This is the second article in a series, The Texas Story, a special report from the George W. Bush Institute on paths to opportunity for young people in select Texas regions. Are young Texans on track for prosperous, self-determined lives? How do we know? And what might the outcomes mean for students and communities in other states? In a prior series last year, we explored these questions in Dallas, Houston and Austin. This fall, we visited two smaller Texas cities — Midland and Longview. See our earlier chapter about the challenges school districts in those two cities face in preparing students for the modern workforce. (And as always, please note: Below, we’re defining ‘governance’ as both the school board and the opportunistic use of public policy; ‘ecosystem’ as the broad coalition of organizations and community leaders focused on education and workforce outcomes across a city or region; and ‘innovation’ as the use of strong practice, sometimes new and sometimes not, with the goal of improving student outcomes.)

A community ecosystem fuels success

The ecosystems in Midland and Longview are a point of distinction. Both have traditional support from organizations like the local Chamber of Commerce, which typically understand the importance of an educated workforce to help fuel the local business community. Yet in Midland, leaders from business, philanthropy, and education are actively advocating for improvement in their school system.

The Permian Strategic Partnership, a collection of business and civic leaders and organizations, has become a catalyst in focusing the community on the trajectory of the Midland Independent School District. (Acknowledgement: Former Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans, the Chairman of the Permian Strategic Partnership, chairs the board of the George W. Bush Presidential Center.) The PSP website acknowledges that: “The public schools in the Permian region are experiencing extreme growth and generally perform poorly compared to other areas of the state.” The site also makes clear that, “Our schools must have the resources to provide the next generation with access to highly qualified teachers and a robust curriculum.”

As happened in Dallas a decade ago, when leaders concerned about the city’s schools pushed for improvements, Midland’s education reformers are using outcome data broken apart by race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status and special education status to better understand where the school system is working for kids — and where it is not — to help identify solutions.

As one example, the reformers invited in the Commit Partnership, the Dallas-based collective impact organization, to help the community better understand the depth of Midland’s educational shortcomings. “Data is a tool, not a weapon,” said Midland civic leader Ronnie Scott in emphasizing the need for quality data.

Civic leaders also researched regions that exhibited educational progress, including how they use charter schools to improve student achievement. Midland ISD trustees have taken advantage of a Texas law that allows charter operators to take over failing campuses.

For its part, Midland College is working to bolster the local K-12 system. Midland’s successful Early College High School, which earned an A on the state’s 2021-2022 rankings, sits on the Midland College campus. Also, the community college now offers a four-year degree to train prospective pre-K through third grade teachers.

Scott cites the latter move as key to Midland preparing more of its own teachers. Attracting talent to communities far away from Texas’ metropolitan areas is hard. But members of Midland’s active ecosystem contributed about $30 million in private funds to create this initiative.

Community volunteers like Christine Foreman are playing a key role, too. Raised in Midland, Foreman noticed Midland’s public schools had hit rock bottom several years ago. She took action by leading Midland ISD’s 2019 bond package, which Scott, a business executive, helped craft and supported publicly.

The election drew an impressive turnout of about 23,000 voters, but went down by 26 votes. Midland’s staunch anti-tax culture contributed to the defeat, as did an insufficient number of young people turning out to approve the package.

Mobilizing enough voters in a staunchly anti-tax city to support another new bond package is a tall but important task. A city that rightly prides itself on freedom and opportunity should appreciate how much quality public schools can expand the important guiding values of the community.

Most important, Midland’s business, civic and education leaders must keep playing the role of truth-tellers. The city once had a strong set of public schools. Now, it must rebuild them. That’s not an easy message to deliver, much less hear.

Longview leaders could learn from Midland’s example. Longview ISD has a commanding leader in James Wilcox, the district’s superintendent since 2007. Through his leadership, Longview took advantage of the same state law that Midland has used to create charter schools. Except in Longview’s case, Wilcox turned the state law, SB 1882, inside out to make every one of Longview’s schools into a charter campus.

What the district needs now is a broad ecosystem, one that involves a range of organizations, leaders, and citizens in the conversation about Longview ISD’s path. Wilcox has set the vision, but widespread engagement will allow the district to build upon its progress over time — and ensure an eventual successful transition when Wilcox decides to retire.

A broad ecosystem also would help the entire 82,000-person city navigate through the maze of three school districts that serve Longview. Competitive tensions inevitably mount. A network of civic and business organizations could ensure the competition benefits the entire community.

And, as in Midland, Longview business, civic and education leaders must play the role of truth-tellers. In Longview’s case, the most recent A grade it received from the Texas Education Agency is a triumph. But it doesn’t mean that all students are having an A experience in terms of quality instruction and academic progress. The A campuses in Longview provide great opportunities to learn what interventions and approaches may better support students on lower-ranking campuses.

An innovative use of government programs

Wilcox has made International Baccalaureate curriculum and the development of Montessori schools a priority for Longview ISD. Research supports those approaches as strategies to stimulate early learning and prepare students for an education beyond high school.

The longtime superintendent is making his priority a reality through an unusual use of SB 1882. The law uses incentives to encourage districts to partner with nonprofit charters to turnaround struggling campuses. In return, the districts receive an increase in state funding for that campus.

Through Wilcox’s opportunistic use of SB 1882, all Longview ISD schools are now charter campuses. At the same time, the district is using the money from the law to finance the expansion of IB or Montessori programs, including training teachers in these models. (Not all Longview schools have one of those programs, but efforts are underway to spread them district-wide. Teachers are not currently required to be certified in IB or Montessori to be hired by the district.)

Although the three charter organizations operating in Longview have their own boards, Longview ISD essentially runs the schools since it employs the teachers and administrators in each charter. Autonomy is at the heart of charter schools, particularly autonomy around hiring, salaries, use of instructional time and curriculum. Autonomy in Longview is somewhat murky at present, particularly given the governance structure and the fact that teachers and principals are employees of the district, not the charters. Next year, when the charters come up for review, the district should run a competition to select the best charter operators, including being open to charter management operators who insist upon employing their own educators and administrators.

For its part, Midland is focused on strengthening early childhood education, teacher development, career and technical education, and long-range facility planning. Midland also has tapped into the innovations that external charter operators like Third Future Schools and IDEA Public Schools use to improve student learning.

Third Future Schools, launched by former Dallas ISD Superintendent Mike Miles, redesigned once-failing Sam Houston Collegiate Preparatory Elementary with innovations like paying higher salaries based upon a teacher’s classroom performance, assigning apprentice teachers to nurture young educators, and using a curriculum that includes a concentration in the art of thinking. Sam Houston went from a F rating in 2018-2019 to a B rating from the Texas Education Agency for the 2021-2022 school year.

In 2020, IDEA Public Schools opened the first Midland ISD charter, thanks to local foundations and leaders raising $55 million to fund the expansion of charters in Midland and Odessa. IDEA took over Travis Elementary School, a campus that the state gave a F grade in 2019. By contrast, TEA gave IDEA Travis Academy a B in 2022.

To its credit, IDEA focuses on the fundamentals of quality classroom instruction and developing effective teachers. The charter management organization notably offers a housing benefit to prospective teachers as part of its goal of developing a local pipeline of quality instructors.

As IDEA has shown with its progress in Midland, innovation need not be new. It may mean something as old-fashioned as strong instruction and a strong, welcoming culture for students.

Whether through a charter school or a traditional campus, Midland ISD will help prepare students for the world that awaits them by remaining open to innovative educational strategies.

Clear and inspired governance is key

The biggest governance challenge for Longview ISD is simplifying its unique but overlapping set of school boards. The district’s three charter operators have their own set of directors. But the charter operators eventually answer to Longview ISD’s school trustees and superintendent. Who, then, really is in charge?

Simplifying lines of authority would ensure the charters are not like a cautious driver looking back over their shoulder for approval from passengers in the backseat. Timidity leads to trouble, even danger. Longview students would be better served if the district remained the authorizing agent, while letting the charters manage their own work.

Giving quality charters freedom to operate, whether through rearranging school days, experimenting with curriculum, and using their own hiring and salary practices, has worked around the country. IDEA Public Schools, KIPP Public Schools, and YES Prep Public Schools provide three good examples.

The most important decision facing the Midland school board is hiring a superintendent to replace Angelica Ramsey, who decided in September to become Fort Worth ISD’s leader. She was hired to stabilize and advance the district after it had churned through two leaders without much progress. Ramsey was headed in the right direction by working closely with the Midland community, building the leadership capacity of principals and assistant principals, and staying on top of district data. The board would be smart to find someone with similar visionary instincts.

Midland voters elected 3 school board trustees last month. The board has made strides toward concentrating on the most important variable: student performance. In fact, Scott and others credit trustees for being intent on improving the district, focusing on such priorities as attracting talented instructors to West Texas.

Trustees also have participated in Lone Star Governance, a Texas Education Agency spinoff that focuses on effective governance. But, as in other districts, board members need to know what to do with poor results and to stay the course once they find an evidenced-backed pathway. Parochial or minor matters can dominate school board’s discussions in any district — it is easy for board agendas to be filled with matters that have the gloss of relevance but lack any substantive impact on students.

Recommendations for Texas and lessons for beyond

As we saw in our look at Texas’ big metros as well as this look at our state’s smaller cities, adult leadership matters everywhere. Smaller cities and towns are, by definition, smaller ponds. Big fish can have outsized impact, to the good or the bad. Civic engagement and service is critical in small towns, particularly for those who want their hometowns to keep their homegrown talent.

Schools that prepare young people well for real local opportunity is a strong strategy for any Texas town. We recommend that leaders in smaller cities consider these recommendations when working to improve outcomes for all young people in their towns.

Show up and engage. In a smaller city, engagement by adults really matters. Citizens need to understand the outcome data and the community context, contribute to solutions with their time and treasure and vote in school board elections. Midland’s ecosystem is pushing forward with the priorities identified before their superintendent resigned for another role. The ecosystem in Longview is less well-organized and defined.

Distribute the leadership. Transitions will happen in the central office. In smaller cities, distributing responsibility and information across district leaders ensures that improvements work and a focus on goals continues even when leadership may change

Take advantage of charters and SB 1882. As both districts show, partnering with charters through SB 1882 brought new approaches to struggling campuses — and generated revenue for the districts. District-charter partnerships provide opportunities for learning and innovation when executed with fidelity. Taking advantage of policies like SB 1882 can help smaller cities access new ideas and resources.

Use the data. There is no way around using student outcome data to measure progress. It is impossible to meaningfully improve outcomes for students without using comparable data to understand who is on track and who is lagging. Tests are not solutions in and of themselves. They are simply the tool that helps illustrate academic progress. Breaking apart that data to understand what is happening on each campus and within each subgroup of students is also important to know if all students in the district are having comparable experiences.

The Texas miracle of economic growth and opportunity is both tantalizing and sobering. Texas is the fastest-growing state in the union per the 2020 Census. People of color account for 95% of that population growth, and we need everyone in the state to have opportunity within reach for our state to thrive. We know that the progress made by Texas students through the 1990s and 2000s stalled before the pandemic — and that stall became a major crash for far too many young people thrown off track by COVID-19 disruptions to school and home.

Recovery for today’s students is not a lost cause. Texas can still cultivate and benefit from the collective ingenuity, knowledge, and leadership of our young people if adults stay the course to build and support school systems that work for all students. Adult leadership and vision matter now, more than ever.

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Updated May 20, 2022

by Grace Chen

arental involvement plays an important role in student success.

Extensive research has shown that students achieve more in school when their parents are involved in their education. This article discusses the critical role moms and dads can play in a child’s education. It also examines what the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) says about parental involvement and offers practical tips that parents can use to become involved.

Role of Parental Involvement in Education

The critical role of parental involvement in a child’s education has been examined in countless studies and reports. The research overwhelmingly supports the following conclusions.

1. Academic achievement increases when parents are involved in their children’s education.

The more intensively involved the parents are, the greater the positive impact on academic achievement.

2. Parental involvement leads to better classroom behavior.

Parental involvement not only enhances academic performance, but it also has a positive influence on student attitude and behavior. A parent’s interest and encouragement in a child’s education can affect the child’s attitude toward school, classroom conduct, self-esteem, absenteeism, and motivation.

3. Parents should stay involved in their children’s education from preschool through high school.

Parental involvement can make a positive difference at all age levels. Parental involvement tends to be the greatest with young children and tends to taper off as children get older. Studies have shown, however, that the involvement of parents of middle and high school students is equally important. In high school, for example, a parent’s encouragement can influence whether a child stays in school or drops out. Similarly, a child may consider going to college more seriously when parents show interest in the child’s academic achievements and talk with the child about the benefits of a college education.

4. Training helps parents of disadvantaged children get involved.

Parents of minority or low-income children are less likely to be involved in their children’s education than parents of non-disadvantaged children. If they receive adequate training and encouragement, however, parents of minority or low-income children can be just as effective as other parents in contributing to their children’s academic success. As discussed below, one of the purposes of NCLB is to get parents of under-achieving children involved in their education.

5. Reading together at home greatly improves reading skills.

Reading, in particular, improves greatly when parents and children read together at home. Reading aloud with a child contributes significantly to the child’s reading abilities.

6. Schools can encourage parental involvement in many ways.

Significant parental involvement is most likely to develop when schools actively seek out ways to get parents involved and offer training programs to teach parents how to get involved in their children’s education.

7. Parental involvement lifts teacher morale.

Schools and teachers benefit from parental involvement because involved parents develop a greater appreciation for the challenges that teachers face in the classroom. Teacher morale is improved. Communication between home and school helps a teacher to know a student better, which in turn allows the teacher to teach the student more effectively. Communication also helps to dispel any mistrust or misperceptions that may exist between teachers and parents.

8. Parental involvement benefits children and parents.

Becoming involved in their children’s education, moms and dads get the satisfaction of making a contribution to their children’s education and future. They have a better understanding of the school curriculum and activities and can be more comfortable with the quality of education their child is receiving. They spend more time with their children and become able to communicate better with them. Some studies show that a parent’s participation in a child’s education may inspire the parent to further his or her own education.

9. Time constraints are the greatest barrier to parental involvement.

Lack of time is the top reason parents give for not participating more in their children’s education. Lack of time is also cited by school personnel as a reason for not seeking parental support more actively. Thus, effective solutions to enhanced parent involvement require freeing up the time of parents and teachers or finding ways to work around their schedules.

Note: Project Appleseed, the National Campaign for Public School Improvement, initiated National Parental Involvement Day in 1994 and Public School Volunteer Week in 1997. The last National Parent Involvement Day was on November 15, 2007. The next Public School Volunteer Week is the third week of April 2008.

This CNN discussion illustrates why parental involvement in education matters.

NCLB on Parental Involvement

One of the purposes of NCLB is to encourage parents of disadvantaged or underachieving students to get involved in their children’s education. This goal is accomplished by requiring the education system to reach out to parents by communicating effectively with them and by providing opportunities for parents to learn how to assist their children. Some of the more important initiatives for parental involvement under NCLB are discussed below. These programs apply to Title I schools, which under NCLB are schools with high numbers of disadvantaged students.

Schools must communicate effectively with parents.

NCLB stresses effective communication with parents and lists specific information that must be communicated. Schools are required to inform parents of their rights to be involved. Schools must notify parents about all school programs and report on their students’ progress. Schools are required to describe and explain to parents the curriculum, the tests used to measure student progress, and the expected student proficiency levels.

Communication required under NCLB goes much further than simply notifying parents by written announcements or reports. Parents with limited English proficiency must be accommodated, to the extent possible, with communication in a language that they understand. Schools may be required to provide transportation, child care, or home visits if necessary to reach out to parents and get them involved.

A school-parent pact demonstrates a commitment by schools and parents to improve students’ academic performance.

NCLB emphasizes that schools and parents share responsibilities for improving academic achievement. Accordingly, each participating school is directed jointly to develop with parents a school-parent pact to articulate how they will help children to meet the state academic standards. Under the pact, the school is responsible for providing a high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment. Parents’ responsibilities include supporting their children’s learning by monitoring attendance, homework completion, and use of extracurricular time, volunteering in classrooms, and participating as appropriate in decisions pertaining to their children’s education.

Schools take an active role in building capacity for parental involvement.

NCLB recognizes that some parents do not know how to participate in their children’s education and that some schools do not know how to reach out to parents to get them involved. Thus, schools are required to educate teachers and other school personnel about reaching out to and work with parents as equal partners. For parents, schools are directed to offer materials and training to help parents work with their children, including literacy and technology. Schools also assist parents in understanding the state academic standards, monitoring a child’s progress, and working with teachers to improve achievement.

This video explains how parental involvement contributes to positive results.

Tips for Being an Involved Parent

The following are some suggestions for moms and dads who wish to get involved or become more involved, with their children’s education. It is important to remember that doing even one thing on the list can make a difference in your child’s academic progress.

1. Read with your children and talk with them about the books and stories you read
2. Help your children work on homework assignments
3. Organize and monitor a child’s time
4. Tutor a child with materials and instructions provided by teachers (or found on the internet)
5. Attend and actively support school activities
6. Volunteer in classrooms, on field trips, or for special events
7. Continue to be involved as your child is in middle and high school
8. Attend parent-teacher meetings
9. Talk with your child about school on a daily basis
10. Be an advocate for your child to make sure that the child’s needs are being met
11. If a problem arises, address it quickly by requesting a meeting with the teacher
12. Advise the teacher of any issues at home that may affect the child’s school performance
13. Vote in school board elections
14. Encourage your children on successes and support them on poor performances
15. Take classes at a community college or adult education program to demonstrate to the child that learning is important
16. Participate in PTA or other parent organizations, school advisory councils, or committees
17. If your child’s school does not have a program for reaching out to parents, become an activist and persuade the school or school district about the importance of parental involvement
18. Consider involving grandparents, who may be retired and have more time, in their grandchildren’s education

The extent of Parental Involvement

While teachers and other school personnel agree that parental involvement leads to better achievement, there is some controversy about how far that parental involvement should extend. For example, most educators resist having parents involved in hiring teachers, paying teachers, and other personnel matters. Moreover, choosing textbooks and developing curricula are seen by teachers as requiring an expertise that parents do not have. NCLB seems to recognize this sensitive issue by limiting the rights of parents to areas involving parent participation. For example, parental involvement policies must be developed jointly with schools and parents, parental feedback about the parental involvement policies is encouraged, and parents have a say in the use of the Parental Involvement Fund.

This video offers a look at the basics of parental involvement.

Conclusion

Parental involvement in a child’s education is an advantage that money cannot buy. All parents, regardless of economic status, race, or primary language, can do simple things like asking a child about school or attending a parent-teacher meeting. Being involved in your child’s education not only helps your child to achieve more academically, but it also lifts teacher morale and provides you with the satisfaction of making a difference in your child’s education.
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Though No Child Left Behind is no longer the law of the land, I included the full article above so that you could see what they mean when they talk about parental involvement.  They basically want parents to demonstrate to the children their full support of whatever the schools are doing.  You can see that a lot of their suggested points of involvement could easily become mandatory including punishment or removal of the children when parents fail to no comply.  At the same time, they don’t want parents to have any real voice or authority over their children’s education.  They don’t think we are smart enough to evaluate curriculum or to have influence in teacher selections.  Or library activities or sex education, or “INCLUSIVE” programs, or gender selection and transgender preparation, etc.

They don’t want the parents to have anything to say about what they are actually teaching out kids.  Nor do they feel that parents should have anything to say about whether their kids should be forced to see and talk about sexual acts of perversion, or be questioned about their “gender identity” or being encouraged to seek gender modification, or receive birth control or abortions.  They don’t really care about Parents being parents… they just want parents to parrot their BULLSHIT and quietly surrender their children to the system.

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Is the No Child Left Behind Act still in effect 2023?

After 13 years and much debate, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has come to an end. A new law called the “Every Student Succeeds Act” was enacted on December 10. It replaces NCLB and eliminates some of its most controversial provisions. The Every Student Succeeds Act responds to some of the key criticisms of NCLB.

At the same time, the new law keeps some aspects of No Child Left Behind. For example, states are still required to report on the progress of traditionally underserved kids. This includes kids in special education.

The new law is over 1,000 pages. Some of the most important things to know:  HERE

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Parents in California Are About to Lose Their Kids Under New Law | Erin Friday

California Insider

Jul 29, 2023 #k12

335K subscribers

396,282 views  #transgender #parents

🔵 Watch “Gender Transformation” movie https://bit.ly/GenderTransformationTET 🟡 ‘Leaving California” documentary https://ept.ms/LeavingCaliforniaCAI0712 “I trusted the doctors, I trusted the teachers. That part was so painful to understand. Parents are bullied. Doctors tell them: “Would you rather have a dead daughter or alive son?” Siyamak sits down with Erin Friday, a lawyer and parent advocate. Today she will discuss California laws on gender transformation, and how she dealt with this personally. ____ This episode is sponsored by Midas Gold Group, the nation’s #1 veteran-owned gold dealer and most trusted source for gold & precious metals: https://www.midasgoldgroup.com/ 💟 Support us: https://donorbox.org/californiainsider New California Laws Are Changing Parents’ Rights | Erin Friday #parents #transgender #k12 ————————————————- © All Rights Reserved.

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Back to Third Future, I have no idea how they see parental involvement.  All I could find on the topic is the following.  Since the program started in Dallas and is Officed in Austin and Aurora, Colorado; I have to assume that this is an extremely liberal program. Fully participating in all the NEW ideas like gender pronouns, gender switching, sex education that includes gay play in the classroom, as well as every possible kind of pagan practice and belief including Satanism, and denial of all Biblical Teachings and practices. 

If there is anyone among my readers who has any details on what this programs teaches and promotes, I would love to hear from you.  For now, all we can do is go on what is available on line, which does provide much detail.  

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A Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family–School

Department of Education (.gov)

by KL Mapp · 2013 · Cited by 406 — This paper presents a new framework for designing family engagement initiatives that build capacity among educators and families to partner with one

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