Recently, I read the report that I am sure many of you read which found that math scores in the United States have improved slightly for the nation’s fourth and eighth grade students. However, progress in narrowing racial and ethnic performance gaps remains slow and in some cases has stalled, especially in our middle and high schools. Even though there is continued focus on helping our middle and high schools improve, we can’t seem to turn that elusive corner of seeing most of our secondary schools on an aggressive path of improvement.
The Comprehensive School Reform Quality Center publishes a variety of reports that delve into the issue of school reform. I am particularly interested, due to my years in secondary school, in those reforms that are dedicated to our secondary schools. In October, 2006, the CSRQ published a report on middle and high school comprehensive reform models. The 18 models provide various approaches to whole-school reforms at the secondary level. Each model was profiled and rated in five main categories, with three subcategories under Category 1 and two subcategories under Category 5. (You can connect with report to review all of these categories and reform models by clicking on the word “report” above.)
As could be expected, I was interested in Category 3, the positive effects the reform model had on parent, family, and community involvement. The CSRQ uses a rating system of “Very Strong” through to “Negative” and “No Rating.” 17 of the 18 models were rated “No Rating” in the category of “Evidence of Positive Effects on Parent, Family, and Community Involvement.” The 18th model, that being the School Development Program, achieved a rating of “Limited.” Limited is defined as “while some evidence of effectiveness is noted, more rigorous research needs to be conducted on the model to fully support its effectiveness or quality for the category reviewed.
Here’s the kicker… Of the 18 models studied, 8 were rated with “Zero” rating, 5 were rated “Limited,” and 5 were rated as “Moderate.” No model was rated “Moderately Strong” or “Very Strong.”
I think it’s time for all of us to understand one very important fact: We as educators may be at the end of what we can do to improve our schools without taking seriously the notion of engaging families. Families are the first and best teachers of their children. Until we put systems and processes in place that engage disengage families (which are directly correlated to disengaged students and low achievement) I believe that we will continue to search for the “Holy Grail” of school reform only to have it continue to elude us.
