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SECTION IV
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- Standard A: Broad-based school and community collaboration creates an environment that supports and promotes lifelong learning
- Strategy 1: Develop broad-based community coalitions
- Strategy 2: Develop a comprehensive, long-term communication plan
- Strategy 3: Develop the school as the community resource center
- Standard B: Schools and communities provide the emotional and physical security necessary to support a healthy learning environment
- Strategy 1: Promote a trusting environment that encourages personal and professional growth for all school staff
- Strategy 2: Promote and participate in a healthy learning environment
- References
This section of Maine's Curriculum Framework for Mathematics and Science concerns building bridges between the school and community (see note). Schools must help all citizens understand the connection between the quality of our lives and the kind of mathematics and science education that is available to our children. Only with community support can educators succeed in preparing children to deal wisely and effectively with the host of complex local, national and global issues they will face as adults.
A hungry child cannot learn. A child born with preventable learning disabilities falls behind in school. A child abused or neglected is often unable to focus on school work. A child who does not value learning does not learn effectively. The school alone cannot address all of these problems.
The school, home and community are interdependent. These School and Community Standards will support the home through coalitions of school and community personnel and services. (Refer to Equity Standards, Section V, for suggested math and science activities at home.)
The school and community environment necessary for improving mathematics and science education is the same environment needed to support and promote all aspects of lifelong learning. There is no single strategy that will instantly transform our communities and education system. But there is a variety of strategies and activities that have proven successful in bridging the gaps in community involvement on social issues. The foundation for these strategies and activities is consistent communication.
Schools and communities need to develop the habit of openly talking and writing about learning and the connection of learning to social issues, jobs and daily living. It is only through everyday, ongoing conversation that schools and communities will develop a common language enabling them to work with fewer misunderstandings. The suggested activities within each standard will help to develop the habit of open communication.===============================================
School and Community Standard A. Broad-based school and community collaboration creates an environment that supports and promotes lifelong learning.
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The traditions and values of science and the history of science curriculum reforms . . . argue for a large critique and consensus effort. Science is tested knowledge; therefore, no matter how broadly based the perspectives of the developers, their judgment must be informed by others . . . particularly teachers, policy makers and the customers of education systems - students, parents, business, employers, taxpayers. One of several reasons for the limited impact of past reform efforts was the weakness of their consensus-building activities. (National Science Foundation Project, National Research Council, 1992. Charge to the Working Groups.)Schools and communities that have succeeded in working together to improve mathematics and science education share several characteristics:
- Agreement that education is everyone's responsibility-schools, parents and other adults, businesses, government agencies, and other groups.
- Community people working together in an organized way toward common goals.
- A focus on what students need to know and be able to do.
- Integrated support services.
- Realization that mathematics and science education cannot be dramatically improved in isolation from the rest of the education system.
How does a school and its community develop these characteristics?
Strategy 1: Develop broad-based community coalitions.
Suggested Activities:
- Identify community groups and individuals who will make solid contributions to the effort to improve their local schools. These may include business, higher education, senior citizens, social service providers, elected officials, parents and students.
- Build upon existing school and community efforts. Opinion leaders as well as potential dissenters need to be involved.
- Train school and community leaders in consensus method of decision-making.
- Train school and community leaders in conflict resolution.
- Conduct forums in which broad-based community groups begin to discuss and establish: 1) a vision of what students should know and be able to do, and 2) a mission statement and goals.
- Go to the people; do not expect people to come to the school. Provide child care and meet at different times of the day to accommodate different work schedules.
- Develop a brief glossary of frequently-used words and phrases. This will help to establish a common language that enables school and community people to understand each other clearly.
- Include community members on school committees, such as curriculum or budget committees.
- Engage parents and caregivers of students who are "at risk."
Strategy 2: Develop a comprehensive, long-term communication plan.
Suggested Activities:
- Designate one person to coordinate the communication plan.
- Submit information to the media regularly.
- Create an electronic bulletin board with public access. This could be used as a community informational service and a means of conducting conversations about education issues and strategies.
- Train people to use current technology.
- Put telephones in all classrooms.
- Establish teacher voice mail through which teachers can leave special messages and homework assignments for parents and students.
- Use local cable television networks to broadcast school board meetings, student exhibitions and performances, and community focus groups.
- Create a newspaper column written by students, teachers, administrators, business people and alumni.
- Publish an annual school report and conduct community School Report Nights to discuss it. This report could be the tool for assessing progress toward school/district/community/state education goals.
- Conduct sample telephone surveys about school issues.
- Establish a speakers' bureau made up of community leaders, administrators, teachers, and students who talk to community groups about education issues and classroom activities.
- Invite business to support education through:
- release time for employees to meet with teachers and volunteer in schools
- restaurant placemats and bumper stickers with relevant education messages
- public service announcements on radio and television and at movie theaters
- donating used equipment to school
- donating science or math trade books to school or town librar
- classroom volunteers and speakers
- community service programs
- mentoring students and teachers
- scholarships for students to participate in summer learning opportunities
- summer internships for students and teachers
Strategy 3: Develop the school as the community resource center.
Suggested Activities:
- Create an atmosphere that is friendly and welcoming to adults entering the school buildings.
- Help teachers bring adult volunteers into the classroom.
- Open school libraries and computer labs to the community.
- Open school recreational facilities to the community.
- Establish an evening/weekend hot meal program for the elderly.
- Encourage civic organizations to meet in school facilities.
- Locate social service agencies and town services at or near schools.
- Build public libraries near schools.
- Establish medical centers in schools.
- Encourage collaborations among social service agencies and schools.
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Snapshot In a second-grade classroom, a research scientist is working with the students on a study of bacteria. This experience is much more than the usual "cameo appearance" by a parent in her child's class: the scientist will spend four periods with the class this week. Each pair of students is testing an original research question in their own petri dish. The scientist is acting as mentor rather than lecturer, helping children understand what it means to do an experiment. In the next month the scientist will spend a week with each of the other three second-grade classes as well.
This collaboration between teachers, scientist and students began last year, when the scientist was a second-grade parent who offered to give a talk about bacteria and hygiene in her child's class. A "collaboration of experts" began when she met with her child's teacher and another teacher from the school to discuss how she might be able to help children meet instructional goals. The teacher used her expertise in pedagogy to support the scientist's content knowledge. Together they crafted a developmentally appropriate learning experience which was rich with information and skill development. After initial success, the other second-grade teachers and the scientist agreed that all second-grade students should have the experience. Three more replications of this teaching experiment occurred in the pilot year, with teachers and scientist meeting frequently to improve the experience.
This year the scientist is back even though her son has progressed to the third grade. The local laboratory has now institutionalized the relationship, donating a surplus incubator and pledging to donate supplies each year. The original scientist may not be back every year, but there will always be a lab contact for the bacteria unit.
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School and Community Standard B. Schools and communities provide the emotional and physical security necessary to support a healthy learning environment.
______________________________________________________The learning environment is affected by societal changes within the community as well as within the school. Pressures of violence, abusive homes, gangs, television, drugs, and technology have influenced children, many of whom are coming to school with problematic knowledge deficits, difficult emotional and physical problems, and underdeveloped social skills, while other youngsters are entering the same classrooms with the benefits of extensive knowledge and rich life experiences. Such contrast impacts the environment of the school and the academic program.
It is the joint responsibility of the school and community to create the best learning environment for students. If students do not feel physically and emotionally secure within that learning environment, they cannot focus on the learning process.
Traditional methods of organizing our schools and instructional programs may not always provide the secure environment needed to help children learn in today's world. Yet the most innovative and carefully structured curriculum will have little impact on students who fear their own safety and/or will not take academic risks.
When students and teachers feel comfortable enough to take intellectual and emotional risks, a safe learning environment has been successfully created.
Strategy 1: Promote a trusting environment that encourages personal and professional growth for all school staff.
Suggested Activities:
- Provide time and money for ongoing professional development.
- Encourage staff exchanges with other schools as a means of exchanging ideas.
- Through professional development efforts, help teachers to move from the role of primary dispenser of knowledge to that of facilitator of mathematics and science learning.
- Provide frequent opportunities to learn more about learning styles and instructional strategies.
- Provide conflict resolution training for staff and students.
- Provide support and training for collaborative decision making.
- Provide team building activities for staff and students.
- Encourage and assess teaching practices that support professional risk-taking and the integration of new learning about teaching.
- Develop peer coaching/mentors for professional staff.
- Establish clearly articulated objectives for all meetings and classes.
- Establish common planning time for mathematics and science teachers.
- Help teachers and parents learn to use new technologies.
- Develop opportunities for math and science teachers to work with businesses during the summer.
- Invite community people to share their math and science expertise in the classroom.
- Create community service learning opportunities for students.
- Develop partnerships between business and/or higher education and classrooms or whole schools.
Strategy 2: Promote and participate in a healthy learning environment.
Suggested Activities:
- Develop a school mission statement and policies that support the value of diversity and contain sanctions for harassment. (Refer to Equity Standards, Section V.)
- Enforce strong sanctions when policies are violated.
- Teach and practice active listening.
- Promote and support an atmosphere of mutual respect.
- Provide conflict resolution training for students and parents.
- Create a collaborative process for developing a student handbook.
- Establish and train a Peer Help group.
- Develop a Big Brother-Big Sister program within a building and from high school to middle school to elementary school.
- Develop a meaningful student government with a true voice in school policy.
- Teach families and other concerned adults to promote mathematics and science education through programs such as Family Mathematics, Family Science, and "Voyage of the Mimi".
- Clarify how parents can be involved with the mathematics and science education of their children.
It will take time, persistence and patience to establish the School and Community Standards. In some communities, an educator may take the lead in this movement. In other communities, a parent, business leader or elected official may be the first to bring people together. The result will be different in each community. But if the real focus of collaboration is students, all communities will be able to more fully develop their resources to create an environment that supports and promotes lifelong learning in a healthy learning environment.
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Snapshots Teachers, students, parents and other community members recently formed a community action team ("the CAT") to strengthen the connections between school activities and the world outside of school. The group wants to improve school communication to make schools more inviting places for adults to visit. Members also hope to attract more people from the community to share their expertise with students.
One CAT squad is developing a "curriculum awareness" document, produced in cooperation with teachers, to inform the community about topics and major themes for each class. The CAT also sponsors an evening series where new trends in education are shared: community members learn math using manipulatives, log on to the Internet and learn about alternative assessment methods. The conversation is not always "school to community": one evening is a dialogue in which community members discuss their expectations for the schools with educators.
A group of business leaders in the CAT interview teachers to find out what expertise and resources would help students learn better. This effort, combined with the creation of a volunteer resource database, has made it easier for teachers and students to learn with community experts.
~~~~~ It's an early Wednesday evening in October. The fourth grade teacher has already had a full day, but he finds himself eager for the evening ahead. A parent from his class and a community volunteer have been busy setting up for a Family Math Class. In September they attended training for the Family Math Program together, and tonight they are excited about the activities they have planned. By 6:45 PM most families have arrived, and there is an aura of fun, excitement and involvement surrounding the challenges.
Tonight the focus is on geometry and measurement, part of the math program targeted for attention. Planners have set up several activities for the families to explore when they arrive. Perfect People asks them to measure each other's height, cutting off a piece of adding machine tape that "just fits." Using this strip of paper they compare their height to their arm span, categorize each other as a "long rectangle, a "short rectangle" or a "perfect square." "Perfect squares" have an arm span that is exactly the same as their height. They find that there are 21 tall rectangles, 5 short rectangles and 2 perfect squares. Three people are yet to be measured so the group is guessing what they might be based on the data so far. They are asked give reasons for their choices.
The remainder of the evening is spent on two activities. One is Create a Puzzle: from a square of construction paper, each participant makes a simple puzzle for others to solve. The families are amazed at how challenged and intrigued they are by their own puzzles.
The evening has gone by too quickly and given the families lots of opportunity to work together practicing the language of geometry. As they leave they are chattering happily, delighted to have worked on math in a fun, safe place. A parent is heard commenting, "I sure wish math had been like this when I was a child!"
References
Barth, Roland. (1990). Improving School From Within. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Coalition of Essential Schools. (May 1993). Essential Collaboration: Parents, School and Community. HORACE, 6 (5). Providence RI: Brown University.
Education Commission of the States. (1993). What Communities Should Know and Be Able To Do About Education. Denver, CO: Education Commission of the States.
Education Commission of the States. (1994). State Education Leader, 13 (1). 5-9, 11-12, 15-16.
Funk, David L. (April 1991). Championing the Value of Education: Why the Public Should Support the Schools.Oregon: School Study Council.
Lacampagne, Carole B. (July 1993). State of the Art: Transforming Ideas for Teaching and Learning Mathematics. U.S. Department of Education, OERI Education Information.
Ledell, M., & Arnsparger, A. (1993). How to Deal with Community Criticism of School Change. Alexander,
VA: ASCD.
Maine Center for Educational Services. Voices of Change, Maine Schools in Transition, 1 (1). Auburn, ME.
Maine Coalition for Excellence in Education. (May 1994). Community Collaboration (monograph). Augusta, ME.
National Science Foundation Project, National Research Council. (1992). Charge to the Working Groups.
Regional Laboratory for Educational Implement of the Northeast and Islands. (1994). Creating New Visions for Schools. Andover, MA.
Sivertsen, L. Mary. (September 1993). State of the Art: Transforming Ideas for Teaching and Learning Science. U.S. Department of Education, OERI Education Information.
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Note: For our purpose, school includes all traditional
educators and the entire support staff. We define community
as all people within the tax district of the school and the
areas where those people work and interact.