meant to be worked on with the family, as discussed in Beyond the Bake

Sale. A program gaining popularity, Teachers Involving Parents in Schoolwork (TIPS), may help

solve that issue by giving interactive homework to help bridge relationships with the school and

home.
 New strategies that I would like to implement that most parents did not agree with are

home visits and on site services for families. I believe reaching out to parents and the overall

community by having counselors and teachers visit student homes would provide a more

comfortable environment for parents to openly talk about their child, as Beyond the Bake Sale

mentions. In one study low-income parents who were hard to reach began dropping by or

calling the school after receiving home visits by school representatives (Velsor & Orozco,

2007). Since most of our students live close by and parents cite that they want the school to

reach out, I believe this would be an excellent option. I also learned in Beyond the Bake Sale that

the Institute of Responsive Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction have begun to

provide funding for parent and community centers on school campuses. These centers can have

many functions - providing a place for parents to informally meet staff, community members to

take classes, or use computers. Some community centers have a family liaison who are

recognized as a bridge between the community and the school or a family service coordinator

who refer families to counseling or other services. In a district serving students from low-SES

families, a parent center provided tutoring, a library, and weekly medical services (Velsor &

Orozco, 2007). By showing families that the school cares about more than their childs

education, lines of communication open, providing more opportunities and benefits for the

students we serve.

My goal would address the LCAP goals:

a. Extend opportunities for and increase parent/guardian involvement in our decision

making bodies on campus- 50 opportunities, increase 10%, track record & invitation.

This goal is very unclear about the opportunities currently offered and the number of

parents taken advantage of them. If implementing my new programs I would want at

least a 10% increase of parent and community involvement in the resource center as

well as at least 50% homework being comprised of TIPS implemented work.