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Family and Alumni Engagement Strategy
Among several factors that lead to success in turnaround schools is a strong partnership between stakeholders, especially family and alumni. The feedback the APS community provided in earlier stages of our strategy development supports this focus and there's agreement that a successful implementation of a family and alumni engagment program will benefit our students district-wide.
This page provides a broad outline of our overall strategy. For further details, review our presentations and strategy documents linked in this section. And when you have a few moments, please know that your feedback for ongoing improvement is welcome.
APS Family & Alumni Engagement Strategy December 2016 version
APS Family Engagement Strategy November 2016 redline version
APS Family Engagement Timeline Presentation
Draft Policy - LEBA Family Engagement
Hypothesis & Research
We started from the premise that if we identified the right drivers for meaningful engagement, our students would benefit.
To identify those drivers, between May and September 2016, we sought input from internal, external and secondary sources.
Process
With guidance from a cross-functional,
internal steering committee, we:- Conducted APS data-gathering activities to identify current APS family engagement strategies and initiatives
- Gathered input from APS stakeholders through interviews and focus groups
- Administered a parent survey that was distributed district-wide
- Identified key engagement best practices through secondary research
Four Themes Emerged Culture & Leadership
Leaders must focus on building a culture of engagement and holding people accountable for creating a welcoming environment
Commit to engagement standards and accountability at all levels of leadership
Ensure everyone is responsible for creating a welcoming environment
Rebuild trust through strategic intent and consistency in actions and interactions
Develop expectations and boundaries to support effective partnerships and collaboration with families and alumni
Invest in recruitment strategies and professional development to support positive engagement
Communication
Authentic, two-way communication builds trust, enhances relationships and is the foundation for increased engagement at all levels
Ensure communication is accurate, consistent and relevant to all stakeholders, particularly parents/caregivers and alumni
Personalize and provide vehicles for interaction when communicating with parents/caregivers, whenever possible
Embed interpretation and translation services in all communications
Leverage technology, including social media and digital platforms, to extend reach to parents/caregivers and alumni
Provide access to and navigation within schools and central administration that align with welcoming environment standards
Cluster & School-based Approach
Effective engagement must align with vision and standards, and should be tailored based on needs of clusters, schools and communities
Acknowledge that schools and teachers are the engagement “front-line”
Commit to meet families “where they are”
Strengthen engagement and relationships through increased interconnections within clusters
Expand virtual engagement opportunities to broaden participation
Be intentional about cultivating relationships with alumni and identify specific ways that they can support students
Organization & Infrastructure
Investment in organization and infrastructure must be aligned to strategy and resources to support engagement goals
Ensure infrastructure and resources are aligned at the district, cluster and school level
Empower parents/caregivers to support their children and be effective partners
Build capacity of Parent Liaisons to support the school and cluster engagement strategies
Expand partnerships to better serve family and community needs
Drive accountability and consistency through performance management, evaluation, and reporting systems
Invest in staff development to build capacity
We Achieved Alignment
Feedback from stakeholders aligned with best practice research
Family & Community Engagement
Develop channels for two-way communication
Cultivate a welcoming environment
Build staff capacity to facilitate effective engagement
Educate and engage parents
Engage the community
Alumni Engagement
Connect alumni early and extend engagement throughout life
Align activities to mission and vision
Create focal point of contact for programming and communication
Create a continuum of activities
Use data to target programming and communication
Recommendations to Support APS Vision
(as presented to the ABOE, October 2016)We recommend the following high-level goals and tactics to support the APS vision of a high-performing school district where students love to learn, educators inspire, families engage, and the community trusts the system.
Demonstrate Leadership Commitment
Adopt board policy
Define standards of accountability
Provide professional development
Foster Two-Way Communication
Launch technology-enabled communications
Commit to clear, timely and accurate communications
Create feedback loop
Align Organization and Infrastructure to Support Clusters and Schools
Establish dedicated leader
Empower GO Teams
Invest in cluster-based engagement structure
Next Steps We are continuing to engage with internal and external stakeholders to finalize our family and alumni engagement strategy. The input that we receive is being integrated, as part of our process. Our final strategy will be presented to the Atlanta Board of Education in December 2016.