Governor's Column

2009 Leaders in Parental Involvement By Governor Dave Heineman Dec 4, 2009 Dear Fellow Nebraskans: Recently the Nebraska Association of School Board and I honored four school districts with the 2009 Governor’s Education Initiative Award for Parental Involvement. The Cozad, Kearney, Millard, and Sutherland Public School Districts were recognized for efforts to engage parents in daily school activities and their child’s education.

This is the third year we’ve recognized school districts for parental involvement. Parents play a critical role in education. By developing innovative ways of reaching out to parents; parents, teachers and administrators develop stronger relationships that can help students accomplish their goals while also encouraging better communication with school district leaders.

Sutherland Public Schools was recognized for creating opportunities for greater parent involvement using a combination of traditional approaches such as take home packets for elementary students, open houses, and special programs like Family Literacy Night. Sutherland schools also invite parents to be part of the school day by visiting classrooms and helping teachers throughout the year.

The result is that this small district has near-perfect participation at parent-teacher conferences, strong school attendance and superb performance on state assessments.

Cozad Public Schools was honored for a series of focus groups that help parents learn about school issues and provide a forum for discussion with school leaders. Focus group topics range from academic achievement to assessments, building maintenance, after school programs, and school policies. Cozad schools works with the local Chamber of Commerce to include school and youth development information in welcome packets for new residents. Parents also formed a group to recognize outstanding student academic achievement.

Kearney Public Schools was recognized for an after school program that is an effective way to involve parents. Parents are invited to talk with students about hobbies and interests, such as a biology professor and parent volunteering to lead science experiments with after school participants. The program helps staff and parents connect with students by talking about academic progress and other issues. The opportunity for additional enrichment has helped more Kearney students meet state reading, writing and math standards.

Kearney schools reach out to special populations by providing additional support for parents of at-risk students such as Native American and migrant students. These groups provide a forum to help parents encourage learning and set high but reasonable expectations for their child. Families with English Language Learning students have seen an increase of 18 percent of fourth graders meeting state standards, and a six percent increase among eighth graders.

The Millard Public School District was honored for using a program that helps teachers and parents track the character development of every student. Research has identified 40 traits correlating to academic success in young people, such as the ability to use time wisely and follow rules. Parents and teachers work together to help each student master new skills with older students helping track their own progress. Millard schools provide opportunities for parents to volunteer with approximately 4,000 parents forming a volunteer network to help with everything from special events to improving reading skills of young students.

I applaud each of these school districts for their emphasis on getting parents involved. Parents and teachers working together is an essential element in student learning and academic achievement. I hope these successful ways of welcoming parents are ideas that other schools will use in their own parental involvement efforts.