Getting It Started

As a team based approach, the implementation of the NNPS model is dependent upon a group of individuals at a school that have agreed to work together to make family, school, and community partnership a priority. For the purposes of this AZ initiative, this team is known as Family Involvement Action Team (FIAT). Led by a chairperson, this team will execute the successful implementation of the NNPS model. Ownership of this work is essential to its success and in this section you will find a Mission Statement activity to help your team delineate its identity and direction. You will also find a Member Contact Sheet that outlines the information that should be shared among your team members.

	Training Presentation		Training Presentation
	Mission Statement		Mission Statement
	Member Contact Sheet		Member Contact Sheet

Making It Your Own

Incorporating parent involvement in our schools means that we must take every opportunity we have to engage parents in their child’s education. In this section you will find an Event Timeline and Making It Your Own activity sheet to assist your team in outlining how some of the school’s most frequented events can easily integrate a parental involvement strategy. As a team, decide what are the school’s and the community’s most attended events and use the timeline to outline when they occur. Through discussion, choose four of these events to complete the “Making It Your Own” activity sheet.

	Event Timeline		Event Timeline
	Making It Your Own		Making It Your Own

 

Planning Your Events

Once the team has decided on the events that will occur throughout the school year to support family, school, and community partnerships there are some key points to think through before
the event takes place.

Remember to address some of the challenges typically faced in regards to parent involvement.
As a team, go over the Needs Assessment / Needs Assessment  to decide what those challenges are and how to
overcome them. Refer to this sheet before every activity.

There are 5 key planning steps that should always be followed for every activity. Refer to the Action Steps Planning Guide / Action Steps Planning Guide  to ensure that your team is following each one. Refer to this sheet before every activity.

Remember to always introspect into what you are planning for. The Guidelines to Conducting Action Step Activities / Guidelines to Conducting Action Step Activities is a great resource for the questions that should always be asked before, during, and after an activity. Refer to this sheet before every activity.

Activity Tools

Trial and error is a natural part of learning what works, but missing the mark more than once is
not a valuable use of anyone’s time. Therefore, it is important to monitor how well attended events are and to obtain feedback from the targeted audience on their experience. Consequently, there are some essentials that must always be paired with every activity conducted:

	Sign-in sheets – Know who and how many people participated in an event. If possible use the sign-in sheet to send a thank you note to attending or use it as a resource to know who to invite to future events
	Sign-in sheets
	Event evaluations – Here are two examples of the types of evaluations that can be used. Remember you can modify these samples to meet the needs of your school. If you are wondering what time is best for parents to attend a workshop or if you want to know what information they are interested in obtaining, take the opportunity to ask them while you have them as a captive audience.
	Event evaluations
	Activity summary sheets – Always write up a quick synopsis of your event and its outcomes. It is an excellent way to keep a school portfolio on parent involvement activities.
	Activity summary sheets

 

The Action Plan is a team’s guide to the incorporation of family, school, and community partnerships. Each school’s plan will be four pages in length, to accommodate the four strategies that must be addressed in the NNPS model: 2 academic, 1 for safe, drug free school zone, and the last for climate of partnership. Each strategy will include 2 action steps each that outline how parent involvement will be utilized to address each area.

	Guidelines to Writing an Action Plan		Guidelines to Writing an Action Plan
	Reading Example		Reading Example
	Climate of Partnership Example		Climate of Partnership Example
	Template		Template

To access your Arizona School Improvement Plan (ASIP), please click on the link to the IDEAL home page.  You will need a login and password to access your school plan.  For registration and login assistance please contact the IDEAL helpdesk: 480-965-9411 or support@ideal.azed.gov

 

Team must meet at least once a month to plan how to place their plans into motion. The Meeting Agenda Topic Items guideline can assist in determining the focus of these meetings. Attendance at team meetings should always be monitored and Meeting Notes should always be taken.

	Meeting Agenda Topic Items		Meeting Agenda Topic Items
	Meeting Notes
	FIAT Planning Calendar

	NNPS Model Implementation Checklist		Training Presentation
	Sample Event Evaluation		Sample Event Evaluation

	School Culture That Embraces Parent Involvement		School Culture That Embraces Parent Involvement
	Tips on Information Sharing with Parents		Tips on Information Sharing with Parents
	Visit the NNPS Site
	Website Links
	Party! A Year of Special School Events

	Sample Invitation Letter for Community Members

           December 2009

           November 2009