Action Teams: An Effective Parent Involvment Tool

by Sam Macer, Parent Involvement Chair

Action Teams, An Effective Parent Involvement Tool

National PTA defines parent/family involvement as the “participation of parents in every facet of children’s education and development; communicating, educating, volunteering, decision making, and collaborating”. As PTA leaders we are often called upon to initiate, plan, support, advise, monitor, and evaluate parent/family involvement programs. One dynamic tool that is available to PTAs to effectively support parent involvement in their schools is the Parent Involvement Action Team.

In many schools PTA leaders, parents and teachers come and go each year. Each year many parent involvement efforts are dropped because there are no consistent and ongoing structures dedicated to parent/family. Dr. Joyce Epstein, Ph.D., the noted parent involvement researcher from Johns Hopkins University and National PTA, encourages the creation of Parent Involvement Action Teams. An Action Team is an ongoing structure that can be used to support parent/family involvement throughout the school year and from year to year. Team members may come and go with new members being added as needed; however the structure is always there, providing consistency, continuity while pursuing the mission and goals of strengthening parent/family involvement to support academic achievement.

Members of an Action Team are parents, teachers, administrators, community residents, and business leaders. National PTA identifies five main activities of an Action Team.

• The Action Team will initially review the current parent involvement program to determine what is already in place that is working well and what adjustments may be needed.
• A comprehensive, well-planed policy is developed that includes the National PTA Standards of Communicating, Parenting, Student Learning, Volunteering, School Decision Making, and Collaborating with Community. The Baltimore County Board of Education has also adopted the Standards as the basis of the Parent/Community Involvement Policy 1270.
• Once a school policy is in place, action plans are needed to make improvements.
• The Action Team will establish a monitoring and evaluation process that is vital for continuous improvement and long-term success.
• The final activity is to obtain the support of all the stakeholders; families, students, administrators and the community.

National PTA has created a Building Successful Partnership (BSP) program that guides PTAs through the creation of effective and organized parent/family involvement programs that are “customized” to fit the needs of a school community. Creating a Parent Involvement Action Team is a major element in the development process. PTA Council of Baltimore County has National PTA trained presenters available to discuss the basics and advanced elements of creating and or improving current parent/family involvement programs that are designed to support and increase student achievement in your school.

For further information contact Parent Involvement Chairman, Sam Macer at parentinvolvement@bcptacouncil.org or PTA Council President, Sue Katz, PTA Council President at president@bcptacouncil.org .

Source material: National PTA, Building Success Partnerships, Parent/family Involvement Program