Assets in Schools

Asset Story Archive
04/03 How Do Youth Benefit From Being Involved in an
Asset-Building Organization?

03/03 Expect Success Project Improving Climate of Denver Middle School

02/03 Tough Issues for Parents and Teens

01/03 Find Ways to Teach Tolerance

12/02 Easing the Transition from Youth to Adulthood

11/02 Asset # 37, Personal Power

10/02 Asset #36, Peaceful Conflict Resolution

09/02 Asset #24, Bonding to School

08/02 Asset #7, Community Values Youth

07/02 Asset #38, Self-esteem

06/02 Asset #40, Positive View of Personal Future

05/02 Asset #32, Planning and Decision Making

04/02 Asset #29, Honesty

03/02 Asset #31, Restraint

DENVER TEACHERS START WITH STAFF DEVELOPMENT TO ADDRESS SCHOOL CLIMATE AND PARENT ENGAGEMENT

"How can we be expected to communicate and connect with parents when we can't even do that as a staff?." - Denver Middle School Teacher

An evaluation of The Expect Success Project, a partnership between Assets for Colorado Youth and five Denver Public Schools, revealed that efforts toward sustained parent engagement must be preceded by positive changes in school climate and inter-staff relationships. Analysis of the research, published in Profiles, Partnerships and Perspectives: A Study of Parent Engagement in Schools, supports an organizational transformation within a school to achieve such changes as improved school climate or parent engagement.

Through teacher in-service sessions, the groundwork was laid for a strength-based approach to parent engagement. During the Expect Success Project more than 240 teachers received "Creating an Asset Rich School" training and began the process of defining parent engagement within their school communities. In these sessions teachers were given the opportunity to use the asset framework to construct their "asset- rich school community." They brainstormed ways in which they could make their office, hallways, classrooms, and relationships between themselves, and with students and parents, asset-rich. This led to a shift in schools' focus toward improving school climate. Seventy percent of ACY's time during the Expect Success Project was spent on professional development with teachers and staff in an effort to improve the school climate and make teachers and staff better equipped to build key relationships with parents. One teacher stated, "Positive school climate is like the basement in the house. The relationship of the teachers must be first before parent engagement." Knowing that there were ways that they could begin to impact parent engagement was empowering and began to turn the focus from parents' non-involvement to strategies to increase their involvement. In an effort to address school climate issues, Asset Teams directed staff team-building activities, and conducted follow-up discussions and activities. Staff expressed that team-building and the exchange of ideas with colleagues were important and valuable strategies, and laid a foundation for parent engagement efforts. One Asset Team presented its lists of personal commitments and "asset-rich school" components to the grade-level teams in the school. This information was developed into key messages communicated to parents.

Buy Profiles, Partnerships and Perspectives: A Study of Parent Engagement in Schools, by Leah Stuck.

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