Four Steps to Effective Community Involvement

E ffective community programs combine two of the most pow erful influences on student

achievement—the school and the community. To learn more about such programs we surveyed over 700 school administrators who developed and achieved community involve ment in their schools. We later interviewed an additional 138 ad ministrators, teachers, students, board members, and community volunteers to learn the outcomes of different approaches.

What Did We Find?Strategies were different but all ef fective programs served the schools' needs and were personally satisfying to volunteers and educators. It was evident that the person most responsi ble for an effective program was the school administrator.

We also identified four steps to effective community involvement: ( 1 ) readiness to accept, credit, and use community resources; (2) suc cessful recruitment of community volunteers; (3) assignment of specific objectives, responsibilities, and tasks to each volunteer; and (4) orienta tion and training necessary for com munity members to perform their assignments adequately.

Step I. Readiness to accept public participation has two parts: philo sophical acceptance and administra tive preparation. The community is acutely aware of an administrator's motives and sincerity. (Community members defined sincerity as the gen-

KERRY L. MOVER

Communiry people moke o valuable contribution when

educators welcome their help, make clear what needs

doing, and explain how to do it.

uine desire and need for their assist ance, the school staff's willingness to listen, and the educators' ability to avoid jargon.)

A management plan that outlines the four steps of community involve ment is essential. The plan should be highly visible prior to volunteer re cruitment. It could take the form of a handbook that explains goals and tasks of community involvement or even better provides a complete list ing of activities and instruction in a quasi-contract form. Community members need to perceive the im portance of their contribution, the responsibilities of their involvement, and the beneficial outcome for all.

Step 2. Successful recruitment means selective recruiting and use of volunteers that ensures cross-sec tional representation of the entire community. The school administrator may directly recruit community mem bers or they may volunteer in re sponse to a public appeal. Whatever technique—offer all community mem bers equal opportunity to participate. A combination of the two approaches—recruitment and volunteer appeals—proved highly successful for most schools. An administrator must be careful, though, not to ignore any sig nificant community group because they did not provide eager volunteers.

Selection may be the administra tor's most significant task. The

Kerry L. Moyer is Senior Research As sociate, Pennsylvania Department of Education, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

JANUARY 1982 285

dominant personalities of volunteers frequently overrode the effects of careful planning, task assignments, or detailed training. Often, the outcomes of community involvement were de pendent on particular personalities and their interactions.

Step 3. For assignments school administrators involved community members in the ways described in Figure 1 . Each type of involvement reflects the particular administrative needs listed in the second column,

"Probable Assignment." The criteria for effectiveness (third column) pro vide a checklist for recruiting in dividuals and a general outline for the management plan. The possible outcomes column summarizes fre quent results of each involvement strategy. The fifth column offers per formance evaluation criteria for de termining the effectiveness of each community involvement approach. Each type of involvement shares one basic criterion — ail are advisory

groups. TTie order of involvement strategies

in Figure 1 is significant. Volunteer satisfaction was highest for members of a task force, declining in order to the review committees which were least beneficial and satisfying. Each type of involvement offers advantages and disadvantages to the school ad ministrator and many programs used several types of involvement simul taneously.

Step 4. The training of volunteers.

FIGURE 1. ASSIGNMENT OF TASKS TO COMMUNITY MEMBER VOLUNTEERS.Type of Probable Criteria for Possible

Involvement Assignment Effectiveness Outcomes

Fo-ce perse

NAA

• Lead fo^e

large

goa 1

etc

Constant • Ad."S

• P'Od

PO'S Or pi

CO''bo"d

• P0 'f''

tJO" f

• Adjf °DUS d on,

lee' o • Supp

devei

Q-, -j -"^OU'-P • GO-.J '•'• ">»_n i o- • A^,qnn-»nK for-

t"e po-t 1 pon'j

DO'"";

Evaluation

• "rJpquoie. i T» do

ab'l '/ to follow

-<"«•<'••"

wr'ot ,« Q t q ija(e a d m.n *t,nt v C c a . lQn Ond -espect

and r ra , n membe'S

Jtatemenrv f-.ng v -SwDQ.nr, o^

io'^ -oie

D I.I, o( .or, VJ l,an. ,,TOllo-dabl» sc

• -4 - ' J ' - a - oyemp'-

-..a»

„. o- a d, ,o:o-M W-, co^ur. V

oc' ' ' e-; •• -.chool concept

j'y rjTj r.O ' 'j-1 f'j' .ODr, «ftl' DOI'j'tale

freed by volurvte

-o-.i.iei oto-ierjm -eloion-,

• O i0 °9 ' orl°pr °o°'.n, e"r

o'c,'-, -ai. »-d«cjs through necds9o

•ee's

. T,mel.o« rnet

mrjicn need fa' f

-

• Accu.ocy of nit,.

faculty « th jolijn

•— —

286 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP

the most time-consuming activity, is legality, and politic the best investment of effort. To make munity members s educationally sound recommenda- recommendations tions, volunteers must understand the planation of ( 1 ) school's organization, philosophy, school, (2) the e and mandates. Insufficient training sources needed t will cost time later when administra- (3) the source of tors must personally perform tasks resources. assigned to community members. In summary, tr

After training, community members trator creates an e should be able to evaluate their own involvement progr recommendations or performance management plan based on educational practicality, munity members

al feasibility. Com- training volunteers for the achieve- ^ould submit their ment of assigned tasks. Public in- with a detailed ex- volvement is always a high-risk ac- the benefits to the tivity with no guarantees of success, xact cost and re- Similar programs adopted bv several 3 implement, and schools produced vastly different out- needed funds and comes. If the public school is to

survive, however, a true coalition of e school adminis- school and community is an absolute ffective community necessity. • am by preparing a . recruiting com-

and adequately

Type of Probable Cr.te Involvemen' Assignment Effect

"•pact < I'n'.den'

• P'ov.de reeds as

.1 ( t.m.-u" 'y Mm. M;me' v ewpo n; u-oipdr

cppvd n

plan on.

cor""' tt?

'Pacl'Ons to odm n t> • tn's i >

• n-uvdc spe, tc • Ad.q..cii

;£iC",PO"

10 for Possible Per+OTmonce veness Outcomes Evaluation

at.and.c . Dota p.o> ded .0 • Scope o. e.ok.a' or-

r.,;ndr,cs needed ness .elevan.e

il 1 '> Vt^OOl pol'ty r- - epo-'s

' 0 -1

DO'-c o* • T-mel-ppss o* Ci

n c ol-,e, n,enda..o-> based

I-O-IV or- lorl.overval '»

ptod Uo-ngs ^ ^ ^

1 between common ty adopted

• Afr 1 'y of co""*1 ttee • Un-ea^sLc O'opos

'.On

t,rir ,'eso jtions. edito' sentot'On o' all "es 'ected data e*

pu'pose o* sta'e

• Unso >cited com • Valid'ty of su'vey • Use of summa'y

• Ed't -epo'ts

• Rubbe- stamp

p ans

e o* torn • T mipk COODP'O' on

pt.ve ocdpcs Or^%

• O'Qo n zed oppo^' • Pcm'Vi?"Fss o^ pub-

• \_ f^ - etevar,t plan

JANUARY 1982 287

Copyright © 1982 by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. All rights reserved.