School launch gets boost

As I write, the campus of Anderson University near our office is quiet. Despite the slowly melting mounds of snow, the school is on spring break. Over the next three weeks, educational institutions across the country will follow with this brief respite before the flurry of spring and end-of-term activity. One new activity this spring that has been a topic of discussion for the Born Learning partners is "Blast Off to Kindergarten."

In April and May there are 16 events planned by the Born Learning partners at elementary schools across the county. Their purpose is to welcome and inform families of children who will be entering kindergarten in the fall. There will be food, of course, activities and take-home materials. Families will have the opportunity to meet teachers and get comfortable with the environment. This is the first formal opportunity for schools and families to begin a partnership that is essential for their children.

Born Learning and a growing number of community-school education coalitions across the country recognize the importance of a strong family-school connection in the development of children. A research brief from The Indiana Partnerships Center, a parent information and resource center funded by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Innovation and Improvement and a partner in our local Born Learning initiative, addresses the evolution of "parent involvement" to a more inclusive definition that recognizes that education takes place at home as well as in school and community settings.

One highlight of this report comes from Madison County. Yes, Madison County is held up as an example of progress! The example comes from Mary Lee Ewald, director of the CAPE (Community Alliance to Promote Education) and of our local Born Learning initiative. Speaking of the CAPE experience, Mary Lee said, "We saw significant improvement as a result of the work we did, connecting families and schools with the focused goal of improving student achievement." The result is that over a four-year period, Madison county students passing ISTEP+ increased from 45 to 69 percent.

It is this very success that the Born Learning initiative hopes to maintain and build. Of all the things that can be debated regarding the improvement of the educational system, the active involvement of families is without doubt the most effective and affordable component. That said, achieving this partnership takes work. In many ways, the label early childhood education is a misnomer. We are really talking about adult education.

A 2007 report from the U.S. Department of Education on innovations in education is titled Engaging Parents in Education and notes that "parents' involvement in their children's education is a priority of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. But a strong connection between parents and education does not come automatically. Both parties may need to learn new roles and skills and develop the confidence to use them, especially as parents move beyond traditional activities, like helping children with homework, and toward shared responsibility for school improvement."

Again, our local CAPE initiative has been a leader in this development, creating the PALS (Parent Leadership for Student Achievement) program. For the past couple of years, I have been pleased to be invited to review local PALS projects and I've been amazed at the level of ownership displayed by these parents in their entire school community's achievement. This is not your mother's PTA.

In fact, one of the PALS groups has assumed leadership for the pilot of our Born Learning play and learn group model. Our link with the CAPE coordinators and The Indiana Partnership Center also gives us a network with other communities across the state to share ideas and best practices because really, most of this development involves finding the best of what others are doing! I joined Mary Lee and Joanne Hadley, CAPE and Born Learning coordinator, last week for a meeting with some of these representatives and we came back with some great information that can be put to use here.

Our United Way has joined eight others across the state as leaders of local early childhood initiatives. I know of several others under development. Together we can change the face of Indiana. It begins with the children.