By Gord Kerr, Executive Director, Ontario School Council Support Centre

The school council system in Ontario is still effectively very new. The system was introduced to the province through PPM 122 in April 1995, which required every school in the province to create a school council, or modify an older, established parents group (PTA, Parents Association, etc.) to properly adhere to ministry guidelines.

The 1996/1997 school year was the first year in which many parents were faced with responsibilities beyond basic volunteering and fundraising. It was also the first year that educators were required to involve parents in issues beyond the traditional kinds of involvement.

What kinds of professional development have members of your school council engaged in to become effective in these new roles for both parents and educators?

Training and development provided to school council participants in the early days of the school council system focused on the mechanics of running a council; running elections, preparing agendas, conflict resolution etc. Training was limited and sporadic but addressed some of the fundamental needs during the initial phases of developing the school council system in Ontario.

School council members have had limited training in the more advanced responsibilities of enhancing accountability and improving student learning. Without training or a connection to resources to provide some guidance on these system goals, is it any wonder that school councils are having a hard time coming to terms with these new responsibilities? Without guidance, involved parents will slip back into their ‘comfort zones’ and school councils will continue to struggle to move beyond the more traditional roles of parent groups – fundraising and volunteering.

There is a deep body of research available on nurturing family/school/community partnerships. Unfortunately, very little of it is in the hands of the people trying to make a difference at the school level. School council participants continue to deal with issues at hand such as Pokemon cards, broken playground equipment and the like, with limited connection to an overall direction that will advance the capability of the system to improve student learning.

Good will and good intentions cannot replace a clear mandate, relevant training and accessibility to the resources necessary to leverage knowledge that already exists on how parents can partner with the education system to improve student learning.

For parents to take on a more significant role in improving student learning, training must move beyond council mechanics to practical and proven methods for stimulating relevant family/school/community partnerships.

In 1997, the Harvard Family Research Project completed a study entitled "New Skills for New Schools: Preparing Teachers in Family Involvement." In the United States, its conclusion was as follows:

"School efforts to promote family involvement in children’s education will succeed only if teachers are adequately prepared to support these efforts. The high standard of professional development that policymakers espouse for teachers of core academic subjects applies equally to partnerships for family involvement. Teachers -- from pre-kindergarten to secondary school -- need skills to create the positive family partnerships that result in student success and improved schools.

While this is a study conducted entirely in the United States, the situation is similar in Canada. Family involvement is something that teachers are not often prepared for, either preservice or inservice.

The school council system introduced educators to new responsibilities for engaging parents in discussions and issues. Beyond the initial professional development provided when the system was first introduced, what kinds of training and development are available to the educators in your school?

While school councils have come a long way in a very short time, they remain in their infancy in Ontario. People involved in the school council system are still learning how to make them work for maximum possible advantage.

Interestingly, the way forward appears to involve a focus on learning for school council participants, principals and teaching professionals. However, the learning has to progress to topics beyond the mechanics of running a school council. A focus on learning more advanced topics offers the opportunity for participants to gain access to the deep body of knowledge that exists for developing and nurturing successful family/school/community partnerships, for the purpose of improving student learning.

With 30 years of research on file on the topic, it would be inefficient and foolish for each council to attempt to discover successful methods for improving student learning on their own. Councils do not have the resources to gain the knowledge on how to impact student learning independently.

There is plenty of room for school councils to grow. Growth will only come, however, with sustained and planned efforts to intervene, guide and connect councils to the overall goal of improved student learning. Without continued efforts to lead the school council system forward, the talents of many interested and dedicated individuals will be underutilized, the system will fail to have a meaningful impact, and the initiative will stall.

Training and development offers the potential for participants to develop the skill to lead the system from within.

Evidence suggests that teachers require specific preservice and inservice training to advance the skills for educators to partner with parents for improved student success. This training may range from the essentials of running an effective council to the eight types of involvement that every school and teacher can leverage to engage parents as partners for improved student learning. (See Eight Types of Involvement at www.schoolcouncils.net)

Both school council members and members of the school community require access to training that will complement the training recommended for teachers. Beyond the mechanics of running a council, parents require a more in-depth understanding of the eight types of involvement that are most likely to result in improved student learning.

This is a condensed version of a paper presented at the 14th International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement in Toronto in January 2001.

Gord Kerr continues to research practical methods for improving the effectiveness of Ontario’s school council system. For more information, please see www.schoolcouncils.net.