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Family, Community, and Caregiver Engagement

Elements

Creating Culture and Support for Excellence for All

Inquiry as the Primary Mode of Learning

Practice of Constitutional Democracy and Student Agency

Assess, Reflect, Improve

Stakeholders

Student Engagement

Educator Actions

School Leadership Actions

Community, Family, and Caregiver Engagement

Family, Community, and Caregiver Engagement

School leaders and staff ensure that the school and its community are a resource for each other and that there are frequent and meaningful interactions with families, caregivers, and community partners.

Creating Culture and Support for Excellence  for All

 

 Inquiry as the Primary Mode of Learning Practice Constitutional Democracy and Student Agency Assess, Reflect, Improve
1EFCa. CREATE an inclusive mission statement that recognizes the importance of civic learning to ALL students for college, career and civic engagement. 1EFCa. MODEL lifelong learning and critical thinking using assets available in the community to support civic inquiry and engagement (i.e. local library, historical sites, cultural festivals, etc.).

 

 3EFCa. EDUCATE parents and community members on the importance of place-based learning to develop civic competencies in classroom practices and extracurricular activities. 4EFCa. CONDUCT recursive assessments about the quality of community engagement and utilize feedback to map out opportunities for improvement.
1EFCb. FACILITATE opportunities for community and family members to learn about growth mindset and how it works in your school (in both the classroom and extracurricular activities) through parent academies, webinars, community newsletters, and other venues.

 

 1EFCb. ENCOURAGE media literacy in the consumption and production of media to enhance civic learning and engagement. 3EFCb. PROVIDE authentic opportunities for school and community to engage in shared problem solving, intentionally inviting voices that have not been represented in past endeavors to participate. 4EFCb. PROVIDE school wide systems and protocols such as public forums, family surveys, and school wide celebrations to reflect on data, solicit feedback and support decision making.
1EFCc. REACH OUT to neighborhoods and communities whose voices are underrepresented in schools’ process for designing events and programs for the community to promote excellence for all, mindful of diverse family structures.

 

 1EFCc. DEVELOP/PROVIDE curriculum-connected tools, discussion prompts, and guides that students can use with their caregivers and families to gain deeper understanding of their own values, backgrounds, and identities in a diverse society. 3EFCc. CELEBRATE community-school partnerships in ways that highlight student contributions, as well as efforts of community members 4EFCc. ENGAGE community voice in creating essential questions for inquiry to inform school improvement plans and district policies.
1EFCd. HELP TO BUILD capacity to identify and solve family and community challenges among caregivers and community members by offering workshops where they can learn about pertinent issues for healthy family and community life.

 

 1EFCd. ENGAGE local businesses, community organizations and institutions with opportunities to collaborate with the school and support civic learning for ALL students in and outside of school. 3EFCd. IDENTIFY decision-making points where student, community and caregiver voices are not heard, and work to set up system to gather input and collaborate. 4EFCd. COLLABORATE, when possible, with families, community stakeholders and students to support student growth by forming committees and working groups such as parent engagement programs, parent nights, open houses, and parent teacher conferences.
1EFCe.SHARE INFORMATION, in accessible formats and languages, with all families and community stakeholders about civic and community-engaged learning plans. 1EFCe. INCLUDE a variety of perspectives and experiences when in dialogue with and making decisions on behalf of the community and familty stakeholders. 3EFCe. TRAIN AND ENGAGE students and caregivers to model civic friendship as they facilitate conversations in their peer groups to gather input from diverse community stakeholders. 4EFCe. BE ACCOUNTABLE, throughout the school improvement cycle, to community feedback by sharing how the input is applied and what changes are made to school policies and practices impacting the classroom and extracurricular activities.

 
Glossary of Terms
  • Assessment Mechanisms/Formats: Different ways to measure how well you understand something. Examples of these:  tests, projects, presentations, discussions.
  • Civic Competencies: The skills and knowledge you need to be an active and informed citizen. This includes things like critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving.
  • Civic Engagement: Taking part in your community and government. This can involve things like voting, volunteering, attending meetings, being a good neighbor, or  starting your own initiative.
  • Civic Inquiry Experiences: Learning activities that encourage you to ask questions, research, and analyze issues that affect your community.
  • Civic-mindedness: Having a strong concern for the well-being of your community and a willingness to contribute to its improvement.
  • Civic Responsibility: The duties and obligations you have as a citizen, like obeying the law and participating in civic life.
  • Civics: The study of the rights, duties, and principles of citizenship. It’s about how governments work and how citizens can participate.
  • Civics Integration: Bringing civics lessons into other subjects, like science or literature, to show how they connect to real-life situations.
  • Civil Dialogue: A respectful conversation about a topic, even if there are disagreements.
  • Co-creating: Working together with others to make something new, like a project or solution to a community problem.
  • Collaborate: Working together with others to achieve a common goal.
  • College, Career, and Civic Engagement (C3): A program of National Council for Social Studies which emphasizes the acquisition and application of knowledge to prepare students for higher education, career, and civic life.
  • Communities of Practice: Groups of people who share a common interest and learn from each other.
  • Community Stakeholders: People or groups who are affected by decisions or issues in a community.
  • Community Voice: The collective opinions and needs of the people in a community.
  • Conflict Resolution: Finding a peaceful way to settle disagreements.
  • Constructive Compromise: Reaching a solution that meets some of the needs of all parties involved in a disagreement.
  • Democratic Classroom: A learning environment that encourages participation, discussion, and respect for diverse viewpoints.
  • Democratic Skills: The abilities needed to participate in a democracy, like critical thinking, public speaking, respectful listening and compromise.
  • Dialogue: A two-way conversation where everyone has a chance to be heard.
  • Dispositions: Your attitudes, behaviors, and habits related to civic life. For example, a disposition towards civic engagement would be a willingness to volunteer or participate in local government.
  • Diverse Family Structures: Recognizing that families come in all shapes and sizes, and everyone can contribute to civic life.
  • Equitable Access: Making sure everyone has a fair chance to participate in civic life, regardless of background.
  • Extracurricular Activities: Activities outside of regular classes that allow one to pursue a special interest, meet new people, and develop a new skill set. 
  • Faculty Senate: A group of teachers who represent the faculty and have a say in school policies.
  • Formative Assessment: Regularly checking understanding throughout the learning process, allowing you to adjust your learning approach.
  • Global Citizen: Someone who understands the interconnectedness of the world and takes responsibility for global issues.
  • Growth Mindset: Believing that your abilities can be developed through effort and learning.
  • Historically Underrepresented and Economically Excluded Groups: Communities whose voices haven’t traditionally been heard in government or civic life, and who may face economic challenges.
  • Informed Action: Taking action based on knowledge and understanding of the issue.
  • Inquiry Learning: Learning by asking questions, researching, and analyzing information.
  • Media Literacy: The ability to critically evaluate information you see and hear in the media.
  • Media Literacy Creators (or Producers): People who create media content.
  • More Perfect Union: This phrase comes from the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. It reflects the idea that the founders aimed to create a constantly improving system of government, better than any that had come before.
  • Norms for Individual Tasks: These are the unwritten rules or expectations for how to complete specific tasks or behave in certain situations. For example, the norm for taking a test might be to work quietly and independently.
  • Participatory Budgeting: This is a process where community members directly decide how to spend part of a budget. It allows people to have a say in how their tax dollars are used.
  • PBIS stands for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. It’s a framework for creating a safe and positive school environment by focusing on rewarding good behavior and providing support to prevent problems.
  • Place-based Learning: This approach to education connects what you learn in the classroom to the real world by using your local community as a context for learning.
  • Productive Disagreements: Disagreements where people listen to each other, focus on the issue, and work towards finding a solution that considers all viewpoints.
  • Recursive: This means something that repeats itself, but with changes based on what was learned from previous iterations. 
  • Schoolwide Civic Learning: Efforts to integrate civic education throughout a school, not just in civics class. This can involve things like student government, service learning projects, and discussions about current events.
  • Student Voice: Giving students opportunities to express their ideas, opinions, and concerns about their world. 
  • Wise Producers and Consumers: People who create and consume media responsibly, with an awareness of potential biases and the impact of their choices.
Examples of Elements in Practice
  • At Alton High School, one school year began with a day of chaos. There were fights all over the building during each passing period. Students were fighting each other and resisting staff intervention. Local police were called in to help break up the fights and restore order. The school went on remote learning until the administration had new policies in place. Two African American gentlemen from the community came to the school wanting to help. They were hired as extra security guards and spent the day walking around the building and talking with the students. They enforce the school expectations and explain the consequences to the students. Because they live in the community, they have a different relationship with a majority of the African American students and are able to connect with them better than most teachers. These gentlemen also work with teachers in explaining the problems and the cultural differences and helping us connect with our students.  By tapping into neighborhoods and communities whose voices are underrepresented in the schools’ process for designing events and programs, the school environment improved by promoting excellence for all, mindful of the diversity of the community and helping to break barriers that many staff members did not know existed. (1EFCc)
  • The Illinois Democracy School network funded a project at Shawnee High School to support addiction education to help to build capacity to identify and solve family and community challenges.  This initiative involved a collaborative effort with a range of disciplines andstakeholders to assist the school and community in learning about pertinent issus for healthy family and community life. The school partnered with local addiction support organizations and professionals who brought expertise in addiction treatment and recovery. School counselors, social workers, and educators from diverse disciplines contributed their perspectives to shape the curriculum. The project also encouraged involvement from parents and the broader community through awareness campaigns and community engagement events. By involving a variety of disciplines and stakeholders, the project created a comprehensive, holistic approach to addiction education that benefits from a wide range of perspectives and expertise, ensuring a more effective and well-rounded program. (1EFCd, 2EFCd)
  • DuQuoin High School has embraced the opportunity to have students listen and seek to understand the perspectives of others and address a global issue by making connections across the curriculum. In English II, students read a fictional book entitled Sold by Patricia McCormick; this book exposes the truth about human trafficking. Students are drawn to the story about 13-year-old Lakshmi who is from a very impoverished village in Nepal and becomes a victim of human trafficking, due to her family’s poverty. Students then read other texts that offer diverse perspectives on this current social issue. After this introductory experience in English II,  the topic is then explored  in other classes. They read nonfiction articles discussing the different types of trafficking that happen all over the world, including the United States. Students read articles about bonded labor, child labor, domestic servitude, forced labor, forced marriage, and sex trafficking. Each article includes a real story of a person who was forced into that particular form of slavery, and how they eventually escaped. In the Current Events course, students analyze this as a contemporary issue, and look for solutions to this problem. Spanish classes also explore this issue as a regional problem that plagues several countries in central and South America. This experience is made even richer by engaging community organizations to collaborate with the school to support civic learning for all students by arranging for two guest speakers. The first is from Bangladesh, who challenges students to explore the connection between culture and human trafficking. The second speaker works for the International Justice Mission and discusses the efforts of the International Justice Mission to end slavery across the globe. This has resulted in much student interest in taking action to alleviate this appalling world problem. ( 2SEc, 2EFCd)
  • Shawnee High School’s project on addiction education engages local businesses, community organizations and institutions with opportunities to collaborate with the school and support civic learning for ALL students in and outside of school.  It is  a joint effort with a range of disciplines and takeholders. The school  partnered with local addiction support organizations and professionals who can bring expertise in addiction treatment and recovery. School counselors, social workers, and educators from diverse disciplines  contribute their perspectives to shape curriculum. The project encourages involvement from parents and the broader community through awareness campaigns and community engagement events. By involving a variety of disciplines and stakeholders, Shawnee aims to create a comprehensive, holistic approach to addiction education that benefits from a wide range of perspectives and expertise, ensuring a more effective and well-rounded program. (1EFCd, 2EFCd)
  • Sterling Morton West HS has a new position, the Work Based Learning Coordinator, who works closely with the College and Career Counselors to make partnerships with businesses in the community.  This role creates a pathway for students not interested in college to get internships with local trade unions, job shadow with various businesses in the local community, and put on job fairs at the school for trades related jobs.  This position has created many new learning avenues for students by providing authentic opportunities for school and community to engage in shared problem solving, and has helped fill vacancies in hard to fill positions for local companies. (3EFCb)
  • By providing school wide systems and protocols to solicit feedback and support decision-making, Prairie Ridge High School engages with the community at several levels. This includes regular communication through letters, newsletters, videos, and surveys to gather feedback on various aspects of the school, from curriculum to policy to initiatives. The engagement of families through events, such as Parent Advisory Group meetings and Parent University, indicates a willingness to involve them in the educational process and to address their concerns. The practice of compiling guest speaker and career connection information in a software program for students and families reflects the school’s dedication to enhancing the learning experience and post-secondary planning. Additionally, the efforts to develop relationships and partnerships with community members, including politicians and businesses, demonstrate a commitment to creating a collaborative and supportive learning environment. (4EFCb)