This is the tenth installment of Improving Improvement, our quarterly series focused on leveraging the power of research-practice partnerships (RPPs) to build schools’, districts’, and states’ capacity to improve. Previously, we shared how we support districts to strategically embed empathy building activities and student voice to inform improvement work. In this installment, we are following up on the progress of the Ohio cohort and how their empathy building and “ask them” activities are informing their improvement work. The Ohio cohort is comprised of eight urban or suburban school districts largely sponsored by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce that are focusing on attendance and chronic absenteeism.

In November, Proving Ground hosted our annual Convening, where all of the districts, charter management organizations, state education agencies, and other entities with which we partner come together for two and a half days of learning, collaboration, and networking. Each year we survey our participants about the things they are most interested in talking with and learning from others about at the Convening and use this information to plan content and programming. Student and family engagement, along with best practices in supporting all learners, were topics of greatest interest this year. As we looked through the more nuanced feedback our partners provided about these topics, the overarching theme emerged: elevating student and family voice within continuous improvement efforts.  

One of our Convening presenters, Dr. Shadae Harris, the Chief Engagement Officer for Richmond Public Schools (you can learn more about her and her work here), made a statement during one of the sessions that has stuck with me: “You have to get proximate to the people you want to serve.” In the previous installment, I shared that almost all of our partners complete a continuous improvement self-assessment before beginning improvement work with us that asks respondents to reflect on how well and how often their organization engages in various improvement activities and which critical perspectives are included in the process (such as staff, family, student, community perspectives). Whenever we ask this question, the majority of partners report that students are “never” engaged in improvement activities (such as identifying root causes of identified problems or selecting and designing interventions aligned to root causes) or that students are “sometimes” engaged, but primarily to provide feedback after decisions have been made. The pattern is very similar when we look at reported family involvement, with the majority of partners reporting that families are either “never” engaged or are “sometimes” engaged, but again mainly to provide feedback on decisions that have already been made or work that has been completed. 

To address this, our focus at Proving Ground in recent years has been to support districts in “getting proximate” to the people they are serving in various ways to increase the likelihood that the strategies they implement are aligned with the needs of their students, families, and community.

ENGAGING FAMILIES IN OHIO

Two of our partner districts in the Ohio Attendance Improvement Network have used the empathy building activities referenced in the previous installment to inform the development of the attendance interventions they are piloting this school year. One of the first steps in the attendance interventions for both districts was to connect with the families of students who had been chronically absent in the 2022/2023 school year via phone calls either from the building principal or designated staff member or the Family Liaisons to ask them questions about family strengths, needs, and barriers to attendance. Jerimie Acree, the Attendance and Residency Coordinator for Euclid City Schools framed the value of getting proximate to families as:

“This simple but significant step helped the district identify barriers to attendance, such as transportation issues and residency changes or updates. We will continue with this proactive approach… which allows us to touch base with our families and provide the resources needed for our students to be successful. Our District strongly believes this intervention, along with our SITG[1] campaign efforts, have helped decrease our chronic absenteeism percentage by 11.27% compared to this time last year!” 

Dr. Wanda Lash, the Director of Student and Family Services in Akron Public Schools, shared insights they gained as they connected directly with families:

“Through initial phone calls to families, the school leaders were able to make a personal connection with families not tied to a student’s performance. It was simply to reach out with a mindset of, I see you, I hear you, and how can I support you. Insights were gained about barriers experienced by families, and school leaders took the opportunity to offer potential solutions and/or resources to assist. In some cases, school leaders were able to help families think through goals for their student for the school year and how to navigate “school processes” to better help their child. Making these calls helped school leaders appreciate the difference the initial call makes with hopes to continue the practice beyond the intervention.”

One of the districts noted that trying to connect with families via phone calls highlighted challenges they have with ensuring accurate contact information due to several factors, one of which is mobility rates of over 30% district-wide, and rates that may be even higher within specific buildings. In addition to high mobility rates, the district identified challenges with how they were able to access contact information within their student information system and recognized that there are some steps they can take in the future to more efficiently access parent and/or guardian contact info.  

THE VALUE OF STUDENT VOICE IN CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS

In addition to informing intervention development, the empathy building activities the Akron team engaged in –specifically the student shadowing activity we outlined in our previous article– have helped them think through how to best elevate student voice in all their improvement efforts. Dr. Lash shared:

“We mapped a draft plan for the year that would start with shadowing experiences early in the school year and include various focus groups around school topics that matter to students. The hope is that students would not only inform district staff, but also be involved in the responses and action steps.”

I recently had the opportunity to ask Heather Van Benthuysen [2], the former Executive Director for Student Voice and Engagement in Chicago Public Schools and the current Founder of Engaged Consultancy, about student voice in continuous improvement efforts. Heather was also a presenter at our Convening. As we reflected on the unique power young people bring to this work, she noted students have “expertise, perspective, and ideas that can only come from lived experience – the insight of those most impacted by our policies and practices…. And there is a lasting ripple effect – an overall impact on school culture, relationships, sense of belonging, and academic outcomes.” 

While responsiveness to student voice can have a positive relationship with improved student outcomes such as grades and attendance (see this recent study), Heather cautions that there is the potential for harm if student perspectives are collected but not acted upon. She notes that in order to do this well, we must be mindful:

“It demands more than merely listening; it requires a fundamental shift in how we view and engage students within the educational ecosystem. Doing so, moving beyond seeing students as subjects but as partners and actors in school improvement, builds a culture of genuine respect, collaboration, and participation. By engaging students, we ensure that school improvement is not just something that happens to them, but with them, harnessing their insights to create learning environments that are both dynamic and deeply attuned to their needs.”

This strongly resonated with me and reflects why and how we want to continuously work on elevating student and family voice at Proving Ground. We will continue to identify ways to support districts in “getting proximate” to those they want to serve through strategic partnerships, empathy building activities, as well as strategies for (1) collecting and (2) responding to student and family voices within continuous improvement efforts. 

LOOKING AHEAD

In the next installment, we will share updates from the Ohio Cohort and how we are thinking about creating efficiencies within improvement efforts.

[1] The Stay in the Game! Attendance Network is a partnership between the Cleveland Browns and Columbus Crew Foundations, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, and Proving Ground that works together to campaign, connect, and convene with experts and supporters to dramatically improve attendance. The linked website provides resources and tools other districts can use to support attendance in their settings.

[2] Heather Van Benthuysen can be reached at EngagementConsultancy@gmail.com or HeatherVBconsulting@gmail.com.

Amber Humm Patnode is Acting Director of Proving Ground.

Suggested citation: Humm Patnode, A. (2024). Improving Improvement: Connecting With Students and Families in Continuous Improvement Efforts. NNERPP Extra, 6(1), 27-30.