Those ethical principles include:
1) Respect Autonomy
2) Do no harm
3) Benefit others
4) Be Just
5) Be faithful
The principles integrated into this advocacy plan help create a plan that is fair, concise and consistent. The principles are identified as they appear in the plan.
Introduction
The School district being discussed, is comprised of a tight knit community infused with old southern values and blue-collar families. Many generations of families live together in one home, and many of the adults work more than one job daily to maintain the standard of living that these poor, rural families have become accustomed to. While most families have generally negative feelings relating to their personal education experience, most want their children to have optimal experiences and opportunity but often lack the time, cognition or organization to help their children reach their maximum potential. Planning to include families in the learning of students by incorporating programs to enhance parental involvement will vastly change the way the district operates and the delineation of responsibility for misbehavior and achievement. This report will reflect on several features of the program to discern the sustainability of the project. (Respect Autonomy, Benefit Others, Be Faithful).
Readiness
Spiro, the author of Leading Change Step-by-Step, identifies readiness through the leaders ability to reflect and change the program to sustain over a substantial period of time. Also, the ability to objectify and identify important elements of the program that are essential, from the non-essential components are an important of determining leader readiness when planning for change (2011).
With the parent involvement program there are several elements that have been constructed to increase parent involvement in learning by expanding their knowledge base, creating linear expectations at home and at school, holding parents accountable for their children’s academic performance and bringing the parents to the school to expand face to face interactions between teachers and parents. While all of these programs and plans work coherently together, there are several elements that are essential and others that could be eliminated to reach extended sustainability and longevity without compromising the nature of the program.
One of the vital elements of the program would be to strongly advocate for parents to attend bi-weekly school meetings to learn about objectives, lessons and skills that their children will be learning. District funded transportation to and from these meetings is also critical. These meetings are the very foundation of the program and cannot be eliminated. Some other components of the program including evening computer labs for parents and on call homework help could be eliminated if budget and involvement protocol called for a reduction in cost. (Be Just, Benefit Others)
Program Practices for Scale and Sustainability
This program advocates for parental involvement in a rural, low-income community. Ninety-nine percent of the students qualify for free lunch and meals are distributed three times a day. Many of the parents work several jobs and often are exhausted and over-tired. This program will incorporate parents into learning to increase the success of students in the district. William Jeynes, a researcher for Harvard School of Education reinforces this concept of parental involvement and how the correlation of involved parents and test scores are more than correlational. On average, student’s that had parents actively involved in their education were more likely to be successful than those who do not (2005). Students must clearly understand the rules at school and the rules at home. If those rules are fluid and values are shared between school and home, the likelihood of success increases greatly.
Parents in the community are typically eager to learn about their children’s learning experience but often do not know the questions to ask or do not have access to adequate resources to assist their child in learning. This program will not only provide materials to parents to help them understand content and expectations but it will also provide a platform to discuss challenges and triumphs and create a connection between families and schools. This fluidity will help students see the value in the success as education is a value in high esteem by both parents and teachers. (Do No Harm, Benefit others)
Non-Negotiable Elements
In a parent involvement advocacy plan, like the one being introduced here, there are several elements that must come together to make a complex, cohesive program. Some of these elements lay the foundation for the program, and other add value but the program could meet the objectives without them. In other words, there are a few non-negotiable elements of the parent involvement initiative that will be instated.
The premise of this change is the district is based on the value of parental involvement in schools. The NEA reports that students earn higher grades, attend school regularly and adjust socially better than those with uninvolved parents (2002). Parents will be scheduled to come to the campus bi-weekly to discuss objectives, their children’s progress and ask any questions they might have. Transportation will be provided. These elements are essential. Parents must know the objectives and understand the concepts to be involved in their children’s learning. Bi-weekly attendance from parents with planned events from the school district is a non-negotiable element of this change plan.
Scale and Sustainability Scores
Scale and sustainability are important elements of planning a change in any organization. This plan has been designed around the needs of the community and is supported in research. There is a known concept that parental involvement and strong parental presence in schools increases achievement and behavior in students. Parents want to be involved in their children’s lives but need a venue to pursue such involvement. Parents do not know how to be involved in their children’s learning, and this plan will help parents learn to help their children. There is a vast array of educated staff and faculty available to implement these programs.
Local legislation supports these changes, because change advocacy in this regard will increase test scores, and there for improve the district rating. Teachers are paid on a salary scale so involvement in this program is a part of their contract so there will not be any increased compensation expected. However, buses will need to be funded and fundraisers throughout the year can help to raise money to transport parents. Most parents want to be actively involved so they will transfer their interest to other members of the community to facilitate the goals of the community.
Throughout the implementation, continuous assessment and collection of data will ensure to track the progress of students as it is related to direct parent involvement. Overall, the program is well planned out with a lot of interested stakeholders with a clear timeline for success.
Strategies
While this program is widely accepted and embraced in the community, strategy and planning will be necessary to keep this program going for long term success. Some of those plans include the process of continuously revising and monitoring this program for change. (2011). If the programs are not working, the professionals must plan around the strategies in place to meet the needs of the students and the parents. (Be just, Respect Autonomy)
Conclusion
The district is made up over several groups of people including parents, students and teachers. This change plan initiates a strategy to integrate the three parties to create a cohesive and elaborate plan for success. The parents interest and the desire to help their children succeed will help to fuel this program. Backed by educated, knowledgeable professionals, administrators who support the mission of the change and an adequate funding supply for parent involvement, this plan has all the tools in place to become successful. The implementation of this plan relies solely on the persistence of the teachers and parents in the district.
References
Jeynes, W. (2005). Parental Involvement and Student Achievement: A Meta-Analysis.
Retrieved from http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-
Reseach Spotlight on Parental Involvement in Education.(2002). NEA Reviews of the
Research on Best Practive in Education. Retrieved from
http://www.nea.org/tools/17360.htm on August 18,2014.
Spiro, J. (2011). Leading change step-by-step: Tactics, tools, and tales. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
