iSPIN - Nationally Recognized Program (press release)

The Iowa Parent Information Resource Center has received national recognition for its innovation in developing a program that advances student learning through parental and family involvement.

The Iowa PIRC was included in a recent report by the National Family, School and Community Engagement Working Group for one of its “breakthrough strategies:” a program called Iowa’s Sustaining Parental Involvement Network, known as iSPIN. The report cited 12 national examples considered “leading innovations in the family involvement field to advance student learning.”

“To have our work recognized as an innovative program at the national level is a testament to the hard work of our project partners, especially the work of parents and school staff in our iSPIN sites across Iowa,” said Ron Mirr, a consultant with the Iowa PIRC who works with iSPIN schools and other programs.

The national working group is a leadership collaborative through the Harvard Family Research Project that works to develop and implement policies designed to engage families and community members in schools. It includes renowned education scholars and professionals who study the effects of parental involvement in the academic success of children.

iSPIN is a program that Iowa schools began implementing in 2008. Twenty-six schools throughout the state now use the program. It requires schools to focus on family engagement for at least two years and sets minimum requirements to which schools must commit in order to increase their family involvement. Iowa PIRC provides the training and other support for schools to implement the program.

“Partnering with Iowa schools on increasing parental engagement in their children’s learning is rewarding professional work,” said Ed Redalen, director of the Iowa PIRC. “We have testimonials and documented outcomes from our school partners that demonstrate when they view parental engagement as a strategy for student achievement they in turn make significant changes in how they are involving parents in the educational process.”

PIRC leaders are now in the process of studying the effects of iSPIN at participating schools. Initial evaluations show an increase in parental involvement at home and in school, along with wider acceptance and improved attitudes among teachers and administrators about involving parents.

iSPIN is an Iowa-derived model based on an Academic Development Institute program called Solid Foundation. ADI is an Illinois group that works to link families, communities and schools. Schools that participated in Solid Foundation have shown significantly higher levels of improved student learning over schools that have not participated in the program.

The Iowa PIRC has worked since 1995 to increase parental involvement in Iowa, with an emphasis on helping school officials engage families in ways that best support student learning, Mirr said.

There is a growing consensus across the country that innovation through new approaches and strategies are necessary to improve public education, according to the report. The U.S. Department of Education in 2009 implemented the Investing in Innovation Fund to assist school districts and other groups that “invest in the creation of breakthrough models that are going to change outcomes for students, teachers and productivity … and to make systemic changes to foster innovation in education,” said James Shelton III, the assistant deputy secretary for innovation and improvement.

The working group compiled 12 national examples of leading innovation, as a result of the increased attention on the role innovation plays in advancing student learning. Each example was developed through problem-solving and attention to families and ever-changing opportunities and challenges in helping students succeed.

Iowa’s PIRC made the list because it “has been particularly successful in creating an infrastructure for family engagement by providing leadership and guidance at the state level, and by helping to adapt an evidence-based model for family involvement that all Iowa schools can use,” the working group wrote in its spring report. In addition, Iowa’s PIRC was cited for its work to integrate parental engagement into standards for administrators and teachers and to include them in assessment of school leaders.

To read the full report and learn more about the National Family, School and Community Engagement Working Group, please CLICK HERE.

For more information contact:

Ed Redalen, Iowa PIRC director, eredalen@mchsi.com

or 515.267.1115 (office), 641.751.4010 (m)