Action Opportunities for Parent Leaders

Parent leaders have a major responsibility in working with school officials, principals and teachers in explaining report information to parents and how to act on that information to improve school performance. It makes sense that parents want to know whether their child’s public school, as well as the other schools in the district, are doing a good job. Therefore, when parents receive the annual report card, which contains mandated NCLB information, they need to assure that the information on the report card is accurate. Based on that information, if a school or school district does not meet the state AYP expectations, there are consequences for that school, which includes placing the school on a “needs improvement” or “corrective action” list.
Annual NCLB state and school district report cards can be powerful tools in holding schools accountable for high school student achievement levels if parents and teachers know what the data means, and if they have confidence that the data is an accurate measure of their school’s performance. Knowing how to access, use, and understand data are essential skills for improving schools and engaging the community. Data can:
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 Help parents see patterns and trends in schools systems related to funding, achievement, teacher quality, curriculum and programs, and school building modernization.
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 Help parents look at data so they can clearly see the ways in which some groups receive inferior schooling.
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 Promote the tasks of identifying, analyzing, and using critical information to uncover issues of race, inequalities and exclusion.
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 Bring together parents who represent the diversity of a community engaging them in discussions about school improvement, public responsibility for schools, and planning for the next steps.
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 Working with community leaders in getting them to understand that they have a role to play in knowing the school data, and promoting quality public schools, even though they may not have children in school.
The purpose of the report card information is NOT to punish public schools, but should be used to stimulate improvements in those schools that have been identified as not meeting expectations. NCLB relies heavily on test scores to evaluate how well schools and school districts are performing—but more than a single test is required to provide us with a broad range of evidence and data so that communities are able to draw conclusions and recommend solutions on the basis of accurate information. Remember, the NCLB state accountability systems are NOT designed to measure individual student performance, but to determine if individual school districts and schools, and groups of students within the school district and schools, have met the AYP expectations as established by the state.
 
Parent leaders should engage parents in the following activities:
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 Educate parents about the NCLB accountability and state mandated testing system. What are the state’s academic achievement standards? Are they aligned with the state NCLB tests? What tests are being administered to students? Is the test useful in determining school performance and quality? Is the test aligned with the state standards? Does the test provide descriptive information that teachers, parents and the community can draw on to help them determine what areas of the school programs are strong, and which areas require improvement? What tests are being given in the school to satisfy the NCLB requirements?
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 Because the law is silent on how and to whom state report cards should be distributed, parent leaders must make sure the report card information is widely distributed. Learn your states intentions. If the state does not plan to distribute the report card widely, implement plans yourself to disseminate the information to parents.
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 Make sure the community has input on the format, languages, and presentation on the state, district and school report cards so that lay audiences, media representatives, and elected officials can understand the information.
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 A single test should not and cannot provide the total picture of school quality. The more evidence that’s available, the more influence it should have in determining school quality. Make sure the report card includes other appropriate information about the state, district and individual schools besides test scores including:
 
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 Attendance rates
 
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 Mobility rates, or the percentage of students who move into or out of a school or district every year
 
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 Student work samples
 
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 Assessments that measure students’ attitudes and interests related to the school. Data such as: students’ interest in the school program, motivation to learn, enjoyment of learning, and children’s attitudes about themselves as learners
 
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 Per student funding
 
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 Discipline referrals and other safety measures
 
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 Percentage of parents involved in the school
 
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 Percentage of high school students enrolled in advance courses such as Advanced Placement, advanced algebra, and International Baccalaureate
 
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 Dropout rates, or percentage of high school students who drop out of school before they graduate
 
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 Graduation rates, or percentage of 18-24 year-olds who are out of school and hold high school diplomas
 
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 Student-to-teacher ratios
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 Lobby for inclusion of information on the level and quality of parental involvement, an evaluation of community linkages, and the adequacy of resources intended for quality education efforts at the school district and school levels.
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 At the state level, use the data to pressure elected officials to provide adequate resources, qualified teachers, additional instructional time, and special programs such as preschool or before- and-after school programs.
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 Upon release of the state and local report cards, host community meetings to analyze the information and interpret the data for school improvement. Are the data valid? Backed by multiple measures? Can citizens understand the data?
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 Help parents understand the data they are receiving and what that data means for improving the school programs. In many school districts, parents are now receiving more information than ever before. But much of this information comes in the form of graphs, charts, disaggregated number and raw test scores that complies with the requirements of NCLB, but is often reported to parents in “educationese” and jargon that can be confusing and not useful. It is important that report card information is in a form that is not threatening to parents, and provides helpful information. Before parents receive a report card, walk parents through the report card format, the academic expectations required by the state standards, and the consequences if the school does not meet AYP.
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 Seek second or third opinions from testing and assessment experts when major differences arise about the meaning of state and local report cards.
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 Sponsor workshops for parents on how to use the data to improve schools and recognize schools that are not doing well. Learn what the data mean, what additional kinds of data are required to get a complete picture of school quality, and what constitutes the uses and limitations of achievement measures.
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 Provide help for parents in understanding that states and school districts may use tests that are inappropriate in evaluating the quality of schools. Tests that are intended to measure individual student performance rarely are appropriate for evaluating the quality of a school. Work with parents and the community in explaining the various uses of tests. For instance, nationally standardized achievement tests such as: the California Achievement Tests, the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (now known as Terra Nova), the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, the Metropolitan Achievement Tests, and the Stanford Achievement Tests. While these tests have been well researched and widely used, they were never intended to be used to evaluate schools. Lead parents in your community through a set of questions related to the appropriateness of the test used in your state and school district:
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 Will the NCLB test promote better learning in the classroom?
 
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 Does the NCLB test provide teachers with information so they can do a better instructional job?
 
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 What impact are the NCLB tests having on the teachers and the instructional program? Are teachers teaching to the tests? Is the curriculum being narrowed to just those subjects that will be tested?
 
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 Does the assessment information provide parents with ideas about how they can help their child maintain high achievement level?
 
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 Do teachers understand and have a clear idea about the skills/knowledge being assessed by the tests?
 
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 Do parent and teachers receive reports of test results that indicate which assessed curricular aims have or have not been mastered by each child who has been tested?
 
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 Do parents have confidence in the NCLB process to evaluate their schools, and does that evaluation correspond to their own judgment about the school’s performance?
Whether a school was rated positive or negative by the NCLB system, it is important to go beyond the test scores to determine if that assessment is accurate. It is possible that a school that is rated positive is less than ideal; and a school that is rated negative or “failing” may not be accurate based on the quality of the NCLB test. Always go beyond the test scores. Call a meeting of your parents with teachers and the principal to come up with additional insights. The more information that you can assemble about the actual quality of the school, the more confident that your parents be in the NCLB label.
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 Encourage your SEA/LEA to invest in a smart design for the report cards. Work with them to make it appealing to the eye and one that includes short narrative explanations of the data, in order that the public will be better able to put the information into context.
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 Suggest that the report cards include suggestions on how the data can be used to help schools improve.
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 Ensure that the SEA and LEA periodically reviews the indicators used in the report cards for validity.
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 Ensure that if the report cards are available on line that they do not only include selected information, and does show all of the SEAs available data.