Employers and Family Involvement

Learning OutcomesSchool-Business Partnership

• Students are able to:• Describe the genuine partnership between schools and the

business sector• Elaborate commitment needed by schools and the

business sector to embark on such partnership• Explain the benefits of such partnership for both parties• Describe the strategic involvement of the business for

such partnership• Provide examples of strategic partnerships between

schools and businesses

What is School-Business Partnership?

• A school-business partnership is an ongoing, dynamic relationship that must be mutually beneficially for the school and the business. Partners commit to the concept of a business and a school working together

                          

• Traditionally, businesses provided one-time resources and materials to schools. Today, the business community is working to play a more active and long-term role in education

• Extra reading: http://www.ed.gov.databases/ERIC_Digests/ed383856.html

• http://www.corpschoolpartners.org

• School Business Partnerships are designed to encourage a cooperative relationship between a school and a business or organization.

• Partnerships range from a one-person business involved with a school to large corporations involved with many schools and sometimes district-wide. No business is too large or small

• Each partnership starts with an agreement in which both the business and the school outline what the expectations are for each party

• A partnership is not based on donations made to a school or for one-time activities. A successful business/school partnership is a long-term relationship in which the business helps the school develop the necessary tools to meet its educational mission.

• Contributions of time and resources are more important that monetary contributions

Four Ways businesses can Improve EducationBallen, Casey and de Kanter, 1998

• Initiating and developing partnerships with schools and their employees

• Collaborating with other businesses and community organizations

• Implementing policies and programs that promote involvement in education by working parents and other employees

• Contributing resources to schools

What Needs to be Done?

• Flexi time and leave policiesEmployees using flexi time are required to be at the work site during designated core hours in the middle of the dayAnother version is called ‘lunchtime flex’. 47% of the employees have access to lunchtime flex (1994)

Offering part-time work and job sharingWork-at-home or telecommuting

• Support and education for working parentsEmployers offer seminars, often at lunch time, on a range of parenting issuesEmployers keep family resource library, subscribe to newsletters for parentsEmployers provide literacy trainingEmployers contract with providers of parent resource hotlines (how to motivate their child, help in homework, etc)

• Business provide child care for their employees (or near-site centers), sponsoring child care resource, and referral services and subsidizing the high costs of child careGive employees access to trained specialists

• Improve schoolsEmployers provide resources for schoolsFund special projects such as ‘homework hotline’, parent rooms, creation and dissemination of bookletsBusiness serve on the boards of agencies that foster family involvement in educationBusiness press for more challenging standards for student performance

• Contribution in terms of donations• Business actually developed schools on their

grounds for employee children (partnerships with public school departments or opening private schools)

Potential Benefits of School-Business Partnerships (plus School-to-work Programs)

• Benefits for students and educators:Discover how classroom learning links to the work placeAllow them to get a sense for the business world and for their future careers Educating and training students, giving them the skills they will need to be competitive in the workplace Emphasizes the career opportunities available exposing students to successful local companies

• Educators become better informed about expectations of their students in the workplace

• Educators become more aware of resources and available support

• Providing input about skills needed in the workplace

Testimonials

• The Partnership Program is an outstanding way to ‘reach’ students of all ages. By working in a business environment they realize how the basic classroom skills they’re learning are needed and utilized in the working world. This innovative approach is long overdue."William EnnisEnnis Restaurants, Inc.D.B.A. Pier 57 Restaurant

• I wish we had the resources to allow all our teachers in the building to do collaborative school/business partnerships. It not only motivates students, but it reenergizes teachers and gives new life to their curriculum."

• Annette Speach, PrincipalCicero Elementary School

• Benefits for businessEnhancing their corporate image Motivating corporate staff to become models of excellence Receive better trained, future employeesContribute to the development of the community and human resourcesUnderstand the education system and its complexitiesBuilding customers’ loyaltyResource: http://www.nsba.org/site/docs/32000/31923.pdf

Promoting Partnerships with Schools

• How to promote strategic education partnerships in your school setting?

Strategic Education Partnerships

• Steps for creating the partnerships• Step 1• Create a corporate environment that supports

educational involvement• Step 2• Assess your company’s involvement in business-

education partnerships

• Step 3Link to business and school

• Step 4Build coalitions

• Step 5Plan, implement and evaluate

Step 1: Create a Corporate Culture that Supports Education Involvement

• Create a company culture, and program/policies/resources that support educational involvement

• What is your vision of company’s education approaches?

• What structures/systems have you put in place to support this vision?

• What unspoken rules affect translating this vision into action?

• Does your company have the following structures/systems?

• Policy statement which express its commitment to educational issues

• Communication strategies designed to indicate the importance of employees involvement in education

• Opportunities for involvement• Employee recognition (for those who are involved in

education)• Manager performance evaluations linked to support of

employee’s involvement/volunteerism

• What policies, programs, and resources are available at your workplace?Information about ways of getting involvedTraining/workshopsFlexible/alternative work arrangementsPaid time-off/employee leave policies for volunteering in schools, accompanying children during transition, or attending teacher conferences

Step 2: Assess your company’s involvement in Business-Education Partnerships

• Become an employer of choiceEmployees able to balance their work and home lives – will create benefits in terms of recruitment, retention, loyalty and productivityCorporate education approaches include:Resource donationBusiness-education programsStakeholder/community-wide collaboration

• Resource donationQuestions to be asked:Who is responsible for resource donations?What types of resource/donation are occurring?What have been some of the benefits/results of resource donations?What barriers have been encountered?

• Business-education program• Who is responsible?• What types of activities?• What is the rational?• What are the benefits?• What are the obstacles?

• Assess stakeholder/community wide collaborations

• Who is responsible?• What types if collaborations are occurring?• What is the rational?• What are the obstacles?

Step 3: Link to Business and School Objectives

• Link the approaches to business and school objectives

• Ask the following questions:What are your company’s priorities, mission and values?What are the most important educational issues?Have you done any benchmarking to determine what other companies are doing in the educational arena?

What are the school’s goals and objectives?What could corporate educational partners help the school system to meet educational goals?

• Align your educational approaches with your business and school objectivesDoes this educational approach reflect both business and school objectives?What resources are available or needed to continue or redirect your educational approach?

Step 4: Build Coalitions

• Identify champions/internal stakeholders and their educational prioritiesWho are the ‘movers and shakers’ in your company, the people who can make things happenWho are the people who can take the leadership role?

• Identify external stakeholders and their educational prioritiesWhich individuals and groups might share your motivators for involvement?Which external stakeholders are willing to join with you and take responsibility to commit resources to succeed?

Step 5: Plan, implement and evaluate

• Develop and implement a business planA four-stage plan for action:VisionLeadershipMeasurable indicatorsContinuous improvement

• Create a communications strategy• What do you want to communicate?• What are your target audience(s)?• What is your timetable? (3 months/6 months/1

year)• What vehicles will you use to communicate your

message?

Tips for Partnerships

• In successful partnerships, leadership builds commitment and gather resources. The resources are used to help participants become comfortable with and adept at new ways of performing.

• Successful educational partnership use evaluation and strategic and adaptive planning to ensure that activities meet local needs, values, and conditions

• Need special rules and guidelines to avoid criticism, such as commercialism in the school environment

• Successful partnerships acknowledge and confront problems, using them as the opportunity to build relationships among partners

Examples of School-Business Partnership Initiatives

• Shell Oil Company and the Los Angeles Unified School District

• Involves ten inner city high schools and helps students graduate from high school, continue their education by going to college, and gain valuable career skills

• An 84-hour after-school program covers topics such as job searching and career planning

• After completing the program, students are placed into after school jobs sponsored by a network of local business

• Half of the students’ salaries is paid by local business and half is paid by Shell

• 80% continued to college after high school graduation

• The Community Learning Program (CLP) in Florissant, Missouri

• The program gives students a chance to pursue a career they are interested in while still in seniorsStudents enroll in a one-semester program and are matched with area organizations or businesses

• Participants commit to a three-class period of time, four days a week and are not paid, but do receive school credit

• Students explore fields as diverse as TV and radio production, auto body repair and X-ray technology

SURVEY OF SCHOOL-BUSINESS LINKS IN ENGLAND IN 1997/98

• Sample of 850 primary and 545 secondary schools. A total of 630 primary and 411 secondary schools replied, giving response rates of 74 per cent and 75 per cent respectively

•

• Primary schools• Forty-eight per cent of primary schools reported

they had links with businessThe most common business link for primary schools was visits to businesses, with 30 per cent of schools participating

• Secondary schoolsNinety two per cent of secondary schools had links with businessForty-eight per cent of secondary schools reported that they had link activities with small, medium and large firms or organizations.