Evaluation Plan:

Come Through Our Door: Parent Engagement

Fostering a Sense of Belonging and Partnership in the Classroom

Amber Kraus
ECUR 809.3
University of Saskatchewan
June 19, 2015

Contents
Introduction and Background.............................................................................................. 3
Purpose...................................................................................................................... 5
Audiences................................................................................................................... 5
Decisions and Questions............................................................................................ 6
Methods...................................................................................................................... 7
Sample....................................................................................................................... 8
Instrumentation.......................................................................................................... 9
Limitations................................................................................................................ 10
Logistics and Timeline.............................................................................................. 10
Budget...................................................................................................................... 10
Appendix A: Logic Model.......................................................................................... 10
Appendix B: Parent Pre Survey................................................................................. 12
Appendix C............................................................................................................... 13
References................................................................................................................ 14

Introduction and Background

In Prairie Spirit School Division, parent engagement has become a priority. Currently at Venture
Heights Elementary School there is a Professional Learning Community (PLC) that focuses on moving
from parent involvement to parent engagement. Current family involvement practices in the school have
been community pancakes breakfasts, family festivals during Three Way Conferences, occasional positive
email contact, etcetera. In the classroom that has implemented this program, the teachers historic
practices have focused on simply involving parents when it best suited the needs of the teacher. As well,
contact and interaction has been limited to formal, required situations such as parent teacher interviews
and report cards. The definition of parent engagement as Pushor states is [involvement serves] only the
schools agenda by doing things educators expect them to do, parent engagement enables a sense of
mutual benefit for both the family and the school (Miller Marsh & Turner-Vorbeck, 2010, p.9). As
classroom teacher implementing this program, the hope in implementing this program is to move teachers
from involving parents to engaging them through intentional contact and activities.
Venture Heights Elementary School is one of two K-6 schools in Martensville, Saskatchewan. There
are approximately 640 enrolled students as of June, 2015. The majority of families in the community are
middle to upper middle class Caucasian families, with only approximately five families coming from a
minority background. As Martensville is considered a bedroom community, many of the parents commute
to Saskatoon for work and the majority of the students have both parents working away from the home.
There are many extracurricular activities available for children in the community including things such as
hockey, skating and swimming lessons.
Come Through Our Door is a program that is currently implemented in two classrooms at Venture
Heights Elementary and aims to move from parent involvement to parent engagement. Through various
activities such as ongoing emails, and family nights, the classroom teachers hope to foster a sense of
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belonging and partnership between the classroom teacher and the parent. As a program, the long term
goals are to answer the following questions:

Do ongoing emails, Family Night and Three Way Conferences, as engagement activities, foster a

sense of belonging and partnership in the classroom for parents?

Do classroom teachers have a better understanding of parents and students due to focused parent
engagement activities (Emails, Family Night and Three Way Conferences)?

The goal of the program is not to create more work for the classroom teacher, but rather to allow
classroom teachers to look at things they already do in their rooms and find ways to make them more
meaningful. For example, instead of having a parent afternoon where students showcase their work, there
is a family night organized that does the same. This is also done to make the schedule more
accommodating to parents in hopes of increasing attendance to such events, and therefore providing more
opportunity to fostering parent engagement. Further information about the other goals of the program are
available in appendix A: Logic Model
As this is the first year implementing this program, it is important to now take a step back and
determine if this program is meeting its intended outcomes or if any changes are necessarily in order to
improve the program. This proposal presents a plan where Amber Kraus (who will be conducting the
evaluation, collecting and analyzing the data, as well as writing the recommendations report) along with
Brent Campbell and Lindsey Logan (classroom teachers who have implemented the program in their
classrooms) will determine if the program is meeting the desired outcomes and to what extent those
outcomes are being met. In addition, the program evaluator will determine if the chosen activities are best
suited to meet the intended outcomes of this program, or if changes should be made to better achieve the
goals. Information will be collected in various ways including surveys, anecdotal notes from the program
evaluator as well as the classroom teacher, and potentially interviews with the parents of the two
classrooms where the program is implemented, as well as other classrooms not receiving the program.

Purpose

Part of the role of a classroom teacher is to build and maintain relationships with the parents of
the students they teach. Not only are teachers expected to communicate academic information to parents,
they are also tasked with the social and behavioral aspects of the children they teach. As not all
communication between classroom teacher and parent is positive, it is important to develop a positive and
trusting relationship. The summative purpose of this evaluation is to determine if strategic engagement
strategies help to foster a sense of partnership and belonging for not only the parents, but also the teachers
in the classrooms receiving the programming. Secondly, the formative aspect of this evaluation intends to
determine if the chosen activities are best suited in achieving the intended outcomes, or if there are others
than may facilitate the long term goals in a more efficient, impactful way. As this is the first year of
implementation, the information obtained through this evaluation will also provide important baseline
data for future years.

Audiences

The primary audience for this evaluation is the other teachers within the school. If it is
determined that the program is effective in creating a sense of belonging and partnership between parents
and classroom teachers, other teachers within the school may recognize the benefit of implementing the
program in their own classrooms. Teachers will be able to determine which activities are best suited in the
purpose of creating relationships. As well, classroom teachers may recognize the long term benefits of
forming these relationships with parents. A secondary audience would be the in- school administration
and possibly division office staff (such as school superintendents) which would be important in

continuing to receive support in implementing this program within the school and potentially providing
release time for the original teachers to offer support to teachers who are new to the program.

Decisions and Questions

At the minimum, forming cordial relationships with parents and reporting information to them
about their child is an expectation of all teachers at Venture Heights Elementary. However, this evaluation
is seeking to determine if there is a benefit in forming a more intentional and meaningful relationship with
the parents of the students. It is also worth exploring whether the benefit, if any, might be worth
allocating resources towards. At the moment, Come Through Our Door is a low cost program, and
arguably could remain as such. Activities require little or no cost and any expenses have currently come
out of the teachers pocket. However, funding could potentially enhance this program and make it easier
to implement, therefore some questions may need to be asked that relate to this.

Questions that pertain to the program may include:

1. Do teachers currently feel there is a need for better relationships between them and their students
parents?
2. Are the chosen activities best suited for meeting the intended outcomes?
3. Is this program easy enough for new teachers to implement without becoming overwhelmed?
4. Does this program require additional teacher time, and if so, does it place too much burden on
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

already overloaded teachers?

Do parents feel there is a deficiency that needs addressing?
Do the teachers feel the time spent produces an appropriate return on investment?
Once baseline data is gathered, do parents feel the program meets the intended outcomes?
Was there a reduction in negative teacher/parent interactions due to this program?
Did parents feel more trusting of classroom teachers decisions as a result of the program?

Questions that pertain to potential funding of the program may include:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Will having money to spend in support of this program enhance the intended outcomes?
Where will the funding come from?
What accountability measures will be in place if funding is provided?
Does providing funding limit the ability of the program to expand?

The answers to these questions should address the original goals and will also help to determine if the
program needs changing before implementation next year. If the data gathered indicates that there may be
better options, further questions will help shape any necessary changes. As well, the question will help
determine whether it is feasible or worthwhile pursuing funding for this program.

Methods
The two main sources of information for this review will come from surveys sent to parents and
anecdotal information from informal interviews with the classroom teachers. As well, parents may also
provide additional information through informal interviews and conversations should further data sources
be required. These may be important when establishing baseline data to determine whether the program is
reaching its intended outcomes. The first step in gathering information will be to meet with the classroom
teachers for informal interviews about their past experiences in attempting to engage parents, as well as
determining other experiences that might be relevant such as negative parent interaction. As well,
documentation of the reasons they chose to implement this program will be noted, as that may provide
important information to share with other teachers joining the program in the future. Secondly, parents
will be surveyed about their feelings of being involved and belonging in their childs classroom prior to
the engagement activities that are part of the program. The survey, which will be completely voluntary,
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will be sent out anonymously through Google forms. Parents will be made aware that the survey is
completely anonymous and all feedback is appreciated. The benefit of using Google forms is the quick
ability to analyze the data gathered. However, due to the ability to deleted selected responses, an
independent contractor will be employed to manage the survey and collect the data, thus limiting potential
biases and other ethical considerations. The survey is attached as appendix B.

At the end of program

implementation, a second survey will be sent to parents, in the same format as previously explained. This
survey however, will collect the final thoughts of the parents around the activities that were implemented
to increase engagement and a sense of belonging and partnership. The survey is attached as appendix C.
Should the need arise to examine more data, parents may be asked to participate in casual interviews with
the program evaluator in order to share their thoughts and understandings of the program. Due to the high
time-cost involved in this step, it will remain as a backup and only implemented if the evaluator feels it is
necessary.

Sample
The participants who will be sampled for this evaluation will be parents from the forty-three
families of two grade three classrooms at Venture Heights Elementary School in Martensville,
Saskatchewan. All parents who have children in the two classes will be invited to participate in providing
feedback for the evaluation. In the case of interviewing parents, those who are willing will be invited to
share their thoughts. Additionally, the classroom teachers of these two classrooms will be part of the
sample through their anecdotal records as well an informal interviews completed with the evaluator.

Instrumentation

As noted in previous sections of this proposal, feedback obtained from parents will mainly come
from surveys created using Google Forms. The intent in choosing this method is it allows for anonymity
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which is important due to the fact that the classroom teachers will have access to this information and
their position of power within the school. By making it clear to parents that surveys are both voluntary
and anonymous, the hope is that more will feel comfortable responding, thus achieving better sample
data. In order to encourage more feedback, surveys were designed to be short and simple to complete. The
decision to use online surveys was based on the norm of the community and school, with almost all
communication from the school coming through email or other digital means. In order to assure everyone
is able to participate, the evaluator will provide an independent contractor who will be available in the
schools computer lab to support anyone who wishes to come in and use the school computers to
complete the survey.

The evaluation instruments and tools to be used are described and a rationale for their use is provided.
Reliability and validity are addressed. Draft instruments are provided in appendices.

Limitations
-return rate on survey (anonymity)

Logistics and Timeline

Budget

Appendix A:
Logic Model

Appendix B:
Parent Pre
Survey

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1b0vrRVD9dS9N1zBMu0kKP1eX_xUeb3WjYT1mv_s
NTsk/viewform

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Appendix C: Parent Post Survey

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1FKkwi2rGAulr47OexY8ypbYxa9FeYx42EjKYAm_hAx
M/viewform

References

Miller Marsh, M. & Turner-Vorbeck, T. (2010).

(Eds.) (Mis)understanding families:
Learning from real families in our schools. New York: Teachers College Press.

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