a school-provider partnership serving families transitioning out of homelessness 23 rd annual naehcy...
TRANSCRIPT
A school-provider partnership serving families
transitioning out of homelessness
23rd Annual NAEHCY Conference November 6, 2011
Workshop Overview
This presentation will:
Demonstrate the need for collaboration between schools and housing providers serving homeless familiesPresent strategies for effective interagency communication and reduction of educational barriersExplore the impact of interagency collaboration Challenge participants to develop collaborative initiatives in their own communities
Increased numbers of identified homeless students
Decreased funds to serve homeless population greater strain on school districts and homeless providers
Communication between schools and outside agencies is crucial for educational success of students experiencing homelessness (Miller, 2009; Miller & Schreiber, 2009)
Why collaborate?
“Educating Homeless Children in Allegheny County: An Evaluation of Families, Agencies & Services” Dr. Peter Miller and Dr. James SchreiberDuquesne University, 2009
Evaluated school experiences of families residing in emergency, transitional and permanent supportive housing
Surveyed 139 parents and 51 agency staff members at 20 agencies serving families experiencing homelessness in Allegheny County, PA
Roots in Research
Key findings:
Homeless students and parents experience widespread problems with school. Problems were seen most clearly in areas of health and attendance, mobility, misdiagnosis, harassment/stigmatization, and student behavior.
Most parents want to be active advocates in their children’s educational pursuits, but many of them face significant barriers in their attempts to do so. The most commonly noted barriers were shortages of information and shortages of resources.
The nature and frequency of communication between schools, community programs, residential agency staffs, and parents is crucial. Most parents noted how breakdowns in communication with schools limited their children’s possibilities of succeeding.
44% of agency staff members “rarely or never” spoke with school staff
Roots in Research
School workers believed parents lack understanding of how to navigate the school system:
“A lot of the parents at the agency (that is located near the school) go straight to the top (the superintendent) with any little issue that comes up…If they would just go to the teacher or counselor first, we could resolve most of these things a lot more easily.”
Parents perceived school staff as being indifferent to their needs:
“The system just doesn’t want to deal with them (homeless kids). It can be something as simple as throwing a piece of paper across the room and you get suspended for three days and you can’t come back unless your mother comes in – even though she’s working full time or in school herself. “
Roots in Research
Partners
Homeless Children’s Education Fund
Clairton City School District
Sisters Place
Funding sources:PA Department of EducationThe Heinz EndowmentsThe Pittsburgh Foundation
1. Improve communication among parents, school faculty and staff, and housing provider staff
2. Increase parent engagement3. Train school staff for more effective
identification of and service to children and youth who are homeless
4. Develop and implement a targeted literacy program utilizing both school and housing provider resources
5. Develop a model that can be introduced in other school districts in Allegheny County and throughout the Commonwealth
Project Evaluation
PA Homele
ss Children
’s Initiativ
e Region
IV
Transportation Confidentiality Perception of time required Lack of knowledge of homelessness &
McKinney-Vento beyond school district liaison
History of negative relationships/attitudes toward school among families
Funding
Assemble a formal team representing school, housing provider and community agencies
Develop an MOU for interagency data-sharing
Train all school staff on McKinney-Vento Engage parents through regular
meetings with school personnel at the housing agency
Build bridges between school curriculum and out-of-school-time programming at housing agency
Evaluate impact frequently and change accordingly
Need both “top down” and “ground up” Pre-planning – learn about each other,
conduct informal needs assessment with families
Joint planning – set clear objectives, assign roles
Designate one facilitator – schedules meetings, publishes minutes, collects data
Data-sharing MOU
* Day-to-day program support ** Planning/oversight
Clairton City School District
Sisters Place
Homeless Children’s Education
Fund
Community Partners
*Social Worker/Homeles
s Liaison
*Program Manager
* Education Program Manager
Regional McKinney-Vento
Coordinator*High School
Guidance Counselor
*Child Development
Specialist
**Executive Director
Duquesne University
*Reading Specialist
**Executive Director
Allegheny County
Department of Human Services
**Superintendent
**Assistant Superintendent
For school staff: McKinney-Vento 101 For families: Back-to-School Welcome
Day Families are not the only transient
population to consider… school and homeless provider staff change too! Make it an annual event to pull in newcomers
Include school guidance counselor, social worker and/or homeless liaison
Many housing agencies hold mandatory meetings for parents – take advantage of existing opportunities to meet
One week before meeting – check in with case manager. What issues have parents been talking about?
Bring enrollment forms for new families Bring hard copies of important school
notices & mailings – review in person Distribute “Important Contacts” list for
refrigerator Review calendar of upcoming events,
state testing dates, parent-teacher conferences, etc.
Talk about how to get a child tested for gifted program, special needs, etc.
Meet one-on-one to view student grades online & discuss individual concerns
Share information on support services (tutoring, grief counseling, career advice) and connect to what’s happening in local community
What educational resources or services are offered by the housing provider? (Tutoring, after-school program, reading program, etc.)
Designate a school staff person to serve as educational liaison between housing provider and classroom teachers
Conducts regular on-site visits to housing provider
Develops customized learning plans to address each student’s individual needs
Helps align educational services provided by housing agency with school standards when appropriate
May provide direct instruction to students or training to housing provider staff
Role of Clairton School Reading Specialist:
Communicate with classroom teachers
Engage with after-school program at Sisters Place
Communicate with parents
Sample Customized Learning Plan – Literacy Focus
Student A
Grade 1st grade
Homeroom Teacher
Mrs. Schweitzer
Strengths Vocabulary, phoneme segmentation, phonemic awareness
Weaknesses/Significant Needs
Handwriting, consonant digraphs –ch, wh, th and first grade sight words
Methods/Assessments
Glass analysis, first grade sight word assessment, handwriting activities from school Occupational Therapist, Sonday system
Recommended Instruction
Handwriting exercises, phonics-based lessons/instruction
Goal-setting
Direct Instruction
Monitoring Progress
Consider formal, third-party evaluations – leverage for funding
Pro-bono opportunities: masters-level thesis or doctoral dissertation for student in education or social work
Informal discussions – keep the conversation going!
Key questions: For schools – Is the collaboration saving you
time and improving student outcomes? For providers – Is the collaboration helping
families become more independent? For parents – Is the collaboration increasing
your ability to advocate for your children’s educational needs?
Editing the school’s residency questionnaire with de-stygmatizing language about homelessness
Monthly face-to-face meetings between guidance counselor and case manager to plan effective parent meetings
Training parents to use Classroll software to monitor children’s grades from home
Coordinating summer school and provider-based summer camp schedules to avoid overlap
Bringing enrollment forms to Sisters Place & helping new parents fill them out before start of school year
Teaming up with families to help determine best interest of children regarding school choice
Providing transportation (Sisters Place) for parents to attend parent-teacher conferences at school
Specific examples of collaboration resulting from joint initiative
Mothers asked for more information
pertaining to elementary-aged
students
Reading Specialist required more
one-on-one time with students
Teachers needed greater awareness of homelessness Clairton School District will hold
Teachers’ In-service in November 2011
Homeless Children’s Education Fund secured funding to increase Reading Specialist’s visits to twice weekly
Sisters Place rescheduled Monthly Parent Meetings for an evening when both elementary and secondary guidance counselors can attend
“It was neat when the kids see, hey, there’s the guidance counselor, there’s my parents, they’re both ganging up on me. You know, for good reason – we want to help them.” – Staff member, Clairton City School District
“I do communicate with teachers at school…That’s been really beneficial….I have spoken with a few teachers and even asked them: ‘I go to Sisters Place. I work with so-and-so. Is there anything that you can think of that we need to work on?’” – Staff member, Clairton City School District
Parents and staff are “recognizing the challenges that their kids have and addressing them in an appropriate manner – before the student is facing either a magistrate hearing or failing a class at the end of the year.”
– Staff member, Sisters Place
Outcomes indicated by parent surveys and interviews:
73% of mothers responded that meetings were very helpful for understanding their children’s learning at school
Parents reporting feeling:more confident communicating with school staffmore informed about their children’s academic progressmore knowledgeable about school services/programs to correspond to their children’s individual needs
•Early education
•Long-term measuring of impact on student performance
•Replication of collaborative model in other school districts
Bill WolfeExecutive Director
Homeless Children’s Education Fund(412) 562-0154 x203
Laura BaileyEducation Program Manager
Homeless Children’s Education Fund(412) 562-0154 x204
Maureen McGarveySecondary Guidance Counselor
Clairton City School District(412) 233-9200 x1237