The Family Leadership Self-Assessment Rubric: An Indicator Tool for School Systems

• In Event: Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: Principles for Transformative Latino Parent Leadership: Lessons From Three Investing in Innovation (i3) Grants

Abstract

Objectives/Purposes: Many factors facilitate transformative parent leadership, including opportunities for parents to develop their leadership skills and knowledge about educational systems; intentionality about building trust and respect among parent leaders and between parent leaders and school staff; and the presence of cultural brokers to coordinate parent leadership activities and bridge parents and schools (Bolívar & Chrispeels, 2011; Hong, 2011; Lawson & Alameda Lawson, 2012; Martinez-Cosio & Martinez Iannacone, 2007). The purpose of this rubric is to translate research to practice by offering school and district officials and parent leaders clear indicators to assess their progress and set goals. The research questions guiding the development of this indicator tool were: 1) What are the conditions, practices and strategies that foster sustainable and authentic family engagement at the school system level? and 2) How can these conditions, practices and strategies be represented in a system of actionable indicators?

Perspective(s)/Theoretical Framework: The indicator framework was informed by the literature on parent leadership, which draws from theories on empowerment (Fine, 1993; Rappaport, 1981), social and cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1979; Coleman, 1988; Yosso, 2005), and critical pedagogy (Darder, 2011; Friere, 2000). We initially organized lessons from this body of literature into four domains that are pertinent to democratic representation in community change efforts: 1) values and commitments; 2) capacity; 3) communication; and 4) inclusivity and influence (Wilson & Wilde, 2003).

Methods and Data Sources: The rubric was developed through a combination of literature review and case study methods. We used our draft conceptual framework of conditions for family leadership in system-level change initiatives to generate semi-structured interview and focus group protocols. We collected data in one school district with particularly strong parent leadership efforts. This district serves approximately 3,000 students, three-quarters of whom are Latino. Protocols focused on inquiry about the conditions that facilitate transformative leadership. We conducted one-on-one interviews with the superintendent and family engagement director and five focus groups with parent leaders, four of which were conducted in Spanish. Following data collection, we used qualitative software to code each transcript, using a combination of closed and open coding. After identifying and discussing emergent themes, we created a draft rubric that we revised after piloting with district and parent leaders.

Results: The rubric shows five main indicators that facilitate parent leadership, including that school systems 1) invest in parents’ knowledge and skills; 2) provide resources that allow parents to participate fully; 3) encourage parent power and action; 4) have staff who help parents to feel included and influential; and 5) nurture a sense of community between parent leaders and other parents. Each indicator contains several sub-indicators, and for each indicator, users can check off whether their efforts are “minimal,” “developing,” “established,” or “transformative.”

Significance: Practitioners and parent leaders can use this applied research tool to surface and discuss varying definitions of parent leadership, continuously assess their progress, and set goals. Researchers can also use these data to inform evaluations of parent leadership initiatives.

Authors

• Joanna D. Geller, Annenberg Institute for School Reform

• Sara McAlister, Annenberg Institute for School Reform