EVALUATION RESULTS ARE IN! Read the evaluation summary.

PARENT ENGAGEMENT IN DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Project Overview
and
Evaluation Plan

Evaluation Goals and Objectives

• Document the way(s) parent engagement is conceptualized at each school, the specific goals related to parent engagement as they are defined, and the means by which those goals will be achieved.
• Document efforts at each site to improve parent engagement, noting specific ACY activities and the factors that help and hinder ACY's efforts.
• Identify and assess indicators by which to assess parent engagement at each school, including:
  • Attendance: by school staff/parents at ACY activities
  • Satisfaction: of school staff/parents with ACY activities
  • Awareness: of school staff/parents concerning parent engagement
  • Utilization: by school staff/parents of ACY strategies (how the ACY program changes what teachers, parents, administrators do)
  • Impact: of ACY activities (on student grades, attendance, homework)
• Describe the key elements that need to be present in schools to optimize parent engagement.

Evaluation Strategies
In order to achieve the above goals, the DU evaluation team will rely on the following strategies:

1. Elaborate guiding questions to direct our observation and participation at each site. Questions will include, but not be limited to:
   • How is parent engagement conceptualized, what are the goals, and who is responsible for implementing them?
   • To what extent are school staff aware of and supportive of parent engagement goals?
   • Who among school staff and the community is involved in parent engagement at each site?
   • How and when do parent engagement leaders meet?
   • To what extent are school staff aware of the strengths of parents and the community?
   • What communication channels exist to contact and inform parents and community stakeholders?
   • What ACY activities take place at the school?
   • To what extent are ACY activities coordinated with other parent engagement efforts at the school?
   • Who attends ACY parent engagement workshops and who doesn't?
   • How effective are parent engagement workshops from the perspective of those who attend?
   • Among those who don't attend, why don't they attend?
   • To what extent is the asset framework infused in school events (aside from ACY-led ones), and in the school generally?
   • To what extent are students aware of their parents' involvement in the school and in their own education?
2. Assign graduate student liaisons at each site who will become familiar with the people, characteristics, and activities of each school and each school community.
   • Three doctoral students on the DU evaluation team have been assigned to the DPS regions involved with the ACY program. Liaisons will attend ACY meetings and events, as well as other parent engagement activities as deemed appropriate and that are within the scope and means of the evaluation. Liaisons will also interview stakeholders and prepare monthly summary reports (see below). As a result of their activities, liaisons will come to know the principals, teachers, and parent communities at each site, and will identify key issues, indicators, and questions to explore.
3. Identify and assess indicators of parent engagement. The DU Evaluation Team, in collaboration with ACY and DPS leaders, will identify and assess indicators of parent engagement that are appropriate within sites and across sites. Indicators might include quantifiable variables (such as parent attendance at school events, or student attendance, referrals, and grades) and qualitative variables (such as parent participation, relationship with child, teachers' perceptions about and involvement with students and school communities, principals' awareness of and involvement with parents and school communities). We will then create interview protocols, surveys, and other instruments as necessary, and gather data by which to assess the effectiveness of ACY and DPS parent engagement efforts.
4. Report regularly to ACY and DPS stakeholders on evaluation activities, observations, and findings. The DU evaluation team envisions a largely collaborative evaluation effort, one that involves multiple stakeholders. We will document our activities, and use monthly site reports as occasions to clarify parent engagement goals, reflect upon the effectiveness of various activities in meeting those goals, and discuss indicators of success. The exact means and venues by which these summaries are distributed will vary at each site, depending on the means by which parent engagement goals are pursued.

Contact ACY for more information.