Education Week - March 5, 2014 - Leaders to Learn From - S24

systems, such as Boston, with successful
parent-engagement initiatives
already under way. She
also joined the District Leaders
Network on Family and Community
Engagement, which was
founded in 2010 at the Institute
for Educational Leadership, a
Washington-based nonprofit that
supports school improvement and
education initiatives.
S. Kwesi Rollins, the institute's
director of leadership programs,
noted that Ms. Hill quickly
emerged as one of the network's
leaders and mentors. He said the
Cleveland educator has success-
fully learned how to operationalize
the best practices in family
engagement to improve student
achievement in her city.
Ms. Hill launched the district's
Parent University, a series of
workshops aimed at providing
parents with information and
guidance on topics ranging from
the common-core standards to children's
transition to kindergarten.
Since its inception in 2011, more
than 1,500 parents and other caregivers
have attended the sessions,
which are part of a growing array
of efforts to build the capacity of
parents and caregivers to become
informed advocates and partners
in their children's education.
The emphasis on equipping parents
with knowledge is infused
throughout district events, and
Ms. Hill said the responsibility to
engage and inform parents rests
with all educators-from the custodian
to the principal.
Beyond 'Fluff'
Ms. Hill, who leads a team of
six employees, said parent events
in Cleveland are no longer "just
fluff and stuff." Having Donuts
With Dads at a school, for exam-
ple, provides a captive audience to
give parents reading tips or information
about the latest instructional
strategies, she said. At the
district's Back-to-School Fair last
fall, families received the customary
free school supplies, and about
1,000 parents also attended 15
Parent University workshops.
Last spring, under Ms. Hill's
guidance, and in partnership with
the nonprofit group College Now
Greater Cleveland, Parent University's
free college tours involved
more than 300 parents, caregivers,
and students, who visited 18
colleges and universities in Ohio,
Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
Often, the college tours-which
include extensive admissions and
financial-aid information along
with meetings with college recruiters-did
more than demystify the
college-enrollment process. One
parent enrolled in college herself
following the tours, and others
have shown interest in following
suit, Ms. Hill said.
Michele Scott Taylor, a chief
program officer with College Now
Greater Cleveland, added that
parents sometimes unintentionally
derail a child's interest in college
because they know little about
the process. Exposing parents to
the college experience, accompanied
by their children, helps them
all envision the possibilities of pursuing
a postsecondary education,
she said.
Injecting New Perspective
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In addition to Ms. Hill's extensive
efforts to educate and inform
parents, administrators are seeking
parents' guidance to reach
more families.
Karen Thompson, Cleveland's
deputy chief of curriculum and
instruction, said she often presents
material from her department
to Ms. Hill's parent-advisory
committee. She said the
parent feedback helps prevent
district-penned information from
getting bogged down in education
jargon.
Ms. Thompson added that Ms.
Hill is a fixture at every districtlevel
academic meeting and attends
weekly administrator walkthroughs
at school sites, providing
the parents' perspective to every
discussion.
"She invited herself to the table,"
Ms. Thompson noted. "She didn't
have to do that."
Ms. Hill, who considers her-
self "the voice of the parents,"
wouldn't have it any other way.
During district leadership meetings,
she said she frequently asks
the following question: "How are
we engaging our families around
this work so that we can be successful?
Because you are not
going to do it without them."
Yet she is the first to acknowl-
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edge that the Cleveland district is
a work in progress.
The district this year set up a
Family Engagement Executive
Committee, bringing together departments
and offices that interact
with parents (special education,
gifted programs, and student services,
for example) to further align
their work and ensure that parents
are engaged in those efforts.
Ms. Hill also will host more Parent
University workshops at schools
and community centers to increase
parents' attendance.
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And she plans to continue to
recruit more school- and district-level
staff members to help
strengthen her parent-outreach
work.
"It's not just one person's job to
engage families; it's everybody's
job," Ms. Hill emphasized. "We
are all responsible for building
that trust." n
S24 | LEADERS TO LEARN FROM > leaders.edweek.org
EDUCATION WEEK * March 5, 2014

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Education Week - March 5, 2014 - Leaders to Learn From

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