This post is from from my other blog here

Here's an example of shortcuts taken to achieve "reported" school progress against county-wide goals, while disenfranchising and disrespecting (though perhaps unintentionally) those who really wanted to help, and would have truly been able to help...

LCPS elementary school "SIP"s (School Improvement Plans), which are produced by all schools across the county, record the progress and activities of the school with respect to meeting LCPS goals - goals such as "demonstrating grade-level reading proficiency by the end of first grade" and "demonstrating readiness for continuing education". The goals are useful (though quite uninspiring, in relation to Fairfax's goals - but that's a topic for a different day) measures against which activities can be planned and outcomes measured.

To help achieve the goals, "Steering Committee Teams" are assembled each year "to include representation from the diverse community" representing a particular school in this example..."we value and appreciate the time, energy and talent of each of our steering committee members", reads the school's report. The members, names published in the report, include teachers and typically about 1 to 3 student parents per committee team.

Sounds like a recipe for success and community collaboration - teachers, parents and the school administration working together.

Except a key ingredient was missing, namely the parents, and we saw this coming a mile away.

For this particular school (name withheld to protect the embarrassed), out of the total number of parents (received feedback from 11 of 11) prominently thanked in the report for contributing to the committee team's success and therefore the success of the school in achieving its objectives:

0 - knew their names would be published
0 - knew the report would be published
0 - knew what the school's "vision" was, or where it was published to read
2 - participated in a single meeting, out of all the committee meetings
0 - were invited to a meeting, or sent any materials, with more than 24 hours notice
2 - had any input received or leveraged by the committee, as far as they can tell

When asked of the parents "why didn't you actually participate in the meetings?", the answers were basically:

- "I was never invited to a meeting"
- "I was given less than 24 hours notice to attend a meeting that began at 7am in the morning"
- When I asked about the status of the committee and the meetings, I was told “Don’t worry, we’ve already taken care of it”
- "Every meeting that was scheduled was cancelled and never rescheduled".

All - were a bit disturbed that their names are associated with collaborative activities that actually never happened, and would've really appreciated a sincere and professional effort by the school Principal to actually have them participate.

Was this collaboration more effective at your school?

Collaboration needs to go both ways - yes, parents need to show up at school board meetings, and, when parents actually do volunteer and show up to provide strategic help at their schools, their talents and time should be respectfully leveraged.