GOAL 3: STRENGTHEN PRODUCTIVE PARTNERSHIPS FOR EDUCATION
MILESTONE 1: The district and local schools communicate with parents regularly about MCPS’ educational program and students’ academic progress.
DATA POINT: Workshop and Forum Evaluation
OVERVIEW
In order to be effective partners in their children’s education, parents must have access to timely, relevant, and accurate information about school system policies, programs, and activities. Local schools, in collaboration with their school parent teacher association and other parent organizations, conduct numerous parent workshops and informational sessions throughout the year. At the district level, the school system also offers many workshops to parents to keep them informed about the educational program. During 2006-2007, central services staff conducted more than 500 parent workshops involving more than 17,500 parents, with 18 percent of the presentations delivered or interpreted in other languages (Table AA-1). These workshops were conducted for particular schools or systemwide and focused on providing parents with information about the MCPS curriculum, sharing strategies for how they can help with their child’s learning at home, and tips for advocating for their child.
The quality and usefulness of such workshops and forums is measured by feedback data collected after the workshop or forum. A review of the survey data, as well as feedback gathered from parents and staff through surveys, focus groups, and advisory committees, help identify the areas in which MCPS can strengthen community engagement in specific and targeted ways.
There are two questions universally posed in surveys—did the workshop assist in understanding the subject, and was the information presented in a way that was easy to understand. The overwhelming majority of workshop participants responded positively to both the content and presentations (Table AA-2). In addition, data are collected on other topics the workshop participants would like to learn more about.
| 2006–2007 Workshop Data |
| Number of district-level workshops |
556 |
Number of parents participating in districtlevel
workshops |
17,519 |
Percentage of district-level workshops made
available in languages other than English |
18 |
| 2006–2007 Survey of Workshop Participants |
| |
( % agreement) |
| The workshop/forum helped with understanding the topic of the workshop/forum |
17,519 |
| Information/material was clearly presented and easy to understand |
18 |