Reflection Piece:  Standard 6.0: Social Leadership
 

Describe

For this assignment, our group created a plan to implement a new school-based program that builds a bridge between the school and the neighborhood community.  We designed an ESL program for adults that would service both school parents and other adults from the community unaffiliated with the school.  The ESL classes would be held at the school but taught by a community partner that we identified.  We wrote an eight-page referenced paper assessing the school and community issues, needs, and strengths, outlining plans for involving parents in the communication and recruitment of the program, and developing program assessment and feedback loops.  Our group also created a timeline, advertising fliers, and budget for the proposed program, as well as a presentation for the class.

Our group, which included Kaitlin Hanson, Georgieann Ramsudh, and myself, worked via electronic documents for the most part.  We met three or four times before or after class face-to-face for brief periods to brainstorm, outline our ideas, divide the work, and process feedback.  Then, writing separately, we had a nearly complete draft several weeks before the assignment was due, which gave us weeks to solicit feedback from Professor Rivera-McCutchen and from each other.  I do not believe any of one of us took on a clear leadership role.  We efficiently created a plan, divided the work, and worked independently, meeting our self-imposed deadlines.  If I had to say what role I took the lead in, I would say that I drafted a majority of the paper, and did the final edits.  Kaitlin took the lead in providing information about her school and researching the demographics of the neighborhood, and created the first draft of the PowerPoint Presentation; Georgieann pulled in some of the outside research that supported our program.  From my perspectives, I did not see any problems in our group dynamics.

Analyze

This project is aligned to ELCC Standards 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3.   Standard 6.1 states that candidates demonstrate an understanding of the larger context.  The adult ESL program addresses a clear community need, serving a neighborhood population in which less than half the households speak English at home.  This plan was sensitive to the social, economic, and cultural factors of a community that support the learning outcomes the local public schools.  The adult ESL program we proposed called for close collaboration with the school PTA, in both the recruitment of program participants and in the promotion of the program in general.  We recognize that parents can be key “cultural brokers” to families affiliated with the school and other members of the community, and may have language skills that would allow us to reach and personally recruit non-English speakers who would benefit most from the program.  These aspects of the adult ESL plan “respond to the larger context,” (ELCC Standard 4.2).  Furthermore, our research into the U.S. Census data showed that a large portion of the community does not speak English at all or with limited confidence, and that school test scores show that students perform less well in ELA than in math.  An ESL program, then, seems ideally suited to meet this language-acquisition need.  Census data also shows a high rate of poverty; our program partners the school with a community-based organization that would provide the instruction free to program participants.  Data shows that a sizable portion of neighborhood residents are recent immigrants.  The ancillary legal services tied to our program would facilitate access to lawyers for help with immigration, housing, medical claims, or public benefits.  In our recruitment plan, we recognize that community members may speak a wide range of languages and come from diverse cultures, and thus we would find at least one parent from each of these diverse communities to help in the outreach and recruitment.  Finally, our program provided babysitting services to those community members who have young children but would want to take part in the ESL classes.  By addressing and being sensitive to these community needs, this plan seeks to “influence the larger context,” (ELCC Standard 6.3).  While there is no causal link between parent/adult achievement levels and student achievement, this plan takes a holistic approach to community education, and puts the neighborhood school at the center of community improvement.  The primary component of the ESL classes is the instruction provided gratis by a community partner, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, a social services agency operating in the South Bronx for over twenty years.  We also draw upon the pro bono legal services offered by the NYC-based Volunteers of Legal Service. 

In short, the adult ESL program we proposed fully integrated school and community resources, while directly addressing multiple community needs.  We also hope that by getting more parents involved in a program that is based in the school, and that the program specifically addresses language acquisition, students in the school will benefit indirectly and ELA test scores will rise.  By addressing the larger context, this plan should positively impact students.

Appraise and Transform

This project helped me think about how to integrate multiple community resources into a single, clearly defined program that directly addresses a specific community need.  I also had to think of ways to see parents as resources, with their own unique set of skills—in this particular case,  language skills and knowledge of the neighborhood—that could be utilized as a community asset.  In thinking about the program logistics, I had to consider the potential barriers to participation, to view the school and this proposed program through the lens of a parent or neighborhood resident.  As a future school leader, I will need to utilize each of these skills to foster a strong school-community relationship and to build community connections that will benefit my students.