Category 6. Community Engagement Leadership

A representative of the chamber of commerce asks the leader of a high school how the business community can partner with the school to acknowledge the accomplishments of individual students. Which of the following is the school leader’s best recommendation?

• Creating a directory that helps students and their families identify recreational programs, health services, and cultural events.

• Asking businesses to offer discounts or rewards to students who achieve a goal set by the school.

• Sponsoring an award for the top academic achiever of each class at the school's annual awards assembly.

• Encouraging businesses to give high school students priority when filling part-time positions.

Answer explanation

Option (B) is correct. Obtaining incentives from local businesses for students to achieve a goal set by the school (attendance, honor roll, community service, etc.) is an effective way for many students to have their achievements celebrated.

A school leader is using data to assess the effectiveness of a volunteer tutoring program for improving student achievement in reading. Which TWO of the following types of data best evaluate the success of the initiative?

• The results of a satisfaction survey completed by the tutors.

• Scores from pretests and posttests administered to the students.

• Anecdotal records from the teachers of students who are receiving tutoring.

• A spreadsheet showing the assignments and number of hours logged by each tutor.

Answer explanation

Options (B) and (C) are correct. Pretests and posttests will document students’ growth and the success of the program. Teachers’ anecdotal records are valuable for providing cumulative information on student learning and a direction for further instruction—in this case, tutoring.

A school leader hosts a parent meeting to solicit support for a high school senior internship program with local businesses. Which of the following aspects of the internship should the school leader communicate as being the primary benefit of the program?

• Promoting skills and knowledge in a student's field of interest.

• Developing interpersonal skills needed for postsecondary success.

• Acquiring job-seeking and interview skills for future employment.

• Increasing the likelihood of students acquiring scholarships.

Answer explanation

Option (A) is correct. Promoting skills and knowledge in the student’s field of interest serves as one of the primary benefits of high school internship programs. These programs help students engage in work that interests them while developing skills needed for achieving career goals.

A school leader is planning to invite members of the community to serve on the school’s improvement team. When selecting community members, the school leader should primarily strive to ensure that potential members...

• represents diverse community voices.

• have supported the school leader's decisions in the past.

• have children who attend the school.

• are able to gather donations from the community.

Answer explanation

Option (A) is correct. The school leader must ensure that a wide variety of input is heard at the school improvement meetings. Merely having one voice from the community present is not sufficient.

Which of the following school resources is most appropriate for school leaders to offer when creating community partnerships?

• Venues for advertising time and space.

• Locations for meetings and special events.

• Storage space for extra inventory.

• Opportunities to use staff as volunteers.

Answer explanation

Option (B) is correct. After school hours, the facilities are appropriate for use by the community.

Which of the following is a school leader’s best strategy for using community services to support student success?

• Inviting community organizations to promote their services during parent-teacher association meetings.

• Establishing service-learning programs in the district's middle and high schools.

• Publishing a directory of free and low-cost community services available within the district.

• Coordinating opportunities for students and families to access community services at multiple sites in the community.

Answer explanation

Option (D) is correct. Coordinating with district and community leaders will help develop community partnerships while working on a joint vision for student success.

Which of the following is the best recommendation a school leader can make to teachers who find parents unresponsive to their efforts to establish school-home partnerships?

• Enlisting students in encouraging their parents to become acquainted with their teachers.

• Communicating positive information about students more often than negative information.

• Setting up a schedule for parents to volunteer in classrooms and chaperone field trips.

• Contacting parents using a standard time and method of communication.

Answer explanation

Option (B) is correct. Communicating mostly or only negative information about students sets up an adversarial relationship between teacher and family, not a partnership. In general, parents like to feel that they and the teacher are on the child’s side.

Which of the following is the most effective way for a new school leader to advocate on behalf of the school district within the community?

• By encouraging teacher participation in community events.

• By becoming a resident of the community.

• By patronizing community businesses.

• By forming a community advisory committee.

Answer explanation

Option (D) is correct. The advisory committee will become invested in the goals of the school and represent community interests in district decision making.

Which of the following practices best demonstrates a school leader’s commitment to involving parents in decision making about their children’s education?

• Seeking parent input when creating action plans.

• Attending monthly parent-teacher association meetings.

• Inviting parents to volunteer in their children's classrooms.

• Holding frequent open-school nights and parent conferences.

Answer explanation

Option (A) is correct. The school leader involves parents in decision making by incorporating their feedback directly to create an action plan.

In response to the assessment data published in the newspaper, please provide information on a plan of action for school improvement and a method of measuring its success. Our district has high expectations for academic achievement, and these recent data are not representative of the district vision and mission.

Which of the following is the school leader’s best response to the e-mail from the school board president?

• Explaining that schoolwide improvement efforts require financial resources the school does not have.

• Attributing the decline in scores to demographic groups in the district with historically poor academic performance.

• Reminding the board president of research showing the weak performance of United States students when compared to their international peers.

• Inviting the board president to attend a presentation of the action plan at the next school committee meeting.

Answer explanation

Option (D) is correct. Attending a presentation by the campus improvement committee shows the board president that an action plan has been designed and will be implemented and demonstrates that the plan reflects input from a variety of stakeholder groups, not just the school leader or school leadership team. It also allows the board president to ask questions or participate in a discussion.